The prospect of tapping the rich psychographic and behavioral profiles being generated by social network users has, for obvious reasons, set off a race among advertisers, ad networks and social networks themselves to find ever more clever ways to exploit these “target-rich” environments. In their haste to target, however, marketers have so far neglected to understand that advertising in an interactive community must proceed not by its own traditional rules but by the rules of the community, as Fred Bauer, CEO of Gamervision, explains.

As cable, telco, and satellite providers all start migrating TV delivery to IP-based systems, we can imagine an infrastructure where individual TV screens can be tracked and segmented in much the way Web traffic is today. But what is the status of these interactive TV technologies? The undisputed guru of ITV is Mitch Oscar, executive vice president, Televisual Applications, MPG. In a lengthy discussion with us recently, he walked through the history of interactive TV technologies, the state of the model, and the hurdles he sees to moving forward with the platform. In this first part of the interview, Oscar outlines the major players and some interesting learnings from early trials.

The underlying premise — as much philosophical as technological — of behaviorally based marketing is that one size does not fit all. Ironically, however, the way BT is most commonly spoken about, understood, and sold, belies that premise, as Joshua Koran, vice president, targeting and optimization, ValueClick, Inc., explains.

Just when we thought (hoped) that the “pork bellies” controversy over commoditized ad inventory had eased, the Interactive Advertising Bureau stirred the pot again this week. Its report on the selling habits of major online publishers showed substantially increased reliance on ad networks in 2007 over 2006. This study comes after a season of publishers complaining about CPM erosion caused by horizontal networks. What better time to check in with some of the ad networks focusing on behavioral targeting? This week it’s InterCLICK, which sees demand growing on both sides, according to the company’s President/Founder Michael Katz. Some of the big media brands may protest too much, he suggests.

With growth typically comes growing pains — of which behavioral targeting has had its share, over the past six months or so. As the industry has scaled, outside scrutiny, from the public, media and politicians has intensified, and misunderstandings about what behavioral targeting is, and isn’t, have proliferated. Effectively addressing those misunderstandings, AlmondNet CEO: Roy Shkedi explains, requires an industry-wide commitment to greater transparency.

If marketers know what a home is worth and whether owners plan to renovate, sell or buy, that’s bankable data. The hot home valuation site Zillow pulls 5 million monthly uniques into data on 82 million of America’s 92 million single family homes, about half have been the targets of searches. Plus, it target ads into highly specific and lucrative stages in the renovation, sale and purchase of a family’s core asset.

Click-to-call has long been touted for its promise of bringing together the targeting efficiencies of online and the familiarity of traditional phone customer service. For the vast majority of Web marketers, unable to install expensive proprietary systems, however, as Irv Shapiro, CEO of Ifbyphone, discusses, the promise of synergy between these two powerful direct marketing channels has remained unrealized.

Nowhere is the need greater for automated, behaviorally targeted content than the mobile phone. The size, navigation and input issues of the handset demand smarter, personalized media. At long last, this week Sprint rolled out the first attempt by a U.S. carrier to solve the content discovery problem. ChangingWorlds developed the technology over the past decade and has 50 international customers. Stephen Oman, program director, Changing Worlds, explains how this technology works and some of the ways carriers and marketers ultimately can leverage a mobile phone interfaces that really listen and learn from customers.

Forging a truly interactive dialog between marketers and consumers has been the central premise and promise of online media. Yet, as Blake Cahill, vice president of marketing at Visible Technologies, explains, faced with a new reality in which thousands, even millions of consumers are engaged in active, often passionate conversations and communities about products, most brands remain tone deaf and tongue-tied in their response.

Forging a truly interactive dialog between marketers and consumers has been the central premise and promise of online media. Yet, as Blake Cahill, vice president of marketing at Visible Technologies, explains, faced with a new reality in which thousands, even millions of consumers are engaged in active, often passionate conversations and communities about products, most brands remain tone deaf and tongue-tied in their response.