The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive), which comes into force on 26 May 2011 has created much attention and speculation on how it will be implemented, enforced and what its ramifications might be. The issue at stake is the use and abuse of cookies.

Sometimes you attend exhibitions and they’re great. You feel inspired by them. Other times you walk away having expected a little more. That’s how I felt about ad:tech this year. It seemed busier than last year, but then again it was also much smaller, so it would.

Wearing my SEM hat firmly pulled down upon my head I began to test Google Instant.  There are already quite a few questions regarding how it will affect our day to day tasks and I feel that tracking the progression of each search as it occurs will have a large effect on the placement of ads at the correct time.  Simply allowing for a keyword phrase to drive traffic as it always has before will no longer work once your competitor changes strategies to get their advert displayed before the searcher has completed the phrase they’re typing.  Suddenly you find yourself in a race t

I speak with marketers everyday who intuitively think that administration is a major part of their job. Filling in PO numbers, asking management for campaign financing, reporting, briefing requests to agencies, creative reviews and copying figures into and between spreadsheets.

Compared to a decade ago, some would argue that the marketers of today have it easy.  There’s a technology solution for pretty much everything from web analytics to ad serving.  But it’s not as straightforward as you might think.
 

How often do we describe things as easy?  Let’s meet at my office in New York – it’s really easy to get to.  Let’s grab a sandwich for lunch – it’s quick and easy.  Let’s save that on the Wiki – it’s so easy to navigate.

A month or so ago I wrote an article for iMedia UK about the changing web and the implications for marketers.  The article explored how the web’s transition from a web of content to a web of applications will change two key things:

Remember 1999?  That rather wonderful moment when the advent of the web made everything possible and shattered the key economic principle that a business needed a revenue model to sustain itself?  And, of course, the promise to all of us that it would deliver fewer working hours, greater information and access to riches.  
 
The future gazing of 1999 confirmed one thing. Predictions are a mugs game and a really special kind of mugs game where technological advancement is driving change so very quickly.