So I click into Huffington Post yesterday afternoon to check on the news and — YOW!

Okay, I can well imagine somebody getting all kinds of excited about turning the background of a page into an ad — talk about finding some new real estate for slapping a message — but this was just a little too intrusive. Okay, it was a lot intrusive.

Do I want to watch Men of a Certain Age? Not any more than before, that’s for sure. Am I pissed at HuffPo and TNT for this SCREAMING LOUD INTRUSION into my news reading? You betcha.

Takeaway for marketers: Ask yourself whether your ads are designed to engage or intrude.

I’ve always told companies that anyone who calls himself or herself a “social media expert” isn’t, and if they want you to hire them, your best move is to put your hand on your wallet and run like hell. You can have experience in the field, but you can’t have expertise in something that changes so radically so often.

Peter Shankman says what I meant far better over on Business Insider:

Being an expert in social media is like being an expert at taking the bread out of the refrigerator. You might be the best bread-taker-outer in the world, but you know what? The goal is to make an amazing sandwich, and you can’t do that if all you’ve done in your life is taken the bread out of the fridge.

Social media is just another facet of marketing and customer service. Say it with me. Repeat it until you know it by heart. Bind it as a sign upon your hands and upon thy gates. Social media, by itself, will not help you.

HubSpot has a blog post … and an audio recording … and an ebook … detailing 60 ways in which “the ‘Personalization Revolution’ has been enabling a select number of marketers to create not just windfall profits, but also far deeper relationships with customers, constituents and the marketplace.”

Having been in this digital marketing game since the first Clinton administration, I’ve long felt that personalization is one of those things that seems great in theory but looks terrible in practice. For all the hopeful and optimistic language about “making things personal in a meaningful way,” the end result is typically something quite different.

So what happens is I wind up getting emails addressed to “Peter” (a typo of my last name) instead of to “Craig.” Or I get messaging imploring me to buy a Mother’s Day present for my mom who passed away two years ago. Or I get pinged to buy something wholly inappropriate for me because I used my computer and Amazon account to buy something for my daughter for her birthday.

You get the idea. The reality is that the “algorithmically-driven content” HubSpot touts too often winds up delivering irrelevant crap.

Because true and meaningful personalization — like when a close friend of family member recommends a terrific new movie you’ve never heard of because they know who you are, not what you’ve bought lately — is hard to come by.

The rest is just smoke and mirrors.

Takeaway for marketers: Pimpin’ (your product or service) ain’t easy.

… is to have a typo in your subject line. Even worse is if you’re sending a media alert and the word you’ve misspelled is “media.”

Takeaway for marketers: If you’re pitching something to me, a typo in the pitch — particularly in the subject line — guarantees you an instant visit to the deleted folder of my email program. I’m sure I’m not alone in this thinking.

The Flip camera had it all. Great reviews from Gizmodo. A marketing deal with 30 Rock. A vibe about how it’s transforming PR. And so much more. Even orthodontists were being advised to get one. It was fast becoming to video what Google is to search.

Then Cisco killed it.

Takeaway for marketers: You can have a great product with great PR and great buzz and customers who love your product … and still the sword of Damocles could strike with little warning. Sucks, doesn’t it?