When I was talking to a friend’s husband months ago, he asked me what mobileStorm did. I told him, “We provide technology that helps companies send out marketing messages.” He said, “Oh, like spam and telemarketing calls?” and proceeded to go off on one such annoying call he’d recently received. It took a while before he registered my cries of, “Permission-based! Permission-based!”

It’s because of such worriers like him that pressure to regulate consumer privacy is high, especially considering the growth of behaviorally-targeted Internet ads, social network use by minors, and the now-common use of SMS. But the Interactive Advertising Bureau is keen to prove to U.S. lawmakers that self-regulation among legitimate marketers is a much better way to combat abuse than would be the passage of increasingly more laws. The IAB is currently wondering how—and if—it should enforce best practices among all marketers.

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My personal email account has 197 unread messages in the inbox. Some are political in nature, not surprising during an election year and considering that political messages are exempt from CAN-SPAM. But the real problem? Email messaging campaigns gone amuck.

It started out when I’d signed up for a few email lists from just a couple of businesses I tended to frequent regularly, to get information about the latest product or sales promotion. Next, I agreed to receive messages from Web site communities on which I participated. Then over the last year, I’ve subscribed to email campaigns from almost every retailer who offered me the chance during check-out at their bricks-and-mortar locations. Now, I almost regret it.

It’s not that I no longer believe in the value of email campaigns but rather that some of these marketers haven’t gotten a handle on email best practices. I’m still interested in all these brands for which I’d signed up to receive more information. I’m just not as interested in getting all of that information.

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I once went on a “first date” with a weird guy that was planned at a trendy restaurant—and then when we met up, he kept raving about the wonderful cheap Thai food he’d had just before arriving. Uh, I thought the point of having a date at a restaurant was to, you know, eat there? I honestly wasn’t looking for a free meal; I was just starving after a long day at work, and was willing to “go Dutch.” The dude kept saying he was full but that I could get food by myself. By then I think I would’ve choked on it…

Suffice it to say, I wanted a way to get the heck outta dodge gracefully. Friends had offered to call my mobile in order to check up on me and, if necessary, provide me an alibi to leave—but their planned calls weren’t going to happen nearly soon enough. Memories of that ordeal came bubbling up recently when I saw a new campaign from DiGiorno, called “The Ditcher.”

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I am an occasional reader of hundreds of marketing and business blogs so I decided to make my own list of the best blogs writing particularly about marketing that is digital. No more words, let’s get down to the list:

Of course, first I have to get our own The Digital Marketing Blog by mobileStorm. While I’m admittedly a bit biased, I do believe we have a great resource for digital marketers, covering everything from email to RSS, SMS to SEO. With our blog seasoned marketers have a place to sharpen their skills, and novices can become a part of the Digital Marketing revolution.

OK, with that out of the way, here are my top 10 marketing blogs:

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