"Focus Media Holdings (FMCN), our latest featured stock, is a leader in the advertising sector in in China; this stock is a great way to play the broad consumer market in China as that country's middle class continues to grow," says Paul Goodwin.

The editor of Cabot China & Emerging Markets Report explains, "In 2002, the company's founder, Jason Jiang, was standing in a crowd of bored office workers in Shanghai, waiting for one of the office block's infamously slow elevators to arrive.

"Then it hit him. If he could just put a little fl‚at-panel TV on the wall by the elevators, he could sell space on the screen to advertisers, translating all those increasingly affluent eyes into money.

This post is part of a special report, Top Picks for 2010, the 27th annual survey in which TheStockAdvisors.com asks the nation's leading advisors for their single favorite stock for the new year. See all 80 stocks listed here.

"Moviegoers represent a captive audience that can't change the channel or block a pop-up ad," observes value investor Nathan Slaughter.

In his Half-Priced Stocks, he suggests, "We expect more companies than ever before to spend ad dollars on theater ads, leading to a banner year for National CineMedia (NCMI)."

"Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) remains the dominant search engine on the web," notes Paul Tracy. In his StreetAuthority Market Advisor, he views the stock as a solid buy for growth investors.

"In economic downturns, one of the first costs most companies cut is advertising. Not surprisingly, over the past year, most companies have slashed their advertising budgets in response to the severe economic downturn.

"But online ad spending has remained remarkably resilient. GOOG's system targets specific ads based on what users type into their search box, geographic location and other factors.

On tonight's MAD MONEY show on CNBC, Jim Cramer began his show saying "Out with the old and in with the new ... media." It isn't all out; he thinks outdoor advertising, traditionally as "old media" as you can get, will survive well because of the new digital ads. One of his two stocks in this category is Daktronics, Inc. (NASDAQ:DAKT), up 165% this year, but he thinks it's a buy and going higher. This isn't a billboard company, rather an interactive image advertising board for stadiums and sports. He's excited about Daktronics because even high schools are starting to add in boxes and special arenas. DAKT closed down 3% at $36.91 in normal trading, but shares rose to $38.30 after he touted the stock. Its 52-week range is $13.74 to $39.09.

[Photo Chris Metcalf]