The Association of National Advertisers sent a letter to the Justice Department Thursday calling a proposed advertising deal between Google and Yahoo bad for advertisers and recommending that it be blocked. The agreement, announced in June, gives Google the right to sell search and other text ads on Yahoo sites. The ANA announced the letter on its web site on Sunday. Until now, big marketers have been reluctant to come out against the deal publicly because of Google's growing power in the ad business. Some large advertising agencies and midsize advertisers have endorsed the deal, however, saying they think …

Retired lawyer Stephen Beck recently spent an hour at a Starbucks in Manhattan patiently demonstrating his Amazon Kindle to perfect strangers. He's part of an army of enthusiasts who volunteer to show the device to prospective owners as part of Amazon's See a Kindle in Your City marketing program. Think of it as real-world social networking. Or taking online consumer product reviews -- a concept Amazon championed early -- to the in-person level. "We got feedback from Kindle owners who love their Kindle, but some were saying they have trouble reading their Kindle in public because people ask what …

After almost a decade of triple and then double-digit growth, sales volume for bottled water grew less than 1% for the first half of 2008, according to Beverage Digest. Despite massive discounts, the chief culprit is the economy. Shoppers are less interested in paying for a product that they can get for free. A secondary reason is that consumer activists have railed against buying non-reusable plastic bottles because many will end up in landfills. Plus, many gallons of fuel are used to transport the product. Finally, there is a belief that PET bottles leech toxins into liquids if frozen …

Although highly detailed 3-D worlds such as Second Life, There.com and Kaneva haven't lived up to the initial hype among adults, it appears that virtual worlds may really have been about kids and games after all. While sites such as Second Life were getting more than their share of attention a few years ago, more than 150 virtual world sites focused on the 18-and-under youth market sprang up, according to research from Virtual Worlds Management. You or your kid can buy a stuffed unicorn, and then go online and pretend to prance it around in the virtual worlds run …

Cash-strapped patients are skipping doses of their prescription medication, cutting pills in half and avoiding doctors altogether to save money, according to Walgreen CEO Jeffrey Rein. He says the market has never been tighter in his 27 years in the business. A recent report from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners reports that 11% of patients are changing their medication dose in some way, and claims that Americans are cutting back doctors' visits by 25%. Rein says that Walgreen has seen the trend accelerate in the last six or seven months. Pharmacists have had some success in persuading patients …

The main reason consumers don't purchase gift cards is a perception that they are impersonal, according to a study to be released next week by the National Research Network. While the ailing economy may affect the monetary amount given in gift cards this holiday season, the study notes that more than half of consumers say they plan to purchase at least one card. "Marketers should focus on personalizing the gift cards," says Keith Maladra, vp of consumer intelligence at the firm. He adds that doing so will require a better understanding of the target markets and what appeals to …

The first Microsoft spot featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates broke on the opening-night NFL broadcast Thursday. The 90-second clip employs quick-cut editing and kind of tells the story of the odd couple's day at discount emporium Shoe Circus in the mall, where Gates buys a snappy leather number called "The Conquistador." As they exit, Seinfeld asks if Microsoft is working on something to make computers "moist and chewy like cake, so we can eat 'em while we're working." Seinfeld tells Gates to adjust his underwear if the answer is yes, and the software mogul does so with a …