TESCO Ireland issued a recall of different sets of Christmas lights last month after it was discovered that there was a chance they could cause an electric shock. Some 4,000 sets had been sold in Ireland.

A trade newsletter brought it to our attention last week, but we don't remember hearing anything about it at the time. Sure enough, there was no release about it in our emails from Tesco. We did discover that it was reported in a small item in the Irish Independent on Saturday 23 December.

One wouldn't reasonably expect blanket airtime, but if you're going to recall a product that your manufacturer says could hurt kids putting lights on their Christmas tree, oughtn't you get the word out a bit better? Eagle-eyed folks at Retail Intelligence, take a bow.

AFTER EBS WEATHER, EXPECT THE DELUGE

THE nice folks at RTE Radio released some good news last week, revealing that EBS will be sponsoring the weather on Radio 1 and Lyric on weekdays between now and March.

EBS will of course be plugging ways for punters to maximise the proceeds from their SSIAs as the maturation hits its peak in the next few months. That rumbling sound in the distance is the tsunami of ads heading towards you with advice on what to do with the cash.

GOOGLE TAKES OVER THE EARTH

AFTER the world woke up to the fact that the tiny AdSense ads from Google actually add up to something pretty huge, the search giant stuck its toe in the water of newspaper and radio advertising. After some speculation, apparently Google is also now about to launch a service that will revolutionise outdoor ads.

Electronic billboards are great for quick turnarounds, but what happens if it's advertising a product that's not in stock anywhere nearby?

Google has "led a patent for a system that will allow electronic inventory systems to connect with the advertising network. When the product sells out from nearby subscribing shops, the ad gets removed. It goes back into the cycle of ads when the stock is replenished.

It's Google's earth. We just advertise in it.

Google launched its test programme with 66 US newspapers . . . including the New York Times, Washington Post, and papers owned by Gannett, Tribune and Hearst . . .and 100 advertisers in November of last year. Late last month it emerged at a UBS investor conference in New York that the volume of ads sold by Google was triple the company's expectations.

A newspaper industry executive revealed that Google had sold all the inventory it hoped to sell in three months . . . in just three weeks.

The programme, which had Google work completely behind the scenes on zero commission and allows advertisers to bid for newspapers' unsold "remnant" advertising positions, ends its trial phase this month. Its new arrangements probably won't come for free . . . but results like that will certainly find buyers. Watch this space for similar pilot arrangements in this part of the world.

Similar, but branded, US arrangements between newspapers and Yahoo and online job site Monster are called 'frienemy' deals between the supposedly mutually exclusive online and offline worlds.

What the deal makes clear is that the distinction between the two grows less meaningful by the day.

Consumers want their media when and how they want it. Smart media brands will find ways to get it to them. Behind the scenes, the irony is that internet companies may help extend the life of traditional media.

And traditional media isn't what it used to be.

VIDEO ON DEMAND MAY BE QUITE CONTINENTAL

CONTINENTAL Airlines, which operates a daily service from Dublin and Shannon (and five days a week from Belfast) to Newark, said last week that it had installed a soupedup video-on-demand service in its first-class cabins with 25 films, 25 short programmes and 50 CDs' worth of music tracks to choose from. Those of you languishing in cattle class will get the new system in summer when the fleet of Boeing 757s is fully kitted out.

Another bit of news may prove as welcome as the announcement that Ryanair would allow in-flight mobile phone use . . . the seats equipped with the new system will also have AC power ports that will allow most devices to be plugged in without an adaptor. Which means laptop batteries won't run out midway across the Atlantic. Which means the clickety-clack of keyboards will keep you awake for the whole flight. On the other hand, if you haven't finished that presentation and didn't charge your battery before boarding it might just save your job.

WAITING FOR BIG NEWS FROM AIB

ADVERTISING agencies McCannErickson, Ogilvy, Rothco and incumbent McConnells are still waiting for news on who will be awarded one of the most soughtafter accounts in Irish advertising.

Sources say the decision, expected last month, will not be for a couple more weeks at least, but that the shortlist remains intact.

MCDONALDS AND MEDIAWORKS

MEDIAWORKS remains McDonald's media-buying agency, contrary to speculative reports in this space last month.