Following the big Epsilon breach, the Online Trust Alliance reported that 84% of the Internet retail 100 have adopted email authentication, meaning you can trust what’s sent to you.

MediaBank has partnered with TRA to enable clients to match TV planning data to purchase data.

Undertone has introduced the PageSkin ad unit, which transforms the borders around web content into space for advertising creative.

The real secret to Facebook ads? It’s all about the image. (All Facebook)

Digital agency Tribal Fusion has opened offices in Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

After introducing free phone support for advertisers in April, Google apparently is “testing additional phone support” for AdSense publishers. (Search Engine Land)

Google has also enabled AdWords to allow five My Client Centers to manage a single AdWords account, simplifying networking between clients, agencies, SEM companies, AdWords API developers and/or other third-party services.

The most credit can be given to the Financial services industry, which spent close to $300 million on AdWords. That’s about $100 million more than the next vertical, computers and Internet.

However, the top-spending AdWords advertiser was not a financial services company, but lovable old Amazon with $17.9 million. Capital One was the second biggest spender with $15.7 million doled out.

Check out this breakdown of AdWords spending by vertical, courtesy of AdGooroo:

According to Digital Inspiration, last week Google added a wee bit of language to the AdSense Program Policies:

AdSense code may not be altered, nor may the standard behavior, targeting or delivery of ads be manipulated in any way that is not explicitly permitted by Google. This includes but is not limited to the following: clicking Google ads may not result in a new browser window being launched, nor may Google ads be placed in an IFRAME.

Disreputable display advertisers use IFRAMEs, or inline frames, to manipulate targeting through keywords or hide the “Ads by ____” label so visitors think the ad is part of a site’s content. Google was quiet about the change because it’s a move the company should have made a while ago. AdSense publishers who use IFRAMEs — holdouts from the late 90s — for embedding Google ads on pages will have to change their ways.

Another small change made last week in the Program Policies was the exclusion of chat programs as acceptable outlets for AdSense publishers to place Google ads, search boxes or search results.

At JenSense, Jennifer Slegg contemplates whether Google is “working on their own end-user chat application where publishers could add a Google chat program to their websites that they could earn AdSense earnings from the ads displayed. It wouldn’t take much for many AdSense publishers to switch from a third-party chat program — especially since many of them charge for the service — and utilize a Google one they could earn money from.”

That’d be a nice little money-maker for Google and publishers alike. If the company isn’t working on it, it really should start…

The startup has pretty much declared war on Google’s publisher reign by providing small and medium-sized pubs with search widgets and other on-site tools in exchange for audience data for analysis and vertical optimization that can be used to monetize a site’s audience.

Last year it started inviting pubs to use an AdSense-like display ad platform connected to 35 DSPs and trading desks as well as premier ad networks and revenue optimizers. Lijit’s ad serving was non-exclusive and featured no contracts, allowing publishers to choose how much inventory they wanted to monetize and enabling them to quit at any time. With more than 3,000 display partners on the publisher side, daily impressions are well over 50 million and the company expects to make over $10 million in ad revenue this year.

OK, maybe that’s aren’t numbers that will make Google shake, but just like social search engine Blekko, it’s impressive to see a challenger to Big G with some tech backbone. In particular, the improved analytics offer some serious perks for publishers using Lijit’s ad platform: full transparency regarding ad requests, ad impressions, clicks, CTR, eCPM, fill rate and earnings.

The new analytics platform has already received high praise from current Lijit pub partners.

“Lijit has done it again – they have crafted what may be the cleanest, smoothest, best-working interface for general statistics tracking and ad management combined,” said Kurt Kohlstedt, executive editor for Webist Publishing and Misnamed Media. “The interfaces for most ad networks are laughably and atrociously impossible to use in any way, shape or form. On the data front, Google Analytics is nice but provides too much information. Lijit has done a great job balancing analytics with ad revenue reports right there in the dashboard.”

What Exactly Is +1?

That is easier to show than to explain. A simple button next to a search engine result becomes a powerful weapon of influence. By clicking on this button, you have declared to Google that you think this result is relevant to your query. Google is certainly stoking a fresh kind of relevancy into search queries and activating a user’s thinking and his/her recommendations in a new, real-time way.

