Ad Industry Says $1 Billion For FTC Should Be Accompanied By National Privacy Law (mediapost.com)

In a move toward growth, Target has decided to close stores, and a dozen of them at that. The Minneapolis-based Star Tribune first reported on the news Tuesday afternoon. "We have a rigorous process in place to evaluate the performance of every store on an annual basis, closing or relocating underperforming locations as needed," a spokeswoman for the big-box retailer told CNBC. "Typically, a store is closed as a result of seeing several years of decreasing profitability," she added. The 12 stores — spread across states including Michigan, Florida, Illinois and Texas — will close on Feb. 3 of next year. Click Read More below for additional information.

Learning technology company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to divest HMH Books & Media, its consumer publishing business, to HarperCollins Publishers, a division of News Corp for a cash purchase price of $349 million. The divestiture enables HMH to focus singularly on K–12 education and accelerate growth momentum in digital sales, annual recurring revenue and free cash flow while paying down a significant portion of its debt.

Dear Industry Member: Here is immediate action you can take while ACMA works furiously to raise the resources to comprehensively attack the ridiculous new USPS rate authority that will double catalog mailers’ postal rates over the next decade. Please determine whether you (catalog merchant), your employees, suppliers or customers have constituent standing in any of the following locations where there are Members of Congress with direct connections to postal decision makers: West Virginia, Kentucky, northern Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Arizona, North Carolina, Kansas, Georgia, and Connecticut (click here for contact sheet). If you do, you have a unique ability to wield constituent pressure to cause elected officials to pressure the Postal Service Board of Governors to not institute a second unbudgeted rate hike, which could take place as soon as this summer. Click Read more below for important information.