There is a lot of buzz, hype, critical analysis, and downright drivel out there about trends in marketing and ad spending. Some have even asked whether advertising is dead. They're wrong.

Advertising is not dead folks, it has become more vibrant and complex than ever. It's growing in the online world where aggressive metrics and analysis demand instant accountability.

Here's an experiment: Try to go the next five minutes without seeing some kind of add. Ooops, too late, already happened, right?

In the Q4 of 2009, online advertising hit a new all-time quarterly high of $6.3 billion. What's changing about advertising is that its morphing, and the metrics and data used to track it are becoming more sophisticated than ever.

Take the famous "Cog" ad by Honda. Reportedly took $6M and more than three months to develop this high-concept, cross platform viral video ad. It got lots of media attention too:

I'm in the media business. Hahahahahaah. Is that a sick joke? Is there even a media business any more? Last I checked it looked like one of those smoldering post-napalm scenes from Apocalypse Now.

No, you certainly can't hammer on a typewriter next to Cary Grant and enjoy a two-martini lunch and a union paycheck anymore, I will tell you that. Those days are over.

Why even bring this up? Because apparently Steve Jobs is telling the media world they need to cut their prices to survive. Hahahahah. The prices are already cut, Steve. MOST STUFF IS FREE, geddit?! We're already broke, how does cutting prices help?