For many years the rich-media space was a hotbed of activity. All the usual suspects were out in the marketplace duking it out for the top spot. Yet somewhere along the way, through consolidation and a focus on data and ad networks, they seem to have lost their luster.

People tolerate advertising because they get something out of it, period. I am a little tired of hearing the argument "if it's the right ad in the right place, then people will be engaged." I am a huge fan of relevancy, but you're not going to convince me that it's possible to achieve perfect relevancy and solve the issue of advertising on the Internet.

In our media environment we tend to awkwardly, equally, respect both the tried-and-true and progressiveness. But even here, we occasionally find ourselves pausing and marveling at the thing that could've been.