Your “+1” is similar to the “Like” button at Facebook. It declares your affinity for a particular search result. It is your vote of confidence. The interesting thing about your vote is what Google does with it. Google gives you a small voice in what people in your Google social circle (or sphere of influence, to cram in another buzz word) see as relevant when that same search engine result comes up for them. When one of your friends (and we will define friends, minimally, as someone who is in your Google Contacts list and/or follows you on Buzz) they will see that you have “+1’d” a particular result.

What Does It Mean?

+1 creates another advertising synapse for Google. By associating someone that the searcher trusts with a search result, that result takes on more relevancy, immediacy and impact. The simple visual notification that someone has “+1’d” something makes the searcher pay more attention to it. It is this “eye-candy” that will drive more clickthroughs.

And of course, clickthrough are near and dear to Google’s heart in the paid search world. Google has integrated “+1” into the AdWords displays as well. So, an ad that I like will have an increased visual appeal and sense of relevancy to it because my friends will trust it more.

This means that we have become the influencers of relevancy and we shape some of the fundamental visibility (and thereby traffic for marketers — and revenue for Google) of advertising. In some ways, it is as if we are voting on who gets to buy the billboard next to the highway.

Google As Crowdsourcer

Does this ability to vote and influence mean that Google is handing over the keys to the algorithm to the wisdom of the crowds? Is Google now all user-gen all the time? Hardly. But as a competitive tactic, Google is facing a threat from Facebook and Facebook’s firm ownership of the “Like” button and all of the data that comes from that social graph.

Google is behind the 8-ball, and with highly publicized issues with its venerable page rank and linking as leading indicators of relevancy, Google has made a bold move to publicly share influence. Rather than keeping the algorithm a completely mysterious entity, Google is giving the crowd a taste of its power. You have the opportunity to influence. The crowdsourced algorithm is here. But truly, our “+1”’s will only matter to a small circle, and all of the “+1” data will be aggregated and fed to the algorithm, which will make better choices for searchers over time.

Better Results?

Luckily, since all of the voting is done publicly (your friends see what you’ve “+1”’d) and all of your “+1s” are listed on your Google profile, the system seems immune from easy gaming. The public nature of the “1s” should keep it on the up and up.

But what is really compelling is that +1 is happening in real-time from real users. Voting for trusted favorites, marking relevant ads, creating points of empowered influence happens as you go through your every day life. This isn’t a deep thinking process. It is intuitive and instinctual and perhaps serendipitous.

“+1” is driven by your impulse, your insight and it has stepped, in a small way, into the primary product of one of the world’s most powerful and influential companies. Not a bad result for a search for “Zebra Print Shoes,” huh?

Seems like the Google-Facebook war has been in a stalemate for a few months now, though that could potentially change as Google (possibly) transforms its Google Me social network from fantasy to reality at the I/O conference in May. However, Facebook may have struck first.

Facebook developers are reportedly being asked to remove AdSense because Google has not signed its Platform Terms for Advertising Providers. The deadline to get with the Facebook program — which include strict rules about sharing Facebook data — was February 28, and Google apparently watched it fly by. The social network threatened enforcement, which appears to be rolling out.

While noting that not many Facebook developers use AdSense, All Facebook’s Josh Constine wonders if the ban might not have future ramifications for developers: “Some might see the policy enforcement as the precursor to further restriction in the future, and could cite it as a reason why not to build on the Facebook Platform.”

Seventy-two ad tech firms have been approved for Facebook’s “whitelist,” including BrightRoll, AOL’s Advertising.com, EpicSocial and Specific Media.

But as I write this, the “state of the nation” for self-serve display advertising is pretty grim. If you’re a small or medium business (SMB), display has probably gotten more out of reach over the past year.

I define “self-serve advertising” as a process that asks for a credit card, campaign parameters, ad creative and that’s it. No account reps and no PhD in Esoteric Ad Technology required. Extra points for having self-serve ad creation.

“Display advertising,” for the purposes of this piece, means Flash and other interactive or rich media formats, as opposed to thumbnail + text formats (e.g., Facebook), JPEGs or GIFs (all hopelessly limited and anachronistic—SMBs deserve better).

You’re probably already thinking: hasn’t this guy heard of Google AdWords or AdReady? Yes, in fact, I have…

Let’s consider a few of the obvious contenders.

