http://mashable.com/2014/06/23/marissa-mayer-cannes/
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Is this really news? Pt. 1
How is it news that Marissa Mayer overslept for a meeting? This feels suspiciously like a story that wouldn't be a story if it weren't a female CEO.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Is Yahoo! Finally Waking Up, Just As Publishers Are Playing Dead?
Interesting digital advertising threads lately. First comes word that Yahoo! wants out of their search agreement with Microsoft. Remember when Yahoo!'s core business was search? Along the way, as Google gained marketshare and changed the landscape, Yahoo! focused on reshaping itself as a content company, dependent on display revenue. Surely that was one of the most misguided strategic decisions made in the still young Internet industry. Search -- and its barrier to entry created by both scale and the high costs of indexing the Internet -- is inherently a better business than display. Display advertising is hampered by a supply problem. There will never be a shortage of supply when anyone can create a web site (and its resulting inventory). No one publisher -- even one as large as Yahoo! -- will ever own a large enough percentage of Web traffic to be able to significantly manage overall display supply. As a result, the only way pricing can go is toward variable cost -- which in Internet terms is small. You're seeing ad networks and the remnant industry take advantage of this, and average CPMs decrease to yesteryear's remnant levels.
So now Yahoo! has realized that putting their better revenue opportunity in the hands of Microsoft was a mistake. Are they too late in the game to take it back entirely, or do they truly (as the article implies) interested in partnering with Google (for now, let's ignore the potential monopoly concerns)? If I am Marissa Mayer, I am looking at making a strategic investment in a search platform, to regain a foothold in this business and shifting my dependency on web display. Partnering makes sense for side business opportunities, but you must own the platform for your core.
Other publishers -- who do not have the scale to go into the search business -- should be watching the Do Not Track conversations closely. Publishers must find a way to build barriers to entry around their digital content, and Do Not Track is a great opportunity. When third parties can track user data without abandon, guess what happens? They have *better* user information than the publishers who are doing the work of audience building! As a result, publishers are constantly being undercut by ad networks and exchanges with better targeting and reach ability. The relationship a publisher has with its customers IS its competitive advantage, but until publishers stop giving away that relationship through the data it generates, they will not be able to monetize it in the long-term.
And yet publishers are lining up behind the Digital Advertising Alliance, which is encouraging open ad tracking. Why? I'm stymied on this one, and I lived and breathed the digital advertising industry for the last decade. Publishers should be encouraging the use of Do Not Track, so they can rebuild the exclusivity of their personal relationship with readers -- which eventually translates into higher CPMs.
Wake up, publishers. You are bargaining away your future... and possibly making the same level of strategic mistake that Yahoo! did a decade ago.
So now Yahoo! has realized that putting their better revenue opportunity in the hands of Microsoft was a mistake. Are they too late in the game to take it back entirely, or do they truly (as the article implies) interested in partnering with Google (for now, let's ignore the potential monopoly concerns)? If I am Marissa Mayer, I am looking at making a strategic investment in a search platform, to regain a foothold in this business and shifting my dependency on web display. Partnering makes sense for side business opportunities, but you must own the platform for your core.
Other publishers -- who do not have the scale to go into the search business -- should be watching the Do Not Track conversations closely. Publishers must find a way to build barriers to entry around their digital content, and Do Not Track is a great opportunity. When third parties can track user data without abandon, guess what happens? They have *better* user information than the publishers who are doing the work of audience building! As a result, publishers are constantly being undercut by ad networks and exchanges with better targeting and reach ability. The relationship a publisher has with its customers IS its competitive advantage, but until publishers stop giving away that relationship through the data it generates, they will not be able to monetize it in the long-term.
And yet publishers are lining up behind the Digital Advertising Alliance, which is encouraging open ad tracking. Why? I'm stymied on this one, and I lived and breathed the digital advertising industry for the last decade. Publishers should be encouraging the use of Do Not Track, so they can rebuild the exclusivity of their personal relationship with readers -- which eventually translates into higher CPMs.
Wake up, publishers. You are bargaining away your future... and possibly making the same level of strategic mistake that Yahoo! did a decade ago.
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