The online edition of the New York Post ran a lead article on the investigation into the sexual assault and murder of graduate student Imette St. Guillen, but the story was inappropriately accompanied by an online dating service ad, writes MediaPost. Placed by aQuantive's DrivePM, the ad promoted True.com and, bizarrely, featured a dark-haired young woman who somewhat resembled St. Guillen.

True.com said it would not have approved of having an ad accompany that story. An aQuantive spokesman said little could have been done to prevent ads from appearing alongside specific types of stories.

"You can't predict the news," he said, adding that marketers who buy inventory on a news site do so for the audience, not the news content.