• In its cover story about the seemingly inevitable decline of newspapers, the Economist pointed out that the Wall Street Journal, one of the world's largest papers in print and online, already charges advertisers a mere three times less for an online ad than a print ad, distinct from the industry standard of 6 or 7 times. And Richard Zannino, CEO of WSJ publisher Dow Jones only expects the price of online ads to rise as more people get their news online. 

• The incredibly popular video-sharing website YouTube (and probably one of the fastest growing phenoms ever), announced last week that it is to begin offering advertisers "brand channels" as well as "participatory video ads."

Brand channels will allow advertisers to create their own programming in which they can use their products and logos to attract an audience. One liquor company has already done something similar to hawk a new product and the mock music video it created has already been viewed well over a million times.

By posting short video ads on YouTube, advertisers can take advantage of the viral nature of the Internet in that users will send links of clips they find enjoyable or entertaining to friends. Advertisers can also read user reactions to their products and content by reading comments they post.

• Two of the Internet's biggest names joined forces this week to work on improving advertising. eBay and Google signed an agreement that gives Google exclusive rights outside of the US to item-specific text advertising on the world's biggest auction site.

Furthermore, the companies will use their Voice Over Internet Protocol divisions, Skype and Google Talk, to make it easy for buyers to connect to sellers. Through what the companies are dubbing "click-to-call," eBay buyers will be able to immediately chat with vendors about their offerings. Try doing that with a newspaper classified.

• Even blogs are joining up to consolidate their advertising. The Guardian reports that seven of Britain's most popular blogs have formed MessageSpace, a sales service that will make it easier for advertisers and political campaigners to negotiate and target their blog advertising.