On May 26, Nokia launched its Ovi Store, an online software and content repository, to an estimated 50 million Nokia device owners worldwide.

Following Apple's announcement of 1 billion iPhone app downloads in just nine months, Compete released its quarterly Smartphone Intelligence report, indicating 28% of smartphone users have spent $5 to $50 on a mobile application. These early signs of ancillary revenue have marketers asking what it takes to build a successful mobile application — and what the price is.

Analytics can play a key role in optimizing any campaign, and for brands Channel 4 and HowStuffWorks, tying analytics to their ad network buys is a new way that both publishers are optimizing their display ad campaigns. Earlier this month, data services firm Omniture and ad network 24/7 Real Media formed a strategic partnership with these and other publishers to track visitor site behavior and tie this information into their display ads.

With last week's announcement that Owen Van Natta, a Facebook alum, would replace Chris DeWolfe as CEO of MySpace, the social networking giant still finds itself quickly losing more friends to Facebook.

Over the past decade, self-publishing platforms, such as blogs and YouTube, have made it significantly easier for a market­ing manager to both craft the message and press "send."

Database company D&B is launching a new media property it says will allow mar­keters to reach consumers searching for businesses, business services and prod­ucts when they are looking to buy. With the newly created unit, D&B Digital, marketers can reach business decision-makers as they are looking to purchase a product or service, said Mark Walters, VP of D&B Digital.

As Google's YouTube and AOL and Yahoo videos gain popularity, brands are looking for ways to monetize online video. "Advertisers who used to get a lot of reach by buying spots on prime time TV are finding that they are reaching less of an audience, so they are looking for new opportunities, especially with younger audiences," said Usha Srinivasan, VP of product marketing at Vobile, which helps advertisers identify user-generated content to ensure that ads are safe against the content.

If you thought the days of sponsor men­tions were in the past, guess again. Advertis­ers, such as Warner Brothers and Janome, have found that custom content integration with Next New Networks can successfully reach targeted communities online.

As social media marketing remains in its nascent phase, many brands have been trying to figure out the best way to engage consumers in this ever-popular medium. Skittles, the fruity-flavored bite size candy produced by Mars Snackfood, last week decided to throw itself fully into, and at the mercy of, social media when it launched a revamped Web site.

As the Web gets more social, online prop­erty rental companies are optimizing their listings with social components.