NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- In its launch of the summer's annual Restaurant Week, New York City & Co., the marketing arm of New York, has given a special nod to both social networking and the recession. Twitter users, for the first time, were able to get first dibs on information about which restaurants would be included in the program that offers dinners at luxe eateries for near-diner prices. Meanwhile, the program was expanded to the make the "week" 20 days long to amplify its impact on recession hammered restauranteurs.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The technique of "social video" -- the use of video as the central organizing element for social interaction and storytelling online -- is beginning to demonstrate its power. In this second part of our "About Digital" report on the latest trends in viral video, we analyze Samsung's "HD Camera Phone Trick." That YouTube clip was created and produced for Samsung Mobile by London's Viral Factory. Its traffic and engagement patterns were tracked and analyzed by Visible Measures. They may tell us a lot about the future of online advertising.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Advertisers have largely abandoned the sponsorship of objective journalism and the country's most powerful newsrooms are increasingly unable to fund the basic gathering and reporting of real, original news. That bleak picture was the subject of a Gotham Media seminar earlier this week. The former president of CBS News, president of the Newspaper National Network and CEO of Air America Media explored what the panel characterized as the mainstream media business' biggest content crisis.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- In an effort to improve the public's perceptions of its products, the plastics industry will launch a $10 million social media blitz aimed at Mellennials. Created by the Apco Worldwide agency for SPI, the industry trade group, the four-year effort is designed to spark viral conversations among Mellennials about the many benefits of plastic. This interview with SPI president-CEO William Carteaux took place at last week's NPE2009 conference in Chicago.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The online video space is no longer just a sideshow for marketers. Brands like T-mobile, Samsung and Cadbury have recently scored viral video hits racking up 10 million or more views. Meanwhile, the science of tracking online video audiences has made great strides in the past 18 months. In this ten-minute "About Digital" report Ad Age digital editor Abbey Klaassen explores some of the latest viral video trends and insights emerging from that data.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Along with all the other ways its wounded marketers, the global recession is greatly exacerbating the problem of counterfeit products. Citing data from its latest study of the issue, the CMO Council warns that global rings of brand pirates have moved far beyond luxury goods into even the most mundane sort of branded items. Council vice president for operations Liz Miller estimates that U.S. marketers are losing from 5 to 8% of their profits to brand fakers.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Things have never been smooth between TiVo and advertising agencies since that company rose to fame by popularizing ad-zapping DVRs. But now TiVo has changed into a home entertainment utility with video content from more than a hundred sources and an ad sales department. But, as VP for Ad Sales and Content Services Tara Maitra explained at the recent Advertising 2.0 conference, the company still gets no respect in ad agency land.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- What's the future for media agencies in a 2.0 world where marketers communicate directly with their consumers? That was one of the issues Tim Hanlon addressed at the recent Advertising 2.0 conference. He's managing director of VivaKi, the year-old Publicis entity that's an investment arm and think tank for new digital marketing strategies. It's re-envisioning what a media agency is.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- For the last 53 years, Advertising Age has tracked the spending and calculated the rankings of the nation's one hundred largest advertisers. Over the years, that annual Ad Age DataCenter report has become a much-anticipated barometer of the overall health of the ad industry itself. In this video interview, Ad Age director of data analytics Brad Johnson interprets the key points and implications of this year's findings.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- How about a contest to determine the country's fastest SMS texters? That 2007 idea for a small-scale PR gimmick has spawned what has become a major branded entertainment property for LG Electronics. The modest effort three years ago drew in several hundred mobile phone thumb athletes. This year's program, co-promoted with MTV, the Mets and Citi Field, attracted 250,000 entrants. The finals were filmed as a TV show earlier this week in New York with the winner -- a 15-year-old from Iowa -- taking home $50,000.