You need only scan the daily headlines to know that General Motors, Chrysler and Ford are going to the dogs. So, it turns out, is their chief rival, Toyota - but in an entirely different way. As the recession grabbed hold of Americans, the Japanese auto juggernaut was feeling pressure from slowing sales. For the launch of the Venza, its new crossover sedan, it needed a way to wiggle into the wallets of active 40- to 60-year-old auto buyers worried about their dwindling iras.

Will broadband video shows eat broadcast's lunch? The game show "BFF" - which pits pairs of friends against one another to see which team knows each other better - is produced by former Miramar executive Meryl Poster, who has pilots stacked up at Bravo and NBC Universal. But this one's for MySpace. This isn't the only TV production company moving to the site. MySpace is also working with Endemol, creator of Fear Factor and Deal or No Deal on "Married on MySpace." In this reality show, couples compete for a lavish wedding, with MySpace users helping to plan it and …

When Jan Valentic took over as senior vice president of global marketing and growth platforms at gardening giant Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. two years ago, one of her first moves was to challenge the company's biggest brands and how they marketed online.

From coding to agency models to online video, where there's a will, there's a wiki. Could the online video business be rewriting the playbook for the creation of open source options?

Despite entering a White House full of antiquated computer hardware and software (deputy press secretary Bill Burton put it this way, "It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari"), Barack Obama's new-media team had an Obamafied whitehouse.gov up and running moments after he was sworn in as our nation's 44th president.

Remember the thrill of those Choose Your Own Adventure books, where you'd flip to page 16 if you choose to run from the bloodthirsty wildebeest? Or, if you'd prefer to come to blows with it using only a samurai sword and your wits, you'd turn to page 49?

There's a saying that the entertainment industry is called "show business" for a reason, because it's not "show friends." Case in point: Hulu recently banished its content both from online competitor tv.com and from Web-to-TV service Boxee. That's a big shift from the you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours philosophy that Web video has been built on. But now that there's money to be made, we're not all friends anymore.

Kogi BBQ-To-Go, a Korean barbecue/taco truck in Los Angeles, used social media to create some sizzle. Marketing consultant Mike Prasad got foodies to rave about its fusion menu, and targeted tech mavens to build the brand around the concept of crossover ethnic pop culture.

Each one of the 68 Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill locations has its own virtual presence. Visitors to the Orlando, Fla.-based chain's Web site, smokeybones.com, enter their ZIP codes to be redirected to a separate page for the restaurant in their city. "This way you'll know your hostess when you get there. Sort of ..." says the splash page. In addition to the usual menu and hours of operation, each restaurant's page shows a photo and bio of the host or hostess and links to location-specific MySpace and Facebook pages. Graphics are customized - palm trees for waterfront locales, …

How stupid do you really want to look in public? That's the question that confronts today's man as he moves from adolescence to manhood. Because not much is private anymore, is it? Maybe this is why the Dude demo - men 18 to 35 - has softened. You can see it in the work of Kevin Smith, the auteur of the Dude zeitgeist. The anomie of his clerks has mellowed into a quest for connection that can actually be fulfilled: Zack and Miri start to make a porno, and end up falling in love. Bros can admit they love each …