Spam is the bane of Internet life these days and it represents a problem showing no signs of slowing...in fact, it's only getting worse. Here are some amazing and frightening statistics concerning spam.

"What should we do about Gmail?" Over the past several months, more and more marketers have posed that question. Google is emerging from its stellar IPO and quiet period flush with cash, a $30 billion dollar market cap, and a respected, sometimes revered, consumer brand. It also has a new free e-mail service.

Web logs can be innovative marketing tools if not allowed to run amuck (part one of two).

The September issue of Jane magazine includes advertising spreads for Guess, Gap and 10 other marketers before the table of contents. Even if readers peruse every ad in the whole magazine, though, Jane does not want their experience to end there. Instead, Jane urges, "Grab your camera phone and take a picture of any and all ads in this magazine." It promises readers who send the photos to Jane "a ton of freebies, sweepstakes, MP3's and interesting info."

Federal and state law enforcement agencies have quietly arrested or charged dozens of people with crimes related to junk e-mail, identity theft and other online scams in recent weeks, according to several people involved in the actions.

A New York-based Web site that used rebates to entice consumers to buy products has settled a complaint alleging that it defrauded consumers out of millions, of dollars the Federal Trade Commission said yesterday.

A new service would break down the walls between blogs' editorial and advertising content by matching up marketers and bloggers in a manner reminiscent of magazine advertorials.

Musicland has named Zimmerman Partners to handle its account, with billings estimated at $50 million. The two companies are poised to execute the next step in a turnaround plan: makeovers for the 900 stores that Musicland runs under the Sam Goody, Media Play and Suncoast Motion Picture brands, which collectively sell CD's as well as entertainment products ranging from DVD's to movie posters to books.

Unqualified traffic in the performance-based universe can cost you a pretty penny. In lieu of counting the new Google millionaires, counting unwarranted traffic is the hot hobby du jour in search. Is the practice -- or in some cases lack of practice -- deserving of all the hype, or has our archetypical societal behavior (hell bent on fear mongering) finally bled into search?

While e-mail is an accepted and proven form of delivering marketing messages, professional marketers are looking for better ways to build customer loyalty and generate a greater return on their marketing investments.