search vs. content (was RE: Interesting article)

From: Brian Shepherd <Brian.Shepherd_at_TechnologyReview.com>
Date: Tue 12 Jun 2001 11:49:29 -0500

BRANDI JASMINE <brandi_at_brandijasmine.com> WROTE:

<Okay -but why? Why are 100,000 page-views on the results
<page for a particular search term be worth any more than
<the same number of page-views on any one of those sites
<that might come up in that search? Is there any evidence
<that the click-throughs on a search for "cars" for example
<are higher on Yahoo than they would be on BobsAutos.com?
<Why can Yahoo charge what it does, when Bob can't
<even give his inventory away, and would be happy for a
<quarter of the price?

<Can anyone explain this for me in a way that makes sense?
<Or will this be more corporate Dilbertesque logic I can't
<understand?

What a great point and well put Brandi! I don't know
the answer, but my guess is that you'll hear a buyer
say it's about getting in front of the user when they
are in the mindset to go to a different place. For
instance, is it better for Ford to be on a page when a
user is looking for a site on "cars" and may be willing
to go someplace that has information on cars. Or, is it
better to be on Bob's Autos site where theoretically a
user comes to the site to engage in Bob's content, and
not necessarily go off to look at other sites. I don't
agree with this mentality, I'm just guess this is what
you'd hear a media buyer say. Does it make sense?
Absolutely not.

Regards,

********************************************

Brian K. Shepherd
Technology Review, Inc.
Director, Online Sales and Marketing
EMAIL: brian.shepherd_at_technologyreview.com
PHONE: 617-475-8030
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http://www.technologyreview.com



Received on Tue Jun 12 2001 - 11:49:29 CDT