I love movies. And, I love the Internet. Typically I waste some of my time watching movie trailers online, and just like most people I know, I'm eagerly anticipating the third installment of the superb Bourne seriess, "The Bourne Ultimatum." As it turns out, this movie is breaking ground on many levels, more for its marketing than anything else, because for the first time I can recall, Google is launching a campaign that is not text-based search!

The iPhone's generating lots of buzz, including search activity. After the product was announced by Steve Jobs at Macworld on Jan. 9 this year, there were 1.1 million searches for the iPod during the week ending Jan. 14.

So what motivates the big blog buzz over the iPhone? Several company and industry colleagues have asked me over the past few days if some bloggers -- in a rabid quest for attention and traffic -- are inherently mandated to chime in on the iPhone launch. The question is whether they're consciously and opportunistically exploiting human readers and search engines that are primed and sensitized to the event -- similar to ambulance chasers. My answer is yes, at least partly...

I've been thinking a lot this week about video advertising. Not only did I attend the iMedia Entertainment Summit in Beverly Hills -- you know you're having a Hollywood moment when you find yourself sitting next to John Malkovich at dinner and listening to Jason Calacanis at lunch the following day -- but this has been a big week for online video research.

This is a big week for Apple. This week the company will unveil the much anticipated, highly debated, but rarely actually seen, iPhone! Just by virtue of the buzz, I almost surely will be buying one, but will it meet with expectations? If it doesn't, will that reveal a crack in the almighty armor of Apple?

Contextual targeting for video content will inevitably lead to the exact same result as contextually targeting text-based content: a decent return for direct marketers and an overwhelming lack of participation by major brand advertisers. The problem is that unlike with text-based content, the cost associated with production of quality video content will require significant financing by major brands if it is going to survive online.

There's been a lot of talk about word-of-mouth online. I wrote an article a while ago and many people emailed me afterwards. It spawned quite a bit of conversations among colleagues, clients and friends. The overall feeling is that word of mouth online or offline is one of the most powerful vehicles out there. Do you agree?

Do you suffer from data addiction? Do you get all kooky when removed from dashboards of streaming, real-time analytics? Many say it's an epidemic -- just like email and Crackberry addiction.

Washington is on my mind. I've spent most of this week in D.C. My primary reason was to attend the Interactive Advertising Bureau's board and public policy council meetings. However, I also spent considerable time with legislators and legislative staffers, talking about their efforts to help combat spyware.My goal was to have them address the issue in a way that doesn't have unintended consequences on legitimate online advertising businesses and practices.

How often do you get to sit down and think about the answer to the question, "what is a brand?" I'm relatively lucky because I get to sit and think about it almost everyday. I used to not be a believer in the power of brands, but I eventually changed my tune and feel they are indeed necessary to achieve lasting growth when you build a company, product or service. That being said, the last few years have seen a radical evolution in the way a brand is built and managed, almost to the point where the evolution of a …