The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a baby - bit.ly/11GYnaj

— Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) December 3, 2012

For all my followers who believe this is some kind of spoof account, here's a photo to prove that it is me. #royalbaby twitter.com/IamRoyalBaby/s…

— Royal Baby (@IamRoyalBaby) December 3, 2012

Any chance of the first interview @royalfoetus ?

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) December 3, 2012

Well, that didn't take long. Minutes after Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting, spoof Twitter accounts popped up including @IAmRoyalBaby and in an Atlantic-spanning move, @royalfetus and @royalfoetus. The British Monarchy was not amused, as the former account was swiftly suspended, despite an interview request by CNN's Piers Morgan. (Never mind: @IAmRoyalBaby is back.)

Clarence House broke Kate and William's good news, which quickly spawned #royalbaby as a trending topic on Twitter. The Guardian and the BBC are covering the news in live-blogs. Also joining Twitter today in a royal blessing for the social media platform: @pontifex, the official account for the Vatican's iPad-handy pontiff, Pope Benedict.

It's tough being CNN. The brand that invented the 24-hour news cycle and which made its name covering the Iraq war and other crises has always had to find a way to drive tune-in when there isn't an OJ Simpson-on-the-lam or other breaking news story.

So if you're a CNN executive these or most other days, you're hoping — to yourself, at least — for another "drop everything and watch this" story to unfold somewhere in the world. Nothing really nasty, mind you; just something that will rivet viewers' attention on CNN the way they always do when something goes bad somewhere around the globe.

"The world still knows to turn to CNN whenever a crisis erupts," David Bohrman, the Current TV president who served as CNN's Washington bureau chief, commented to the Wall Street Journal. "That is the brand." And therein likes the rub.Continue reading...

AOL hears strategy slammed by activist investor.

Ancestry.com uses humor in holiday-themed campaign.

Carnival Cruise campaign focuses on first-time cruisers.

CNN's Piers Morgan gets grilled in U.K. hacking probe.

Cracker Barrel shareholders reject activist investor's bid for board seat.

EA strikes again at Activision with new video game.

Facebook plans to begin placing ads in user news feeds.Continue reading...

Our most-read blog posts of the past week include MTV's 30th Birthday, Budweiser's Can Re-design, Knock-off Ikea Stores, and more:

#1 China's Kunming Adds Fake Ikea Store to Apple Clones

#2 Viral Video Watch: A Day Made of Glass

#3 A TV Icon Turns 30, But Do Kids Still Want Their MTV?

#4 Gap's New Global Brand Story: Denim, Design, Food Trucks and a Dog Named Louis

#5 Chrysler Produces Gospel Version of Eminem Super Bowl Hit

#6 MAC Cosmetics + Cindy Sherman: Genius or Lunacy?

#7 Bud Refresh: The King of Beers Puts on a Bowtie

#8 Logo Showdown: Iowa Hawkeyes Clips Southern Miss Golden Eagle

#9 CNN's Piers Morgan Finds Himself on Hackgate Hot Seat

#10 Hooters Hotel Goes Bust in Vegas

Accenture drives social business adoption through gamification.

Amazon battles U.S. states over taxes.

Bally expands to India.

Banco Popular expands rebranding to Popular Inc.

Canada sees online ad revenue exceed print for the first time.

Cargill recalls 36 million pounds of turkey products.

CNN finds host Piers Morgan coming under parliamentary pressure and accusations by Heather Mills over hacking.

Coca-Cola joins brands testing cloud-based in-text social advertising.

comScore acquires analytics firm AdXpose.

Dunkin' Donuts rolls out Keurig single-serve cups, with Starbucks to follow.Continue reading...

Markets rally as Sunday night's U.S. debt limit deal goes before Congress for a vote today as Twitter explodes over deal.

Airbnb investor suggests ransacked woman is lying.

Al Jazeera English launches in New York.

Ambassador Coffee brand changes hands.

Apple wins dispute over iPods.com domain.

Bank of America hit with new Countrywide lawsuit.

Bloomberg Businessweek to hike paid circulation.Continue reading...

Former British tabloid editor (turned Larry King replacement) Piers Morgan is being reeled in to the News Corp. phone-hacking scandal, and he's done defending himself.

Before his US arrival on CNN and judging spot on NBC’s summer hit, America’s Got Talent, Morgan was the editor of the now defunct British tabloid The News of the World in the mid-1990s and subsequently, its "red-top" rival, The Daily Mirror. His tenure on Fleet Street is now putting him on the hot seat he usually reserves for his TV guests.Continue reading...

Airbnb image takes a hit with customer horror story.

Amazon helps consumers shift from a physical to a digital future.

BMW lands prime sponsorship of U.S. team in 2012 Summer Olympics.

Boeing slows 787 deliveries.

CNN host Piers Morgan accused of hacking on his watch while editor of News of the World.

Chrysler and Fiat prepare to merge and finish their turnaround stories.Continue reading...