We decided that the best time to think about trends and predictions for 2007 wasn't when we were all sugared up on fruitcake and candy canes over the holidays and certainly not on New Year's Day (for obvious reasons), but after we've had a week to settle in. 

So, now that we're back in the groove, here are Oddcast's Top 10 Digital Advertising Trends to Watch for 2007:

1. Ad units will get more irregular, from skinned chat clients to virtual t-shirts to mobile wallpapers. It’s obvious that consumers are getting immune to rectangles across the top and side of webpages.  New and different means noticeable.
2. Attempts will be made to standardize how engagement is measured.  If a page view disappears, then what?  Are all page views created equal?
3. There will be a backlash against rich media ads that interrupt the user experience.  VideoEgg has done a really nice job creating user initiated video ad segments and as video sharing sites turn on the ad engines, we think user control is going to be the standard or else we'll see traffic plummet.
4. As the cost of simple awareness plummets, brands pay up for differentiated targeting, customer acquisition, and relationship building.  You can get your viral video watched by 2 million people, but then what?  Do you have a way to communicate with these folks afterwards?  How do you know they were the right demographic?  Getting "out there" won't be enough in 2007.  Advertisers will ask, "Where's the beef?"
5. Social networks look for creative new methods of advertising.  Social networks realize that if you're friends with a brand the same exact way you are friends with real friends, there's a risk of their site feeling too commercial.  The best branded applications take advantage of what a unique place a social network is, but don't try to blur too many lines.
6. Online ad dollars become less experimental.  We saw lot of toes in the water in 2006.  This year, advertisers are going to see what works and put the gas on the pedal.
7. Cross platform campaigns get more coordinated.  Especially as mobile advertising starts to emerge, we should see more campaign reach across mediums.
8. Brands compete head to head in the same spaces.  Exclusive is dead.  It degrades the user experience.  People want their avatars wearing a Nike hat and an Adidas shirt, because that's how they dress in real life. 
9. Brands promote users.  Man bites dog.  News at 11.  Brands, realizing that they only have as much influence as their customers do, start promoting regular people ahead of themselves.
10. Agencies hire and promote more net native young people who live in social networks to help create, design, and implement campaigns, because they "get it."

Thoughts?  Additions?