Ellen Keohane

With the goal of creating a better Web experience for users, Google released the beta version of its new open source browser Chrome. "People are doing a lot more online," Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management at Google, said during a webcast press event held today. As the Web has evolved from simple text pages to interactive applications, browsers also need to evolve, he said.

The number of online advertising networks, companies that aggregate and sell advertising inventory on behalf of a group of publishers, has continued to grow in recent years. But is there room in the market for all of them? Experts in the space say maybe.

Google is far from being unseated as the dominant player in the US search market. Accord­ing to ComScore data for July, Google led the core search market with 61.9% of searches conducted in the US.

The Aegis Group plc, the parent company of Aegis Media and Synovate, has reported 8.2% organic revenue growth for the first half of 2008. Due to slowing demand in Spain, the US and the UK, the marketing communications group said its revenue outlook for the second half of 2008 is less certain.

The US Postal Service is seeking public comment on a proposal that would require detached address labels (DALs) accompanying saturation mailings of periodicals or Standard Mail flats to be automation-compatible and barcoded.

Digitas Worldwide CEO Laura Lang has named Glenn Engler president of the agency's Boston headquarters, replacing Torrence Boone. In May, WPP hired Boone as CEO of Project Enfatico, a new global agency formed by WPP for Dell in December.

Alpha Media Group has selected Steak to manage its paid search marketing campaigns for the men's lifestyle magazine Maxim and the music magazine Blender. "We're delighted because they're two great publications," said Chrysi Philalithes, launch managing director, Steak New York.