I've known Jim Sterne for about 500 years (that's Internet years) and he's one of the smartest, most insightful gurus on the topic of online metrics and marketing. At our last lunch a few weeks ago, these lunches are infrequent as Jim spends most of his life on an aircraft (his air miles would probably allow for a two week stay on the International Space Station), we got to talking about the future of behavioral marketing and I persuaded him, via a head lock, to put his 50,000 foot view (much like his normal travel view) on paper. Er, in bits. Whatever. Here's his take:

When I first learned about the Internet in 1993 I was very excited by a vision of what could be - much like I felt as a 9-year-old at the 1964 World's Fair in New York. But instead of envisioning undersea cities and video phones, I pictured the ability to put the right information in front of the right people at the right time. Mostly, this was out of a desire to get the right information I wanted about the right products and services when and where I wanted.

While Skype is allowing me to fulfill the video phone dream, behavioral targeting, the ability to deliver the right information in front of the right people at the right time based on what they have clicked on in the past, is still disappointing. But I hold onto my hopes. It's only one small step for man toward a giant leap for marketing kind.

A recent survey by The Economist entitled "Future tense: The global CMO" confirmed that digital media is becoming more important to global companies. Chief Marketing Officers are cutting marketing expenditures in general but increasing their budgets for online marketing.

Why? According to The Economist: "The need for greater accountability for marketing expenditure is pushing global companies towards digital marketing campaigns with higher returns than traditional media. The interactive nature of the latest digital-media vehicles provides the opportunity to develop deeper insights into customer dynamics and allows the CMO to become the corporate champion of customer insight."

While I draw the line at Minority Report style intrusion the future of social networks (for example Bender's personal network -- "In the future, everyone can have their own network, and mine is the best. It's a live broadcast of whatever I'm seeing and hearing, right as it happens. I can watch for hours and never get bored.") will allow us to learn, and exploit, incredibly detailed personal behavioral data. But how far should we go?

Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, columnist and blogger.