The more Podcasts we produce and Master, and ReMaster- the higher our confidence level in their use as an effective ad tool. We have been testing and retesting for 3 months now and yielding great results with the search engines, almost instantaneously.

We are not experiencing the same difficulty's that rich internet applications or RIA's are currently facing. Search engines see those sites as shallow, yet these same sites provide a treasure trove of content and functionality to their users. Its a real dilemma.

It will also prove to be a very lucrative dilemma for the search engines as publishers  will have to continue to compete in order to be found. Remember when all you had to do was look it up in the phone book, or list your business in the phone book to be found?

According to Nielson, for the week ending August 27, 2006. Yahoo! was the number 1 Online Broadcast Media Destination with an active reach of 3.36% and a unique audience of 4.4 Million.

Networks like the BBC, NBC and CBS were ranked 3rd, 4th and 8th resepctively.

Clearly the ongoing courtship of Online Entertainment and Traditional Broadcast is on the ascent at a rate comparable to a rocket. In July, according to Nielson, a unique audience of nearly 58 million make up the 25-54 demographic, nearly even amongst men and woman. July was nearly two months ago and YouTube is not even mentioned in the report. I have to believe the August and September figures will be even more impressive, if not staggering.

Podcasting is a tool that will help to foster a new level of online community and effective communication with your target audience. It allows us to speak directly to the consumer, when they are ready to listen. I predict having a podcast subscriber will become more valuable than an email address, in the very near future. And much like a Tivo Season Pass, it is easy to continuously reach your target audience once they subscribe, because they subscribe for your regularly scheduled updates. However, what makes a Podcast unique is the assumed objectiveness and non-commercial aspects of it. What would you rather listen to- Unbiased opinions and reviews on Travel and Auto's or Ford's review of its own fleet? Keeping it real is the key to Pod success.