How to Profit From Your Ad Space in This Economic Downturn (NET-ADS, May 31st)
Here, contributing author John D. Schultz presents some tips for publishers looking to maintain, or even increase, their ad sales despite the general slowdown in the growth of online advertising expenditure.

New 'Pop-Under' Web Advertising Earns Attention (SiliconValley.com, May 31st)
Though many Net-Ads readers would be very familiar with the popup and popunder advertising forms, this article is interesting in its exposure of how widely popunders are used on major web properties (such as the New York Times) these days.

The CPM Is Falling! The CPM Is Falling! (eMarketer, May 31st)
It's no secret to the majority of publishers that CPM rates are continuing to fall across the board as the buyer's market sets in. This article explains the cause of such a displacement in balance, and suggests the trends being indicated by the most towards performance-based models.

Commission Junction Launches Partner Program for New York Times (NET-ADS, May 30th)
Adding yet another big name to its roster of managed affiliate programs, CJ has claimed The New york Times as a customer of its ASP services.

24/7 Media Looking to Drop European Unit (internet.com, May 30th)
Continuing its aggressive cost-cutting agenda, which has already seen the company offload three major divisions this year, 24/7 Media has announced its intent to sell the company's European division during the third quarter of this year. Ad Pepper, DoubleClick and Real Media are considered to be amongst the most likely suitors.

Old Meets New: Direct Marketing Days Are Here Again (ClickZ, May 30th)
While the banner market struggles, email marketing is continuing to gain momentum, as old-world direct marketers embrace the medium for its cost-efficiencies, increased speed to market, and higher response rates as compared to direct mail campaigns.

Beyond the Banner: BMWFilms.com (NewMedia, May 30th)
BMW has taken advantage of the Web's strength in disemminating short, catchy imformation via viral means by promoting its new line of prestige automobiles via a series of short films produced, starring and directed by major Hollywood names.

Fox Launches Web Promotions for Upcoming Films (internet.com, May 30th)
Branching out beyond the staid promotional websites that used to compliment major movie launches, Fox has embarked on two innovative marketing campaigns to promote Moulin Rouge, Planet of the Apes, and their related offerings. The Apes campaign incorporated a geocaching game that employs GPS technology, while Baz Lurhmann's visceral Parisian film, and its popular soundtrack, are being marketed via rich-media banners, popups and mini-sites.

ValueClick Announces New Advertisers (NET-ADS, May 29th)
ValueClick Inc., the net's leading provider of performance advertising solutions, today announced the addition of an impressive roster of new advertisers who have enlisted the company's services since the beginning of the year. These include many traditional brand name marketers, suggesting that an increasing number of offline firms are coming to appreciate the value benefits associated with performance-based online advertising.

Agency.com Moves into Australia (NET-ADS, May 29th)
Despite significant consolidation within the Australian online marketing sector, Agency.com, Ltd. today announced a joint venture with Clemenger Communications, Australia's largest private communications group in the formation of Agency Interactive. Agency Interactive will focus on the emerging e-business market in Australia.

Are You Serving Spam? (BW Online, May 29th)
The single biggest threat to the future of email marketing as an effective means of reaching potential consumers is the infamous wave of unsolicited commercial email known as 'spam'. With an increasing number of businesses looking to incorporate email marketing into their online promotional efforts during the coming years, it is essential that these firms are made aware of the laws and code of ethics surrounding the medium, lest they become a plague upon the inboxes of net users.

I-Advertising Interviews Tig Tillinghast (I-Advertising, May 28th)
Interviewing an influential media buyer, I-Advertising here dispels some myths propagated by media research firms who inaccurately represent the state of the industry, while suggesting what steps online publishers need to take in order to attract traditional marketing clients online.

Clear Blue Media Clouds Over (NET-ADS, May 25th)
Just weeks after the folding of another network for medium-sized publishers, AdFlight, the rumors regarding the shuttering of Clear Blue Media's ad representation service have been confirmed. This article features the entire text of the final email issued by Clear Blue Media's CEO, Phil Pennington, to the company's many publishing partners.

After Dot-Com Bust, What is the Next Step for Content? (Newsbytes, May 25th)
The failures of Pop.com, DEN, Pixelon and several other high-profile entertainment content plays has proven that executives must ensure that adecquate business models are in place before launching a free, bandwidth-hungry service. This article outlines some of the possibilities to make content commercially-viable on and off the web.

