The magazine sections of book stores and pharmacies fill a sizeable portion of square footage by covering a range of titles from Teen People to Harley Davidson. Thousands of consumer magazines have been founded over the past decade, including 440 last year alone, nearly all of them born targeted. Only about 10% of the 6,200 consumer magazines published in the U.S. are general-interest titles, down from 30% two decades ago. However, because of the ever increasing cost of paper and printing and the growing numbers of people going online to read about their special interests, the Internet is fast becoming the Mecca of targeted publications and the advertisements that go hand in hand with them. What makes it more enticing is being able to capture the names and locations of these online users through electronic tricks of the trade and market other things to them as well. As time goes on, other vehicles will take part of the markets. For example, what will happen when it becomes easier and easier for people to use their cell phone evolves as a media player, enabling people to read news reports, watch video, or play games.

Go online now, and everywhere there are banners, popups, ad videos, etc., etc., etc. Build it and they shall come, so why not ads on cell phones as well? ESPN, which is making sure its sports programming and stories can be found everywhere, call the cell phone their "third screen," after the TV and PC. More than 50,000 cell-phone users subscribe to ESPN BottomLine, a service that sends out constantly updated sports news and scores.

Will mass advertising go the way of the dinosaur and be consumed by targeted micromarketing? This probably will not happen completely for several reasons. One, specialized marketing is expensive. It is much more costly to develop six...

Especially with the high cost of advertising, money still has to be saved wherever it can.
Similarly, there are just too many different niches. No company can develop a marketing approach for too select and focused groups. They would go out of business very quickly.

Two, regardless of how much they like to identify with smaller groups, Americans are still a herd animal in many respects. When something catches on in the U.S., it really catches on by the millions. A silly idea like the pet rock or smiley button can become big business overnight, because people do not like being too different from the norm.

Three, electronics is offering additional ways to push targeted marketing. However, it is also offering buyers additional ways to stop targeted marketing. it's quite easy to skip through commercials on pre-recorded shows or with the new technology that allows consumers to jump over ads.

Four, humans are fickle beasts. There may be a great deal of new specialized magazines and "new and improved" products on the market every day. However, how many specialized products and publications have been in and out over the years. What is great today, may be cold turkey tomorrow. A commercial that pinpoints a large number of people, which is bound to catch some viewers' attention because of the large appeal, will always be worth the gamble. There are still many commercials that are engrained forever in the minds of people who saw them over and over again. For example, how many generations can tell you exactly what the ad for Double Mint gum is like?