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Rob Garner

Member since May 2006Contact Rob

Regularly-quoted in many major business and industry publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, Reuters, Mashable, Search Marketing Standard, Adweek, Ad Age, Direct Marketing News, Smart Business Magazine, Search Engine Watch, ClickZ, CNNMoney, and The Dallas Morning News. Speaks at many industry events, including SXSW, Search Engine Strategies (SES), Search Marketing Expo (SMX), WebmasterWorld's PubCon, Search Insider Summit, OMMA, ad:tech, DFW SEM Association, VeriSign's Executive Summit, The Rackspace Customer Event, Domain Roundtable, and the Association of National Advertisers, guest lectures at NYU's graduate marketing program.

Articles by Rob All articles by Rob

  • Google Glass Is The New Screen in Search & Performance Insider on 11/06/2013

    Over the past few weeks, fellow Search Insider Gord Hotchkiss and I have been bantering about the viability of Google Glass, via columns and comments. Gord is not convinced. But as an actual user and beta tester of Google Glass, I am. So today I want to discuss a few reasons I feel strongly about Glass and other wearable "glass" technologies -- why it will become the "new screen."

  • Real-Time With Regis McKenna, Part Two in RTBlog on 07/10/2013

    This is part two of a special edition RTBlog. Our guest RTBlogger - Rob Garner - conducted an email interview with Regis McKenna. Known as the father of real-time, McKenna weighs in on real-time marketing in digital, whether or not marketing is now inherently technical, and whether or not companies should be hiring C-level digital officers or marketing technologists. He says, "One important lesson I have learned - 'to be successful in marketing, follow the technology.'"

  • Real-Time With, Well, The Father Of Real-Time: Regis McKenna in RTBlog on 07/02/2013

    Today, we are bringing you a special edition of RTBlog. Not only was the below interview conducted by a guest writer, Rob Garner, but the subject of the interview is the father of real-time himself, Regis McKenna. In the below email interview, Garner asked McKenna to weigh in on contemporary real-time marketing, picked his brain on the now famous 2013 Oreo Super Bowl ad, and had him explain the relationship between social media and real-time marketing. You might want to listen up.

  • Why Knowledge Of Internet History Promotes Innovation in Search & Performance Insider on 02/06/2013

    One key way innovation occurs is when we translate or synthesize prior common knowledge into something new. Common knowledge is based on the past. Though we don't always acknowledge it, some of our "new" things are not new, and were previously documented 5, 10, 50, 100, or a 1,000 years ago.

  • Dr. Manuel Castells And The Space Of Flows in Search & Performance Insider on 12/07/2012

    Marketers are now at a critical junction in determining their course through the real-time marketing landscape. The approach includes search, social, and content, but to an even greater extent, it requires this real-time presence to meet the expectation of your audience. While the Internet has always been real-time, we are just now at a point where we can truly say that society is indeed networked. Going real-time is not a choice, but rather the new rule of the game.

  • How Regis McKenna Defined Real-Time Marketing in Search & Performance Insider on 11/09/2012

    Real-time marketing is hot. Recently Richard Fouts of Gartner wrote that real-time marketing "disrupts the organization while putting competitors on the defense." But what is real-time marketing? "Real-time marketing" occurs when a brand is always present for the always-on consumer. It is a way of thinking and philosophy that requires businesses to meet the demands of an always-on digital world. As it relates to online marketing, it includes the convergence of search, social, and real-time content production and distribution, with an expanded definition of publishing that makes social conversation and interaction as important as actual writing and digital media development.

  • Why Search Is A Strategic Component Of Social And Content Marketing in Search & Performance Insider on 10/10/2012

    Do you want to be an average content marketer or a great one? The answer lies in how well you understand how search marketing can help you build a connected brand. As brands wake up and realize they are in the digital publishing business, they have the chance to produce a great publishing strategy that combines search, content marketing, and social media. Here's how the synergy works:

  • SEMPO 2012 Survey: Agencies Get Search + Social; Companies, Not So Much in Search & Performance Insider on 09/14/2012

    SEMPO has just released its 2012 marketer survey, and there are many interesting findings among categories of spending, practice, and other key industry data. Just as in last year's survey, there is another point about search and social synergy that sticks out to me, but this time it is not about paid media. It is about how agencies and in-house marketers differ in their approaches to interdependent search and social marketing

  • Natural Language Connects Search And Social in Search & Performance Insider on 08/21/2012

    For all of the talk about "search and social" as an interdependent concept and discipline, perhaps the most important connective point between the two is the use of shared language. I mention this because many search professionals are not fully leveraging their keyword skills in social areas, and social media marketers are not leveraging search-based keyword tools for social audiences as much as they should.

