Mobile advertising, dominated by Facebook and Google, had $36.6 billion in revenue last year and made up 51 percent of digital advertising, emailed Roger Entner, analyst at Recon Analytics. Digital advertising for the first time was bigger than TV advertising, he said Wednesday. “What is hidden beneath the numbers is that mobile advertising is taking more than the entire growth of digital advertising,” Entner wrote. “Advertising is clearly going where Americans are spending more and more of their time and where most of the data traffic is being consumed. Advertising is also moving into the segments dominated by Google and Facebook, which are dominating mobile advertising to a much greater extent than the fixed internet.” Those companies increased their share of the digital ad market from 67 percent in 2015 to 71 percent in 2016, he said. Entner cited recently released numbers from the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Best Buy pitched customers in an email blast Wednesday on the return of an “Apple Shopping Event.” Deals included $100 off iPad Pro 9.7-inch tablets for a new starting price of $499 on a 32 GB model; up to $200 off a MacBook; $100 off select iMacs; and savings of up to $300 on an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus for customers buying and activating a phone on a 24-month installment plan. A 256 GB rose gold iPhone 7 had a monthly deal price of $22.91, down from $35.42, on the Sprint network with a 24-month plan. A 32 GB Apple TV was discounted by $10 to $139, and Beats Studio wireless headphones were chopped by $180 to $199. Discounts for iPod nano and touch music players were $5-$10.

Connected home security company Ring will feature former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal in a marketing program aimed at reducing neighborhood crime. Ring and O’Neal will donate $1 million worth of Ring security devices, including doorbells and floodlight security cameras, during 2017, the parties said in a Friday announcement.

Sprint is offering a free fifth line of unlimited data, talk and text to new customers who sign up for its Unlimited Freedom package, said the wireless carrier in a Tuesday announcement. The plan includes HD streaming for videos, gaming and music; 10 GB per month per line of mobile hot spot data at rates of $50 per month for the first line; $40 for a second line and third line; and $30 per month for each of four lines, Sprint said. The limited- time deal runs through June 30, 2018, when rates go to $60 per month for one line, $40 for two lines and $30 for lines three through five, it said.

More than 90 letters were sent out to influencers and marketers, aimed at reminding them they "should clearly and conspicuously disclose their relationships to brands when promoting and endorsing products" on Instagram and other social media sites, said the FTC in a Wednesday news release. The agency said the letters were sent out after Public Citizen and other groups filed petitions on influencer advertising on Instagram. The FTC said if there's a "material connection" -- such as a business or family relationship, monetary payment or gift -- between an endorser and advertiser it must be clearly disclosed unless it's already clear from the context of the communication. Specifically, FTC staff letters said influencers and marketers should disclose the material connection within the first three lines of an Instagram post. Staff also said if a disclosure is included in multiple tags, hashtags or links readers may not notice them. The FTC said some letters addressed other unclear disclosures, "pointing out that many consumers will not understand a disclosure like '#sp,' 'Thanks [Brand],' or '#partner' in an Instagram post to mean that the post is sponsored."

Best Buy hit customers with a “Monday Motivation” email pushing the new fifth-generation iPad and the retailer’s offer of a $150 Best Buy gift card for an iPad trade-in. The deal, which began last month (see 1703220068), runs through Saturday. Shoppers who trade in a working Apple iPad Mini 2, Mini 3, Mini 4, Air, Air 2 or Pro will get a minimum $150 store gift card for a tablet in good condition, it said. List price for the newest 9.7-inch iPad with 32 GB storage is $329; $429 for the 128 GB model.

Google, criticized for placing advertising next to objectionable content on YouTube (see 1703240004), brought in comScore to provide independent brand safety reporting of ad campaigns on the video-sharing website, said comScore in a Wednesday news release. "Monitoring online content for brand safety is a complex challenge, particularly in an environment that has the vast scale and growth of YouTube," said Dan Hess, comScore executive vice president-products. The company's technology will constantly monitor "patterns within text content to identify the brand safety of a given ad context," the release said.

The National Advertising Division (NAD) is recommending Comcast end advertisements implying DirecTV satellite service is prone to weather disruptions. In a news release Tuesday, the investigative unit of the ad industry’s self-regulation system said the ads -- challenged by DirecTV -- are unsupported and in the future Comcast should "avoid any language or imagery of an absolute nature or the implication that service interruption in severe weather is typical." NAD said Comcast agreed to comply. The cable operator said it discontinued the ad campaign and still can use its tag line “Comcast delivers reliable TV -- rain or shine.”

Target is giving away a $300 gift card in an iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus promotion running through Saturday. The deal is available to customers who sign up for a new line of service or a smartphone upgrade, with a two-year contract, on AT&T Wireless, Sprint or Verizon Wireless.

Samsung advertised its Gear IconX wireless earbuds promo on online deals marketplace LivingSocial Thursday. The Samsung offer cuts the price of the earbuds, with a built-in 4 GB music player, by $50 to $149. The earbuds had an average rating of three stars out of five at Amazon Thursday and four out of five stars at Samsung.com. The $50 discount runs through Saturday.