Advertising-as-we-know-it is like wrinkle miracle ointments . . .

. . . with the exception of a few very expensive treatments, only the very rich can afford, the rest are cheap replicas, for which many millions of dollars are wasted, because of false promises many want to believe but will be too embarrassed to expose after realizing they’ve been duped.

This is what the Internet Advertising Board and Bain are trying to avoid saying to the internet media industry in their report: "In search of a premium alternative: an action plan for online brand advertising."

But ignoring the problem - investors and technology creators who still want to believe big bucks can be made from the surreptitious, "Big Brother" capturing and use of data - will succeed in getting anyone to stop feeding the elephant in the room.

So just in case I have your attention . . . when IAB says they are looking for premium alternatives to build brands online:  they mean aim higher in terms of the integrity of the value you are creating for the customer . . . they mean build a solution an advertiser would be proud to endorse and underwrite . . .  they mean develop something consumers will consider to be premium to traditional media.