Internet marketing made easy

The last 48 hours has brought numerous reports of new job losses in the digital marketing/media sector, and so we’ve updated our layoff tracker. The biggest news was Yahoo’s decision to cut at least 10 percent (roundabout 1,400) global positions this quarter. Others followed yesterday: Experian Interactive/LowerMyBills, Mania TV, Permission TV, and Imeem are all shedding employees. You can find more information on the layoff tracker page.

Last week while perusing my Gmail account, I got a kick out of a note sent to me from the Ralph Nader campaign (yes, he’s running for president again, in spite of the media’s utter disregard for him or other third-party candidates). He wanted to give me an old family recipe for hummus in exchange for a campaign donation.

It’s been a busy week in digital marketing land. In addition to the big stories we’ve covered, here are a few you may have missed:

Google has struck up two partnerships to support its steadily expanding TV Ads service.

Barack Obama’s up on a virtual billboard in a high-speed driving game. Yep, his campaign is running in-game ads. The closest thing to running in-game ads I can recall a political candidate doing is when Virginia Governor and early presidential possibility, Mark Warner (now running for Senate) held an event in Second Life in ’06.

Tech vendors in the digital advertising and marketing business got a nice bump in stock prices today — a sign that the sector holds promise among investors.

Barack Obama’s campaign spent over $3 million on TV ads in one state on Monday.

He’s spent about double that on the Web since January.

So on Monday, I sent an RFP out to half a dozen e-mail service providers. By Tuesday, all but one had gotten back to me. By phone.

As McCain-running mate Sarah Palin pairs Barack Obama with “domestic terrorists,” the Obama camp is flinging mud right back. The campaign is counteracting the William Ayers-related attacks, while dredging up John McCain’s Keating 5 past.

It’s evident by now that the credit crisis will cast a pall over the ad sector, but how bad will it get? One indicator of the future health of the space is the abundance of venture capital. Are any marketing technology start-ups still boasting new funding rounds?