CNN Selects EyeWonder Rich Media Format (MediaPost, May 25th)
Attracted by its comparitively superior compression and interactive elements, and the fact that creatives for the format may be created simply by porting a 15-second television commercial across to the form, CNN has made a commitment to employ EyeWonder's video interstitials throughout their top web properties.

RealMedia Founder to Depart (E&P Online, May 25th)
Dave Morgan, founder and co-Chairman of online advertising sales and technology firm RealMedia has left the firm to head a new tech startup whose focus is on assisting publishers to collect and manage visitor data for purposes of increasing the value/user.

Website Lets Users Opt-Out of Online Tracking (BizReport, May 25th)
Concerned about being watched as you travel the net? A new service endorsed by such names as DoubleClick, L90, Engage and 24/7 Media provides consumers with the opportunity to avoid the tracking techniques employed by marketers to better target ads to user behaviour.

A Rich-Media 'Platform' that's Really a Platform? (ClickZ, May 24th)
While the developers of most rich media formats have touted their product as an all-inclusive 'platform' that supports a multitute of rich-media applications, few have ever lived up to the tag until now. Eyeblaster is a product that creates a transparent 'layer', for want of a better term, over a website, on which various rich-media elements may be placed or moved, without affecting what is underneath.

Adverts on the Move (BBC News, May 24th)
This year will be pivotal in the development of the wireless advertising market, with marketers to beam their promotional messages to European cellphones via SMS messaging as soon as this month. Since targeting such a personal device could create a wave of negative sentiment, the Wireless Advertising Association (WAA) has enforced rigid guidelines regarding targeting, message size, frequency and complaint responses.

The Blame Game (eMarketer, May 24th)
With growth in the online ad industry still slowing, parties have started laying blame. This article notes that investors, industry marketers, publishers and ad networks are all partly responsible, before outlining the comforting news that the market expects to see strong growth during the next few years.

Just an Online Minute: Clear Blue Closes (MediaPost, May 24th)
The ruthless shakeout of the online advertising sector has claimed yet another victim this week, with the announcement that the promising Clear Blue Media has announced its decision to close its doors.

In the Blue Corner: Online Advertising (Gorilla Asia, May 24th)
AdSociety's Sean Wu expressed a bullish view of the online ad industry during his address at the 'landl Asia' conference, stating the under-used ability of banner ads to be used as branding mechanisms. He also expressed that while broadband uptake is increasing rapidly throughout Asia, many rich-media formats, such as video ads, have been successfully delivered to dial-up users through his service, with promising results.

Zengine and Unicast Become Technology Partners (NET-ADS, May 23rd)
Zengine, Inc., a sell-side ebusiness software and services provider, and Unicast today announced an agreement to augment Zengine's advanced ebusiness platform with what is arguably the most effective online advertising format available, Unicast's Superstitial®, dubbed "the Internet's Commercial™".

How to Achieve Super Affiliate Status (internet.com, May 23rd)
Have you been attempting to generate revenue from affiliate programs, but seen little succuss thus far? If so, this tip-filled article could get you back on the fast track towards becoming a super affiliate.

Study: European Online Ad Market Growing (internet.com, May 23rd)
The results of a study conducted by the Yankee Group have concluded that while the Western European online ad market is slated to almost triple in revenue over the next five years, banners and email campaigns will become increasingly smaller ingredients in the mix. Instead, the group forecasts a rise in innovative multi-channel marketing that links iTV, web and wireless properties through creative sponsorship deals.

Disney, Kellog Team for "Atlantis" Promotion (internet.com, May 23rd)
In a dream deal between two giant brands whose key audience is children and their parents, Kellogg and Disney have united in a cross-promotional marketing campaign where Kellogs will promote the website for Disney's new film, Atlantis: The Lost Empire on their cereal boxes, while Diney will advertise Kellogg's brand throughout both the site and interactive games associated with the film.

It's Not Only a Game (ChannelSeven, May 23rd)
Advergaming, which is the art of designing and virally-distributing games that promote a company's brand image, is a market set to boom during coming years, as more big-brand advertisers start shifting increasing proportions of their marketing budgets into the interactive media.

Today's Forecast: A Bright Tomorrow (ClickZ, May 23rd)
This ClickZ article outlines results from an eMarketer strudy suggesting that email marketing is set to grow both in terms of total revenue, and in regards to the proportion of online advertising expenditure allocated to the medium.

