The WB is back -- online. The defunct TV network is coming back with a combination of reruns and new web-only programming aimed at the WB's young audience.

TV networks are seeing that online is the path to growth, but reviving a dead channel is a bit of a surprise. Producing high quality shows is expensive, but they want to draw the same demographic that fueled the growth of shows like Buffy.

The bar is being raised by web-only shows such as Quarterlife that will be attracting ad dollars. If you are wondering if execs see web video as a lucrative opportunity, don't. It's happening now.

Via the LA Times.

Google is continuing to refine its algorithm for image search and is developing a method for more effectively ranking similar images. According to the NY Times, Google engineers have come up with a new page rank algorithm.

The technology is focused on products not faces, and would only be applied to a subset of the web. Not surprisingly this is also to the most advantage for Google revenue wise as more accurate results for shoes or iPods means happier advertisers and more commerce.

Image search continues to rely on meta tags and the text around the image. Searching the image itself is too complex, especially in the fractions of seconds that Google et al need to return results. Having the software differentiate between Mindy McCready and Mindy Cohn is still too much to ask.

IBM and others have tried to master image search, but it still remains an open question.

Using trademarks in keyword meta tags don't matter, except when they do.

That's the mixed message that federal courts are delivering. In Milwaukee, a federal court judge ruled that using trademarks in meta tags does not constitute infringement, according to MediaPost.

But earlier this month, a court in Atlanta ruled just the opposite when keywords helped a company in its organic rankings.

This issue is important enough that it may go all the way to the supreme court and could force the search engines to disclose how they factor in keywords. Google and Yahoo will yell trade secrets, but for the judiciary to rule effectively, they need more information. Keep your eye on this issue.

The marketing of supposedly green products has been largely unrelated resulting in skeptical consumers. According to research from Burst Media, nearly a quarter of people surveyed never believe green claims, while nearly two-thirds "sometimes" believe the green hype.

Burst Media, which recently launched a green ad network, says there is no measurable difference in interest in green products between men and women, in income, or age.

The FTC will address the ambiguity in green marketing and will soon update its guidelines for green marketing, for the first time in a decade. On Wednesday the governing body will hold a workshop to discuss green messaging in marketing, a process that precedes the release of formal guidelines.

Panels will examine trends in packaging claims, whether the packaging components of the Guides should be revised, new green packaging claims, and the substantiation of green packaging claims.

Green can come in many forms because it can be applied to so many types of products, so the FTC has its work cut out for it. For example, what constitutes green paint, a green computer, or green fruit juice?