10e20 Blog

I have been meaning to post these 3 great articles in which we were featured last week but just got the time now.

A few weeks ago I was at a conference and had the pleasure of quickly meeting and then listening to Barry Diller speak. One of the topics he spoke about was his search engine Ask.com’s ad deal with Google and whether or not they were going to renew it. I spoke to a reporter about this a few weeks ago and said that I thought Google would wind up getting the business in the long run but it would be a major coup if Microsoft (or Yahoo) could steal them away. Think Microsoft stealing Digg from Google but on a much bigger scale. Here’s my thoughts from the article in CNNMoney (Ask.com Ad Pact With Google Ends Soon)

A couple of weeks ago I spoke to Pete Barlas for an article he was writing on the future of behavioral targeting in the search world. The basic concept behind behavioral targeting search is to show you ads based on your previous search history (what you like and don’t like) so that there is a better chance of you clicking on that ad.

“If you were online searching for a car, the next time you were online you would see ads for car loans and auto dealers served up to you automatically,” said Chris Winfield, president of Web marketing firm 10e20.

My friend Frank Watson is quite passionate about this subject and I asked Pete to also speak with him. Frank’s thoughts are in the article:

Yesterday I spoke with AP reporter Jessica Mintz regarding Digg’s decision to ditch Google in favor of Microsoft to serve their contextual ads. The story came out last night and is appearing in lots of different places today. Here were my thoughts from the article:

Digg’s decision to defect may not dent Google’s balance sheet, but it’s still a blow to lose such a hot Web 2.0 property, said Chris Winfield, president of social media marketing company 10e20 LLC.

With Digg and Facebook under its belt, Microsoft may be able to seal deals with other social networking sites. For Digg, though, the decision could backfire.

“Linux and Apple have always been two of the most popular things on Digg, while Microsoft, the RIAA, things like that, have been two of the most hated things,” Winfield said.

Many months ago, I spoke to Shaheen Samavati for a story she was working on about what goes into a successful website development project. Last week Shaheen emailed me to let me know that her story had been published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Ohio’s largest newspaper) in a story titled ‘Clear Sited‘ (PDF version). Here are some of my thoughts:

It all depends on what you can afford and what you want out of the site.

“If you’re a local deli and your menu doesn’t change much, your main goal might just be to get your information online,” said Chris Winfield, president of 10e20, a New York Web design and search engine marketing company. In that case, a very simple Web site might do.

and

And make sure to ask for references, Winfield, of 10e20, said.

Last week, I spoke with Investor’s Business Daily regarding Google’s latest AdWords enhancement Placement Performance Reports and the article was published yesterday.

This enhancement is something that advertiser’s have been requesting for quite a long time. If you’re advertising on the AdWord’s Content Network it allows you to see the exact sites where your ads appear. From Google: “Placement Performance reports also provide site-by-site performance metrics – including domain, URL, impression, click, conversion and cost data – as well as aggregated metrics for traffic generated from AdSense for domain sites.”

My thoughts from the article:

A maker of steak knives, for example, might prefer to have its ads on Marthastewart.com and food-related sites than on the risque Hotornot.com’s photo-rating service, said Chris Winfield, president of 10e20, a search marketing firm that helps advertisers place ads online.

Yesterday I spoke to Jeff Graham from USA Today regarding Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang taking over for former CEO Terry Semel. My thoughts from the article:

“Yahoo had to do something,” says Chris Winfield, who runs 10e20, a New York firm that helps businesses run search-marketing campaigns. “I’m hoping Jerry gets in there and really tries to fight to get Yahoo back on top, so Google isn’t the only option in town.”

There are lots of different ideas and rumors flying around about this move. CNBC has sources that say Yahoo! is going to buy MySpace in a $10 billion dollar deal (giving News Corp a 25% stake in YHOO) and then Yahoo! is going to go back to outsourcing their search to Google. Others think that it will be much of the same (Yang carrying on in much the same way Semel did) and then Yahoo becoming a possible acquisition target.

Yesterday I spoke with Alex Pham from the Los Angeles Times for an article she was doing about Jason Calacanis’ new “search engine” called Mahalo. The article was published today and I am quoted in it:

Calacanis, a New York native who lives in Brentwood, said Mahalo didn’t have to keep up with everything — just things that most interest people.

“It will take some time to complete, but when it’s done, it will be glorious,” he said. “Until then, we invite people to compare our results with any search engine out there. For results that we do have, they’re going to be five to 10 times better because humans have thought about them.”

Mahalo faces other challenges. With editors behind each search, there’s the opportunity for bias, said Chris Winfield, president of 10e20, a New York search-marketing firm.

Over the weekend I did an interview with Neil Patel for his new blog titled: The Secrets of Public Relations Revealed. Neil asked some great questions and I tried to cover as many of the things that have helped me get coverage in places like The New York Times, USA Today, Entreprenuer Magazine and over 100 other major media publications.

In the interview I share the following:

* How I first got major media coverage

* Practical steps that you can take to get coverage (without paying a PR firm)

* How I have used PR to brand myself

* What can be done to speed up the PR process and get coverage quicker

* And many other secrets that you can read over at Neil’s great new blog Quick Sprout.

Back in early April, I spoke to Pete Barlas about the deal AOL had struck with Google to give advertisers a white label version of AdWords. This new arrangement was significant because it would allow advertisers to target only AOL audience members. The article titled, AOL The First In Google Search Ad Network Allowed To Sell Own Ads, ran yesterday in Investor’s Business Daily and here is one of my quotes:

Following up on a deal struck in 2005, AOL last month began selling AOL-branded versions of Google’s search ads, giving advertisers an opportunity they never had before. It’s an opportunity many appear be eager to take, says Chris Winfield, president of 10e20, which helps companies place ads online.

“It’s really exciting for advertisers to be able to advertise directly with AOL because the quality of traffic the quality of the conversions there is much higher than in other places,” he said.

Yesterday I spoke with Holly Sanders from The New York Post and appear in her article in today’s paper called Ad & Subtract. The article is all about the recent emails that Google sent out to many AdSense publishers informing them that their accounts would be disabled on June 1st.

Search experts said Google routinely cuts off publishers who run afoul of AdSense rules, but they believe this latest round of notices was a more widespread effort to clean up its ad network.

“I don’t really remember where this many people reported it at one time,” said Chris Winfield, president of Internet search marketing firm 10e20.

Google confirmed that it had sent out notices, but characterized it as part of an ongoing review.