Ad Serving Technology Market Engaged in Battle (australia.internet.com, May 22nd)
Though DoubleClick has firmly established itself as the leading provider of ad serving technology within Australia and South East Asia, following the acquisition of Sabela from 24/7 Media, newsly-restructured Engage Australia has snared several high-profile clients in its battle to maintaina foothold on the market.

Ask Jeeves Snaps Up eTour (internet.com, May 22nd)
In a bid to expand its client base and range of products on offer to advertisers, Ask Jeeves has acquired struggling pay-to-surf play eTour.

As Revenues Fall, Sites Move From Free to Fee (SiliconValley.com, May 21st)
The Web's first phase was a consumer free-4-all, where websites battled with brand companies to establish market lead at a loss. Now, with venture capital streams drying up, and ad revenues declining, the trend is towards developing 'premium' services that are offered for a fee. This fee may be a set subscription payment in some cases, or an action-driven micropayment model in others.

DoubleClick Boosts Streaming Effort (internet.com, May 21st)
Striking a deal with streaming media enabler iBEAM on Monday, DoubleClick has made a brave leap into the realm of streaming media ad insertion and tracking just as the sector starts to gain momentum.

UGO's Media Reach Within its Grasp (internet.com, May 18th)
Just as cable TV plays were struggling against an unexpected ad sales downturn 20 years ago, online content networks are facing a similar dire market at present. The remedy for this, if congruent with the survival tactics adopted by the successful cable players, is consolidating, merging and building reach. With reach will come advertising dollars once the market improves.

24/7 Media Dumps Exactis (internet.com, May 18th)
Following its disappointing earnings release, 24/7 Media has announced the sale of its email delivery unit, Exactis to financial services firm Experian. Reps from 24/7 Media have suggested that the move may be followed by further asset sales and desperate cost-cutting measures.

Incentive Sites: Love Them or Leave Them (ClickZ, May 18th)
A quick glance at the terms and conditions associated with many affiliate programs will highlight the furor surrounding the emerging market of incentive programs. Most incentivized marketing systems/networks are avoided by online advertisers due to the perceived low quality of the leads generated through such a process. But with incentives long a major part of attracting leads offline, are online incentive programs worthy of a second appraisal?

Amazon.com to Add Movie Features (Excite News, May 18th)
Increasing its tight links to the film industry, which started with the purchase of the Internet Mobie Database (IMDb), and moved into the handling of official promotional sites for a number of films, Amazon.com has inked a deal with Buena Vista Pictures that will see it market their films online through cross-promotional initiatives.

7 From Seven, Featuring Eric Thomas (ChannelSeven, May 18th)
This interview probes the mind of the man who virtually founded the email marketing industry, with his development of Listserv in 85.

B2BWorks, AdSociety Link Up (internet.com, May 17th)
Following on the heels of similar moves made by US ad agencies Engage Media and DoubleClick, B2BWorks has expqanded its presence in the Asia-Pacific region through the acquisition of a foreign partner, AdSociety.

Measuring What Matters (ClickZ, May 17th)
Here, Tom Hespos notes that while many media sellers (and buyers, for that matter), have been attempting to dismiss CTRs (click-through-ratios) as the determining factor in measuring a campaign's success online, few tracks have yet been made into the farming of data from demographic surveys, log files, transaction reports and such to form a complate analysis of which campaigns produced the best responses.

Ad Blocking Goes Traditonal (ChannelSeven, May 17th)
Online publishers would by now be familiar with the disturbing, trend that has seen ad blocking software gain in popularity. Now, Hollywood and the gargantuan TV networks are facing the same obstancle, just as digital display and recording devices make their way into the homes of consumers.

Wireless Advertising: Something Special in the Air (eMarketer, May 17th)
Just as the Wireless Advertising Association (WAA) has established a set of standards to guide wireless advertising, a study has been released highlighting the willingness of cellular device users to respond to wireless ads, and the market certainly seems to be shaping up well. Of course, as we all know, new technology trends and audience behaviour can shift with the tides, but this study may at least warm the hearts of those who have made significant investments into developing their wireless strategies.

Yahoo Japan's Database as Ad Bait (CBS MarketWatch, May 17th)
Looking to further capitalise upon its huge membership base, Yahoo Japan is making moves to give advertisers access to its 8 million registered users for the purposes of delivering email campaigns.

