tom_rath

40 ms·

301.
by tom_rath 19y ago
Bah! This is The New Economy. You just don't "get it".
302.
Yahoo to outsource ad management to Google?(theglobeandmail.com)
1 points by tom_rath 19y ago|0 comments
303.
by tom_rath 19y ago
A Windows solution, but WebLog Expert works great for us: http://www.weblogexpert.com/
304.
by tom_rath 19y ago
Yes, I think Microsoft will excise that 'malignant tumor' completely. Why would MSFT keep it? They want Yahoo's traffic (and all the bright, shiny bits everyone is worried will be destroyed), not Yahoo's failed business model implementati
305.
by tom_rath 19y ago
Either identifying an alternative option to their shareholders or responding to Microsoft with the price Yahoo thinks would be reasonable. Microsoft has basically said "Hey, guys. We made an offer that's more than a 60% premium over your s
306.
by tom_rath 19y ago
Yes. Yahoo has been able to generate great amounts of traffic to their site, but their ability to 'monetize' it has been abysmal. They treat their free-for-use visitors wonderfully, but treat their paying customers (the advertisers) like c
307.
by tom_rath 19y ago
So, will advertisers still be forced to place ads on all Yahoo content networks (regardless of quality), or will I finally be able to create a campaign to advertise only on Yahoo's search pages?
308.
by tom_rath 19y ago
Why would 'Steve' be the one to advance discussions? Microsoft has put forward their offer and is awaiting a response. It's not as though Yahoo has forgotten about it -- the next move is theirs to make.
309.
by tom_rath 19y ago
I'll be delighted! Combining Yahoo's high traffic with Microsoft's reasonably good ad management system would finally produce a competitor to Google Adwords (as outlined here a few days back: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=154184 )
310.
by tom_rath 19y ago
Reminds me of a Toles cartoon I saw during the early 90s recession, with two labour-types sitting at a bar: "Remember how we were told that, in the future, machines would do all the work and we'd have tons of leisure time?" "Yup." "W-why'd
311.
by tom_rath 19y ago
I think the question to ask instead is if there will be a viable _AdWords_ competitor. Without a strong pool of ads, you won’t have a competitive alternative. Looking at the system from my own perspective as an advertiser: Google AdWords i
312.
by tom_rath 19y ago
From personal experience, I can say that a genuine course in marketing (not a 'how to write ad copy' intro to advertising) is absolute gold. Bare-minimum: Look for "M.A.S.H. Analysis" in the course outline. To answer the poster's question
313.
by tom_rath 19y ago
If your cost per user is less than the incremental revenue each user brings you, it doesn't matter how little those users cost: You're still following the "we'll make it up on volume" battle cry in the wrong direction. Bandwidth and server
314.
by tom_rath 19y ago
If those users still cost more to maintain than a company makes from them, more users aren't going to solve the problem. Google became successful because they increased per-user revenue, not because they increased the number of users.
315.
by tom_rath 19y ago
If I started a service which gave away free cases of beer, I'd have insane 'traction' with a product hundreds of millions of people would find engaging. Like Pets.com, WebVan and the other "we'll make it up on volume" disasters, my service
316.
by tom_rath 19y ago
From an internal e-mail ('someone'@smd.nasa.gov): "Today Alan Stern announced that he had resigned his position as AA. In his talk to the Science Mission Directorate he said that the management issues were about cost control and that he did
317.
by tom_rath 19y ago
How can you create a useful product if you haven't identified the use?
318.
by tom_rath 19y ago
You wouldn't start coding something before you'd fleshed out a design, right? So why would you start designing something before you identified the market for it? Marketing is the social component of design, and you need brilliant marketing
319.
by tom_rath 19y ago
Still, they're in danger of establishing an intellectual monoculture, and those tend to get wiped out when environments change. I'm interested in seeing whether the same mix of staff and company structure can prosper in a recession.
320.
by tom_rath 19y ago
I'm not sure about applets, but full Java applications deployed through Java Web Start have been a win for us.
321.
by tom_rath 19y ago
I'm not sure if "The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit" changed my life, but it reassured me I was on the right track in starting a business. It reads very well today and I'd recommend it to any professional. I was particularly struck by this q
322.
by tom_rath 19y ago
On rare occasions I still find myself falling into the "I'll get it soon" bug-seeking trap. That evil state can keep you spinning your wheels for hours. I've a rule to help recognize it: If I start spouting frustrated profanity, I have to
323.
by tom_rath 19y ago
What about the significant drop in ad spending which occurs in every recession? Or is it "different this time" like in 2000?
324.
by tom_rath 19y ago
So, they're losing money on every customer but they'll make it up on volume?
325.
by tom_rath 19y ago
It's the removal of redundancies which can make a merger greater than the sum of its parts. Why should Google maintain a separate set of HR, sales and administration departments when it already has those in place?
326.
by tom_rath 19y ago
People aren't "the fat", redundant jobs are. Jobs aren't people.
327.
by tom_rath 19y ago
I wouldn't call it common, but huge companies make huge mistakes from time to time (recall Enron, Nortel, etc. just a few years ago) and the investors in those companies are the ones who pay the price. In this particular case the "missing
328.
by tom_rath 19y ago
It still holds, but it takes time for information to be priced in. Remember the insanity with pets.com, koop.com and the like not so long ago? We're seeing another "Emperor's New Clothes" situation today. The market will price things appr
329.
by tom_rath 19y ago
Don't ever worry about your idea being stupid. We all spout out stupid ideas (I do it all the time) and learning how to spot the duds without becoming cynical is a skill you learn with practice.
330.
by tom_rath 19y ago
Shrink-wrap software games are unique in that way: By the time a list of all the bugs, glitches and development snafus is published, the primary revenue for the product has already been earned. When any other piece of software would be wor

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