Last month's column on new developments in vertical search sparked lots of response, with readers pointing me to other news in this space.

As we define community around topics of common interest, we join together to create our own celebrities. Through travel sites like TripAdvisor and others, we create our own recommendations.

Almost two weeks ago, AOL made public the search data of 650,000 users, reportedly to benefit the research community. By doing so, AOL inadvertently escalated the already-popular dialogue about search privacy to a new level. While clickstream awareness is old-hat to interactive marketers, the false security bubble of the average searcher burst, forcing search engines to face serious questions about data privacy.

Here's what you can learn from 660,000 searchers....

Members of the TV world put forth a number of arguments why they think the new e-Media Exchange system won't work; over the next few weeks, I'd like to dissect those arguments to explain why I disagree.

I believe vertical search to be one of the more significant developments within the search industry in recent years, due to its ability to help advertisers target potential customers with advertising messages that directly relate to what they are searching.

As I write this, I'm sitting on France's TGV train from Paris to Lyon. I'm one week into our European vacation, and so far it's been wonderful...

These are many ways we can slice and dice the online advertising pie. My hope is that, rather than considering a pie made up primarily of search and display, we can isolate the ingredients that really provide insight into where the market's at, where it's going, and the true impact of search along the way.

During a weekend in the nation's heartland, I learned the best benchmark anyone could possibly use to measure his campaign's success: Manage your search engine strategies so well that competitors want to kill you--literally.

Last Friday's Wall Street Journal discussed the new e-Media Exchange, an automated ad auction exchange created by disgruntled blue-chip advertisers, with technology managed by eBay. The advertisers, which include Toyota, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Home Depot, have decided to move away from unaccountable, non-transparent, human-controlled networks, creating, instead, an exchange that sells cable and broadcast TV, radio, and print ads through automated auctions.