In an online parallel to big TV ads, John McCain's campaign has outbid Barack Obama's for the top ad slot — and I do mean the one up top, above the results — on searches for Barack's VP canidate Joe Biden. McCain's people have also bought "housing crisis" and "us economy" ads, according to sleuthy reporters at the Wall Street Journal. Is this some sort of genius move by Obama? Online marketers say: No.

In recent days, [McCain's campaign] has bought search ads tied to key terms such as "U.S. economy" and "housing crisis," which take visitors to Web sites outlining Sen. McCain's plan on those issues.

Meanwhile, the Obama camp largely has yet to advertise around these terms, missing a key opportunity, according to experts, to communicate his message to undecided voters.

"The big downfall is that Obama's not reaching the undecided voters," says Janel Landis, senior director of search development and strategy at SendTec, a search-marketing firm that has been tracking the candidates' techniques since June. "He's not bidding on issues or his competitor's name."

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