I used to tell people that if they were shopping online and using Google to search for specific products, that they should visit sites returned under the Sponsored Listings before they checked the natural search results; the rationale being that merchants who pay to advertise their products on Google AdWords will deliver more accurate results faster.

Well, after a frustrating - no, grueling - attempt to source a Christmas gift online this year, I won't be sharing that particular tidbit of advice anymore.

Being a designer is fun. I get paid to play with pictures and colors all day long. How bad can that be? That's what I and countless thousands of other high school kids thought when we chose graphic design (or "visual communications" as it said in my course book) as our major in college. As a result, nowadays everyone knows someone who designs websites. And chances are, most of those college students and recent grads can design a site that looks pretty darn good.

We're all looking for the next big thing in online marketing. We're marketers. We're innovators. We're hungry for new techniques, tools and tricks that we can use to produce results. It's never-ending - our quest for innovation.

Neil Michel bought .mobi top-level domains as soon as they were available without consulting his bosses. As eMedia Director of Prosper magazine in Sacramento, Calif., he saw it as his duty to claim ownership of the mobile domain names before anyone else could capitalize on the company's brand name. He managed to snag ProsperMag.mobi and ProsperMagazine.mobi but not Prosper.mobi.

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.

Steve Rosenbaum made his name on MTV and doing documentaries. So it's natural that he's into Web video. Rosenbaum is the founder and CEO of Magnify.net, which powers user-generated video (UGV) channels for Web publishers, media companies and video bloggers. The Magnify. net platform searches and sorts virtually all video available on the Internet based on a site's interest (such as hobbies, politics, music) and engages users to discover, share and rate them for relevancy and entertainment value.

It was a cold night in Pennsylvania when Leila Crooks was on Digg.com, the community-based popularity site, and came across a story about a "slanket" - a fleece blanket with sleeves that offers the freedom of arm movement so people can play video games or surf computers while snuggling under a blanket.

Just try and find someone that doesn't like Scott Jangro. It'll be hard work. Jangro, the president of affiliate company MechMedia, is an extremely likable guy and it's not because he's a shrinking violet or a glad-hander.

While Jangro is very vocal in the affiliate community, he's also gained a reputation for clearly and effectively communicating his position on industry issues in a way that seems to avoid ruffling too many feathers. Maybe that's because Jangro has the analytical brain of an engineer coupled with the passion and creativity of an artist.

Recently, the owner of a successful local brick-and-mortar mattress store contacted me, disillusioned by Internet marketing. He expected that sales would soar once he put up his website, but it was a total flop. I asked him what was unique about his business and was told "wide selection, high quality and good prices." Then I asked him how many of his Internet competitors would probably say the same thing about their stores. He sheepishly replied, "All of them, I guess."