Having been involved in blogging for years… I’ve been challenged by the numerous changes to electronic communication, the ethics behind the words, the emotions that underlay the ideas, and the personalities that are introduced.

In the 80’s and 90’s I was an active member of multi-line bulletin board systems (BBS) and I was one of the first adopters of the net when things went visual. The years of 300 baud dial-up modems vanished to the world of high-speed multi-page online browsing enhanced by wireless communication of video commentary and nearly instant relay.

So a few years ago I wrote the Blog Manifesto, a series of thoughts and ideas that were inspired by the Cluetrain Manifesto. Having been written before the age of the recent online social revolution, I thought the Blog Manifesto was something that detailed how I felt.

I now realize that within a few short years that many of the things I wrote about have indeed materialized in one way or another. I think that is amazing.

I also realize that the Blog Manifesto is already coming and passing- it may indeed be outdated already. Scary how technology and society can move so quickly.

I have been reviewing a good number of Google and Yahoo marketing campaigns, along with several other services like Idearc, InfoSpace, and a pile of others.

One thing that I have been finding more and more distasteful is that the largest online marketing and search companies out there tend to be the ones that are bending or breaking the most rules (perhaps being the engine themselves, they believe there are no rules?)

As part of a series of articles I’m doing over the next month, I’m asking some tough and hard questions about what online marketing should be about and why “the fine print” in the “big boys” of online marketing tend to be so cluttered with bad clauses.

I released the first one today Google Adwords Qualified Company- Fraud or not? and hope to get some input on it. The Biznik community seems to have a different vantage than many clients I deal with and I wonder what perspective everyone has here.

After reading my article, I would love to converse about what things business owners see when they see a “certified by X” brand.

Does it hold any weight in your buying decision? is this type of thing fraud in your eyes or merely deceptive marketing?

I am not really lost in SPAM, unless you count the fact that on an average daily basis I receive about 125 SPAM comments on this blog. Lucky for me, I know how to defend myself automatically by using scripts and little elves who closely monitor the validity of commentary here. (I do fear that the spammers know something I do not, because I keep getting comments for a new job or for personal “growth” products.) One of my technology co-workers actually wrote a blip about SPAM a day or so ago SEO Advice – Learning from SPAMMERS.

In reality my thoughts are just a little quieter here because I’m fully enthralled in a love of labor with my new company at SocialMediaSystems. Our team there is doing some wonderful things, changingsome very old-school industry trends, and having a great time doing it.

I promise to post here more often now. This will continue to be a personal yet professional site, covering some of the topics that may not always refer to social media and online marketing. (If you want that, go to SocialMediaSystems.com!)