• Steve, I Wish I Knew You
    My heroes from the world of business number exactly two: Walt Disney and Steve Jobs. Walt died when I was 5 years old, so it's not surprising that our paths never crossed. But theoretically, I could have met Jobs. It was not beyond the realms of possibility. Unfortunately, I never got to meet either of them. And for that, I'm immeasurably saddened. The thing I admired about both of them goes beyond what I have seen in the recent stream of accolades that has issued forth since last week's news of Jobs' passing.
  • Does Senator Franken -- And The FTC -- Really Want To Regulate Google Algorithms?
    On Sept. 21, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights held a hearing on whether or not Google is “serving customers or threatening competition.”  The questioning honed in on 1) whether or not Google is “biased”; 2) whether Google has been favoring its own properties; and 3) possible regulation of search results, among many other questions.  I will take a deeper dive into a few of the items above, as the hearing was often meandering and unfocused in terms of its stated objectives.  Is Google biased?  …
  • It's All About Eye Candy
    n SEO, much of the effort is on getting into those top spots on page one of a search result page. Sure, there's lots of esoteric effort that gets put into other strategies, but no matter what the brand is, at some point someone says "I want to be number one for my most important keywords." But because Google and Bing have been changing their page layouts so much in recent years -- adding 7-packs or 10-packs or product thumbnails or video thumbnails -- the top two spots in search results pages are not necessarily best any more.
  • Google+1 Goes Critical, But Not In A Good Way
    I was in Minneapolis' Mall of America and happened to wander by the new Microsoft store. The layout, the look and the feel were a near-exact clone of the very popular Apple Stores, one of which just happened to be directly across the concourse. Here, in the largest mall in the world, I had the opportunity to compare and contrast the physical embodiments of two of the most ubiquitous brands in the world.
  • Why Display Is NOT Better Than Search
    Cory Treffiletti knew what he was doing when he asked me to join a panel at OMMA Global NY titled, "Why Display is Better Than Search." Like Emeril Lagasse presiding over a batch of seafood gumbo, Cory was just adding some spice. Stirring the pot. Kicking it up a notch. BAM!
  • How The 'Disney Way' Should Guide Your Landing Pages
    On Saturday, Disney World and I both turned 40. So for the past few days, I've been vacationing down at Disney World, and I can't tell you how impressed I've been, as a marketer, at the company's ability to keep its brand strong with every type of interaction it has with customers. As I thought about it, I realized that there are some great lessons from the "Disney Way" that all of us could use in our landing pages to enhance our brands and conversion rates.
  • Newbies Vs. Geezers
    I saw an old friend recently over brunch. We hadn't seen one another in a long time, so we had plenty to catch up on. At one point our conversation veered toward our work and how we've reached that point in our careers where many of our co-workers could be our children. When did that happen?
Next Entries »
To read more articles use the ARCHIVE function on this page.