  • Marissa Mayer Hire Gives Yahoo Much-Needed Lift in Search & Performance Insider on 07/18/2012

    Yesterday may have been Yahoo's best day in the last five years. Marissa Mayer will be CEO, and Yahoo couldn't have found a better person to guide it.

Comments by Rob All comments by Rob

  • Real-Time With, Well, The Father Of Real-Time: Regis McKenna by Rob Garner (RTBlog on 07/02/2013)

    Hi Pete - considering the geospatial differences between a live Egyptian marketplace, and a global digital marketplace, I would say 'yes,' he is absolutely talking about an entirely new shift.

  • Real-Time, Even At Half-Time by Joe Mandese (RTBlog on 02/16/2013)

    Great post. One other story that goes unnoticed throughout the Super Bowl were the news organizations and bloggers who captured major traffic and interest by writing about the goings-on as it was happening. Buzzfeed and Forbes were among the big winners here. On top of that, there were others commenting on posts, and engaged in dialogue who stayed in the conversation as well. This was a great milestone for real time marketing, and real time content marketing.

  • Why Search Is A Strategic Component Of Social And Content Marketing by Rob Garner (Search & Performance Insider on 10/10/2012)

    Justin - exactly, topics/language/interest is definitely alive. Analytics and similar real-time tools are one way to accomplish this. - thanks Wendy - thank you. Agreed - I approached this at somewhat of a high level, but there are many ways to get to the same place.

  • Why Search Is A Strategic Component Of Social And Content Marketing by Rob Garner (Search & Performance Insider on 10/10/2012)

    Robert - really, they are quite a bit strategically intertwined now, but I wrote this to make the point to those who view search and SEO tactically. Thanks for your comment

  • Why Search Is A Strategic Component Of Social And Content Marketing by Rob Garner (Search & Performance Insider on 10/10/2012)

    Durk, Very kind of you - thanks

  • Why Search Is A Strategic Component Of Social And Content Marketing by Rob Garner (Search & Performance Insider on 10/10/2012)

    Thanks Kevin - I appreciate the feedback.

  • Why Search Is A Strategic Component Of Social And Content Marketing by Rob Garner (Search & Performance Insider on 10/10/2012)

    Thank you Durk. Absolutely - I'll send you a signed copy. It will be on Kindle as well.

  • What I've Learned, 400 Editions Later by David Berkowitz (Social Media Insider on 08/28/2012)

    Congrats David - I have been a fan of your columns literally since the very beginning in 2004. You have one of the great voices in online marketing writing in my opinion, and I'm proud to know you.

  • Is Clickthrough Rate Still A Good Measure For Success? by Ryan DeShazer (Search & Performance Insider on 07/10/2012)

    Great post Ryan. So true for both paid social and paid search. It's all about context, relative to business goals, conversion, and ad spend.

  • Dear SEOs: Google Owes You Nothing by Janet Driscoll Miller (Search & Performance Insider on 05/08/2012)

    First off, I thought Danny's article was a great reminder and warning of what can happen with a non-sustainable search strategy, and well-written and detailed as always. Rest assured it will be repeated again and again by Danny, myself, and others, as so many new people are getting into search, and haven't considered this yet. If you have ever helped a company get found for its own unique name or keywords that were previously invisible, then you have likely helped many search users who were looking for this content, when a search engine could not. It's an external usability issue, not gaming the search engines, or manipulation. When white-hat SEOs help searchers satisfy search intent, they also help the search engines by default. I know that *good* SEO has helped me find content as a searcher, countless times. It is about being found, when the content could not previously be found at all, amidst a sea of other irrelevant results. Apart from the "owe" word, I'm surprised that people are taking issue with Ryan's assertion that white-hat SEOs who strive towards increasing relevancy deliver a certain value in this area. Ryan is also correct that search evangelists - paid, natural, social, etc. - have helped grow awareness of the industry and its value, especially to the marketers and advertisers who spend billions with the engines. This is a fact. I still also wholeheartedly agree with Danny as well. As a business, Google doesn't owe anybody anything at all. I've written that exact sentiment many times in this column. But this statement, along with Ryan's, can actually co-exist as a subject of reasonable debate. No matter how you look at it, Google will have to continue a dialogue with its customers, who spend money on PPC, and also have a white-hat and relevant natural search presence worth protecting as well. The people at Google know this better than anybody.

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