WildTangent has struck a deal to provide in-game video advertisements within Playdom's hit Facebook game, Tiki Farm. As part of the deal, gamers can choose to watch a video ad in exchange for virtual items or other premium content. The deal is part of Redmond-based WildTangent's BrandBoost advertising platform, which was unveiled last month.

Speaking of games on Facebook, Seattle's Big Fish Games has released its second title on the social networking site. The game, My Tribe, was first released in 2008 for the Mac and PC. It is free to play on Facebook, though players can purchase virtual goods in order to accelerate game play.

We've been reporting on some of the PR stunts that cities are rolling out in order to attract Google broadband, yesterday noting that Renton had redesigned its site with a Google theme. Not to be outdone, the City of Seattle has now set up a Facebook fan page to support its efforts. At this point, the page has 74 fans.

The Msnbc Digital Network today said that it has created a new Facebook page around its growing BreakingNews brand. The company acquired the domain name www.breakingnews.com earlier this year, adn last December assumed responsibility for the @breakingnews Twitter account.

Seattle's Powerit Solutions, which helps industrial customers reduce their energy consumption, has completed a merger with Diana Solutions of Malmo, Sweden. The companies legally merged in 2008, and Powerit CEO Claes Olsson said the announcement is largely "symbolic." The company operates under the Powerit name, with HQ in Seattle.

Ali Partovi

After MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta stepped down last month, we noted that it could have implications in Seattle and on the twin brother entrepreneurs Ali and Hadi Partovi. The Partovis were the brains behind iLike, which sold to MySpace last year. And while we were told recently by a MySpace spokesperson that the Partovis remain on the MySpace team, Kara Swisher of All Things D today wonders about their future at the social networking giant.

Last week, an active discussion occurred on TechFlash after we asked why no startups from the Seattle area made The Wall Street Journal's list of the top 50 venture-backed companies. Scott Austin, who writes The Venture Capital Dispatch blog for the Journal, follows up today by putting together a map showing where all of the companies are located. Austin finds that 33 of the companies hail from California, while three are based in Massachusetts.

Starbucks is rolling out a new service on Foursquare that allows fans of the coffee chain to get a barista badge when they check in at five different locations. (Shouldn't be too hard in Seattle). Starbucks vice president Chris Bruzzo tells The New York Times: “It’s where the intersection between digital and physical starts to get interesting."

VentureBeat has a fascinating read on the cozy relationship between Oak Investment Partners and the Washington State Investment Board.

NanoString Technologies, the heavily-funded Seattle startup backed by OVP Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and others, has been without a CEO for just about a year now. But the company's newly-appointed executive chairman, Bill Young, tells GenomeWeb that "job one" is finding a CEO with plans to complete that search in the coming months. NanoString has been led by interim CEO Wayne Burns over the past 12 months. The story also has some interesting insights on NanoString's technology, which Young calls "elegantly simple."