Which comes first… the technology or the concepts? These days there are a dozen or more companies that profess to have an “exclusive” technology that allows for some sort of advertising to break through the self-imposed clutter on a website and reach the consumer, but the problem with these companies is that they exist for the wrong reasons, and their business models are all finite.

Some weeks ago, I weighed in with my opinion on how we should gather the data necessary to bring reach and frequency to the web. My opinion was that actual visitation data should be used, as media properties have ready access to it, and because panel data can be somewhat sketchy. In looking at the issue a bit closer, I’m inclined to solidify my position that there’s no substitute for actual visitation data.

Last summer, I wrote a piece for the Online Spin entitled "Send Me Your Stories" where I asked readers to forward their “worst practices” involving Internet Web advertising and marketing. The response was overwhelming. It is clear that the readers felt that the #1 issue is Spam.

As is often the case when one takes a position for or against something, there are persons who do not find themselves in agreement. This is for one of three reasons, not all of which are mutually exclusive: 1) Misreading of the expression of the position, 2) a genuine disagreement with the position, and 3) because the position advocated or opposed suggests change, and "…the innovator has for his enemies those who did well under the old conditions.” Alas, a body can only do something about the first two and little, if anything, about the last. So I will make …

In the debate over ad formats and ad standards, the time has come for ad management.

How do you use the web? Don’t answer this question like a marketer, answer it from the point of view of an everyday user. How does your mother or father use the web? Understanding consumer behavior is a very important element when determining an effective strategy for any form of advertising, but it seems to be an element that is not always incorporated into online advertising campaigns.

I was dressed in the only business suit I owned at the time. Waiting patiently outside my godfather’s office, I was thinking about this defining moment in my career. I had just secured my first real job after college, a position as an administrative assistant at Young & Rubicam. Before I started, I wanted to get some advice from someone who had been around the block – someone who knew the New York City business community and could offer up some tips to a kid who couldn’t even figure out the NYC subway system, much less distinguish himself in an …

AOL’s recent ban on third party pop-ups is interesting. It smells like a big sell-out. I am not going to comment on the good or bad of pop-ups. There has been enough of that in these columns. What I am going to talk about today is the double-sided aspect of the AOL announcement.

I know it’s a mistake to be sentimental in business, but it galls me every time I hear of a great ad agency getting suffocated by a parent company. The latest death in our extended family is D’Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles, a once-great institution brought to its knees under its French parent company, Publicis.

Last week’s column was about research. I asked whether or not the research that was being produced was solid. I asked what it takes to produce solid research. Lo and behold! Research is a hot topic now, both in the press and in agency conference rooms. It is also a very popular form of PR.