Ask Jeeves and L90 Unite in Innovative Sales Agreement (NET-ADS, May 16th)
L90, Inc., a leading interactive marketing, technology, and media company, and Ask Jeeves® Web Properties, a division of Ask Jeeves, Inc. announced today they have entered into a marketing representation agreement. Under the agreement, Ask Jeeves will provide the L90 sales force with its surplus targeted keyword inventory which the L90 sales force will use to sell Ask Jeeves' innovative ad products across the DirectHit Network.

L90 Acquires Online Marketer (internet.com, May 16th)
The acquisition of Novus List Marketing by online ad network L90 marks the company's first major foray into offline direct marketing. The deal will also benefit the company's online clients through data upselling, in a similar fashion to DoubleClick's high-profile acquisition of Abacus Direct made last year.

For(d) the Birds (ChannelSeven, May 16th)
This article charts the lead-up to, application and response rates generated by the much-publicized 'takeover' ads that Ford ran on the front page of Yahoo! last week. If the statements and assumptions made throughout this article are anything to go by, it seems that such disruptive rich-media campaigns will form the basis of the next wave of interactive marketing.

L90's adMonitor Business Continues to Surge (NET-ADS, May 15th)
Interactive ad rep L90 today announced that they have recently signed exclusive technology agreements with a leading Canadian ad network, and several large publishing companies, further enforcing the reputation of their adMonitor system.

Click2Net Opens London Sales Office (NET-ADS, May 15th)
Increasing its ability to provide personalized attention to its UK-based clients, Canadian-based online ad network Click2Net has opened a regional office in London.

SC Johnson Selects Engage for Online Branding Campaign (NET-ADS, May 15th)
Today, Engage Inc. announced that SC Johnson had joined other traditional marketers such as Hyundai and British Airways in taking advantage of Engage's reach, targeting and efficiency in the delivery of its first major online branding campaign.

24/7 Beats Street, Pulls out of Latin America (internet.com, May 15th)
24/7 Media's first quarter results were released today, revealing a loss that slightly beat Wall Street estimates, but which remained wider than the same quarter last year. The company has recently made aggressive moves to cut costs and raise survival funds through layoffs and the sale of assets, and they expect to reach break even during the 4th calendar quarter of this year.

Blodget: Online Ad Industry OK, Thanks to AOL (internet.com, May 15th)
Merrill Lynch's celebrity analyst Henry Blodget has adjusted his view of the state of online advertising in response to better-than-expected revenue results seen through the first quarter. Of note, though, is the fact that the entire industry was buoyed by the continued growth of AOL Time Warner's media properties, the revenue from which accounts for some 46 per cent of all online ad dollars.

Ad Drought Leads to Lycos Charges (MediaGuardian, May 15th)
Lycos' ad selling woes have proven that it's not only the unbranded indies who are failing to gain advertiser support this year. Terra Lycos has responded by switching most of its services over to a subscription scheme.

Bankruptcy Court OKs $300million Winstar Loan (internet.com, May 15th)
Winstar Communications, the parent company of elite ad rep Winstar Interactive has been handed a life-line during bankruptcy negotiations that may see the firm survive long enough to break even.

WAA Releases First Batch of Mobvile Ad Standards (internet.com, May 14th)
Tackling an issue that continued to challenge those in the traditional web space, the world's largest wireless advertising group took steps on Monday to define and standardize SMS ad specifications.

"Spyware" Piggybacks on Napster Rivals (CNET News.com, May 14th)
Peer-to-peer networking software BearShare, Audio Galaxy Satellite and iMesh have all installed adware/spyware devices into their applications that returns data to their servers and stimulates the launch of popup advertisements as their users surf the net.

Web Measurement: Models and Metrics (internet.com, May 14th)
Just one of the issues that has left traditional advertisers sceptical about making large online buys is the discrepancies that exist between measurement metrics. Confusion exists as to how traffic should be measured and reported, with terms such as hits, pageviews, unique users, members, stickiness and reach tossed about in the absense of a universal standard.

Winstar Wipeout (Fortune.com, May 14th)
Fueled by optimistic investments made by the likes of Microsoft, Lucent and others, Winstar leapt into the tech scene with a vengeance, seeing its market cap surge towards the $10 billion mark in months. Unfortunately, an inability to clog the cash burn or define a short term path to profitability quickly saw the company's debts pile up, while its share price fell from $65 to less than $1. April 18th saw the company make a voluntary declaration of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Winstar owned and controlled the high-end advertising rep firm Winstar Interactive.

