I'm a huge social media fan; I think it gives smart businesses an unprecedented opportunity to build customer relationships. That being said, there's no arguing the fact that social media has yet to monetize in any significant way. And when it comes time to justify the return on a marketing dollar spent, those media that pop up exactly when someone is looking to buy have a giant leg-up on all others. The Yellow Pages had that leg-up for decades. Search has it now.

At the most recent Search Insider Summit, I was on a panel about the future of search. It was fantastic and I loved hearing the new things that Gary Milner from Lenovo is doing. What a great time to be in digital media, and especially search. At the end of the panel, the moderator asked our esteemed group of panelists what advice we would have for the audience in these exciting and fast-paced times. Mine, after much deliberation, was to get the basics right before you trot off and start testing all the new things that are available. It's easy …