Online advertising revenue increased for the third year in a row according to recent report released by Merrill Lynch. With most companies planning to spend between 10% and 20% of their advertising budget online, the overall growth of online advertising is expected to surpass 25% by 2010.

Last night I saw an online ad when I was checking my hotmail. The ad was a game claiming that I could win a cell phone by lighting farts on fire. I must admit that I thought it was a little bit weird, but I felt compelled to try it out. Using the videogame concept as a form of advertising is just one thing that separates online advertising from traditional methods.

Keyword advertising, those hyperlinks that now appear on some site’s text, currently has the largest market. The advertisers use algorithms to target specific websites at users based on the context of the content the users are viewing.

Another form of advertising is the pop up Flash movie. These are similar to TV ads without sound. One popped up when I clicked the link to a security article in my RSS Reader. I had no choice but to notice it.

Some RSS feeds even have advertisements in the feed body. Such inline RSS ads have a teaser for a product or service packaged with a link for more information. I clicked on one of these links and reviewed a security scanner as a result of the ad.

As e-commerce becomes more secure and users become more comfortable making online purchases, interactive online advertising will play a key role for the following reasons:

• Interactive ads can be fun.
• Online ads can be targeted users that are actually interested
• Hyperlinks conveniently drive customers to the point of sale

As bandwidth and Internet access increases, televisions will become smarter. Advertiser demand will drive and help pay for the shift from the current static, hierarchical, television format into a more dynamic format that allows for these same opportunities. Television ads, which are being TiVo'ed out are a point of concern for most advertisers. The major concern now is how the money will be spent.  Will the same conglomerate of media companies continue to receive virtually all of the advertising revenue?  Or will we be able to diversify this spending in a more fair and balanced manner?  The interactive potential for online ads should go along way to help advertisers rest peacefully.

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Carl Howe

ClickZ News 

AOL Blocks Critics

AOL rejected messages from DearAOL.com after performing routine maintenance on their mail servers.  AOL techs noticed the problem and it has since been corrected.  The blunder left AOL accused of censoring it critics.  DearAOL.com is critical of AOL’s proposal to offer a new service which, for a small fee, would certify that bulk e-mail would not be blocked by anti-spam filters.  DearAOL.com’s concern is that this would hurt the quality of free e-mail.  read the full story >>> 

I personally have a few free accounts, a University account, and accounts that are set up on my domain for which I pay a yearly fee.  Before spam blockers we’re installed I received hundreds of spam e-mails everyday.  Sometimes it would take me 20 minutes to check my e-mail because of this.  About half of the spam appeared to originate from free e-mail accounts.  If the quality of free e-mail suffers, what right does anyone have to complain – its free.  That would be tantamount to complaining about a gift. I feel that setting limits on how much mail can be sent from an account is a great idea.  Maybe if people had to pay for sending large numbers of e-mails, more of the messages would contain legitimate offers.  Even with spam blocking, I still receive about two e-mails a week for each of the following:

• Home refinance
• Pharmaceuticals
• Online Dating
• Pornography

Spam and e-mail abuse have reached the proportions telemarketing reached in the late 1990’s when everyone received more calls from marketers than friends. If you pay for a service, it should be better than a service you receive for free. If AOL cuts down on spam by charging a fee and puts the money back into infrastructure, I say go for it.

Here are some recent developments in the world of Teleputing.

According to a recent BBC article The United States has 49 million Broadband users. This is the largest number of Broadband users in the world. According to a Veronis Suhler Stevenson Communications Industry Forecast from 2002, consumers spend more time using the Internet than reading newspapers and spend more money for Internet service than Newspapers and Magazines combined. Right now users are spending about one forth as much time surfing the web as watching television. However, the amount of time users surf the web has increased by 48% over the past five years while television viewing has dropped 3% during the same time frame. One thing that will accelerate this trend is the increase of television content providers turning to the Internet as a delivery mechanism. MSNBC already delivers its content both on cable and on the Internet. Time Warner recently made the announcement that it will offer reruns of its programs on broadband including its hit show Desperate Housewives. In order to generate revenue to pay for content production there is no way to fast forward through the commercials. Click here for details. Couple this with the fact the Google and Earthlink are teaming up to offer Bay Area residents advertising supported free 300 Kbps and $20 per month commercial-free 1 Gbps WiFi Internet access and we have conditions for another technology boom.

