Remarkably, the generation that purports to be so comfortable with technology and even the marketing and media business models that blur old lines, may not be after all. A recent survey finds the overwhelming majority of Millennials regard targeted mobile advertising as an intrusion on their privacy.

When should marketers automate processes, and when should they consider taking a more hands-on approach? There has been considerable press about programmatic real-time ad buying and technology that tracks behavior to determine the ads and content to serve up next.

How and why are World Cup fans actually using hyper-connected social networks? Mainly to yell "Gooooooal!" at each other.

AddThis has launched an online marketplace featuring tools that let publishers serve more targeted content to Web site visitors. The company also expanded offerings of recommended content and made improvements to its analytics dashboard.

Programmatic platforms are no longer attracting just chump change. As the investment rises, serious scrutiny of transparency, waste and fraud will be coming from higher quarters of corporate organizations.

Organizational impediments appear to create the biggest challenges as more brands struggle to find the correct type of data to build online content and targeted campaigns. So many marketers claim not to have the budget or approvals for the resources they need, per David Edelman, co-leader of McKinsey's global digital marketing strategy group. He explains how brand marketers complain about getting approval or the budget to do several variations of a landing page or quick compliance approvals. "It starts with attitude and leadership, saying we are going to work as a team and try to get these obstacles out of …

Apps that use location information to target alerts are seeing substantial lifts in engagement. It's not just about geo-triggered messages, but using location data to better understand the user.

Apple said during a keynote address at its Worldwide Developers Conference that it is working with the Mayo Clinic to integrate medical information via its platform HealthKit, a part of its new operating system for iPhones and iPads, iOS 8. The app consolidates a user's cholesterol, blood pressure, weight, heart rate, and other data from disparate apps and devices.

New platforms such as Wanelo, Houzz, Polyvore and Pinterest are giving us deeper insight into consumer behavior beyond intent that can be leveraged for more tailored, creative copywriting that resonates.

What happened to Web sites that personalize the content on a page based on the visitor's browsing history? Not too long ago I heard about this type of technology all the time. Not so much anymore. What happened to analyzing my real-time actions to determine the type of content or ad to serve me? And then there are the ecommerce platforms that think they can count inventory, so shirts, pants and skirts don't get oversold. Frankly, I'm tired of retailers showing me what I need and then getting the "this product is backordered" email from online retailers like Anthropologie after …