A few years ago, a common mantra heard amongst search marketers was “stay away from the Google Content Network.” The conventional wisdom was that the content network was fraught with click fraud, difficult if not impossible to manage, and just wasn’t worth the time. That was then. Today, Google’s Content Network – AdSense – as well as many other similar contextual products, like Quigo, AdKnowledge, IndustryBrains, and Business.com, are on the rise. For savvy advertisers, contextual advertising often offers lower CPCs and higher margins. For quality publishers, multiple … Continue reading →

Years ago, when AdWords was a largely unregulated world, affiliates made millions by “double-serving” their ads on Google. This was a simple and straight-forward scheme: all you needed to do was to set up a few domain names, host them on different sites, set up separate AdWords accounts, and buy the same keywords for each site. If you knew that they keyword “blue widgets” was a guaranteed money maker, you could dominate the results with two, three or sometimes 15 URLs, virtually guaranteeing that any searcher who clicked … Continue reading →

First they shuttered Google Print Ads, and now comes the news that Google Audio Ads (radio) is also going the way of the Dodo Bird. Google TV ads is surely not far behind. Of the three ad formats, I actually thought that Audio Ads had the greatest chance for success, simply because it cost less than TV or print, it didn’t require much creative knowledge, and it was already a popular advertising medium for the direct marketers who make up most of Google’s advertiser base. So I’m surprised … Continue reading →

The three Rs of online success: customer retention, employee retention, vendor retention. Think about this for a minute and I think you’ll agree with me. Customer Retention Successful Companies: Get rave reviews for customer service Acquire a customer once but get repeat orders for a lifetime Live and breathe the notion that ‘the customer is always right’ Failing Companies: Think of customer service as a cost center and nothing else Expect customers to buy once and never again Regard customers as suckers that can be tricked to maximize … Continue reading →

Its amazing to me how much job satisfaction drives life satisfaction. I look at a bad job like an abusive relationship – the person being abused often doesn’t realize how miserable he/she is until long after they’ve gotten out of the relationship. My friend Joel has a good credo when it comes to jobs: “If I’m not happy, I wait two months. If I’m still unhappy, I leave” (as an aside, Joel left the rat race and is now the founder and CEO of a great company, Krillion.com). … Continue reading →