Digital Island to Deliver Ads for MSN (NET-ADS, May 12th)
In a coup for the struggling webhost, Digital Island has snared the task of serving some 860 million ads/day to Microsoft's online properties. The deal provides Microsoft with greater scalability and efficiency through the outsourcing its ad delivery infrastructure.

Performance Manifesto (ClickZ, May 11th)
With the popularity of performance-based buys on the increase, particularly in the realms of indie publishing, it is essential that both marketers and publishers have an understanding of how best to take advantage of the form. This article provides an introductory guide.

Terra Lycos, Unilever Break New Advertising Ground (internet.com, May 11th)
In a deal similar to the one struck between iVillage and Coca-Cola recently, Terra Lycos has made moves to offer beyond-the-banner partnerships with one of its major advertisers. Their first move in this direction is the creation of mini sites and CRM systems for consumer-products giant Unilever.

7 From Seven Featuring Annette Tonti (ChannelSeven, May 11th)
ChannelSeven's Pamela Parker interviews the CEO of one of the few successful rich-media technology firms, BlueStreak, about the future direction of rich-media online advertising and the alliance between the company and financial backer AOL Time Warner.

Perform or Perish (eMarketer, May 10th)
Though most publishers and advertisers have expressed their preference in sticking with the CPM-based model that has long been accepted as the standard model within traditional media, the trend towards pay-per-performance marketing is on the increase.

E-Mail Marketing Revenue to Top $2 Billion in 2001 (internet.com, May 10th)
Results of a study performed by eMarketer reinforces the statements made by DoubleClick and others earlier this year suggesting that while the banner ad market will remain flat during 2001, email marketing is poised for growth. The study concluded that revenues from email marketing will more than double this year.

B2B Plays Lack Understanding of Marketing (internet.com, May 10th)
In part due to the PR fallout concerning the overblown marketing of B2C services during the dotcom boom, Accenture has found that most B2B plays have looked towards price, not brand, as their defining competitive quality. This, suggests Accenture, is a misdirected focus, and B2Bers should increase their marketing efforts in order to increase their share of this still seminal market.

The Mobile Market's Bright Future (eMarketer, May 10th)
eMarketer rounds up the optimistic projections made by Telecompetition, who see revenues from the 3G mobile market reaching some $300 billion by 2010.

Could Traditional Media's Loss be Online's Gain (ChannelSeven, May 10th)
Two seperate studies into media use were released this month, suggesting that an increasing proportion of the population are turning to the internet as information and entertainment sources, while reducing their exposure to competing offline media. Since advertising dollars traditionally follow eyeballs, the implications of this trend are promising.

LifeMinders Looking for Buyer (internet.com, May 10th)
Reporting a dramatic drop in revenue through its direct email marketing efforts, LifeMinders has announced that they are actively seeking a buyer in order to save the firm.

AOL, Cisco in Ads-for-Routers Deal (internet.com, May 10th)
Leveraging its massive media reach, AOL has negotiated a deal that will see Cisco provide infrastructure to enhance AOL's lead in the ISP market, in exchange for advertising exposure for the firm (who recently posted their first ever loss).

AdScholar Refutes Bankruptcy Rumor (NET-ADS, May 9th)
Those AdScholar publishers who regularly traverse online advertising forums have been shaken of late by suggestions that the company may have filed for bankruptcy protection without informing its publisher base. Find a response from AdScholar's Jamie Palmer right here!

BMCMedia Signs Six Year DoubleClick DART Agreement (NET-ADS, May 9th)
South-East Asia's market-leading ad representation firm, BMCMedia has announced that it will call on DoubleClick's DART ad serving, tracking and reporting technology to serve its clients for the next six years.

UGO in Talks to Acquire Bla-Bla (internet.com, May 9th)
In news that will have a dramatic effect on the struggling online entertainment market, content aggregator and ad rep UGO is in negotiations to acquire the embattled Bla-Bla, whose customer list includes almost 400 quality online entertainment properties.

Webcasters Spread the Gospel of Webcast Advertising (internet.com, May 9th)
Though slow in their adoption, webcasters are now selling advertising within their streams at significant rates. Read more about the growing popularity of streaming media advertising within the ranks of webcasters and interactive ad agencies here.

