In a move to shove Yahoo off its display-ad perch, Google last Thursday launched its DoubleClick Ad Exchange, which the company promised would streamline and improve how display ads are targeted at and delivered to a desired audience. more

While enjoying a recent meal out, Richard King got into a friendly conversation with a fellow diner about his work in email marketing. "After 15 minutes our discussion [came to] the famous question," he recounts at the EmailDirect blog. "'Why wouldn't I just do that in-house?' I quickly replied with ... more

National magazine ad spending surpassed local TV ad spend in June, bumping local TV into fourth place, but cable TV kept its lead, followed closely by network TV. more

More than half (55%) of gay and lesbian Americans read blogs, compared with only 38% of heterosexuals. They also use social networking sites more than their heterosexual peers. more

Need a friend? Brisbane-based uSocial will find thousands of them on Facebook for you—at a price. more

When David Meerman Scott signed up for email alerts about launches and events at the Kennedy Space Center, he didn't expect getaway offers from Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, which operates the space center's visitor center. A close examination of the subscription's fine print, however, revealed an opt-out policy ... more

Total measured advertising expenditures in the first six months of 2009 fell 14.3% from a year earlier, to $60.87 billion, according to TNS Media Intelligence. Q2 spending was down 13.9% from last year—the fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline. more

The financial services industry accounted for the most online image-based ad impressions in July, with nearly 36 billion. Next were Web media and telecommunications, followed by retail goods and services, according to Nielsen. more

Social networking sites delivered 21% of all US online display ad impressions in June 2009, according to a recent comScore study, with MySpace and Facebook together accounting for more than 80% of impressions in the social networking category. more

The sun is setting on the tyranny of business cards—that stack of stiffs that seems important as you add to it again and again, but which you never really get the chance to sort through later. Well, hail and farewell!  One application precipitating the demise of these paper dinosaurs is Bump, which pretty much turns ... more

According to Madison Riley and Brooks Kitchel of Kurt Salmon Associates, retailers often respond to sluggish sales by slashing prices and hoping to beat the competition on value. But there's a problem. "Contrary to the common practice of deep discounting in troubled times," they argue, "competing on compelling products is ... more

In a post at the FutureNow blog, Bryan Eisenberg recalls an email from Nikon that caught his attention with the subject line "My Picturetown—20GB for just a few cents a day!" So far, so good. But clicking on the message's call-to-action—Store my photos and videos—led him to a landing page ... more

"Are you on an SEO honeymoon?" asks Ben McKay in a recent Search Engine Journal post. You know you are, he says. when you can think of simple ways to increase your client's search-engine rankings and garner fast results. But what happens when you've picked all the low-hanging fruit? "You've ... more

Streaming TV shows and movies is at an all-time high in the US, with young adults (18-24) leading the way. more

A recent ad from Carnival Cruise Lines shows an average-looking guy in a red, white and blue track suit as he wanders around a ship, sniffing everything in sight: the carpeting, the rails, the Jacuzzi, the drapes and—even—various members of the staff. It's a little weird. Finally, though, he breaks ... more

Under normal circumstances, writes Dylan Boyd in a post at The Email Wars, the use of animated GIFs in email campaigns can be a dicey proposition. "[S]ometimes they work with a promo or special event," he says, "sometimes they just make things look cheap." Either way, it's a risk probably ... more

Laura Atkins, in a blog at Word to the Wise, recently invited the blogosphere to comment on a reader's claim that direct-mail catalog marketers would soon begin to rent and trade email lists as if they were physical addresses. "Once they figure out how to do this legally and ethically," ... more

Here's a juicy tidbit to chew on: One of the reasons Facebook is such a force in the social scene is that it makes it easy to catch up with friends without actually having to talk to them. Yep, you got it: Your Newsfeed outfits you with their latest photos, blog ... more

"It's high time email marketers assess campaign performance in terms of the business and marketing goals, objectives, and contribution expectations that matter," says Karen Talavera in an article at MarketingProfs. She recommends placing data into two broad categories to drill down to what really counts: Process Metrics—which are diagnostic in ... more

US advertising spending fell 15.4% in the first half of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008, declining more than $10.3 billion to a total spend of $56.9 billion in 1H 2009. more

In a Pro article at MarketingProfs, Kathryn Roy discusses seven infectious diseases often found in B2B marketing efforts. And she not only explains how to diagnose each disorder but also provides cures that can lead a campaign back to health. Here are a few examples: Glitzitis: This "refers to companies that ... more

In a post at Deliverability.com, Andrew Kordek acknowledges the ongoing push for relevant email campaigns—sending the right message to the right person at the right time. But despite these discussions, he worries that email marketers stop short of demonstrating true R-E-S-P-E-C-T for the people on their email lists. "Are you ... more

Applying SEO best practices like keyword research and link-building is a surefire way to start increasing your search rankings. However, in a recent Search Engine Watch post, Chris Boggs warns us not to forget the non-SEO ways to get websites consistently ranked for relevant desired terms. "SEO involves getting lots ... more

You've just presented a rough cut of your latest television ad when an executive begins asking questions that demonstrate he doesn't understand the concept of a rough cut. "It isn't color corrected, the sound is uneven, effects are sometimes missing, and if there's music at all it's generally just a ... more

"For small businesses, it can be a challenge to look uber-polished and sophisticated with every communication and customer-relationship tactic," says Heather Rast in a post at the Insights & Ingenuity blog. "The reality is that small-business budgets are, well, smaller than that of their mid- or large-sized counterparts." And that ... more