Israel’s internal intelligence service says Arab enemies are trying to use Facebook to recruit spies. (MSNBC) – Sounds laughably lame and not very ‘covert’ to me. As if Facebook hasn’t enough problems lately.

Does anybody believe the numbers when it comes to web visitors? (Paidcontent)

A 104-woman tweeting is a PR stunt. And, surprise, it worked. (Techcrunch, which, by the way, did two posts about this.)

Last week’s Intel massive fine could be a glimpse of things to come for Google. (NYT)

App developers will make more than Facebook. (SIA) – The social network could easily turn this around, letting companies build a large base then demand a bigger paycut.

If they complete the share sales, software maker SolarWinds and online-reservation service OpenTable will be the first venture-backed IPOs in nine months. (WSJ)

And here’s a tweak on the scramble for online video advertising. (via MediaMemo)

The buy will allow The FeedRoom to expand its digital asset management abilities – from rich media to video. With the ClearStory Active Media platform and The FeedRoom’s Enterprise Video Platform, the combined company’s reach will, for the first time, extend beyond video.

While ads are a necessary and accepted part of a website by most, they are typically slotted immediately as just that. To overcome this, all sorts of widgets, games, puzzles, videos and other elements are embedded to make the ad stand out even more. Stroll though Yahoo and a Ford is likely to drive across the screen while you play Tic-Tac-Toe inside a Dove ad. Sure, these engagements are valuable and all of these elements help in the branding process, but the venue plays a big role in supporting the delivery of the message.

With the content networks, things are a bit different. This audience is more focused. They are reading about your industry, researching options, and in general, consuming specific types of content about a specific subject matter. It also goes beyond search. These people did not just look for your product or service. In cases where the subject matter of the page is very specific and targeted, we’ve found that unobtrusive banners that appear to be an integral part of the page often work best.

Imagine you’re on a tech related blog getting the latest info on new IT security threats. What are you more likely to respond to, an ad with beautiful graphics including professional product photography that introduces a new security software suite, or a simple ad with an appealing yet toned-down color palette that says click here to view the latest threat matrix and most recent security threats? The latter often outperforms.

The key is understanding the behavior of your audience as it relates to the specific sites you are targeting. In other words, what are they doing there? What are they looking for? The more specific you can be in what you put in front of them and the more it relates to the content they are already consuming, the more likely they will be receptive to your offer and respond to your ad.

And it is for this reason that we say design for the sake of beautiful design does not always equal maximum return. Sometimes, simple, clean and to the point wins the day. So as usual, test, test, test and see what works best!

Video data takes up a lot of bandwidth and with better quality shows and movies available – for free – from more and more outlets, it seems like online video advertising should be set to hit the revenue mother lode.

But with ISPs out to limit bandwidth usage, the future is less than certain. eMarketer reports that online video advertising is expected to rake in $505 million this year – and up to $1.9 billion by 2011.

One partnership has Jivox teaming up with local search site and network Local.com to serve its online video ads within Local.com’s search results – part of its strategy to capture a significant share of the local video market. According to the Kelsey Group, the market will grow to include 747,000 video-enabled small and medium-sized businesses and $1.5 billion in revenues by 2012.

The implementation incorporates Jivox’s geo-targeted ads which will initially be aggregated from other providers, before it ultimately sells video ad units to its base of direct Local.com advertisers.

Jivox is also offering its advertisers video ad creation packages from PixelFish. These packages were designed to allow smaller advertisers to generate professionally produced online video ads for as little as $1000. In addition, PixelFish will offer its advertisers a co-branded version of the Jivox self-service, creating a new channel of advertiser customers for Jivox.

PixelFish’s video ad platform allows smaller businesses to create ads that include original footage captured by a global network of more than 2,500 professional videographers.

With Pixsy VSP, videos can be searched and embedded into any Web site, providing a unique source of targeted video content for users to search and view. Web sites also benefit from adding a significant source of new video content to their sites, with targeted metadata, that drives increased pageviews and new advertising monetization opportunities.

“We chose Pixsy for their significant index of video content and their flexible APIs which dramatically enhance our video offerings,” said Jimmy Hutcheson, CEO of EgoTVOnline.com.

Pixsy was founded in 2005 by a team of leading technologists from Microsoft Corporation. Clients include Pearson, Sonic Solutions, Lycos, Veoh and National Lampoon.

RTC enables customers to create personalized campaigns based on viewer interaction and targeting data such as geographic location. The video and audio content are segmented and tagged based on campaign goals and assembled on-the-fly using RTC’s proprietary storyboarding software. RTC’s Personalized Video platform can deliver thousands of different versions of an ad based on a broad number of content variants included in the campaign.

“The campaigns we have executed in the U.K. with Personalized Video technology have typically resulted in double the click-through rates and sales conversions than traditional video campaigns,” said Naj Kidwai, CEO of Real Time Content. “In today’s economic climate, ad agencies are being held more accountable for their advertising initiatives, so measuring the impact of their marketing investment is critical.”

Consumers are adopting digital content services like social networks and videos on mobile phones and PCs at an ever-increasing pace, and the impact on traditional consumption habits has been profound.

The survey also found that they’re willing to share personal information with advertisers if it results in targeted incentives that match their lifestyle. Consumers listed free high-quality music/videos, discounts to favorite stores and air travel/hotel points as the most desired and attractive incentives.

“With the rise of Web 2.0, millions of people can instantly create, publish and consume content. In order to survive, advertisers must understand how to reach their target audiences across multiple devices,” said Dick Anderson, General Manager, IBM Media & Entertainment. “Knowing distinct consumer segment preferences and delivering consistent content and messaging are essential for long-term success.”

Consumers desire, and are comfortable with, wired and wireless access to content. 76 percent of consumers surveyed have already watched video on their PC, up 27 percent from last year. 32 percent indicated they have viewed video on a portable device or mobile phone, up 45 percent from last year. Interest in mobile video content has more than doubled since last year to 55 percent.

For both PC and mobile video, over 70 percent of respondents prefer advertising-supported models as opposed to consumer-paid models, representing a huge growth opportunity for the industry. Preference for ad-supported models ranged from 62 percent to over 80 percent by country, with Japan having the highest preference for ad-supported on both devices.

The online survey was conducted during the third quarter of 2008 by the IBM Institute for Business Value. The questionnaire generated 2,800 responses in six countries: Australia, Germany, India, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. The survey was split 50/50 male/female. It proportionately reached demographic groups 13 years and over.

The Internet titan is going to sell space on YouTube’s search-results pages to advertisers – a boon for both advertisers and those that want to promote their videos. Advertisers and video makers are able to bid on keywords and the promoted videos (they’ll appear on the right side of YouTube search results pages, a la Google.com, along with an image and text). Advertisers are charged when viewers click on the ad.

As with Google.com, ads show up based on bids and keyword relevance.

According to comScore, YouTube had the third-highest number of search queries in September, right behind Google and Yahoo.

Operating losses widened however – by 87% ($4.3 million).

Blinkx’s contextually targeting technology enables advertisers to pair their pitch with relevant videos.

According to the Financial Times, online display ad prices dropped by 11% in the third quarter, but Blinkx’s rates keep going up.