Chris Dessi - Vice President zanox, Inc

After a lot of consideration, I finally competed in - an completed my first 10k. The New Castle 10k is a charity event held in my town (Chappaqua, NY). My wife, daugther and parents came out to cheer me on. It was really a great time. Afterward we met up with my brother, sister in law, and my two nieces for some brunch.

Next step is a half marathon held in July. Also, I'll be participating in a Father's Day 5miler in central park which should be fun as well. It's a fund raiser for colon cancer.

Ad Networks are not only alive; we're thriving and evolving along with the ever changing interactive space. For successful performance based marketers there are certainly additional sensitivities that networks must consider which may have been ignored in the past. The adoption of performance based marketing by larger brands has cast a spotlight on the industry as a whole, and this is good. No longer can networks remain "blind" to advertisers. No longer can we demand payment on pixels firing. We're at a tipping point where those networks that survive will continue to cater to global advertisers that seek much needed hand holding, and networks must acquiesce and service these brands. Those that ignore the needs and wants of larger advertisers will suffer. Agencies will only add networks to a media plan if they're confident that their partner can service an account with the level of integrity and service they promise their client. The "net-net” is that the model works. Especially with our declining economic climate, "pay for performance" is highly appealing.

This morning I read a great article about cookies in the wall street journal. L. gordon Corvitz makes some really interestng points in the article, and I feel it's worth commenting on.

The main intent of the article speaks about how there is a purpose for cookies in online, and since consumers aren't really 100 percent clear about how these cookies are being used, there is a fear about them, and the information we communicate online.

This is facinating to me. As the VP of Sales at a performance based ad network, cookies are an essential part of our business. They are necessary for our advertisers, and certainly necessary for our affiliates in the network. The longer a cookie term - the better the chance that an affiliate will gain a commission from the advertiser.

The article by Crovitz also mentions how some of the greatest minds working in the interactive space are addressing this issue today. They've proposed "cookie crumbs" or even smaller bits of information that me be communicated online while browsing. The issue here seems to be the amount of work involved in making cookie crumbs being a reality.

For now we'll have to focus on educating people about why cookies are necessary. If, as the consumer you've disabled your cookies because your concerned about privacy, you may not reap the benefits of advertising at it's best (no Geo targeted ads etc).

I can understand the concern about privacy, but I also think that people may not understand just how much information is availble about them outside of the internet, and that if they enable cookies, they will certainly have an enhanced browsing experience.