Newspaper advertising is the top source that consumers turn to for making shopping and purchasing decisions, according to a survey conducted for the Newspaper Association of America by Frank N. Magid Associates. The study titled "How America Shops and Spends 2011," found that 79 percent of adults said they "took action" as a result of newspaper advertising in the past month including clipping a coupon )54%(, making a purchase )46%(,

YouTube has introduced a new campaign aimed at educating users about copyright violations. If the company receives a copyright notification concerning a video a user uploaded, they will be required to attend "YouTube Copyright School," which includes watching a copyright tutorial and passing a short quiz proving they understand the content. YouTube has also introduced new rules about how it handles users how have violated its copyright policies.

Online video company Vodpod has introduced a social video app for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch called Showyou. The Showyou app allows users to see all the videos shared by their friends on Facebook and the people they follow on Twitter. Users can discuss and share videos with their friends without clogging up their Facebook and Twitter feeds. Let's Showyou )2( from Showyou on Vimeo .

A new Facebook scam is spreading rapidly through a post on users' news feed, according to an alert issued by M86 Security Labs. The scam involves a photograph being posted in an album called "BBC News" with an image of a girl from a web cam. The text says ""Everyone do check what she did on cam '. " [URL]" The URL has changed over the course of a few hours. At first, it was a bit.ly link )over 80k clicks in an hour( to goo.

Social web browser Flock has announced it will be shutting down on April 26, according to notice on its website. Flock was purchased by social gaming company Zynga in January for an undisclosed amount. "The Flock team joined Zynga in January, 2011 and is now working to assist Zynga in achieving their goal of building the most fun, social games available to anyone, anytime " on any platform," the company said on its website.

Verizon has been named the mobile networks brand of the year among consumers for the second year in a row, according to a new poll from Harris Interactive. "Since the change in the portability of phone numbers, switching mobile phones and mobile networks is significantly easier," said Jeni Lee Chapman, Executive Vice President of Brand and Communications Consulting with Harris Interactive.

The American Veterinary Medical Association said today it has launched an online search tool for pet owners powered by Google, called MyVeterinarian.com. Users can search MyVeterinarian.com by zip code to find a vet in their local area. The search results display the clinic's name, address phone number and business hours; the medical services provided; the species of animals served; and the names of the veterinarians on staff. Practices can also list their website address,

Dunkin' Donuts said today it has launched a redesigned website with a focus on local content and social media. The new DunkinDonuts.com features a homepage with localized content, an improved store locator, and the ability for users to connect to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. The company has also launched its first blog called " Behind the Beans ," which aims to provide users with news on the latest menu items,

The majority )90%( of college faculty use social media in the workplace, compared to 47 percent of employees in other industries, according to a new report from the Babson Survey Research Group and Pearson. The survey of nearly 2,000 faculty found that 80 percent use social media in the classroom for some aspect of their course. Among those, nearly two-thirds use social media within their class session, and 30 percent post content for students to view outside of class.

Businessweek said today it has launched a new iPad app called Bloomberg Businessweek +. Bloomberg Businessweek + allows users to access live information on companies, including current stock prices, performance history, and recent news. Bloomberg personalities are also featured via exclusive video and audio content including a weekly look behind the cover story with Bloomberg Businessweek's editor and creative director. Additionally,

The first quarter of 2011 started off strong in the U.S. for online marketing, with search marketing growing 17 percent year-over-year, according to a new report from Efficient Frontier. Facebook advertising is getting more competitive, with Cost Per Clicks )CPCs( increasing by 40% Quarter on Quarter )QoQ(. Display advertising also showed positive signs with a 300% increase in exchange ad inventory and a 30% Cost Per Thousand )CPM( decline,

Apple's iPad will continue to account for the majority of the global media tablet market through 2015, according to a new report from Gartner. Because of the popularity of Apple's iPad, iOS will account for 69 percent of media tablet OSs in 2011, and represent 47 percent of the media tablet market in 2015. "Seeing the response from both consumers and enterprises to the iPad,

Google said today it has added new features to its "Mountains" layer in Google Earth. To view the "Mountains" layer users can check the left layers panel in Google Earth. By clicking on a green icon users can view information about a particular mountain. The information appears in a bubble form and includes elevation, a link to a KML tour, a link to an article about the mountain and a slide deck of Panoramio pictures.

The Federal Communications Commission has approved measure that requires major wireless carriers such as AT&T and Verizon to enter into data- roaming agreements with smaller competitors. The FCC said consumers expect mobile services that will allow them to stay connected wherever they go and that a data roaming rule will help ensure services are not interrupted and that coverage is available on a competitive basis.

Video search engine Blinkx said today it is purchasing online advertising company Burst Media for $30 million. The combination of the two companies will bring Blink'x 35 million hours of online video and TV to Burst's audience of over 130 million unique users. Blinkx said it will create video channels for specific audiences that will be matched to Burst's network of publisher sites. The move will build an online video audience for Burst's advertisers.

Social media has little direct impact on most website traffic, according to a new report released today from ForeSee Results. Less than 1 percent of website visits, on average, come directly from a social media URL. The findings indicate that the direct impact of social media is minimal, but also that the true value of social media cannot be measured only by examining the traffic coming directly from a social media URL.

Multichannel video game retailer GameStop said today it is launching a storefront on its Facebook fan page. GameStop has tapped Adgregate Markets to provide social shopping on its Facebook page via Adgregate's proprietary ShopFans solution. GameStop, which is ranked #115 on Internet Retailer's Top 500 List and 3rd in the sub-category of Toys/Hobbies, is the first multichannel gaming company to launch a storefront on Facebook and provide social commerce to its more than 1.

The Federal Communications Commission )FCC( has launched a redesigned website, the first major update in ten years, that features more social media tools. Visitors to the new beta site can now easily connect with the FCC's Facebook page, Twitter account and YouTube channel. "This FCC is empowering consumers and businesses to get the most out of technology," said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "The launch of the new FCC.gov keeps us at the forefront of innovation,

Netflix has announced it has entered into a syndication agreement with Lionsgate to stream the first four seasons of the AMC series "Mad Men" starting July 27. Additional seasons of "Mad Men" will be available after they have aired on the AMC network. The deal is valued between $75 million and $100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. Netflix is paying nearly $1 million per episode for the series.

In 2011, there has been an increase in the number of IT threats, in the first three months of the year, there was a daily average of 73,190 new samples of malware, the majority were Trojans, according to a new report from PanadaLabs. Hackers have created 26 percent more new threats in the first months of 2011 than in the corresponding period of the previous year, and 16 percent over Q4. Trojans accounted for most of the new threats,