One piece of news that I expect was largely ignored by the ad world last week (as everyone was enjoying the last few days of summer away from their desks), was the extension of the search distribution agreement between Overture and InfoSpace.

If it’s the rich and famous crowd you’re trying to reach, your target market is shrinking.

As summer 2002 winds down and e-tailers start preparing for the holiday rush, Nielsen//NetRatings has taken a look back at years past and proposed some strategies to consider for the upcoming holiday season.

One of the things that went almost unnoticed this week was DoubleClick’s announcement that they will adhere to stiff privacy restrictions and pay a $450,000 settlement, all to ward off a 30-month investigation into its practices of gathering Web users' personal information and surfing habits.

If web traffic is any indication, there is still quite an interest in reality TV. Nielsen//NetRatings reports that traffic to CBS.com surged more than 27% during the week ending August 18 at work, as the network's popular reality shows, "Big Brother" and "Survivor," attracted office workers to the site.

Not that I like starting the weekend off on a morbid note, but a new study I found today shows that approximately 17 million US households receive at least occasional direct mail and telemarketing for the deceased.

You know it’s a slow news day when Reuters is talking about “advertainment” being “the future.” Not that I’m complaining. I’d love to see the day when people go out of their way to watch ads – online or off.

I read in a Reuters story yesterday that Peter Chernin, chief executive of News Corp. Ltd.'s Fox Entertainment Group Inc., said the media giant's U.S. business is showing strength, thanks in part to a revival in ad spending by the automotive industry.

comScore yesterday released the comScore Media Metrix U.S. Top 50 Internet properties for July 2002 and it looks like things are going well for computer hardware and travel.

Looks like people aren’t just more interested in traveling in recent weeks, they’re more interested in settling down as well. Nielsen//NetRatings late last week reported that traffic spiked at various home and real estate websites, as mortgage rates continued to drop lower in recent weeks.