The FTC is reportedly investigating Google for anti-competitive actions in the $9.64-billion U.S. display advertising market. An inquiry in display advertising might look initially like more of a stretch than the FTC’s failed challenge to the company on search and search advertising. But Google is growing like a weed in the display advertising market, analysts say.
We're kicking off our upcoming Social Media Marketing Boot Camp with a special keynote presentation by Ella Chick (left), the digital producer at Anderson Cooper 360°. She'll discuss how the network uses social media for breaking news and leverages social media to draw attention to organizations and causes. Learn more about our program and register here. 
Less than a week after Google launched a service that allows private individuals to transfer money by email, Square has launched a similar product in a private beta.
Report: Yahoo Will Announce Acquisition of Tumblr Today (SocialTimes)
Yahoo’s board met Sunday and agreed to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion in cash, according to AllThingsD. The company was quickly targeted by incoming CEO Marissa Mayer as a larger acquisition target, according to AllThingsD reports. AllThingsD It’s not clear when the official vote was taken, but sources close to the board said the acquisition was a foregone conclusion and was unanimously approved by the directors of Silicon Valley Internet giant. The deal will likely be announced this morning, said numerous sources.
Google’s Big Push to Own Social Starts Now (CNET)
Nearly two years after the launch of Google+, Google’s social strategy looks like less of a joke and more of a calculated maneuver to make its social network the underlying fabric that weaves together relationships spread across desktop and mobile, Android and iOS. Wednesday, at its annual Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco, the search company announced 41 new features for its Google+ social network, including a Pinterest-like look, auto-generated related hashtags, “Awesome” photo options, and a streamlined messaging experience.
Google will launch music streaming through YouTube and Google Play, according to reports in The Verge and the Wall Street Journal. SocialTimes will be reporting from Google’s I/O conference for the rest of this week.
Google Now Offers 15GB of Shared Storage for Drive, Gmail and Google+ Photos; Apps Customers Get 30GB (The Next Web)
Google on Monday announced a change to how it offers free cloud storage to its users: 15GB will now be shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google+. Previously, Google offered 10GB for Gmail plus another 5GB for Drive and Google+ Photos.
YouTube Offers ‘Sesame Street’ and Martial Arts, for a Fee (The New York Times)
YouTube on Thursday detailed its plan to let producers sell paid subscriptions to their videos, creating a prominent new marketplace for programming on the Internet. The first paid video channels appeared on the sprawling video Web site, a unit of Google, Thursday afternoon, with subscription rates ranging from 99 cents to $7.99 a month.
Facebook (Unofficially) Lands on Google Glass (AllFacebook)
Although it’s only available to a super-select few, Facebook already has a home on Google Glass. It’s not the official Facebook application, but TechCrunch reports that recently launched photo-sharing app Glass to Facebook uploads photos taken with Google Glass to users’ Facebook accounts.
Gmail will now automatically underline dates and times mentioned in emails, allowing users to use the information to schedule events in Google Calendar without leaving the Gmail interface.
Mark your calendars, SocialTimes readers. We’ve got a free webcast happening next Monday, May 6 from 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. ET on Google Tools for Social Media Marketing Success. Monica Morse, the social media lead for SMB Solutions at Google, will be sharing best practices on how to use Advanced Search, Trends, Hangouts, and YouTube to enhance your social media marketing campaigns.
