The panel comprised some of the top names in the online ad world:

—Aaron Finn, founder and chairman of AdReady

—Brian McAndrews, former CEO of aQuantive, managing director at Madrona Venture Group

—Jeff Lanctot, managing director of advertiser and publisher solutions at Microsoft

—Charlie Tillinghast, president of MSNBC.com

Just a quick recap here. So what does the future hold? Where are the opportunities for startups, investors, advertisers, and publishers?

It’s clear things have changed a lot in the online-ad world since the heyday of three or four years ago. “It’s very challenging to have a business that’s based just on advertising,” McAndrews said. “For pure consumer Internet businesses, most ought to be thinking about multiple revenue streams.” To this end, he mentioned virtual goods—which I took to mean things like online currencies, electronic cards, and gifts (which are some options that Seattle-based BuddyTV has said it is looking at, for instance).

Finn pointed out that the term “ad-supported” means a lot of different things now. He cited Bellevue, WA-based BlueKai as a startup taking an interesting approach in the exchange of data between advertisers and publishers; it helps websites sell data on their consumers’ demographics or buying behavior to companies that wish to use the information to target their advertising more efficiently.

More ... http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2010/03/24/future-of-online-advertising-l...