It's no secret the economy is forcing online retailers to change the tactics they use to acquire and retain customers. But this doesn’t mean they’re cutting back across the board. While they’re cutting spend in some areas, they’re spending more in other areas that bring positive ROI.

Question: What's the best way to learn about what went on at TWTRCON SF 09 (www.twtrcon.com), the first conference entirely focused on Twitter as a business platform?Answer: Do a Twitter interview, or a Twitterview, live from the conference.So that’s what I did with Michael Della Penna, an attendee of the event and founder of the Participatory Marketing Network, which was a sponsor of the event. (Full disclosure: The Twitterview wasn’t exactly live. It took place a few days later.)

Remember virtual worlds? You know, those 3-D computer environments where users are represented on screen as themselves or as made-up characters and interact in real time with other users?

This past week, I came across a new study by Q Interactive, an advertising network specializing in predictive behavioral targeting. It found Generation Y Americans (individuals born between 1982 and 1995) and baby boomers (individuals born between 1946 and 1964) are the two most active generations, with the greatest willingness to provide information online in exchange for more personalized advertising.

In honor of Mother's Day on Sunday, I thought I'd take a look at what moms are doing online today.

To do this, I turned to Digital Mom, a two-part report published earlier this year by Razorfish  and CafeMom.

Everybody's talking about Twitter, but are people actually using it? What do the numbers say?

eMarketer estimated earlier this week that there were 6 million Twitter users in the U.S. in 2008, or 3.8 percent of all Internet users. The online marketing research firm also projected the number of Twitter users will jump to 18.1 million in 2010, representing 10.8 percent of Internet users.

Online retailers, listen up: Earlier this week in its e-mail authentication report, the Online Trust Alliance (formerly the Authentication Online Trust Alliance) gave online retailers a failing grade in preventing deceptive e-mail and phishing scams.

Deceptive e-mails and phishing scams refer to forged e-mails that purport to come from legitimate brand owners. If you’re receiving a failing grade in this, you’re really shooting yourself in the foot.