Low.com, a Los Angeles-based company that includes a lead generation service, is running this ad.

Announced yesterday they would partner with Yahoo to deliver display advertising on their Web'n'walk mobile Internet service. The ads will roll out across the network in the first half of 2008, and will be sold and served exclusively by Yahoo. The deal, together with Yahoo's current mobile advertising partnership with Vodafone, now gives them access to 2 of the most lucrative mobile operators in the UK, and cements Yahoo's dominance in the UK mobile ad arena.

Most MacWorld coverage of the Apple TV refresh has focused on iTunes movie rentals. But Steve Jobs and his busy elves are also working hard to make the platform friendly to Internet videocasters reliant on advertising. Or so one Blip.TV executive told The Times' Saul Hansell. From the Bits blog : Apple has no restrictions on distributing podcasts that have advertising in them. Indeed, Dina Kaplan, the chief operating officer of Blip.TV,

Cybercrime might not have direct ties to digital advertising, though the individuals and syndicates behind malicious intent on the Web are a threat to how Internet users view ads on the Web. With implications of adware and Web-borne infections using ads as a vector to infect computers to infect computers, it's important to know what's happening and how to protect ad creative, networks, servers, and computers.

Faced with the prospect that the economic slowdown could hurt Yahoo's business, Bloomberg.com reported tonight that Microsoft may cut its $44.6 billion bid for the company. Earlier in the day, Reuters reported Microsoft is evaluating its bid to purchase the company. Reuters, quoting unnamed sources, pointed out that Yahoo has lost key personnel since Microsoft made its Jan. 31 offer, plus other factors.

The Washington Post has some new information on the scope of ISP behavior tracking in the U.S. According to its story this morning, ad vendor Front Porch claims it's already observing and targeting ads to 100,000 U.S. broadband subscribers through secretive partnerships with its ISP partners. NebuAd meanwhile said it has deals that cover 10 percent of U.S. customers.

Like a home with an inviting welcome mat, AOL has attracted visitors and advertisers alike to its real estate portal. With 3.1 million unique visitors in February, AOL Real Estate ranked No. 4 among real estate sites, according to comScore. Only Move.com )that includes Realtor.com(, Yahoo Real Estate, and MNS Real Estate had more visitors. In December 2007, AOL wasn't even on comScore's list of top real estate sites. Looks like AOL has lined up a diverse mix of advertisers,

Facebook has offered powerful ad targeting since last fall, but I had no idea its algorithms had gotten this advanced. As you can see from the above ad which appeared in my feed yesterday, the company has not only strip-mined my profile for demographic, psychographic and interest-based data, but also somehow read between the lines to discover my inadequacies at work. I am truly humbled by this insight, Facebook and McDonald's, and I thank you. Click to see landing page.

Talk about meta. Can one Facebook group be created for the sole purpose of fueling friends on another group? Republican Web strategist Patrick Ruffini set up his " John McCain Facebook Challenge " group just for that. "The point of this group is pretty simple: Get every Republican on Facebook to go to John McCain's Facebook page )facebook.com/JohnMcCain( and become a supporter.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone were nice enough to the Writer's Guild of America to leave a short waiting period after the end of the writer's strike to riff on the Hollywood standoff. "Southpark" Episode 1204, "Canada On Strike" mirrors the union action with the entire country of Canada picketing until it gains the appreciation of the rest of the world. When asked for what it wants? The WGA: World Canadian Bureau demands: "Money. Those Internet dollars.

The New York Times reports the DoubleClick layoffs are official, and imminent. They're also more widespread than expected, representing about 25 percent of DoubleClick's 1,200 U.S. employees. Acquisitions breed layoffs, and these come as no surprise. Neither does the fact that Google will be selling off Performics, DoubleClick's SEM firm.

If it happens in Vegas this week, it's not staying there. Too much news to get out: Mobile technology provider Velti announced it worked on strategic campaigns for Wrigley's and Western Union. For Wrigley's Orbit gum, consumers text a unique code to enter a sweepstakes competition. They then take part in games with the overall goal to increase sales during the duration of the sweepstakes. For Western Union,

When creating an ad campaign for Miller Brewing's Sparks caffeinated beer, Digitas got inspiration from its customers. Turns out, people who drink this brew end up with orange tongues. And many have a proclivity to stick their tongues out, pose for a camera, and then post the photo on Facebook, Flickr, or elsewhere. "These people aren't watching a lot of television. You cannot reach them in traditional media,

Everyone loves Modernista's distributed Web presence. The forward thinking site has drawn accolades from all manner of creative types for sending visitors elsewhere in their quest for agency info and client samples. See for yourself . Clicking through ought to keep you here but with the addition a red navigation widget in the upper left corner. The menu taxonomy consists of links to a Wikipedia entry on the firm, client creative hosted on Flickr and Yahoo,

A new outcry in the U.K. today about ISPs' interest in tracking Internet users for ad targeting purposes. The source this time: a news report claiming that BT tested a system for tracking and serving ads to 18,000 of its broadband subscribers without their consent. According to documents obtained by The Register, the 2006 technology trial was undertaken in partnership with adware firm 121Media, which is now called Phorm.

Ok, I don't go in for most April Fool's pranks, but all-inclusive social platform nclüdr deserves your lunch break attention. Plus it has the best LowerMyBills.com parody ad ever. ) Register to view animated version.

Having evidently determined it has a better grip on Yahoo's shareholders than Yahoo itself does, Microsoft has decided not to raise its bid for the Internet giant as it had been rumored to do, Wall Street Journal reported this morning . Declines in Microsoft's market value since it made its $45 billion cash and stock offer two months ago have reduced the real value of the bid to around $42 billion.

Gmail's now allowing you to post-date e-mail messages with a new feature, Custom Time . Cool. How does it work? "Gmail utilizes an e-flux capacitor to resolve issues of causality," the brainiacs at Google inform us. Who could pass up customer testimonials like this one? "I just got two tickets to Radiohead by being the 'first' to respond to a co-worker's 'first-come, first-serve' email. Someone else had already won them, but I told everyone to check their inboxes again.

The April Fools jokes are piling up on the Web, but the best interactive advertising prank today just might be one that occurred offline. )Admittedly, it's early yet(. Blogads staffers put one over on their boss, Henry Copeland, when the entire staff arrived at the office this morning wearing suits and ties. "I'm in shock," Henry tweeted. Wonder if anyone at my bank is wearing flipflops and tank tops today? Somehow doubt it.

Baseball, beer, peanuts...and water? It's all baseball all the time today )when the rain doesn't ruin things , that is(. Advertisers want to be a part of it all, too. Along with Bank of America, today's MLB.com Opening Day sponsor, and several other advertisers written about here today, Aquafina is running an MLB.com-related effort, extending its campaign featuring everybody's favorite curmudgeonly manager, Lou Piniella.