John Battelle says:

"If advertisers are going to truly benefit from marketing on blogs, they will have to get to know each one to the point that their ads speak with a voice that is consistent in the community where they are advertising."

Bill Flitter of Pheedo, an emerging advertising agency specializing in providing ads for weblog publishers, RSS feeds and independent publishers of sorts adds to it:
"I call this type of advertising 'Conversational Advertising'". Traditional blogs are much different than websites. Blogs are conversations.

Placing a simple ad some place on the blog doesn't speak to the blogger or his audience. It interrupts the conversation. If for example, your favorite weblog publisher makes a few on-topic product or service recommendations, you probably would welcome those suggestions.

The Weblog publisher understands she must strike a balance between value and ad revenue. And if the ad appears in an RSS feed, and the value is not there, one-click and the publisher may loose her customer.

In the world of Conversational Advertising, the audience rules. Conversational Advertising understands [that the new online marketplace] it's all about trust between a publisher and her audience.

It uses the characteristics of Weblogs to create effective campaigns.

It gives customers ownership in the advertising process.

No longer are ads ‘thrown' at consumers because some marketer decides what is best for the customer. Customers can now interact more openly with the brand and discuss likes and dislikes. Advertising becomes part of the content." This is exactly right. And who will start making the first moves in this direction will certainly have all of my support. (RG)