Reason 542 to love the British media (reason 541 being The Guardian’s convenient size and shape): they write things like, "We don’t need to catch the US media’s cold." Straight, to the point – "let’s not pussyfoot around here."

Thrilling as that is, the part of the article that caught my eye is about digital vs. print media, questioning how in the world the American media is going to get out of the giant hole they’ve dug themselves into – ask for even more money from creditors?

"They all
insist they have a digital strategy, but cannot articulate it. But "the
margins available in the digital space will not replicate what’s going
on in the print space, with its high fixed costs. So how are they going
to get there?" Mike Simonton
of Fitch Ratings [tells] Editor and Publisher.

Indeed, how? Abandon print altogether? I would suggest something brilliant, but apparently, I’ve lost the ability to think.

According to data from an eMarketer study on behavioral targeting, consumers’ favorite forms of marketing are emails
from companies people have relationships with and they say they want to
hear from.

The most hated are emails from companies they don’t want
to hear from. "People were asked,
and they said yes. That dynamic operates in all forms of marketing.
It’s one of the many reasons why paid search does well. People are
given a choice," senior analyst Dave Hellerman told Mediapost.

Well, of course that’s the difference. Nobody – and I mean nobody – likes being told what to do. What we’d prefer, I guess, is to have someone spy on us and know exactly what we want, when and where we want it…but ask politely before giving it to us.

On that note, check out this lovely chart showing incredible growth for BT ad spend, even as the FTC holds hearings on the practice.

By 2012, MarketingCharts reports, BT will constitute 24% of the display ad pie, despite representing just 8.6% of internet ad spend. What is driving much of this growth? Why, it’s online video — the new darling of the internet ad industry.

It’s a battle of "fair use" – one that was bound to happen. The AP issued a takedown notice for a copy/paste job by the Drudge Retort (the anti-Drudge Report), reports the Guardian.

Check it out yourself, count the words, and tell me if you think it was an infringement. Read more about it on The Unassociated Press, if you want. TechCrunch blogger Michael Arrington was up in arms about it, saying (and I quote), "AP doesn’t get to make its own rules around how its content is used -
if those rules are stricter than the law allows [...] frankly, the fact that they are being linked should be considered a favor." Jeff Jarvis was a little more so, at least by the title of his post, "FU AP."

They have their points, the AP has theirs – which Saul Hansell explains well here. But listen up: As long as there is laziness, there is always going to be plagiary. (And spelling errors – I myself was too lazy to even look up how to spell that. Did I get it right?) And as long as there is there is the AP, they are going to be used as a source by bloggers. But why don’t they, instead of naysaying and suing and all that fun stuff, set some guidelines? Maybe you can’t make your own rules, but you can be specific about what you want the rules to be. Tell us what we can’t do – or we’ll take that mile, and more.

Anybody who has taken a leisurely cruise through the Southeastern USA can’t help but notice the plethora of clever church signs by the side of the road. I’ve got my favorites: "Come in, we’re prayer-conditioned" –during the scorching heat wave last week.  Even better-timed, during this period of economic woe and penny-pinching: "Wal-Mart is not the only saving place."

And though most of us in the Bay Area would hesitate to agree with the wisdoms of the Bible Belt, perhaps we’ve got something to learn from these messages. I mean, you’ve got to give them credit for placement, targeted reach, timing. And there’s something about the juxtaposition of the old-skool lettering and the modern rhetoric and makes you think, hey, maybe these god people are up to something interesting.

Ahead of the times? Maybe. Having only recently realized how dependent I’ve become on Google, this sign in particular struck me —>

It’s not the first time the Google hegemony has been questioned. See here for an interesting article from Mike Troiano, the founding CEO of Ogilvy’s Interactive and Brandscape, on "why Google sucks." You can also ask our own JES the same question for a more, um, uncut response.

So, at the risk of sounding like SJP, I "couldn’t help but wonder:" where is the best place to find answers to our questions? Is it our peers – as seen by the growing popularity of online forums and product/service reviews? Is it BT marketers, with their fancy-schmancy recommendation algorithms? A search engine alternative? Or – dare I say it – should we be turning to a higher power?

You know, like Ouija.

Blow me down, Moses, the new iPhone IS here. And, depending on who you are: current iPhone owner, Apple shareholder, or the anti-AT&T activist, your reaction could be anywhere from

–slightly pissed

–self-congratulatory & smug, or

–that’s it, i’m moving to Canada. (Though, our friendly northern neighbor is no longer an artful escape from Americana.)

Let’s break it down, shall we?

Here is what the new iPhone will bring to our media-hungry souls:

• The long-awaited high speed "3G" wireless internet connection. Music to the ears of online marketers who sat up at night designing mobile phone interfaces, websites, and media campaigns, hoping fervently that someone, somewhere, would love them for this.

• GPS technology, seamlessly integrated with Google Maps, so you can always know exactly where you are, and where you are going. (Putting quite a dent in the GPS market.)

• 3rd party apps that are really going to change the face of the game. One, for example, would help you locate your friends in a crowded concert. But can you imagine what this opens us up to? Stalkers R’ Us. And Annoyances R’ Ss. Remember what happened with Facebook? For the last time, dear friends, I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW WHICH SEX AND THE CITY CHARACTER I MOST RESEMBLE. Or hug a green plant, or donate $1 to the save-the-plastic-bag foundation.

*Note also that Mobile applications for the new iPhone are going to set a whole new bar for mobile advertising. Current growth rates for integrated media use on cell phones will explode, as they’ve started to do on the global level already, and there will be even more platforms for advertisers to explore as they begin to really reach this huge new audience.

• Integration and synchronization of work email, contacts, and other information to the iPhone’s memory. I already can name one CEO whose life this is going to improve. Or rather, the life of the person who heroically attempts to organize his life for him. (Do you think he might get her a pretty new iPhone as a thank-you gift?)

• Cheaper sticker prices – $199 for the 8GB model, $299 for 16GB – mm, just the right chunk of your federal income tax rebate.

So, these are all the pluses. What is the downside? Is there one?

How about all the poor little iPhone "1.0" owners. Aren’t they going to be foaming-at-the-mouth jealous? (If you were unfortunate enough to have bought one in the past week, though, you can totally return it. Whew.)

Also, the lower sticker price comes from somewhere: AT&T, which has raised its data plan fees from $20/mo extra to $30, which over the course of the two-year contract is – you guessed it – a bit more than the $200 "discounted" price of the new model. Clever girl.