Last week, Jim touched on two things in his column about the flow experience that I'd like to discuss in further detail.

As many of you know, and as many of you have seen from various articles recently, the world of agency compensation is changing dramatically.

Anyone who follows this space knows that one of my favorite sub-topics within the overall topic of interactive marketing is local search.

Something interesting hit the wires this week and got me thinking again about my favorite theme regarding the future of marketing: flow experience.

How much do you pay attention to your service provider?

A few weeks back, I needed a new sound card for my PC. Before leaving work, I used my PC to read reviews and technical specs, eventually settling on a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum, a high-end card that met my needs. I made a mental note to pick one up the next time I was at an electronics store.

Consider this scenario dear readers: Would you go into a store, walk up and down the aisles grabbing items and placing them into your cart, get to the register and just leave it there? Seems a bit ridiculous doesn't it? Well in the online world it is all too common. Why?

On the heels of yesterday's column by Jim Meskauskas on the great news in interactive of late, with media spending up an amazing 39.7 percent in the first six months of this year compared to last year, the sound you hear may be the other shoe dropping.

If you are working in this industry, the news that business has really picked up - and continues to pick up - has long since been wrapping fish.

Last week, Howard Stern announced his departure from terrestrial radio, signing a deal with Sirius satellite radio to move his show to the fledgling medium. The reactions I've seen from people in the media business range from "This could change everything" to "So what?"