Do you ever get bored surfing the Web? Believe it or not, it can be rather dull at times and you can get stuck once in a while -- but one way to spice it up a bit is to make a game out of it! That's pretty much the gist of PMOG, or passive multi-player online gaming.

A recent New York Times piece by Laura Holson, "Bridging the Gap, the Sequel," explores the latest mating dance between Silicon Valley and Hollywood, as both entities explore ways to partner in the creation and distribution of professional content online. There are three major issues when it comes to creating a sustainable online video ecosystem: content creation, content distribution/syndication and content monetization. These most basic issues are really not any different from the issues facing other media outlets. The major distinction is the audiences' choice and control of media consumption.

I had the TV on in the background when I was working last night. I caught some sound bite on how Kelly Ripa was going to be the new Electrolux spokesperson.Again, I am not the target, but I don't think of Kelly Ripa and "housework" in the same sentence. Come on people, be a little authentic. This wouldn't survive without being flamed on the Web. It fact it has been well, er, let's just say, "negatively" talked about. What's even more weird, a couple weeks ago it was plastered all over the press and blogosphere that she was brought in …

My CEO sparked a group email discussion last week by asking two questions: What are the three biggest opportunities for growth for brands to leverage interactive and digital marketing? What are the three biggest challenges needed to overcome to facilitate growth? Following was my contribution to the discussion.

I know that we're barely into spring, but I'm finding it hard not to think about this coming summer. Why? Because I think that the coming summer months will be the online advertising industry's most important several months since the summer of 2000. That summer, as you may recall, was the time when the industry fell off a cliff -- and it became apparent that business wasn't going to quickly and easily scale its way back. No. Don't worry. By no means do I think that we are poised to fall off a cliff like that again. However, I do …

I meet lots of smart people every week -- all of whom have developed great companies with unique services or innovative products. I evaluate these products and try to help these entrepreneurs develop marketing strategies that can enable them to grow and become successful. However, there are times when I hear an idea and I'm forced to evaluate whether it solves a real problem or not. Sometimes I find that it doesn't.

There's an interesting debate raging over the role "influentials" play in spreading trends. On one side is the idea that there are sets of people who exert a significantly greater amount of influence over others, typified by Malcolm Gladwell's "Tipping Point" argument. On the other side is a far more chaotic theory that rejects the concept of "influentials," stating instead that no one person has any more influence over creating a trend than any other person, put forth by Duncan Watts. If you are a marketer, the outcome of this debate should have you sleepless at night. How can you …

I must admit, this is always a terrible topic. For those of you reading this you probably think you are among the savviest when it comes to protecting your identity online (or off) as well as knowing about online fraud. You may be right. However, it could happen to you.

Free is the next big thing, according to Chris Anderson, editor of Wired and author of "The Long Tail." In a recent Wired cover story, a preview to his impending book, called "FREE," Anderson says that the Web represents an extension of the media business model to numerous industries.

I've written a number of times about the important role that talent plays in our industry; actually, the most important role that it plays. People in our industry and the companies that they drive may credit technology and algorithms for much of their success -- even putting their technologies and algorithms on a pedestal in glass cases filled with purified air, as if they were displaying the Hope Diamond -- but it is the people that make things happen, not the mathematically driven tools that they created and chose to exploit.