Mediaplex Out of Media Business (internet.com, May 9th)
A pioneer in the technology and media-management fields of interactive advertising, Mediaplex has made the transition to a pure software-based company, selling of its media planning and execution business to Exile On Seventh.

Consolidation Continues in Online Ad Sector (australia.internet.com, May 9th)
With Telstra's Pacific Access taking control of Engage Australia's media business, the Australian online ad representation industry is dominated by just two major players, BMCMedia and Pacific Access.

Advertising: Pay Tied to Results Rather Than Campaign Itself (NY Times, May 9th)
There is a growing trend within the ranks of traditional advertising agencies for payment methods based on incentives, rather than the commission-based billings method. This has been made in order to avoid agencies making expensive old-media buys when cheaper alternatives are available.

Ad Networks Look Overseas in Tough Times (internet.com, May 9th)
While the over-inflated US market for online advertising has crashed as precipitously as it grew on the back of dotcom dollars, emerging foreign markets have seen stagnant rates or solid growth of late. As a result, many US-based firms have increased their focus on the acquisition of accounts throughout Australia, Canada and Europe in an attempt to spread their risk.

How One Content Site Has Stayed on Solid Ground (ClickZ, May 8th)
Bucking the trend that has seen many content sites struggle to survive on advertising support alone, Tim Carter's Ask the Builder is a case study in successful e-marketing.

Down by the Old Media Stream (ClickZ, May 8th)
Streaming media has been promising the world since RealNetworks brought audio to the web. The actual employment of streaming campaigns, though, has been tentative, if not utterly confusing, in this pioneering period. Now, it's time to get real and sketch out defining ad units, standards and usage patterns in order to see the medium develop beyond a mere novelty.

Can Broadband Save the Banner Ad? (eMarketer, May 8th)
It has long been suggested that the speedy connections provided by broadband technologies would increase the online activity of its users. Now, that speculation has been verified through figures released by Neilsen//NetRatings that suggest a definite correlation between broadband penetration and the number of page views made per month. What is even more interesting is that broadband users also seem to click on banners more frequently, perhaps because the banner image loads in full before scrolling out of view, or simply because such users are more immersed in their surfing experience.

Email Marketing: Fresh Ideas (ClickZ, May 7th)
Many established email marketers have fallen into the trap of following a common formula with their publications with the hope of maintaining similar CTRs and conversion ratios. This article suggests that thinking out-of-the-box can not only keep your visitors more engrossed in your content, but may be beneficial in raising conversion rates and thus revenues.

Defending the Cookie Monster (Salon.com, May 7th)
While advertisers have been quick to criticize web publishers and online ad reps for their inability to provide quality demographic and tracking information, net users and privacy advocates have countered this with calls for marketing tools, such as cookies, to be eliminated. This article puts the power of cookies in context, dismissing many of the myths spread by naysayers who fear that online marketers are attempting to operate like Big Brother.

A Changing of the Online Advertising Guard (internet.com, May 7th)
Figures released by Nielsen//NetRatings highlight March 2001 as a pivotal month in the development of online advertising. During tht month, more than half of the top 100 online advertisers were traditional companies and, for the first time ever, traditional companies spent more money than dotcom advertisers.

Amazon's 'M-Commerce' Effort Fizzles Along with Wireless Web (MSNBC, May 7th)
Just as it invested millions in promoting itself as a first-mover in the web commerce stakes, Amazon.com's Amazon Anywhere program hoped to instill the same sense that Amazon would lead the mobile commerce market. Technological limitations and consumers' slow adoption of m-commerce, however, have put a dampener of the efforts of Amazon and others, forcing them to cut staff and revenue projections.

24/7 Media Continues to Reduce Offerings (internet.com, May 7th)
Soon after letting go of SE Asian ad rep and technology provider Sabela, 24/7 Media has continued its efforts to dump its lossy units in an effort to cut costs and raise survival funds. Their latest move involves the sale of AwardTrack, the company's loyalty program provider, to Charlotte-based Pass Privilege.

Ethics and Sailor Moon (ClickZ, May 4th)
Just days after launching, ExitChat's overwhelming exit popup program has been publicly criticised by no less than ClickZ' Dana Blankenhorn, who sees the company's marketing methodology unethical. Read more about the program itself here.

