Traditional advertising and social media are getting cozier by the day. So cozy that you might want to call them “friends with benefits.” That guy you overheard talking about his favorite yogurt? That woman blogging and twittering about her awesome new car? Maybe not quite so unbiased – since they got that yogurt and that car for free. Say what you will, getting something for nothing makes a difference. Hence, the benefits.

Solicited word-of-mouth is nothing new; BzzAgent has been around a while, sending people out in the world to comment, share and, well, generate buzz. Now, Ford Fiesta is giving away cars to agents. Hey, if I had a new car for 6 months, I would probably like it too. Ah, that new car smell. Nothing quite like it.

Our response? It's time to embrace your inner skeptic. The message is only as valuable as you allow it to be. These days, everyone has something to share, and it’s not all as innocent as it might seem.  As Pete Cashmore wrote in his post "Can Social Media Make Us Buy More Cars?": “In the era of user-generated content, being an informed and skeptical consumer of media is as important as being a skilled creator.” And for every blogger, vlogger, or twitterer commenting on a product, there are ten consumers who need to raise that eyebrow just a little higher.

Of course the real question is: will it work? How skeptical are people these days? Keep watching Ford Fiesta and maybe we'll find out.

Digital Axle could take home the prize in the optimization competition at the Ad-Tech Awards tonight for its work on NorcalHonda.com.  Just in case we don’t win, we’re telling you now that we are a finalist.  More later.

For the longest time, digital agencies have done everything they can to convince the world that no, no, no …they only do digital. Why?  Two words: Wall Street.

Remember when Digitas went public?  They (brilliantly) positioned themselves to the dot com rabblery  as "Digital Gone Wild" when, in fact, at the time, more than 60% of their revenue came from offline sources like, say, junk mail.  Did you ever hear Tom Bedecarre of AKQA bragging on his print campaigns for Visa?  Not likely.  For just about ever, Wall Street has given digital agencies a much higher multiple on income than it has given the IPG's and Omnicom's of the world.  So even if the business was there, Digital CEOs underplayed their offline revenue because nothing good could come from it.

But now the advent of online video as a content and ad form may be the catalyst changing all that.  Here in Adweek the formerly high minded digerati of Razorfish (incidentally owned by MSFT of all companies) is taking credit for a campaign in …gasp… broadcast video.

We've thought this would happen forever.  The digital agencies are in the best position to win these clients over the long haul.  Why? EZ. They understand and appreciate data — something the traditonal agency world has yet to fully wrap its
head around.  So, in some respects the high multiples are justified as the Razorfish's of the world may start to gobble up broadcast budgets and position themelves as the center of the marketing infrastructure.  Their future growth curve looks way brighter.

Facebook and Twitter are now driving a significant amount of traffic to web sites. Enough to make Google and Yahoo just a teeny bit nervous. Heck some sites are seeing more traffic from Facebook than from Google. Google and Facebook are still complementary, but that may be shifting. We call this shift “Search 3.0.”

Peter Hershberg broke down Search 3.0 in AdAge recently, defining three levels of social connections: personal/real-life, shared interest (such as those you follow on Twitter), and shared experience (an Amazon or eBags reviewer). People are using these connections to assess the value of their search results. A straight Google search just doesn’t cut it when you can ask your friends,
their friends, a few professionals you respect and maybe someone who has tried the product. All in one easy inquiry into the hive mind.(Ok, maybe not all queries are best suited for this kind of search.)

On top of that, people can’t seem to stay away from social networks (time spent is up 93%). Which means that their social connectivity is growing and
strengthening. There is a new kind of relevance: personal — defined by your personal network. So you, dear marketer, are going to have to approach things just a little differently.

We also learned that people filter content in a way that Google just can’t. A recent study showed that 25% of posts through the social bookmarking site Delicious have yet to be indexed by search engines. And the tags are 93% relevant. That is high value: relevant AND timely. No waiting for spiders to catch up.

What does this mean for you? Social media is critical, like it or not. Twitter or something like it won’t go away (as much as you might want it to). And Search as we know it has changed. Nervous yet? It’s time to start experimenting. And make a few mistakes while you’re at it — the risk-taking window is wide-open.

This is just too juicy to pass up.

Journeyman session drummer Josh Freese:

So he did it. He sold the album on iTunes for $7, and the double DVD set and download for $15. But then it got interesting.

• For $50, 25 fans could get the album and a five-minute “thank-you” call
  from Freese, during which they can talk about whatever they want.
• $250 would buy 15 people the music, a signed drumhead, a T-shirt and lunch with Freese at P.F. Chang’s or The Cheesecake Factory.
• And $1,000? The music, a T-shirt and a signed cymbal,
  drum head and Drumsticks. But also this (via the website): “Josh washes your car OR does your laundry….or you can wash
  his car. Have dinner with Josh aboard the ‘Queen Mary’ in Long Beach,
  CA. Get drunk and cut each other's hair in the parking lot of the Long
  Beach courthouse (filmed and posted on youtube of course)”
• I'm not even going to tell you what $10,000 would get you.

Freese has since taken down the promotion from the website, but says PR stunt aside, he'll totally make good on any of the high-end offers, should he actually get them.

So what's the moral of the story? Be ridiculous. Don't worry about the lawyers, don't worry about pissing people off. When ideas come out of conversations with your friends that leave you both laughing your ass off on the floor, not knowing what hit you, go ahead and do them. (Unless it's a stupid April's Fools joke, of course, and then do it, but not on April 1. That's for amateurs.)

The result will certainly surprise — you and everyone else.