The latest tech news:

  • Groupon CEO Is Out

Struggling online deals pioneer Groupon said Thursday it ousted CEO Andrew Mason and will look for a new chief.

Executive Chairman Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis were appointed to the Office of the Chief Executive while a replacement is found.

Thursday’s announcement after the stock market closed came as little surprise. The move had been expected for months.

The announcement came one day after online deals company Groupon Inc. reported a bigger-than-expected loss and gave a weak revenue outlook for the current quarter. The guidance had fueled investor worry that people are tiring of the myriad of online restaurant, spa and Botox deals that Groupon built its business on, and that the company’s efforts to broaden into an e-commerce powerhouse haven’t been paying off.

Groupon Inc., which went public in November 2011, makes money by taking a cut from the online deals it offers on a variety of goods and services. Investors have questioned whether that business model is sustainable and leads to growth over the long term — and whether the company can not only grow its customer base but make more from each subscriber.

  • Facebook Buys Microsoft Ad Business

Facebook says it’s buying the Atlas advertising business from Microsoft.

Atlas makes ad management and measurement tools for businesses. It’s one of the businesses of Microsoft’s ill-fated $6.3 billion purchase of aQuantive in 2007. The purchase comes as Facebook Inc. tries to increase revenue from advertising, particularly on mobile services.

  • Google Keeping Cash

Google’s chief financial officer says the company plans to cling to its steadily growing stash of cash to pay for potential acquisitions and other investments that could boost the Internet search leader’s profits.

Patrick Pichette explained Google Inc.’s rationale for holding on to its $48 billion in cash in response to a question posed Thursday at a Morgan Stanley technology conference.

The money-management policies of publicly traded companies are getting more attention as more firms hoard huge amounts of cash instead of introducing or increasing dividends to reward stockholders.

Apple Inc., the world’s most valuable company, is currently under the most scrutiny because it holds $137 billion in cash.

Pichette says Google wants to have plenty of cash so it can “pounce” on acquisition opportunities. He didn’t identify potential targets.

  • Apple iTunes U Downloads Top 1 Billion

Apple says people have downloaded more than 1 billion items from iTunes U, which features free books, lectures and other information from schools, libraries and museums around the world.

Apple Inc. said Thursday that there are now single iTunes U courses with more than 250,000 students enrolled in them. Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet software and services, calls this a “phenomenal shift in the way we teach and learn.”

Apple says more than 1,200 universities and 1,200 K-12 schools host courses on iTunes U. Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and The Open University, an online learning center based in the U.K., each had more than 60 million pieces of content downloaded.

More than 60 percent of the iTunes U app downloads are outside the U.S.