Today, I visited Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, and I met one of the company's senior execs. Very impressive guy. I won't mention his name or his department for the sake of confidentiality. However, I will share the conversation.

There's been a lot of talk about the growth of the digital content industry, particularly in online video. Marketers now have a wide range of opportunities available at scale, from original Web series to content platforms. This sea change in the perception and power of online content has opened the door for digital content upfronts to make a meaningful impact on the advertising dollars that are normally squirreled away in traditional media buys. But the deals transacted during these digital upfronts will be more than just media buys -- they'll include original content and social activations that drive considerable earned …

Indie video network Blip emailed producers to announce that it would discontinue redistribution to Boxee, Samsung, Vizio, DivX TV, MeFeedia, Sony BIVL, TiVo, Vimeo. Blip has done an admirable job of differentiating itself over the years, and has been an important enabler for indie producers. But what does the decision really mean?

To the uninitiated brand marketer, the term demand-side platform, or DSP, can be very intimidating. When one ventures into the nascent world of video DSPs, where the definition often changes from provider to provider, things get even more confusing.

As the importance of new content-business-models increases, so, too do TV and digital distribution deals that push continued convergence across platforms. Original content deals across all platforms are the new norm, with You Tube for one, quietly changing the terms for some channel producers to encompass an "everywhere model," and with CBS exploring direct-to-Netflix content deals.

Increasingly, tech firms and ad networks are pivoting and morphing into content creators. Specific Media has begun the metamorphosis; Hulu, Netflix, YouTube are in transit; SAY Media is there, to name a few examples. As they pivot into content, some underwrite a horizontal strategy, others go vertical and focus on the most engaged and passionate audiences,

Traditional TV advertisers are looking to make online video a more integrated part of their overall media plans, and for good reason. A recent Nielsen/IAB study found that people who saw a video ad across all four screens, (TV+PC+Phone+Tablet) correctly recalled the ad 74% of the time, an increase from 50% ad recall when they saw the video on TV only.

The dust has settled on the Super Bowl and we've stopped looking back at the ads and game. It's time to look forward at what this year's Super Bowl meant for digital video. The answer: a lot. According to NBC, 2.1 million people streamed the Super Bowl for a total of 78.6 million minutes. That's a little more than 37 minutes per person. Pretty amazing -- considering the experience was HORRIBLE.

We don't use travel agents to book flights anymore, we can do all of our banking digitally, there's no need for record stores since our music is just a mouse click away and our friends all stay in touch through social networks. Virtually every facet of life has experienced a transformation from an old, manual process to a newer, more automated way. If we value the conveniences offered and the capabilities afforded to us by self-service and automation, why are we still trading advertising like it's the 1960s?

You'd almost think that ad networks have two site lists: one to show off their best-looking websites when they court advertisers, the other to actually deliver the campaigns once they're booked.