This morning I open MSN Messenger, probably the most popular chat client in Ayacucho, Peru, where I am right now. What's in the advertising space? A Chase Platinum Mastercard offer, 5.9% APR, 4 different designs, the add totally in English, the link (I clicked on it, maybe they'll see where I came from) to a site totally in English, the offer targeted to University students in the USA. I do not know where Hotmail got that information, but they must have bought my private information from someone...I never filled out a hotmail profile nor indicated this information in the registration of any Microsoft products.

Anyways, this is a waste of money for them. What's the payoff if they did regional advertising? I'm clearly using a Peru IP address. Even further, they should know that it's an IP for Ayacucho, where there is no English language academy and many people are indeed bilungual, but in spanish/quechua.

You can buy a month advert on the radio to air about 10 times a day on one station for around 200 soles or $60. Radio is now competing with internet. MSN should be selling advertising space already. Maybe it's better left to cabina owners - put a shell on the desktop computer as part of the desktop theme that holds adverts for local businesses, PSAs, etc, which is always on part of the screen. Google doesnt have it yet either - when I do a search at www.google.com.pe of pages in peru for "dentist" I get all ads in english - and no ads from the acclaimed dental clinic two blocks away...