If you're a player in the online marketing space, you're well aware of the government and media attention focused on online lead generation providers that violate consumer privacy and trust. And, by now, you've seen the best practices recently released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Due to the misconduct of some online lead generation providers that has been brought to light in the past six months or so, I believe the IAB's best practices merely skim the surface of what the industry really needs.

If the lead generation industry is like the Mary we read about in that childhood poem, then transparency is its little lamb. Wherever our industry went, transparency was sure to follow.

Cost-per-click revolutionized the way marketers think about lead generation, campaign measurement and ROI. However, despite the Internet's promise as a commerce channel, the majority of consumers still transact offline. As a result, marketers are forced to prove value beyond simple click-throughs.

Search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN can help to bring visitors to your site, but that is only the first step; once visitors arrive on your landing page, the site must keep the momentum going and ultimately convert the visitor to a customer. Landing page targeting and testing -- or a combination of both -- enables you to optimize how your site speaks to your visitors.