As some of the busiest travel days of the year approach, it's very well documented that consumers are turning to the web for tickets, deals and specials, thanks in no small part to the fact that the travel category is the fourth largest industry advertising online. And who said online ads don't work?

The second day of the @d:Tech conference in New York covered many issues, starting with day parts. In the morning keynote, Yahoo’s Chief Solutions Officer Tim Sanders said that based on the many studies that prove daytime is primetime on the Web, the Internet’s ability to target audiences by time of day -- especially during the day – is essential to online media's role in the media mix. “If you want to reach them during the day, get good at using the Internet," he said.

Despite the usual “there is a pot of gold at the end of the interactive rainbow” opening keynote yesterday morning, @dTech New York is shaping up to solidify its position as the leading conference of the online advertising industry. The sessions are informative, the exhibit hall is packed, and there’s definite enthusiasm in the air – a welcome change from years past.

Two recent studies tell an interesting – albeit somewhat predictable - story about the search side of online advertising.

I promised I wouldn’t talk about online holiday shopping unless something significant happened, and it looks like the silence ends today. I’m happy to report that the online advertising industry is learning from its mistakes.

Even though the announcement hit yesterday and has already fueled many a water cooler discussion, I think it’s worth repeating that there might be a very basic reason for the low response rates most email marketers are currently struggling with.

When the Excite Network launched a brand new portal two weeks ago, very few people in the industry paid any attention, even though the portal promised to deliver full functionality, fast pages, a great privacy policy and -- most importantly -- not a single banner or pop-up advertisement throughout the entire site. Yesterday, when the same company released an announcement under the heading of “Yahoo! Is Toast” – heads turned. And rightly so.

I really should have found something more important to write about today (although there seems to be very little online activity prior to @d:Tech, which kicks off next Monday), but this one is simply irresistible. The Consumer Electronics Association yesterday released the findings of their latest survey of 1000 adults, which found that women actually prefer electronics to diamonds.

The name of the promotion may sound silly, but it seems to have worked.

If you’re charged with keeping an eye on webcast audience measurement, your life just got a little less complicated.