Here are a few of the top stories in which eMarketer data and analysis were featured this week:

7/1: Guardian.co.uk – US Federal Trade Commission reportedly investigates Twitter
US consumer watchdog the Federal Trade Commission is reportedly investigating the way Twitter deals with the companies that build applications and services for the company. Read more.

7/1: Reuters – Facebook crashes advertising industry party
While traditional advertising groups jostled for awards at a recent annual industry gathering in Cannes, the year’s biggest star was a newcomer to the beaches: the social network Facebook. Read more.

6/30: Entrepreneur – Advertise on Facebook? AmEx Has the Credit Card for You
Forget miles and cash back, American Express is rewarding cardholders with Facebook Ads. In what is being touted as a means for small businesses to attract new customers, AmEx announced this week that its Membership Rewards points can now be used to purchase advertisements on Facebook. Read more.

6/30: Adage.com – What Makes a Memorable Ad? Location, Location, Location
If you advertise online, you demand messaging and branding that leads to increased marketing ROI and a reduced cost of sales. You hammer the point home when planning your campaign: “We must be memorable.” Read more.

6/30: WSJ.com – Heineken Makes Deal With Google in Social-Media Push
Brewer Heineken NV, which on Thursday confirmed it had signed a multi-million euros online advertising contract with Google Inc., is in talks with Facebook Inc. and other companies about similar deals as it looks to boost its brand presence on social media sites. Read more.

6/29: Bloomberg.com – Stone’s Move to Obvious Leaves Twitter Without Full Attention of Founders
Twitter Inc. co-founder Biz Stone’s decision to join fellow company alumnus Evan Williams at Obvious Corp. leaves Twitter with none of its creators fully devoted to the microblogging service. Read more.

6/29: NYTimes.com – News Corporation Sells MySpace for $35 Million
MySpace, the long-suffering Web site that the News Corporation bought six years ago for $580 million, was sold Wednesday to the advertising network Specific Media for roughly $35 million. Read more.

6/28: Associated Press – Co-founder Biz Stone leaving Twitter
Isaac “Biz” Stone is moving on from Twitter, just five years after co-founding the microblogging site that has become integral to the social media scene around the globe. Read more.

6/27: paidContent.org – New Study Shows E-Reader Ownership Surging Ahead Of Tablets
A new Pew report shows that the number of U.S. adults who own a dedicated e-reader (like a Kindle or Nook) has doubled since November 2010, to 12 percent. That is much faster growth than predicted by a recent eMarketer survey, which predicted that e-reader ownership would not hit 12 percent until 2012. Read more.

6/27: Reuters – GSV takes stake in Facebook, valuing it at $70 billion
Investment fund GSV Capital Corp has taken a small stake in Facebook that values the world’s No. 1 social networking site at about $70 billion. Read more.

6/27: Digidaydaily.com – Pharma’s Stuck in Web’s Waiting Room
The pharmaceutical industry is new to advertising — it was only in the 1990s that it began widely marketing directly to consumers on TV — but it’s even farther behind when it comes to the Web. Read more.

6/27: Wall Street Journal – WPP Ad Unit Has Your Profile
In a quest to accelerate the business of targeting ads to consumers based on information about them, advertising giant WPP PLC plans to announce on Monday the launch of a new company that links its ad-buying technologies with a vast database of consumer profiles. Read more.

For more of eMarketer’s recent news coverage, click here.

It’s a familiar question. Whether the iPad or any other tablet will really be the “savior” of the publishing industry, as some have said, is unclear. What is clear, however, is that consumers aren’t likely to be friendly to publishers who don’t provide content optimized for their preferred digital media devices–be it tablet, e-reader, mobile phone, or even desktop computer.

Some publishers already appear to be taking the tablet route. Wired Magazine is currently developing a gorgeous app for the iPad, and other publishers appear to be moving in similar directions. We recently put senior analyst Paul Verna in the hot seat to ask some questions about his new report, “Paid E-Publishing Content: Books, Newspapers and Magazines” to really find out what’s moving and shaking in the print-gone-digital space. (Read more…)

Wired Magazine just released a video promoting their upcoming app for the iPad, and it looks gorgeous. We’ve all heard about how large-format e-readers such as the iPad and Amazon Kindle DX can deliver a truly immersive experience, but this video gets that point across visually. I was especially struck by interactive features embedded in the ads – something we haven’t heard much about because we’ve been understandably focused on editorial content. Delivering this type of rich media advertising experience will be crucial for publishers threatened by a sluggish economy, competition from other forms of entertainment, changes in consumer behavior, and the inexorable march of technology. (Read more…)

Interviewing a fellow analyst is always rewarding. This morning, I had the pleasure of speaking with John Jacobs, director of notebook market research at DisplaySearch, which is part of the NPD Group. We talked about the outlook for an emerging category that has many names in the industry – e.g. mobile Internet devices or ultra-mobile devices – and comprises everything from netbooks to tablets to e-book devices to gaming platforms.

These devices come in a range of sizes and form factors, but they share a number of important characteristics, including growing feature sets, processing power and reliance on wireless networks to deliver content. I’ll be looking at the confluence of devices and networks in my next report.

The key issue we discussed is oldie but goodie that’s resurfaced again in the past year: how many devices are consumers willing to carry with them? As smartphones evolve into veritable Swiss Army knives, do they obviate the need for netbooks? With a fully functional Kindle app available for the iPhone, do iPhone owners need to purchase a separate e-book device?

These questions ebb and flow with the evolution of the device cycle. Mr. Jacobs’ research suggests that consumers want fewer, more capable devices rather than multiple single-function gadgets, but the challenge with multifunction devices is always one of performing every function well (or at least well enough).

Interestingly, the reaction of consumers varies considerably by market. In developed markets like those in North America, Western Europe, Japan and South Korea, DisplaySearch has found that consumers buy netbooks as a secondary device (to an existing laptop or desktop PC) for specific usage situations (for example, Mr. Jacobs noted that in Western Europe, buyers use netbooks as substitutes for portable DVD players). In emerging markets, by contrast, netbooks sell at a far more accessible price point than more capable laptops, so buyers are willing to sacrifice features and performance just for the ability to purchase a portable computer.

Look for the complete interview transcript in the coming weeks.