Glassberg: Web Ad Industry is "All Messed Up" (internet.com, May 4th)
CEO of Phase2Media, Richy Glassberg shook up the show at the @d:Tech conference by criticising online media companies of prematurely pushing advertisers into a medium that they didn't understand. He suggests that while online ad-industry insiders are aware of the amalgam of marketing strengths that the internet provides, they haven't suffiently educated media buyers as to this. Mixes messages, an over-emphasis on irrelevant metrics and the perceived failure of misguided campaigns, he suggests, have not only contributed to the slow adoption of online advertising, but could have been avoided.

Ford 'Takes Over' Yahoo! Home Page (internet.com, May 4th)
In an attempt to lure more traditional advertisers to its properties, Yahoo! has made some dramatic concessions in the name of promoting Ford. The rich-media ad featured 'takeover' elements that obscured the content on the page for a limited time, while encouraging interactivity and launching an animated ad that explains the strengths of Ford's Outfitter range. This follows similar takeover campaigns as seen promoted by iWon and Terra Lycos recently, but is the first move by Yahoo! to experiment with such a daring technology. Read a discussion about this campaign here

Ideas to Energize the Industry (ChannelSeven, May 4th)
The tone at industry conferences since the tech correction has been slightly more mellow than in more exuberant times. In this article, Pamela Parker recounts her experience at @d-Tech LA, while taking note of the developments in technology and ideology that are set to guide the industry into its next phase of refinement.

Online Marketing Will Work (NewMedia, May 4th)
In order to make the most of online marketing, this article suggests that we must move beyond marketing online, and instead take full advantage of the medium's unique technological features to deliver promotions and options to the right consumers at the right time.

Bertelsmann Buys E-Mail Marketer (internet.com, May 4th)
The massive media company, whose DirectGroup Bertelsmann division already has large stakes in many e-commerce ventures, has expanded its cross-promotional reach through its acquisition of opt-in email marketer Zooba, whose membership extends into the millions.

Executives: New Advertising View Needed for Change (Excite News, May 4th)
Executives representing a number of major online media companies have suggested that in order for the net ad market to regain traction in the wake of the dotcom demise, a sea change in thought will have to occur, wherein measurable results take precedence over CPM models.

Can Wireless Content Vendors Make Money? (WirelessAdWatch, May 3rd)
The next frontier for online publishing is the wireless market. This article suggests that while subscription and micropayment-based support is already popular within Europe and Japan, American net users who are more established to paying little, if anything, for surfing the net, are unlikely to readily adopt a user-pays mobile experience. As a result, wireless publishers may have to employ a combination of intrusive locality-based advertising and premium subscription services in order to survive.

DoubleClick: We Can Prove Banners Brand (internet.com, May 3rd)
A report released from DoubleClick's Diameter media tracking and research firm claims, as similar reports from Real Media and Engage have done in the past, that proves banner advertising can be effectively used as part of a branding campaign.

Topica Launches E-Mail Publisher (internet.com, May 3rd)
The popular provider of technology to email marketers has increased its service range to include a turnkey solution to manage the subscriptions, sponsorship, delivery and reporting of email campaigns.

TheStreet.com Loss Narrows, Ad Revenues Fall (eMarketer, May 3rd)
Ailing financial portal, TheStreet.com has announced a promising decrease in its losses for the quarter, but stressed that the softness in online ad spending drove its ad revenues down a massive 26% during the first quarter.

Ad-Blocking Software: Crashing the Party (ChannelSeven, May 3rd)
At a time when the online advertising industry seemingly can't take any more abuse, a new batch of ad-blocking software is beginning to hit the market - and its advertising-dependent publishers - where it hurts most.

Major Brands Play for Attention (CNET News.com, May 3rd)
Several traditional advertisers are attempting to leverage the viral qualities of the internet to their advantage by producing branded games that may be passed from user to user. The free games feature action that is aligned in some fashion with the brand whose logos and lead-enticing features are present.

In Online Advertising, Context is King (ClickZ, May 3rd)
Here, Tom Hespos reflects upon the targeting promises offered by the Web, and looks at just how well advertisers and publishers are taking advantage of this potential. He finds that while some are making moves to present relevant ads to their visitors, others are taking a less-effective broad approach that fails to present advertisers' messages within an appropriate context.

adReady Teams with Real Media to Counter Banner Burnout (NET-ADS, May 2nd)
Real Media has revealed its support for adReady's unique adPointer technology by incorporating it as one of the products offered to its publisher network. adPointer is a rich-media advertising technology that displays an advertiser's logo or promotional message near the mouse pointer during idle time. While it temporarily obscures the website's content, it does not displace such content; instead loading in a seperate layer.

