Television has an inspiring past, ripe with innovation and popular culture influence. Since its coming of age in the mid-20th century, generations of TV viewers have happily embraced the broadcast experience. For the industry, making a connection with consumers was a pretty straightforward, one-to many experience. Until recently.

In February, BMW Germany ceased to exist. At least, it ceased to exist to the vast majority of Web users, because Google de-listed it. According to Google, BMW was guilty of "trying to manipulate search results." The carmaker's alleged deception exemplifies the growing trend of "cyber-stealth marketing." Unlike traditional marketing on the Web, cyber-stealth marketing involves a company hiding its intentions from the consumer.

Choosing the right marketing effectiveness partner can be a challenge for many organizations. While the use of econometric modeling to evaluate return on marketing investment (ROMI) is becoming more common, few companies have defined or codified a comprehensive approach using models to plan and manage their marketing to continually improve performance. As a result, even in packaged goods, where modeling has been in use for years, companies are challenged to choose a partner who can lead them beyond backward-looking evaluation to proactive management of marketing performance.

There has been much speculation as to how, when, and to what extent the media industry will look and behave like just such a trading institution. The recent explosion of paid search marketing, with its Vickery-style system, has made some observers wonder: Will the future of media, with different forms going digital, be based on an auction system?

Nearly a year ago, 68 percent of adults were using the Internet, according to the pew internet & American life project. Meanwhile, 22 percent of Americans were not only not using the Internet, but didn't even live in a Web-connected home. The percentage of truly unconnected Americans has remained stable over the past three years. And there are even more divides.

You're in pre-planning season for most of your clients and the network group is chomping at the bit, saying, "The upfront is about to start and we need to know budgets." National television is important to clients' campaigns, but there's something gnawing at you. The consumer work that you have done over the past year indicates that broad-based media vehicles increase awareness but aren't inspiring action. Consumers tell you that they are more likely to take action after being exposed to more personal communications: "A word from an authority," they say, or, "Information on my terms -- what I want …

Repeatedly throughout my interactive career and in this publication, I have argued that the single most revolutionary event in media and communications since the Gutenberg Bible is happening today: The individual is gaining control over her or his media, information, and communications experiences.

The conversation sure seems to be heating up around the issue of measuring engagement. The Advertising Research Foundation made it the focus of its annual conference and brought in some very big wigs to talk about it, many of them citing examples of their own forays into more engaging communications. At the same time, the Newspaper National Network has been crowing about the results of a study conducted by Millward Brown that demonstrates -- surprise, surprise -- that newspapers are the most engaging medium. And an interesting study was released by Ball State University (and reported on by MediaPost) that …

It's a word heard regularly in the halls of media and ad agencies. It's the topic of conversation at industry gatherings. It's the subject of industry conference sessions. It's even made its way into the titles of senior marketing and agency personnel. And it's the focus of this column: engagement.