When I was a boy, my grandmother would frantically cry, "Telephone!" whenever the phone rang in our house. We had a large family, so this little drama took place multiple times every day. I didn't understand why the mere ringing of the phone was such an important thing to grandma until one day, when my mom reminded me that grandma was born in the 19th century. Of course, this put it in perspective. When grandma was growing up, a phone call was a big deal - something important. If she had been born in an age where phone calls …

Apparently, advertising in video games has finally arrived. The story of in-game advertising (or advergaming or gamevertising or whatever we want to call it) has finally broken with the mainstream press. This week The New York Times technology section had a piece about advertising on video game consoles and inside video game environments. It focused primarily on Massive's recent announcement of deals signed with some 10 game publishers, among them Take-Two Interactive and Universal Vivendi Games.

Do you text message? This past weekend I was lucky enough to see U2 play a sold-out show in San Jose. If you haven't seen U2 in the last few years, you need to do so immediately! The show they put on is one of the best shows I've ever seen and they definitely know how to work a crowd.

Advertising in online community environments has always had its share of complex difficulties, not the least of which is a loss of advertiser control. Many advertisers have strict rules about the types of environments they advertise in, and often those rules are reflective of guidelines regarding editorial dos and don'ts. Such rules make it difficult for a media buyer to recommend advertising with an online community, as consumer-generated content can run afoul of editorial guidelines.

Has anyone ever asked you for advice? Have your families, friends, colleagues, co-workers, etc. asked your opinion in regard to buying a product or service? I'm sure the answer is of course. For me this happens all the time, especially online. In the past few days, I was asked to find local directions by my mother, to look to see which car dealers had a specific truck in its inventory for my friend, where tick medicine for a 60-pound dog could be found the cheapest online, and to look for land in the local area within a specific price range …

David Berkowitz did such a great job in his Search Insider this past Tuesday, titled "The Many Faces of Local." As David pointed out right off, InterActive Corp's (IAC's) focus on properties that can target users locally could make Ask.com into the leader in local search media on the quick, while making IAC into a company to watch in local for all of interactive. I'll add to that statement that it will depend on how they educate local advertisers to leverage these combined assets in ways that the advertisers can understand. These are some major sites in their stable …

Eighteen months ago, if I'd asked you what an iPod is, like most people, you'd fumble around with a few guesses, perhaps cleverly thinking that the 'i' indicated something to do with the Internet, remembering that the 'i' prefix was once the ubiquitous indicator for all things Web.

In the last few weeks, we've witnessed major upheavals in the network news category. Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw have announced their retirements, while Ted Koppel has announced that he will resign from Nightline (though not from network news altogether). All of these men are household names, but they are also remnants of a bygone era. An era defined by the traditional nuclear family, by traditional family values and by traditional family-centric lifestyles. Should they be replaced or should network news move on and evolve with the times?

A few trials and tribulations this past week reminded me of how important it is to establish a marketing and media strategy with a client before getting into the intricacies of planning and placement.

If you are reading this, admit it: You want information from consumers. I'm not saying you want to be stealth-like or sleazy. However, just think about it for a moment. Wouldn't you love to know how your target audience feels? What they like? What they dislike? When they will be making life changes? If they are brand loyal or brand switchers?