"Online Classifieds Have Grown Up," writes Brad Waller, VP, business and affiliate development of ePage, in response to my column that examines why more classified ad sites haven't incorporated more interactive features. The online classified site, he says, has been around since 1994 and that consumers are the ones who've resisted change. "We offered audio many years ago and it never took off. We have offered video for a few years and very few users have chosen to upload any,

On Bloomberg Radio this week, Google Search exec Marissa Mayer was asked how Google justifies blowing off the $200 million per year the company claims it could make from text ads on its image search results. "Ads should match the results." She said if Google were to run ads in Image Search, they would likely be image ads. She also said attention would be paid to the relevance, user experience, and types of interaction with image search. Based on those remarks,

Post written by Fred Aun. AdMission, a developer of dynamic display ads for small and local advertisers, has sold "certain assets" to The Cobalt Group. The companies did not confirm a report that the assets in question are its Spotlight Ads division, and would only say the deal was needed to keep up with the times. "Online advertising is an extremely exciting and rapidly evolving market and display advertising is the fastest growing segment of the category,

You may have seen an announcement from EyeWonder out on the wires earlier this week. When we here in the newsroom at ClickZ saw it, our response was a universal "huh?" It said EyeWonder has "unveiled a new category for the advertising industry, 'Interactive Digital Advertising.' The new category was created to address the challenges today's leading interactive agencies face in clearly defining and communicating rich media." Interactive Digital Advertising? Yeah,

The Interactive Advertising Bureau today released guidelines that would update the definition of rich media as well as revise guidelines for other ad formats . The IAB has asked for comment within the next 30 days before locking down them down. When asked about the highlights, Marla Nitke, IAB spokeswoman, pointed to the three bullet points in the IAB news release. The highlights are: *Redefine rich media.

One of the more storied vendors in the digital marketing arena, Enliven, has agreed to merge with DG FastChannel, an ad production and creative asset management firm. The combined entity hopes to offer advertisers a single place to create and manage ad assets, especially video. Enliven offers rich media, mobile and in-game ad products and services.

A Google search for "Myanmar," devastated by a cyclone, shows that nonprofits are turning to paid search to help raise funds to assist victims.

Talk about forethought - or in this case, is it afterthought? Nola.com , the online presence of New Orleans' Times-Picayune, has - as the very first paragraph of its online media kit - the following call-to-action: ATTENTION Current NOLA.com Advertisers ONLY. Hurricane Advertising Information. Please fill out instructions for your campaign in case of emergency/evacuation. CLICK HERE. The form on the landing page requests complete contact information,

Aegis Group has acquired Brazilian communications agency Age, which offers trade and sports marketing, online planning and buying, and offline creative services. Having already acquired Brazil's largest independent digital agency AgenciaClick in 2007, Aegis plans for the two to "work closely together, sharing resources and creating a fully integrated marketing offer in Brazil," according to a press release.

Today, ComScore released its March data on European search engine market share. Unsurprisingly Google sites came out on top, commanding 79 percent of searches across the continent. Yahoo and Microsoft came in fourth and fifth place, each with about 2 percent of search market share, respectively. Worth noting however, is the increasing share for engines in the Eastern European markets, which are dominated by non-English language search technology. Two Polish properties,

"The most effective agencies must live squarely at the intersection of marketing and technology. They should be sprinting to that intersection. Not just digital agencies, but all agencies. As all media becomes digital, any agency that doesn't view itself as a technology company should commence reflecting fondly on the good ol' days. The road ahead is likely to be significantly less fulfilling." -Jeff Lanctot, SVP of Avenue A | Razorfish Media, writing in his blog .

Google has signed onto a venture, led by Sprint, to develop and deliver high-speed wireless Internet access for mobile devices, according to a published report. Comcast, Time Warner, Intel, Clearwire, and others are set to announce they will invest $3.2 billion for the technology called WiMax, the WSJ.com reports . Google is said to be the preferred software developer on the network. Its search service would be the default on new mobile devices, the WSJ.com reports.

Forbes.com has paired with Cisco in the launch of a social network geared towards business professionals. The AnswerNetwork , launched in beta, is "Forbes.com's first online social network designed for the person-to-person exchange of knowledge and expertise among business executives, friends and relatives seeking to share and obtain specific knowledge," according to a press release. Also, users will get credits for responding to questions. A spokesperson told me Cisco,

With Mother's Day coming up, a search for "mother" in my personal e-mail inbox turned up these marketing pitches. Some come from the usual suspects, while others aren't so ususal.

Thank DoubleClick for this nifty tool: a widget that calculates the value of a widget . Google's Ari Paparo, previously DoubleClick's VP, advertiser products, brought it to marketers' attention yesterday at IAB's digital video leadership forum. He participated on the panel, "Format Wars No More." When asked if brands will start tracking mentions on Twitter, Ning, and other social applications, Paparo pointed out that tracking is fairly easy to do.

How long will online video ads, on a CPM basis, cost more than television ads? "It's driven by a dearth of quality produced video online," said Nick Johnson, NBC's VP, national sales, Internet and broadband. "It's a marketplace supply and demand story," said Johnson, speaking at the IAB's Digital Video conference today in NYC. He said the costs will likely remain higher, for now, as long as consumers respond better to online video ads than television ads.

The Web Analytics Association )WAA( elected its 2008/2009 board of directors. Those with board positions are listed here . Last year there was an effort to enact a changeover of directors , and it looks like it happened again without much of a push. About half of the board is new, and several of the incumbents are sophomore directors. The new and fresh members in power is a good thing as it means new and fresh ideas for the WAA.

With the dust settling around Microsoft's abortive bid for Yahoo, one thing's quickly becoming clear: The self-destruction of this particular takeover attempt is not the end of Yahoo's odyssey but merely a mid-way point. Analyst and blogger speculation this morning has anticipated a variety of outcomes for Yahoo, including a deal with News Corp )though talks have reportedly "cooled"(, an acquisition of ValueClick, and even a late third act consummation with Microsoft.

I had a blast at the Kelsey conference in Seattle last week. In addition to news coverage from the event, here are a few tidbits I found interesting: SubPrime Auto Loan Lead Gen Potential Cars.com founder and CEO Mitch Golub suggested there's room for a new vertical in the local auto lead generation space: subprime auto loans. Because, according to Golub, 50 percent of car buyers don't qualify for prime loans, "I guess that's another vertical to be developed.

In conjunction with finalizing its Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines , the Interactive Advertising Bureau has unveiled a compliance program à la TRUSTe. The new guidelines were proposed a month ago , and nothing in those original guidelines has changed following a comment period. According to the IAB press release, "The IAB suggests that compliant member sites post the compliance seal in their online media kit as well as in their print versions.