Shocka: a useful ad insertion technology

 
I generally despise sites that allow server-side insertion of advertisements by letting ad networks hyperlink "relevant" phrases. Usually the phrases are about as relevant as the yips of a coyote. That said, this particular site and advertiser turn out to be a pretty good combination.

In this example, the server-side hyperlinking picked up the term Novell. The advertiser -- Microsoft's search engine -- then extended the phrase to Novell Software and provided a ready-to-run search. Note the "Images" tab; the only thing missing is a "News" choice. In any case, I've got to give Vibrant, or Microsoft, or whomever really came up with the platform and search-engine integration idea some credit. It actually approaches that elusive "usefulness" characteristic that is missing from about 98% of web ads.