Re: GoTo Policy Change

From: Brandi Jasmine <brandi_at_brandijasmine.com>
Date: Mon 26 Mar 2001 11:05:43 -0600

STEVE HARRISON <merlin_at_worthlink.net> WROTE:

>Brandi Jasmine adds [in part]: "...it strikes me as
>rather ironic that here we are a lot of us bitching
>that we can't sell ads for a decent price ... and yet
>when someone comes up with a demand-driven model with
>the price heading upwards it's called "gouging"."
>
>My skew comes from the viewpoint
>of the small biz advertiser (some of my clients), not the
>advertising vendor.

You missed my point. I think we all agree that it sucks
when people raise their prices, we'd all like them to be
lower. But if they can do that because demand is high
enough to justify it, they are within their rights to do
so. Maybe you aren't part of the demographic they are
courting now. If you were in their shoes would you defer
 the additional income out of good will for small
business? Please.

Right now I charge $75 bucks to design a logo or
illustration. Well below most of my competitors, because
I am new to the business and relatively unknown. But
when I get too busy to handle the workload I plan to raise
the price. That's the way it is done across every business
model. Demand goes up, so does price. I suspect something
analogous is going on at Goto.

>What seems odd is that, with Nathan Power's excellent
>PayPerClickSearchEngines.com site now listing 72 PPC
>engines on the scene, GoTo would decide to divest itself
>of small business players.

Go support one of the other sites. That's your solution.

>It's almost an analogy that
>GoTo, surely recognizing the competition represented by
>all the PPC upstarts, has decided to sell only Cadillacs
>-- willing all the Ford and Chevvy sales by default to
>the "junior" PPCs.

They are not the only online companies that are taking
this approach. I myself have griped on a totally unrelated
topic here or elsewhere that the top content aggregators
and content management companies are focusing only on the
Cadillacs (already known "name" writers and content
developers) at the expense of quality (IMNSHO) Ford models
like yours truly. That's not fair either. That sucks too.
But again, that's the way it is.

And you may even be right that it's "ill-advised". In
particular in terms of content management solutions
providers I see a HUGE percentage of the marketplace that
is unserved. I believe some kid working on his or her
computer science thesis will whip up a java-based suite of
tools, post it on TUCOWS and make a kazillion dollars ...
with the side possibility of wiping out many of the
Cadillac players (but I digress) ... Only time will tell,
but in this case I doubt it. Goto is raising prices out of
high demand, not, like in some other sectors raising or
setting prices on previously free services out of a panic
reaction to poor market conditions (where the case for
poor judgement is stronger).

>So be it. It just seems to be a ill-advised move on the
>part of GoTo, a gaffe in favor of all the junior PPCs,
>and a "get lost" message to the 80-90% of ecommerce
>represented by small biz web sites who are obliged to
>know the difference between a penny and a nickel per
>click-thru. Those very advertisers who floated GoTo into
>existence and acceptance in the first place.

This kind of takes me back to the late 80's when my friends
were bitching and whining that U2 "sold out" because they
started getting "too commercial" because they signed with a
major record label. I had the same reaction then too. You
know as an artist I am longing for the days when my long-term
fans accuse me of "selling out". That's a euphemism for
"success" IMO.

>Unkind cuts stay sore for a long time, and in Internet
>Time it doesn't take long for the word to get around that
>a certain venue has become unfriendly. Web ventures that
>don't realize the vitality of reputation, perception and
>good will soon experience diminishing returns, or fade to
>black.

I rather suspect that the good sharks at Goto are well aware
of what they are doing and are utterly indifferent to your
suffering. I am not saying that's a "good" thing. That's just
business. That's the way it is. That's life. You can let it
eat you up or you can come up with creative ways to deal with
it. I submit you have accidentally stumbled on the solution
to your woes. Support the other PPCs. Vote with your feet. If
you find a really good one post it here. Make your beliefs a
self-fulfilling prophecy. Ensure something positive comes
out of the negative experience if you can.

Kind regards,

Brandi Jasmine
Writer, Digital Photographer, Illustrator
        www.brandijasmine.com
www.astrology.ca - www.twostar.com
      brandi_at_brandijasmine.com




Received on Mon Mar 26 2001 - 11:05:43 CST