So-called rich media, such as podcasts, and Web videos are being adopted by marketers at a breakneck pace. Marketers have caught on and realized the power of this media, spreading marketing messages much faster and more effectively than traditional advertising.

"You can create a better relationship online, more immersive," said Dave Friedman, president of the central region for Avenue A/Razorfish, based in Chicago. Also, analytics provides greater demographic information, such as how long someone watched a video, what region they clicked from and where they surfed after viewing.

JupiterResearch reports that video and rich media is expected to reach $1.8 billion this year, about equal to text advertising. It's expected that by 2011, rich media ads are expected to reach $4.9 billion, far ahead of text advertising, predicted to reach $2.9 billion.

The beauty of this new advertising environment is the potential for even the smallest companies to capitalize. Short video ads are easy to produce and cost effective. It's a great way for smaller companies to compete with the giants that have, in the past, been able to simply out-spend the little guys.