What do Superman, a shock talk radio host and a giant chicken in garters have in common? All three star in a new wave of Internet ad campaigns hawking everything from fast food to razors.

Gawker Media, a small company that operates snarky Web logs on culture and politics, like Gawker and Wonkette, has begun blogging on behalf of major advertisers.

Search engine marketing is all about measuring the ROI of an online call to action, whether it's gauged in clicks, conversions, leads or even phone calls. Branding campaigns have traditionally-so far-been run on other media. But that's starting to change, says Stuart Larkin, vice president of partner services at online marketing company Performics Inc.

AOL has fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over advertising claims it made about its one-megabit broadband service. A member of the public complained that an advert in the national papers showing a cheetah with "running spikes" on its feet and the slogan 'Fast just got faster' promised a 1Mb broadband service it was unlikely to deliver all the time.

First Amazon.com recommended products that it thought its customers would find interesting. Now it's taking advantage of the blogging phenomenon by topping its home page with a personalized "Plog," a blog-style feature that links to recommended products and provides relevant information.

Online porn sites get about three times more visits than the top Web search engines, including market leader Google Inc., a research firm said on Thursday.

WhenU CEO Avi Naider confirmed on Wednesday that the privately held company has hired Perseus Group, a San Francisco-based investment bank recently formed by former Robertson Stephenson executives. He declined to discuss WhenU's specific plans, saying the move aims to take advantage of rising interest in the desktop advertising software business.

What's the Internet's next act? The technology industry seems to be emerging from its downturn ready to unleash a new generation of the Internet.

The McDonald's Corporation in Oak Brook, Ill., will join the ranks of major marketers seeking to cash in on the online music boom when it continues the "I'm lovin' it" campaign with a new commercial starting Monday. The ad will offer customers a free song from Sony Connect, an online music store operated by the Sony Corporation of America.

Northern Ireland-based Aventure Media has launched a free 2GB email service. According to the blurb, Aventure Mail.com is ad free. Neither does it display any third party advertisements on the Webmail website or through users' outgoing email.