Internet Ads Aren't Dead, They're Just Not Where You Think (Forbes.com, May 2nd)
Although many content-providers and ad networks are struggling against a spending slowdown, pay-for-performance players such as commercial search engine GoTo.com remain successful in attracting new business from companies looking for inexpensive qualified lead generation.

Online Advertising Works Like Advertising (ClickZ, May 2nd)
This article asserts what Engage and others have been promoting with gusto since the online ad backlash began. That is, online advertising works like any other form of advertising, and can thus be used for brand-building as well as direct response. The message here is that advertisers shouldn't focus exclusively on fallible metrics such as click-through-ratios (CTRs) when evaluating the success of an online campaign.

DoubleClick Snaps Up 24/7 Media's Sabela (internet.com, May 2nd)
Cash-strapped 24/7 Media announced last month that they were seeking a buyer for their Sabela ad serving technology and client list (which the company has itself acquired for some $75 million last year). Today, DoubleClick announced that they would pick up the tab, by acquiring the property for an unspecified sum. Discuss the ramifications of this deal here.

An Online Advertising Postcard From Miami (ClickZ, May 2nd)
Last week saw several leading online ad industry figures join at the IIR Online Advertising Metrics conference with the goal of dismissing the myths and failures of prior years in order to discuss which direction online advertising should take from here. As this article notes, although the consesus was that online advertising is well suited to both direct marketing and branding, those celebrated through the awards announced at the gathering were all direct marketing stars.

How AOL Time Warner is Outpacing Rivals (CNET News.com, May 2nd)
While pure-plays struggle against sliding ad revenues, the massive cross-media conglomerate has forged ahead, seeing its internet-based ad revenues exceeding Yahoo's almost five-fold. This is largely attributable to the company's tight links to Fortune 500 advertisers, the ability to offer cross-media buys and the fact that it owns detailed data about its millions of subscribers, which is a direct marketer's dream.

Consumer Goods Firms Boost Ads at Niche Web Sites (Excite News, May 2nd)
While the domainant ad firms have all recently rolled out technologies that facilitate demographic and psychographic-based tracking and targeting, many advertisers of consumer goods are taking advantage of the cheap rates and subject-oriented targeting associated with placing ads on niche web properites. The proportion of their ad dollars flowing into niche sites, rather than large media properties, has grown from 44% a year ago to 55% during the first quarter of this year.

Online Marketing Increases 75 Percent (CNET News.com, May 1st)
While the growth in online advertising (particularly in regards to the 'banner' form) has slowed lately, interactive marketing has continued to drive forwards. Online forms of direct and lead-based marketing have seen their popularity increase as a result of their cost-efficiency and flexibility.

Ad-Blocking Software Gains Traction (Yahoo News, May 1st)
While not posing any measurable threat as yet, ad blocking software could place further pressure on web publishers if the producers of such software have their way. The fallout from this, of course, will see even more websites collapse or opt for a user-pays business model.

Making Money By The Click (CNET, May 1st)
As ad revenues continue to tumble, and expensive subscription models failing to take off in many cases, many publishers are considering making the transition to a micropayment-based system, wherein users are charged small fees varying from a few dollars down to fractions of a cent for performing particular actions on a site, such as unlocking an article or downloading a file. This report outlines the services and technologies already available to facilitate such a system.

Banking on Rich-Media Ads (BW Online, May 1st)
Rich-media has long been touted as the saviour of online advertising, by bringing it more in-line with radio and television ads, which are familiar to both traditional advertisers and consumers. As yet, despite the optimism played out by VC investors, the revolution has yet to pan out the way rich-media proponents had expected. Stay tuned...

Online Product Placement Ads (MediaPost, May 1st)
Continuing innovation in the online advertising space that compares to the growth of 'advergames' recently, MyNetGreetings has launched a service that allows advertisersto employ their system in the viral promotion of a brand through product placement within the context of an online greeting card.

Future Network Closes Websites (MSNBC, May 1st)
Following from the closure or cutbacks of competing online gaming resources, Future Network has been forced to close its popular Daily Radar and Computer Network websites as a direct result of the ad drought within that sector. Analysts see advertising expenditure on gaming sites increasing during Q4 of this year, as Microsoft and Nintendo release their long-awaited new consoles.