Advertising

Google Inc. will use its surveillance of Web surfing habits to figure out which ads are best suited to each individual's interests -- a practice likely to illuminate just how much the Internet search leader has been learning about millions of people around the world. Under the program, someone who frequents sites about dogs might see more ads for flea-treatment products even when visiting another Web destination that has nothing to do with pets. The strategy relies on technology that Google acquired last year in its $3.2-billion purchase of Internet ad service DoubleClick Inc.

U.S. Internet advertising revenue climbed marginally in the fourth quarter despite the poor economy. But the growth rate was sluggish compared with previous years. The report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers said revenue from online ads totaled $6.1 billion in the last three months of 2008. That marked an increase of almost 3% from the same period in 2007. But back then, Internet advertising was up 24% over the previous year.

Television's reigning champion, "American Idol," returns this week and the talent contest is expected to be more popular -- and profitable -- than ever. The Fox show begins its seventh season Tuesday against the walking wounded. As the strike by the Writers Guild of America grinds into its 11th week, rival networks are scrambling to stay alive.

Computer game maker Electronic Arts Inc. said Monday that it would offer a free shooting video game on the Internet -- the company's first Web-based title to be supported by advertising sales. "Battlefield Heroes" will be released for download on personal computers this summer and will feature cartoon-style graphics, according to the Redwood City, Calif., company. The new product is part of a strategy to fuel growth with online ad revenue. Competitor Activision Inc.

European regulators are likely to approve Google Inc.'s $3.1-billion takeover of ad firm DoubleClick Inc., despite rivals' worries that the deal could squeeze them and make Web advertising more expensive. The European Commission, which is in charge of preserving competition in the 27-country European Union, is about to decide whether it will express serious doubts about the deal, which would combine Mountain View, Calif.

Step into the Westside offices of the Rubicon Project and you might feel as if you've been transported to Silicon Valley, circa 1999. Dozens of twentysomethings in jeans crowd around tables in one big room, hunched over laptops, typing away. A few play a Nintendo Wii game in the corner. One sips a beer. Investors may be jittery about the current economy, but Rubicon -- a start-up online advertising company -- isn't worried.

How do you make sure that millions of tipsy Americans will pay attention to your multimillion-dollar Super Bowl ad? Show it before the Super Bowl. And after the Super Bowl. And, of course, during the Super Bowl. Advertisers are jostling for attention for their spots like never before, posting them online in advance of Sunday's kick-off, unveiling them at news conferences, screening them at cocktail parties and releasing behind-the-scenes videos about the ads' production.

Having met Jim "Poorman" Trenton -- the man, the myth, the legend -- for the first time Wednesday morning at his seaside digs, I must admit to some disappointment. Not a bikini in sight. Yep, he says, he's heard that lament before. As the brains behind "Poorman's Bikini Beach" TV show, people have come to expect that Trenton and women in swimwear are never separated. "This time of year, they're all in hibernation," he says. "When the weather gets cold, the girls go away.

Bertram E. Winrow, 81, the former publisher of the Daily Breeze, died Monday of cancer at his home in the San Diego neighborhood of Rancho Bernardo. He was 81. As publisher of Copley Los Angeles Newspapers, Winrow oversaw the consolidation of the flagship Daily Breeze in Torrance with the Outlook in Santa Monica and the News-Pilot in San Pedro. A drive to raise advertising revenue prompted Winrow to develop a consortium with other regional papers to sell national advertising. Winrow also expanded a printing plant in Torrance to include a now-defunct insert center and circulation department.

Audi's top American executives were in Arizona this week, hosting golf outings with Ronnie Lott, tippling drinks with Kate Hudson and throwing swanky parties at an exclusive nightclub, all in conjunction with the carmaker's first Super Bowl advertisement in 17 years. Hyundai is also advertising during the Super Bowl for the first time in years -- 19 to be precise -- to promote its new Genesis luxury sedan. Its on-the-ground Super Bowl effort?