I hate "Big Brother" antics on the Internet... well, mostly. Do you know the Internet is being compromised in the U.S.? "Free speech" is one of the best and worst aspects of our beloved online world. Well, dear readers, the government keeps trying to regulate it.

It was the hottest thing two years ago, wasn't it? Pay-per-call was all the rage long before anyone made a dime on it....

Relationships --whether physical or in the virtual world--are the fabric of life, and one inevitable fact in life and relationships is death. So it is natural that as the Internet and social media become more ingrained in people's lives and identities, death and mourning will follow accordingly....

I've said it before and I'll say it again: pop culture provides the best source of insight into American advertising and marketing. If you want to know how to tap into the collective consciousness, just check out a little pop culture.

In talking to companies about Conversational Marketing these past few months, a nagging question keeps coming up, and it represents a significant obstacle in the path of companies that want to speak directly to their customers online. That question concerns what to do about those folks who are so mad at your company that they can't be reasoned with.

Ever walk by someone and see FCUK on their shirt? Did you do a double-take? I know at first I did. Prior to that, I thought French Connection UK seemed like a cool brand. Ever since, I thought it was campy--so campy I'd throw it in the same category as the, "I'm with him" T-shirt.

In the column preceding last week's, I wrote about the lack of meaningful innovation that I saw at Ad: Tech. In that column, I had mentioned that there were some companies that demonstrated very cool ideas within proven models. Within the idiom of transparency therefore, let's talk about the ad network.

To kick things off, I'd like to address the self-inflicted blow of Warren Kremer Paino Advertising. I've been more captivated by this drama than my wife has been glued to gossip about Tom Cruise's increasingly strange behavior.

Pearl Jam has recognized the concept of user-generated content better than any other band. Now that they've partnered with a label called J Records, the home of Clive Davis and one of the most well-respected names in music, they are reaping the benefits....

When corporations eventually wake up and allow their people to communicate meaningfully with their customers, business will take an immense leap forward. Until then, one of the barriers standing in the way of such communication is the notion of scale. Put simply, how does a business that employs perhaps thousands of people communicate meaningfully, in a one-to-one manner, with perhaps millions of potential customers?