Even automakers are starting to feel the threat of wireless technology. In a New York Times article Carlos Ghosn, who now runs both the French automaker Renault and its Japanese affiliate, Nissan Motor is quoted as saying: "The auto industry is in competition for the attention and affection in the minds of consumers" against the electronic devices we have grown to love so dearly such as Bluetooth, and other wireless devices. With crude oil nearing $70 a barrel, it is starting to make more economic sense to work from home and telecommute rather than visit the office every day.

Bill Gates once said that he wanted our computing experience to rival that of television. If I had a billion dollars, I would buy all of the ABC affiliates I could get my hands on and as soon as TV broadcasting makes the switch to digital I would start broadcasting WiFi. I would give out free network adapters that could be tuned to my signals and pack them with promotional slicks. When users connected to my network, they would go to a page packed with ads that asked for a credit card number and gave a phone number if they would rather pay over the telephone. Once users paid, I would give them the right to use the Internet on my system.

I had gotten used to everything on the Internet being free. However, the reality is that people that produce content full time need to make a living. The reality is that we live in a capitalistic economy. The Google/Earthlink model for San Francisco is fair because it provides a tiered entry to WiFi by providing a lower rate advertising supported service for those who can’t afford it and a Premium service for those who can. So what that in the future we may have to watch some ads or pay small service fees. The Internet offers us one of the greatest opportunities in the history of the world. What a small price to pay to keep such a precious jewel.

One day the VP of a global consumer electronics corporation where I was a contractor called a meeting of employees.  He said that the company could hold it’s head under water for 5 years but they felt that they owed it to their stockholders to make some changes.  Soon the distribution center was moved to Mexico.  The new technical support call center was moved to India.  Manufacturing was moved to Singapore.  As far as I know the design center is still holding on by a thread.  That was in the summer of 1999.  When GM announced the same thing, I telegraphed the VP’s speech note for note.  I’m convinced that a PR firm has a template speech for such plant closings.

Upon such a backdrop, let me interject this figure.  Public Relations firms feed 80% of all news.  The News Media is undergoing the same downsizing as any other business.  In the increasing effort to please Wall Street, reporting staffs are being laid off.  Under increasing pressure to release relevant stories under the deadline, the reporters left on staff are lured into reporting what the global corporations, large special interest groups, and government wants us to hear.

Meanwhile, the American public remains oblivious to what’s gradually becoming a crisis -- the widening gap between rich and poor and the elimination of the Middle Class.  This is the smoke and mirror that hides this is the ever-increasing polarization of our two-party political system.  Most Americans are interested in making money and enjoying the money they make.  Neither of the two commentators on the news programs screaming at each other seems to be screaming in favor of this.  What can we, as the American people, do about this?  Start a new party?   Something like “The Moderate Party – for the Middle Class.”  I laughed when I first heard it myself, but if you think about it long enough, maybe it will click.

Here are some of the major social interests and what interests global corporations might have in them.

Gay Marriage

Corporations pay more benefits to married people than single people.  Gays have challenged this fact for the past several years.  I don’t have any dollar figures for this issue, but it would be nice to have these figures reported and what economics might be behind this issue.

Illegal Immigration

Corporations who utilize illegals can skirt labor laws and taxes, adding up to big savings.  Again, nothing I have read or heard on this issue gave me any dollar amount.  No one seems to be pushing for corporations paying back taxes and fines for employing illegals.  However, the illegals and the government are taking most of the heat.

Internet Pornography

The Internet is draining media profits and Media companies haven’t figured out on a way to cash in on it.  Why don’t Credit Card companies block payment to child porn sites?  They block transactions to offshore gambling sites.

The Budget Deficit

If foreign interest pulled all the money out of the US like they did in the 70’s, interest rates would shoot through the roof.  Maybe the global corporations don’t care because they can just move to another country.

I could go on and on about this because I believe that the American Middle class is what keeps this country strong and viable.  To destroy it is to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.  Will a massive crisis occur before anyone takes any action, or will we be able to find ways to hedge this off and balance the problems of shifting to a global economy?