Enjoy.

After about a week of waiting, I finally had a chance to demo the new Google Ad Planner tool.  While I haven’t had much time to really play around with all of the detailed features, I have noticed a few salient qualities that are most certainly blog-worthy.

The Good (note: singular)

1. Ad Planner, like many of Google’s tools, has a very clean and user friendly interface.  The current Beta iteration is not a user friendly as Google Analytics, but it is significantly less cumbersome than many of their subscriber based competitors (ahem…Comscore…lookin’ at you here).

The Bads (note: plural)

1. Inability to sort between ad supported and non-ad supported sites.  Boo.
2. Ad supported sites are only designated as ad supported if they are in the Google content network.
3. Little to no exclosure about where the data comes from.  Yes, we understand serach behavior is incorporate (duh.), BUT who is your 3rd party data provider.

The Funny

1. When pulling certain demographic indexing, it becomes apparent how much Google data is skewed and influenced by click farms.  For example, when searching for indexing for a male, age 18-34, you will notice a high volume of sites related to cricket and Indian news.  Since most click farms are located in or around South East Asia, it is a logical assumption that the massive volume of click fraud may be influencing site indexing.
2. It becomes quite apparent how popular porn truly is.

So that is that.  I think the product has a lot of potential to be an excellent tool.  Many media planners who I have spoken to really seem to like it.  And, I am pretty excited to see what the next iteration looks like.  Say tuned..

Blog,

I have neglected you.  I am sorry.  Few people have visited you and I have been unattentive.  You deserve better.  I will be better.

KThanksBYE,

Neal

A co-worker of mine tipped me off to a really great site, www.giveawayoftheday.com, which offers free software downloads to one and all.  Each day, the site updates with new product that is free for that day, and that day only.  The site is full of reviews from quite knowledgeable users.  Full disclosure, many of the products offered on the site I haven’t found a true need for, but every once in a while you will come across something pretty cool, and helpful.  

What I really like about this site is that it is one of the few free software distribution channels online that is beneficial to both developers and users.  Developers issue free license to their software for one day to a knowledgeable community and get quality feedback, while users get access to cool new products and know that their opinions will be heard.  And while this doesn’t fully embody the ideals of an open source computing experience, it does represent an interesting step in the right direction.  Enjoy!

This is a topic many have pondered over the years, myself included. I have been a Netflix subscriber for some time now.  Originally drawn in by the convenience and free trial month, I stayed, like many, for the wide selection and no late fees.  Even after reading Michael Arrington’s “Why I am Breaking Up With Netflix” declaration back in late 2006, I was still an avid user, or so I thought.  

Now, there is a tool that you can use to judge for yourself whether or not you are making the most from you Netflix subscription.  Feedflix.com will analyze your rental history, tell you your average return rate, which DVDs by genre you keep out the longest, and let you know how much you are really paying per video.  

Because of some recent delinquencies, I have of late been paying $8.99 per video.  Crazy.  I have been traveling more than usual on weekends recently, but en so, no excuse.  Even more crazy, my first reaction was not to cancel my subscription, but to get my act together, clean up my queue, and do some serious movie renting.  I know this defies logic, but I guess that is what a good brand will make you do.  But, I plan on checking in with Feedflix next month to see if my performance has improved.  If not, I will cancel my subscription, once and for all. 

One of the coolest ads I have seen in a very long time.  Check it out:

In an effort to conserve energy during this unbearable heatwave I have refrained from blogging for the last few days.  In fact, I have refrained from doing a lot of things in an effort to, well, not pass out.  BUT, before this ungodly hell-fart was unleashed on NYC, I did have a chance to check out a restaurant that has been on my list for a few weeks now, Ippudo.  

Ippudo combines a quality meal of authentic dishes and ingredients with well executed presentation at a reasonable price.  Foodgasm.  I can’t remember the name of what I had, but everything I had was noteworthy.  Also, excellent Saki list, at reasonable prices.  

That’s it for now.  Again, apologies, I promise more substance once the thermometer dips below 90.  

A follow up to my previous post where I expressed my elation with the imminent arrival of FiOS in the New York tri-state area. If you recall, it was not simply because I have heard wonderful things about the FiOS product, but rather because Time Warner Cable is down-right awful.

Today, Consumerist reports that the city of Los Angeles is filing a lawsuit against Time Warner Cable for, get this, sucking! According to the LA Times:

The 25-page lawsuit, a copy of which was reviewed by The Times, claims the company violated its franchise agreement with the city by having subscribers spend hours on hold with customer service representatives and allowing excessive repair work delays.

“Hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles residents were ripped off,” Delgadillo said in a statement. “Time Warner must be held accountable for its promises.”

We’ll see how this one plays out, but regardless of the outcome hopefully it will promote a little more accountability and, dare I say it, innovation. Till then, I won’t hold my breath.

Yesterday I attended the Paid Content EconAds conference here in New York.  It was an incredibly interesting afternoon, with vibrant conversations about monetization trends in online media, business development and acquisition moves and predictions, marketing trends and thoughts on what is driving the tech/media start-up community today.  Overall, a well rounded conversations that brought all the voices to the table to take a moment and reflect on key wins and big mistakes.  And with almost all key voices from both sides of the Microsoft/Yahoo deal silenced by NDAs, the conversation was not overwhelmed with speculation about the future of “Micro-hoo”.

One of the hot topics that surfaced over and over again was the fate of the ad network.  Key conclusions: everyone has one, there is little differentiation and they are all getting bought up in multiples.  Lynda Clarizio, President of AOL’s Platform-A gave us an update on the integration of Ad.com, Tacoda and other recent acquisitions into their new super-platform, offering a one-stop-shop for branding and direct response marketers.  On the flip side, Dave Morgan of Tacoda and 24/7 Real Media fame discussed the difficulties that many ad network start-ups are going to face as VCs squeeze harder to produce a strong return on investment from early stages.  Another highlight was Cyril Zimmerman of Hi-Media’s witty commentary about the redefinition of “scale” as dynamic price optimization comes to the forefront of ad serving technology.  In my humble opinion; however, the discussion neglected one key fact: the impression is only as valuable as the cookie it targets and an advertiser should only pay a premium for the distinct cookies that matter to their messaging/CRM/media strategy.  

Key Takeaways: 

1. For start-ups, it doesn’t ever matter that you are ready to sell.  It only matters when someone is ready to buy…so be ready for some bumps
2. Price optimization technology is the new ad network 
3. Big media companies are having and will continue to have trouble with integrating new technologies into their business model 
4. NO ONE has figured out the syndication of video content online.  

It has gone on long enough. For as long as I can remember, Time Warner has held the city of New York by their proverbial cable/internet balls with their mediocre customer service, minimal HD selection and their late-to-the-game DVR technology. It isn’t bad enough that cable television prices have risen 77% (double inflationary rates) since 1996, but we hardly even use their full offerings!  According to a recent NYTimes article, on average the cable customer only use a mere 13% of all channels available.

Today marks a step in the right direction. According to Alley Insider, the New York City’s Franchise and Concession Review Committee voted unanimously to allow Verizon to wire all five boroughs. This is awesome for multiple reasons:

1. FiOS is a better product.
2. You now have the opportunity to bundle in your mobile bill (assuming you are a Verizon customer) with your cable bill, eliminating yet another layer of taxes.
3. Competition will spawn both Time Warner and FiOS to improve product offerings at a faster rate
4. Price jockeying

In the meantime. I am still going to buy the Roku Netflix box and wing it with basic cable. But, it is good to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.