Microsoft has entered a deal to acquire Greenfield Online, an attitudinal researcher and owner of European comparison shopping player Ciao GmbH, for $486 million. Microsoft's in it strictly for the shopping search platform, which it dubs "commercial search," and has already found an )undisclosed( buyer for the research/survey business.

Eric Schmidt tells the Seattle Times that Google and Yahoo still plan to move ahead with their search advertising deal in October, despite recent questions from the Senate about whether the arrangement will raise prices for advertisers. "We are going to move forward," Schmidt said Thursday. "We are in the process of talking to the government. They've not indicated one way or the other how they're dealing with us." When the companies paired up in June,

Senator John McCain has been deemed "Ready to Lead" in his online ads, and now he's ready to call his Democratic rival SenatorBarack Obama...er...un-ready. According to The Media Trust Company , McCain's camp dropped two new display ads yesterday, just in time for Obama's much-anticipated Mile High acceptance speech last night. He's also touting his experience in search ads. A search for "McCain" turns up this ad: "No On The Job Training Needed Help Elect John McCain.

Yahoo confirmed two executives who specialized in mobile left its Connected Life division. Steve Boom, SVP of Connected Life, and Gary Roshak, according to news first reported by Tricia Duryee of mocoNews . Boom has been with Yahoo for 10 years and is looking for other opportunities, according to a company spokesperson. "He has been a tremendous asset to the company. He helped build the mobile team to what it is today,

Since Phorm announced it had signed contracts with U.K. ISP's back in March, a number of websites have sprung up designed to chart and combat the behavioural targeting firm's "illegal" activities. Examples include badphorm.co.uk, inphormationdesk.org and dephormation.org.uk. It was the handy work of nodpi.org )stands for No Deep Packet Inspection( that caught my eye today however, with the introduction of a gallery section to the site.

ISP-based behavioral targeting company Phorm has hired digital agency TBG London for a helping hand with its B2B marketing efforts. Speaking with me earlier today, a Phorm spokesperson said, "There is huge interest in our technology and its possibilities. TBG is helping us develop several propositions that draw on these capabilities for their presentation to a number of our business partners.

Shortly after Microsoft bought aQuantive it quarantined the ad company's agency unit, Avenue A/Razorfish, in its own division with its own CEO. There were two ways to interpret that move: A( Microsoft wanted to keep the unit - and its substantial profits - while diminishing the appearance of conflict of interest, or A( Microsoft wanted to sell it and was reducing the barriers to such a sale. A report from AdAge appears to lend credence to the latter theory.

I haven't talked much about the digital TV transition , which will happen to television receiving signals over the airwaves in February 2009 and cable in 2012. Consumers are confused. It's a marketing bonanza for consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers. Several manufacturers have special Web sites to educate in-market buyers on the transition, and the value of HDTV. Best Buy now has Ask a Blue Shirt , a site set up to ease the minds of consumers. It's a blog, FAQ,

Verizon and Google may be close to a search deal for the carrier's wireless customers, reports the Wall Street Journal . The Journal says, "It's the latest sign that telecom companies are finally conceding that their homegrown search services have stalled - and that they need help from the Internet's big guns." What it all could mean for Verizon's ad relationships with AOL and Millennial Media remains to be seen. This may just be about finding the right partner,

Microsoft has enlisted Jerry Seinfeld to star in a new series of ads targeting Apple's hyper-successful "Get A Mac" campaign? But...Seinfeld's a hardcore Mac user. Isn't he? Remember the show? There was a Mac in the living room of Jerry's apartment in every single episode. The model upgraded with each new season. It was a well-known feature of the show that Jerry's apartment was filled with things that resonated Jerry: superman models, breakfast cereal...and Macs.

Now that Google has officially rolled out its AdSense for feeds , ads for women seeking men pop up on my feeds. Will Google and other providers start filtering advertisers for quality? In the past few days I've seen feed ads for Moveon.org and other legitimate sponsors; then this woman in a nightie pops up on my screen beside a mobile industry blog feed. What ads would I see if I were reading blogs in which the content was actually appropriate for this kind of thing?

The Wall Street Journal today has an interview with Federal Trade Commissioner Jon Leibowitz regarding the agency's investigation into marketing to kids. One question deals with digital advertising in particular, and exemplifies how marketers are integrating on multiple platforms to reach kids. Here's what Leibowitz had to say: One of the surprises in the [recent FTC] report was the prevalence of integrated advertising campaigns. They're sophisticated, they're multi-platform,

Google analytics evangelist Avinash Kaushik gave a unique reason for supporting Barack Obama for United States president. "He does multivariate testing," Kaushik said, while speaking at Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, CA, on a panel discussing Google Analytics and Website Optimizer.

Google rolled out new features today for Website Optimizer , a tool that helps digital marketers and others test and improve the performance of Web pages. Tom Leung, business product manager for Google Website Optimizer, described the changes today at the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, CA. Using Website Optimizer, businesses or individuals can set up different versions of a Web page and test the performance of each. Using one of the new features,

Anyone attending the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, CA, couldn't help but notice the long line of people waiting to get Bryan Eisenberg to sign the new book he co-authored called, "Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer." He was accompanied by Brett Crosby, group manager of Google Analytics and the co-founder of Urchin Software. Brett wrote the book's forward. Bryan, co-founder of interactive marketing optimization firm Future Now,

This morning I got an e-mail newsletter from Bed Bath & Beyond titled "Products for Independent Living by Moen." The contents were a bit unexpected. Certainly BB&B doesn't take the time to get to know me. For starters, it's mapped my nearest store in New Jersey instead of Manhattan, but I'll forgive that. The products it's advertising included bath products such as handrails, chairs, and grips for elderly and handicapped individuals.

Yesterday's Search Engine Strategies session on universal and blended search provided search engine marketers with updates on newer features offered by Microsoft, Yahoo, Ask.com, and smaller engines such as BooRah and Cooliris. Unfortunately, I didn't make it there - with five simultaneous sessions to choose from at one time, it's impossible to be in more than one place at one time. You know the drill.

Lori Raimondo, VP of marketing for New York City's Times Square Alliance, will make a cross-country road trip to promote a cause. This weekend, I ran into Lori in a San Francisco restaurant a day or two before she was about to begin the Key to the Cure Road Trip , an initiative sponsored by Saks Fifth Avenue to fight women's cancers. She'll be driving in style, too, traveling in a white Mercedes-Benz. In a blog,

Facebook and at least seven advertisers are being sued for an unpopular ad targeting program. Advertisers named in the federal lawsuit include Blockbuster, Fandango, and Zappos. The ad targeting initiative, known as Beacon, was rolled out in November 2007, but overhauled a month later after privacy and consumer advocates cried foul. Facebook subsequently gave people more control over what online activities are visible to friends. A copy of the lawsuit, published by wired.com,

ClickZ's editorial team is moving to a new office in Manhattan's financial district. Effective today, we'll be joining other Incisive Media's properties including law.com in lower Manhattan. If you're into updating your address book, here's where to send snail mail for ClickZ's editors: 120 Broadway, 6th floor, New York, NY 10271-1101. If you want to track down a ClickZ editor, drop us a line .