Google AdWords lets advertisers build display ads and set campaign parameters from a single interface. Too bad the UI is designed for a cyborg with Asperger’s. And the last time I tried to experiment with their Display Ad Builder, it was so slow as to be nonfunctional.

And then there’s Google’s display ad inventory. My company has been running a display campaign on Google, using keywords that are pretty specific to the online ad industry, such as “creative optimization” and “ad verifier.” Where does Google show our ads? On sites like freeonlinegames.com and stylemyprofile.net. Unless the captains of the online ad industry are a bunch of pimply 12-year-olds, Google is selling me some very dubious (or dare I say: “f***ing sh**ty”) clicks.

I’m aware that AdWords lets you cherry-pick inventory from Google’s display network, but have you ever tried? You’re forced to sift through mountains of garbage to find the good stuff.

Next up: AdReady. AdReady.com used to be all about letting Average Joes build banner ads and launch display campaigns. But oh how times have changed. AdReady’s current homepage is a blizzard of ad industry buzzwords and clichés like “multiple best-in-class enterprise software solutions.” Average Joes are no longer welcome, apparently. I’m not criticizing AdReady’s overall business, but they’ve pivoted away from SMBs, that’s for sure.

At one point, Yahoo! had a partnership with AdReady. I went looking for their self-serve display portal…no dice. So I filled out a form to have a Yahoo! sales rep call me (ugh). He said they killed the public-facing site in October 2010. Granted, Yahoo! still has a self-serve platform powered by AdReady, but they do a pretty good job of hiding it.

Now a few rapid-fire take-downs:

AdBrite — Like AdReady, their messaging used to be much more straightforward. Now AdBrite is all about being an “exchange.” Ditto the $10,000/month minimum to run Flash ads. I guess Flash is too precious to be trusted with the unwashed masses.

Microsoft adCenter (Bing/Yahoo! Search) — No display capabilities whatsoever.

Facebook — Tiny thumbnail image + some text does not equal “display ad” in my book. And the narcissistic minutiae of 600 million people’s lives is not exactly premium content.

AOL Ad Desk — A nice platform with some nifty targeting options. However, their daily minimum is $100! Perhaps chump change to a brand advertiser, but not to an SMB.

Finally, a few honorable mentions of solid self-serve platforms that don’t offer DIY creative: AdRoll, Blogads, and Federated Media.

Self-serve display seems to be the online ad industry’s “Sick Man of Europe.” Why?

First, the SMB market consists of millions of firms with relatively low ad budgets, making it difficult to scale profitably. But as more inventory is bought and sold on exchanges and other spot markets, the ad buying process will become vastly more efficient, eliminating the need for exclusionary spending minimums.

Second, developing display ad creative is a challenge for many SMBs, which calls for at least a semi-automated solution. However, self-serve or on-demand ad design is a tricky technological challenge.

My company’s Flash ad builder lets users customize templates using simple design options. PaperG and iPromote build ads automatically by scraping web content. I’m not a fan of the latter approach, but it’s one of many ways to attack the problem of automated ad design.

Third, Flash and other rich media formats can be problematic if you can’t trust the source. Malware, clicktags, and file size are a few common issues. But if you can standardize the source of the ads (say, ahem, with a self-serve ad builder), those problems essentially vanish.

Admittedly, there are challenges in offering self-serve display to literally anyone, but they’re not insurmountable. In fact, most of the pieces to the puzzle already exist on various websites and platforms, they just need to be put together.

I’m sure someone, somewhere will eventually build a platform that will enable any advertiser, rich or poor, to quickly design and launch a display ad campaign, with all the inventory and targeting options they’re willing to pay for. But until that happens, it looks like SMBs are stuck in a world of static text and thumbnail images.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the European Commission also is looking into charges that Google prevented pubs signed up with AdSense from accepting ads from search competitors, and whether it restricted outside use of campaign data from its ad platform.

In the Commission’s own words:

“The Commission will investigate whether Google has abused a dominant market position in online search by allegedly lowering the ranking of unpaid search results of competing services which are specialised in providing users with specific online content such as price comparisons (so-called vertical search services) and by according preferential placement to the results of its own vertical search services in order to shut out competing services. The Commission will also look into allegations that Google lowered the ‘Quality Score’ for sponsored links of competing vertical search services. The Quality Score is one of the factors that determine the price paid to Google by advertisers.

