There's been talk of a recession and its effect on advertising, but I don't think the recession is nearly as influential as the basic costs for transportation and heat. Americans are spending that money at the gas pump rather than on other types of goods and services. We might actually see a flat spend from year to year rather than the growth that many people project.

What role should social media play in a marketer's media plan? It's funny that something with the word "media" in its name isn't a shoe-in as a line item on most media plans. But the truth is that social media pulls more commonly from the "experimental" budgets (re: leftover or test) rather than the main "planned" media budget.

Okay, get your mind out of the gutter. I'm talkin' virtual gifts here. My guess is that this audience might post negatively about them. However, I have seen many of you on Facebook, and seen that you have received virtual gifts. Maybe for your birthday or a promotion or the birth of a new child. You may be one of those who send or reciprocate anonymously. Me? I give and receive with full screen name.

Venture capitalist Mike Hirshland recently explained how he was delighted when the CEO of one of his portfolio companies said to him: "I'd love some help here, I think we are doing the right things but to be honest I don't know what I don't know." Hirshland noted that to be successful, "entrepreneurs and startup CEOs need to have the maturity and confidence to know when they are treading in foreign waters and ask for help." True, but Hirshland's advice is applicable far beyond the land of startups and entrepreneurs:

How can you go wrong with offering your customers new ways to customize their experience? Once again, a Web giant is learning that customization isn't a panacea. Earlier this week, I reviewed the challenges Yahoo will face with its new SearchMonkey program. How can Yahoo struggle so much with customization when it's such an important part of consumers' evolving media experience? To find some answers, let's contrast SearchMonkey with some examples of where customization works online.

Over dinner the other night I had an epiphany. Since life is a series of little epiphanies that you string together to create logical associations and bring a sense of calm and order to a world that is otherwise thriving on chaos, I felt the urgent need to share with you this epiphany.

I find the difference in tone between investor-focused digital media conferences and advertiser-focused digital conferences very interesting. Whereas advertiser-focused conferences revolve around the foregone conclusion of advertiser dollars migrating to the Web and the hundreds of technologies and properties that will make the migration possible, investment conferences are focused on figuring out what select few of the digital media plays will actually pan out from a business model perspective. The subject matter is surprisingly similar, but conversations end in very different places.

Try and call just about any agency on a Friday between Memorial Day and Labor Day and you'll witness Summer Fridays, when employees can take 1/2 days or every other Friday off. It's a great perk when your agency has been generous enough to offer it up to you. Then switch gears to the client and publisher sides of the fence. They seem to be all around... or just completely wired via their iPhone, Treos or BlackBerrys.

The AdWords Help forum, hosted on Google Groups, is one of the most valuable community resources for search advertisers, especially beginners. To keep a pulse on advertiser trends and give back to the larger search-marketing community, my team at Clickable regularly reads it and lends search-marketing advice to people in need. However, we noticed that Google's own AdWordsPros - full-time Google employees -- recently stepped up their presence, often being the first to answer questions on the forum. But this was a problem.

Yes. It's true. The next big thing for me is tennis. It was announced earlier this week that I am the new chairman and partner in The Tennis Company.A little bit surprised? You're not alone. I know that a lot of folks were expecting me to announce a venture focused on advancing online advertising technology, along the lines of my last two companies, Real Media and TACODA. While I'm certainly not ruling out a return to that space at some point, I believe that the very best opportunity out there today is to build a truly integrated global enthusiast media …