About this time every year I try to make my own Swami-like predictions for what I think will happen in the coming months. These are based mostly on gut instinct rather than fundamentally sound knowledge, but they sometimes are correct, so I keep on making them each year.

Across the industry, I've been hearing planners and buyers singing a different tune than they might have been last year. It seems that for 2004, marketers are seriously ramping up their online efforts. Perhaps it's the realization on the client side that folks are becoming tougher to reach with traditional media. Maybe it's because the IAB has done some great things to prove that online is a necessary component of many media plans. Then again, it might be frustration with the lack of accountability on the traditional side.

I just got back in the country a few hours ago. I write still having sea legs but one thought still resonates with me: The "feeling" of a brand. Okay, I know you probably think its jet lag or something, but let me explain.

Analysts and media types are usually ready to applaud any major company when they take measures to expand into other areas, as long as those areas make sense strategically. With Google launching their Deskbar last week, there was applause all over the news.

This week I was reading a column in a competitive publication by James Hering, the SVP and director of interactive marketing at Temerlin McClain. The subject of his piece was the difficulty he's been having as of late in finding qualified media personnel.

"Luke, I am your father." Being a huge Star Wars fan, I thought it would be appropriate to revisit these words again to make a point that many of you may have missed. These words were spoken the last time there was a great disturbance in "the force." In the last two weeks there has been another great disturbance and one of the most well respected sales people in interactive advertising announced that he is "coming over to the dark side," so to speak.

Despite pitches from dozens of technology vendors every month, I rarely talk about individual products or services in this column. Mainly, I avoid product reviews because I'm supposed to be writing an opinion column. But every once in a while, something comes along that knocks my socks off and makes me feel like my readers should know about it ASAP.

Wednesday was the last day of Ad:Tech. The conference only ran sessions for a few hours. I went to "Clicks, Ticks, and the Destiny of Pop-Ups" session. The room had about 50 or so people in it. However, I was a little bummed out to hear the audience still beating a dead horse when asking panelists if rich ads online were dubbed intrusive.

Are we there yet? The just completed Ad:Tech provided an example of more questions, not answers to this question - at least to me. Now that our industry has graduated from its VC-charged stage, and companies who participate in these show are, by and large, making money the old fashioned way, we've finally shed our delusions of grandeur mindset.

I wonder again out loud; why are we not seeing more online advertising from companies for whom the Internet is a necessary medium for their business to even exist?