I didn’t write that article for work. I wrote it in response to a thread on AF a while back.
As mentioned at the bottom of that article, I worked in that space for a time. We were paid to select, serve, and track online ads. So actually, I have a damned good idea of what goes into an online ad campaign, because it’s what we were paid to do. I didn’t pluck those terms out of thin air, or wikipedia, or a book. I wrote a simplified version of the business model, based on the fact that I worked in that industry. I don’t claim to be an expert, but I’m probably clued in a bit more than the average guy on the street, who might wonder how a search website or a social network could be worth billions of dollars. As a result of my time in that job, I’ve got a number of friends who still work in that space, and we still exchange e-mails and IMs about what’s going on in that universe, because we’re geeky like that.
So when I hear you say in this authoratative, dismissive tone that you have “clients in the internet space” and “access to their data”, I’m not blown away. And when the first example of your “closeness” to the industry is that your colleagues are sometimes wined and dined by AOL sales reps, I have trouble immediately elevating you to the status of “someone who should be listened to”. And when you tell me that I have “no idea what goes into an ad campaign”, I can’t help but laugh.
That article you wrote is so basic and junior it is comical. People here are going to think you know what you are talking about but you and I both know you don’t. Not only have I designed campaigns but I have written algorithms to determine optimal bids. Possibly at some of the companies you listed and others that trade on the NASDAQ. I don’t go out with AOL sales reps because I’m not some middle manager 27 year old Marketing Manager who has an advertising budget and has to allocate it. I own a company. Concerning AOL I doubt you even knew that was their practice. Seriously, go back to your “micro-fund” and read some more Valueline reports about the industry and try to pass it off as knowledge.
Supersadface, when you worked as an intern or an associate at one of these companies do you have anything more you want to add? Did you have access to the free soda machine? Where you included on free bagel Wednesdays or did you have to go to the cafe? Just curious…