“The Commission’s probe will additionally focus on allegations that Google imposes exclusivity obligations on advertising partners, preventing them from placing certain types of competing ads on their web sites, as well as on computer and software vendors, with the aim of shutting out competing search tools. Finally, it will investigate suspected restrictions on the portability of online advertising campaign data to competing online advertising platforms.”

Price-comparison sites Ciao (powered by Microsoft’s Bing) and UK-based Foundem along with French legal search engine Ejustice.fr filed an antitrust complaint against Google in February. Google has repeatedly denied the allegations, though interestingly an anonymous source told TechCrunch that Google has an obligation to shut out “spammy links from lame ‘shopping’ search engines.”

However, Danny Sullivan at SearchEngineLand makes the seemingly obvious point that people don’t go to search engines to go to other search engines. “Over time, it has made more sense for search engines like Google — or Bing for that matter — to provide a better search experience by creating vertical search engines and blending them into regular search results,” he writes. “It’s their job. If they are not allowed to do this, they cannot serve their users well.”

So such monopoly allegations may be bold, but difficult to prove. There seems to be a whiff of smaller players using a convoluted legal system to harangue the dominant company in the space.

While it may be a pain in Google’s neck to deal with the investigation, getting publicly cleared of such accusations may be a boon to its business in general — pretty much an EU stamp of approval. As David Wood, legal counsel for European trade organization Initiative for a Competitive Online Marketplace (ICOMP), puts it, “A thorough investigation is necessary to determine the workings of Google’s black box.”

Of course, if Google is guilty of these practices… that’s quite a credibility hit. Google’s dominant position is supposed to be due to its superior technology, not because it kicks down the little guys.

(Insert badass 70s sci-fi sound effect.)

Well, I don’t know if you can really call AdSense “bionic,” but the new interface does surgically inject space-age technology to be a better, stronger and faster tool for publishers to manage on-site advertising. (But did it cost $6 million?)

The new interface is being rolled out today in more than 30 languages across the 200-plus countries where AdSense is available. Simplified graphic reporting with increased segmentation options allow for improved analysis while intuitive controls enhance a publisher’s ability to control the ads and advertisers appearing on a site.

How does Google know? The AdSense team has a lab full of publisher guinea pigs it studies to improve usability.

In addition, Jonathan Bellack, director of product management for AdSense, says in a blog that the interface is “blazing fast” and that initial testers have been blown away by its reporting speed. The interface also promises improved efficiency, making it easier to run reports, lock in account changes and seek help. There’s also more transparency involving earnings and payments.

(Insert badass 70s sci-fi sound effect again — it’s so good every time.)

The irony of the company that wants users to share everything being extremely secretive regarding its internal workings is not lost on the media, who are constantly poking at Facebook execs regarding the company’s eventual IPO only to receive cryptic responses suggesting sometime in the near future.

But the advertising industry want to know about the Facebook ad network, something that’s been on our minds since the network launched the open graph social plugins and “Like” buttons popped up across the web. With the flick of a switch, Facebook could offer ridiculously targeted ads employing data gathered across 2 million sites with Like buttons.

And no surprise, Facebook won’t open up about it.

When prompted by ClickZ at an Advertising Week event, COO Sheryl Sandberg denied that the Facebook version of AdSense is being built: “We are not working on an ad network right now.” In true Facebook fashion, she added that it was still a long-term possibility, but Facebook is more concerned with its selling its own inventory.

Does anyone actually believe the social network isn’t assembling something that will make Google AdSense look like a child’s toy?

Google knows it’s coming, part of the reason it has been on an acquisition spree (23 in 2010) of mostly companies that will socialize its core offerings. That’s pretty much admitting the company has to play catchup in collecting data that can be hypertargeted for advertising like Facebook’s.

Many people wondered exactly what CEO Eric Schmidt meant a few weeks ago when he said, “The best thing that would happen is for Facebook to open up its data. Failing that, there are other ways to get that information.” Some thought he was suggesting thievery, since Facebook has little incentive to let anyone and everyone go nosing through its data.

But it seems he was saying: We know what you’re up to, Facebook, and we’ll be ready for you.

Will buying Twitter help them out in that quest?