You’re watching your favorite show— Project Runway, SportsCenter, Monk or The Closer for example—and see an ad for the florist around the corner, or you’re reading the latest headlines on Comcast.net and notice a video about a local college.

That’s Comcast Spotlight at work. We’re the advertising sales division of Comcast. We have more than 3,000 employees in local communities who help companies large and small be more effective in their marketing. In all, Comcast Spotlight operates in more than 80 media markets and works with everyone from mom & pop shops to national companies to reach about 30 million customers.

When you think of "cable advertising," the first thing that comes to mind is likely a TV commercial, and, yes, that’s still a big part of what we do. But that only scratches the surface. We’re also using our technology to give advertisers more ways to reach precisely the consumers who are most likely to be interested in their products. For example, just like a company can reach certain audiences based on the cable channels they advertise on—ESPN for sports junkies or TBS for comedy fans—they can place their messages on specific Comcast.net pages in local markets.

Comcast Spotlight also has its own dedicated section of Comcast’s On Demand service. "Searchlight" is an on-demand marketplace with something for everyone. There are job listings by Monster.com, real estate listings, health and wellness programs, travel and leisure features and more. Best of all, this content is customized for each area we serve.

Soon, Spotlight will make watching TV a more personalized experience with new interactive features. If you see an ad for another program that looks interesting, you’ll be able to set your DVR to record it by pressing a button on your remote. You’ll also be able to request more information, like a DVD or brochure, about advertisers’ products—no more having to remember phone numbers or special Web addresses.

I’ll be blogging about all these new technologies we’re working on but in the meantime please leave a comment if you have any thoughts or questions.