JetBlue Airways redesigned its website and mobile site, and has also launched an iPhone application, all with the intent of personalizing and simplifying the customer experience, the airline said on Feb. 6.

Facebook has hired Rebecca Van Dyck, SVP and CMO at Levi's to join the social network as its first head of global marketing, according to reports.

Printer Quad/Graphics announced on Feb. 1 that it acquired Williamson Printing Corporation, a 128-year-old printer that specializes in short- to medium-run catalogs, books, direct mail and promotional products.

Amazon claims that the state of Arizona has served the online company a tax bill for $53 million for uncollected sales tax.

Office supply retailer Staples is launching a new e-commerce site that optimized specifically for shopping on tablet computers.

Infogroup won list management responsibilities for Arizona Mail Order Company lists and databases, effective Feb. 1.

Facebook filed for a $5 billion initial public offering (IPO) just after 5 p.m. on Feb. 1. The company said in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it will use the ticker symbol "FB" and detailed its offerings for advertisers and marketers.

Sony Corp. appointed Kazuo Hirai as its new president and CEO, replacing CEO Howard Stringer, effective April 1. Pending approval of the company's board of directors, Stringer will become chairman of the board in June.

Talk about your "static" emails. On Jan. 2, Dish Network contacted a Direct Marketing News staffer who willingly agreed to accept emails from the satellite TV services provider. Poor staffer.

Acxiom reported that revenue for its marketing and data services companies for the third quarter of its 2012 fiscal year was $188 million, down from $189 million during the same quarter last fiscal year.

Harte-Hanks' fourth-quarter direct marketing revenue decreased by 3.6% to $168 million, but the annual adjusted revenue for direct marketing was up 5.1% to $23.8 million, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of growth, the agency said in an earnings statement.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is, for the second year, planning a summertime promotion for direct mailers that use two-dimensional barcodes, USPS VP of domestic products Gary Reblin told Direct Marketing News on Jan. 31.

Wal-Mart, which last week shook up several of its C-suite positions, is undergoing further reorganization that will integrate the company's merchandising and marketing teams, Wal-Mart president and CEO Bill Simon said in a Jan. 27 statement.

Visitors to consumer package goods (CPG) e-commerce websites spend 37% more in retail stores than consumers who do not visit the brand sites, according to a Jan. 30 study by comScore, Accenture and dunnhumbyUSA.

Staples will open an e-commerce innovation center in Massachusetts in May that will house teams "responsible for designing and implementing innovative new e-commerce solutions" for Staples' business customers, the company said in a Jan. 26 statement.

Google's new overarching privacy policy will allow the company to share user data gathered from services including YouTube, Gmail, Picasa and the Google search engine, the company said in a new privacy statement.

In response to feedback from the mailing industry, businesses mailing automated or presort letters first-class can now mail letters weighing up to two ounces at the one-ounce postage rate, said U.S. Postal Service (USPS) spokesperson Patricia Licata on Jan. 26. The "2nd Ounce Free" initiative became effective this week.

Dominic Proctor has been named president of GroupM, parent company of Mindshare Worldwide, GroupM confirmed on Jan. 26.

Westlake Ace Hardware has launched a marketing campaign designed to drive mobile database opt-in. Westlake is working with marketing technology services company SoundBite Communications on the campaign.

Netflix said Jan. 25 that it saw $876 million in global revenue in Q4, a year-over-year increase of 47%, although it spent nearly 60% less on marketing in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with the same period of the prior year.