When I was a fresh-faced boy from Nebraska, I traveled to Chicago to interview and to claim my stake in the world. Walking down Michigan Avenue, I was accosted by a man wanting money. He was armed with a story, persistence and an odor on the scale between cat feces and week-old tuna. I was intimidated; I gave the guy five bucks before high-tailing it down the street.

Okay, I thought, I'm a sucker.

Since then, I've developed a defense to protect myself -- and my sweet, sweet scratch. Long story short: I'm desensitized.

The same occurrence happens each day where you're sitting right now. You get accosted by online advertising; you grow a thick, chocolate shell and become desensitized. Pop-ups, banner ads and now rich-media "events" fly at you at light-speed. And at first you're surprised, then you're annoyed and soon thereafter, pissed to holy hell.

But then your mind evolves and learns to deal with these little monsters. Which, on the surface, seems bad for advertisers -- because you are learning to push aside their message. Each time I log onto my favorite OnMilwaukee.com, I'm used to the expanding banner covering the main story photo. And, sorry to say, I often click to close the message (My apologies to the sales department and its wonderful clients).

Now here's the upside: Through this evolution, the advertising is getting better, the usage more creative and the interaction ever improving. Some rich-media -- expanding banner-type stuff -- is quite enjoyable. Like tiny films, they can wrap you into a story or an eye-catching design and thrill you enough to click through. And many times, you don't have to leave the site to experience a brand. Some expandable banners act as micro-sites and serve relevant content right there in a tiny space.

But more importantly, advertisers are learning that it's a USER experience and the user's BEHAVIOR needs to be targeted. Behavioral targeting lets advertisers become much more relevant to YOU, personally. The advertising becomes less presentational and instead creates a dialogue with its audience. It's no longer about site content, it's about us -- as consumers of that content. No longer annoyed with irrelevance, we no longer must bob-and-weave through our favorite sites.

Instead of a one-way-billboard-buy-it-now-or-else attitude, advertisers are opening the lines of communication and becoming sensitive to our viewers -- so we won't become any LESS sensitive to them. Ahhhhhh ... interaction.

This techno-beast is growing and evolving and you, gentle reader, are following suit. It's the Wild West inside this little box -- or for me, it might as well be downtown Chicago in the early '90s.