Brands the world over are bellying up to the bar this year for a major helping of online marketing. Researcher eMarketer says that spending will be up across the board for ads on everything from social networks to viral video sites to social media wikis.

All generally good news, though the 19% overall online ad growth predicted this year (for an eye-popping *$20B*) pales to the 30% tear seen in previous years. And despite the buzz over online videos via sites like YouTube, eMarketer predicts that related ads will amount to only about 4% of the total spend for the year.

The Takeaway for PR: CMOs and their ilk seem to get the fact that digital media is worth dumping some serious coin on because of its reach, diversity and role as the primary driver in consumer-influencing WOM.

The Challenge for PR: Get these brand masters to understand that applying the old rules of an ad-based model to the extraordinary dynamic of something like social media is like using the King’s English to write a text message.

In an environment where the primary currency is authenticity (read, flog me once shame on you… for eternity), there’s something about a pop-up ad or punch the monkey banner that just feels painfully out of place.

And ridiculously ineffective given the billions being spent.

This is where PR has a leg up. As an industry we’ve made great strides in focusing on the content of the blogosphere and respecting the unique boundaries inherent in the world of social media, some painfully embarrassing gaffes notwithstanding.

Just as it’s always been with mainstream media, we have the ability to affect opinion on the editorial side of the page in ways that ads and infomercials just can’t. And with all due respect to our brothers and sisters on Madison Ave, the digital consumer has increasingly put more credence in the content that sits above the proverbial ad line.

That is all the more valuable today, as reference-based consumers make purchase decisions more according to what friends and family are buzzing about than the brand of watch a celebrity wears in a 30 second spot.

This is PR’s moment to not only get a bigger slice of the pie, but to in fact mix up something entirely new as the lines between PR and Mktg become more blurred and content-driven consumers dictate the form and function of media.

There’s plenty of room in the comms sandbox for all of us to play, but this is an exciting time to be in PR – and to be making a call on CMOs everywhere to talk to them about their online strategies for the year ahead.