MarketItRight.com & EXP.com; AdOUtlet & SpotTaxi; RealTIME Media & StoreRunner …etc., etc. Is it the cool Fall weather that makes everybody want to hop in to bed together? Just joking -- actually we think there are two factors behind the partnership frenzy currently dominating the Internet advertising and marketing services industry:

1) On the client side, “Integrated Marketing” is the dominant trend. Campaigns in just one media aren’t effective enough, everyone wants to coordinate the banner with the direct mail with the space ad, with the radio campaign, with the ezine, and so on and so on. Vendors who can make overstressed marketers’ jobs easier by providing multiple-channel solutions are winning accounts these days.

2) On the vendor side, despite the fact that the industry as a whole continues healthy growth (especially with so many traditional offline marketers adding online to their budget these days and unabated international interest), everybody sees consolidation ahead. Smack dab ahead. As in Engage fires 175 people last week ahead. The more partners you’ve got, the more friends to see you through it.