As Facebook pushes to Win The Internet, its dazzling growth in usage is still to be reflected in profits, or even revenues. Accurate estimates of exactly what Facebook is bringing in are hard to come by but the best yet now comes from the Inside Facebook blog.

Top interactive agencies and affiliates share their tricks for picking the right ad network.

Conservatively estimated, there are upwards of 400 ad networks globally. There is a Japanese iPhone-only ad network and the recently launched Village Voice alternative weekly New York newspaper ad network – and everything in between. For ad agencies representing top brands, and for affiliates trying to make a living in the increasingly competitive world of performance marketing, picking the right one is critical to survival. Choosing poorly spells disaster for everyone.

After a rough start, the biggest social network is setting the standard in the newest area of performance marketing.

While most publishers are scrambling to find their place in social media, Facebook is quickly perfecting performance marketing techniques that have the potential of reshaping online advertising on a scale unseen since the rise of search engine optimization. Its recent hookups with some of the world’s biggest brands offer a glimpse of the future, and it isn’t a pretty sight for affiliates.

Drew Ianni spends most of his time talking to the biggest names in performance marketing about the biggest trends.

So, what’s his take on it all?

Anyone who’s ever thrown a big party has known that nervous moment when you wonder: what if nobody shows up.

"As search marketers, we are the insiders. We are supposed to know and understand search in all of its dimensions. We are moving into uncharted territory. It is not territory that I am excited to explore, but I will go there nonetheless," writes Amanda Watlington of SearchForProfit.com.

Despite her status as an expert on blogs, RSS and search marketing, Watlington is still trying to put a finger on what may be coming down the pike for search this year. Her pondering may sound a bit gloomy - because in many ways, things have never been better for search.

It's been seven years since interactive agency Razorfish embarrassed itself on national television. When reporter Mike Wallace of CBS' "60 Minutes" asked the agency's co-founders what the company does, the answer was none too clear.

Since Facebook was featured on the cover of Newsweek magazine less than a year ago, it's been called everything from the social platform that would revolutionize marketing forever, to an overblown and overhyped experiment.

Industry watchers say the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Although Facebook certainly offers marketers global reach, desirable demographics and powerful "endorsed by your social graph" capabilities, its recent attempts to transform online advertising have either fallen flat or failed completely.

If asked to identify the characteristics of an ideal product to market, most would likely put at the top of the list broad appeal, the ability to evoke strong emotion, a venerable brand - and something very, very, sexy.

If this sounds a lot like the Olympic Games, then it's easy to understand why TV advertisers line up from Beijing to Burbank with large checks in hand to get a piece of the action.

Last night you read on your local newspaper's website about how gas prices could reach $4 a gallon this summer, so you went to a car site to check out some reviews about hybrid vehicles and then visited an automaker site to learn about the car prices. This morning when you checked your email, you saw two ads for hybrid cars.

Did you think - wow, this relevant ad sure is handy or, yikes, Big Brother is watching my every move?

The new geography features auction-based ad exchanges and conglomerated companies with divisions that buy, sell and distribute ads: something that would have been unthinkable a decade ago.