Join Mike and Katina as they talk about the latest trends in Interactive Marketing. From Google to Facebook and back again, the team covers topics such as behavioral targeting and moms using the internet as their primary purchasing platform.

 LeapCast - LFI Trends: 8.29.07 - Interactive Trends: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

When it comes to interactive marketing, where everyone is constantly scanning for the next big thing, there’s big potential everywhere, but in the words of Jerry Maguire, it’s like popcorn in the pan: some pop, some don’t. So lets take a look at some recent properties that had strong buzz in the last year, but didn’t quite hit those high expectations.

1. Second Life. Yes, you can argue that certain specific brands were able to effectively leverage a presence in Second Life for some significant ROI, but on the whole, the platform hasn’t yet lived up to the hype it received in its early days.

Why not? Because the vast majority of consumers are overtaxed trying to keep up with their first life, much less a digital second one.

2. Myspace. As with Second Life, some industries (the music industry in particular) have had great success with Myspace as a marketing platform. But other industries are rapidly losing interest in favor of its collegiate cousin, Facebook and its inviting open API.

Why not? Because most brands lack the understanding and willingness to commit time and resources to effective social network marketing. And it’s just not a great fit for every company.

3. Ask.com. This time last year, industry insider buzz was pointing to Ask.com as a hot contender to seriously challenge Google in search. A year later, Ask has yet to make a serious dent in Google’s search dominance.

Why not? It may be that Ask waited too long. Improved results and a snazzier algorithm isn’t enough to take on Google, now that their acquisitions take them far beyond search.

4. YouTube. When Google made its historic purchase of the video portal, speculation ran wild that online video was going to completely take over interactive marketing. While video continues to grow, the pace has been decidedly slower than some expected.

Why not? The head geeks at Google are still wrapping their prodigious minds around both the copyright implications of YouTube and developing a workable revenue model. YouTube will probably live up to the buzz eventually, but the industry may have expected too much, too soon.

5. Mobile. Technological innovations that enable marketers to advertise across networks has created tremendous interest in mobile and SMS marketing in the last year, but so far advertisers have been slow to test the waters.

Why not? Considering the wide penetration cell phones and other mobile devices have, this one is probably more a matter of time than anything else. Once an effective infrastructure is in place and some key industry leaders emerge, mobile truly could be the next big thing.

Join Mike and Ryan today as they discuss updates to popular web analytics programs as well as recent Microsoft moves.

 LeapCast - Interactive Scoop: 5.30.07 - Analytics: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mike and Ryan discuss the potential partnership of Microsoft and Yahoo!. With news that talks have concluded, speculation is rampant in interactive marketing circles. Will there finally be a player worthy of taking on Google?

 LeapCast: 5.4.07 - Yahoosoft, Microhoo... Big Changes On The Way: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Mike and Ryan discuss Google’s recent DoubleClick move as well some recent bid preference changes in AdWords.

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I don’t know whether to be completely psyched or completely freaked out by this.

Apparently, personalized billboards ala Minority Report are being tested. Both Google and Microsoft are working on out-of-home advertising that scans and recognizes traits such as gender and age, and then displays demographically targeted content.

From an advertising perspective, a new outlet for interactive and a new lease on life for outdoor advertising could be a great thing for both. From an individual perspective, do I really want the display ads at the mall pointing out I need to call Jenny Craig?

Of course, actual implementation of these smart billboards is still a ways off. So maybe we’ve all got time to trim down first.