Re: Trends for 2003

From: <bhenning_at_phoenix.door2net.com>
Date: Fri 10 Jan 2003 08:49:17 -0600

Hi,

Cliff wrote a great message, and I thought it might help some of the
marketing people on the list to read a response from a formerly large and
still respectably sized web publication.

Basically, my contention is that the advertisers shot themselves in the foot
and almost killed a great win/win situation... I really hope the industry
recovers.

Allow me to introduce myself.

I run (used to run?) CPUReview.com and AboutLinux.com

In its heyday CPUReview got more than 1M highly targeted page views per
month - surely, peanuts compared to Tom's Hardware or AnanTech or a grain of
sand compared to Yahoo! or MSN - but the traffic was highly specific to
computer hardware. AboutLinux used to get 1/3 to 1/2 of CPUReview's traffic.

The sites are still on-line, but I've not been able to afford to update
them; although I expect to start updating them again this quarter (at a far
lower frequency than during their heyday)

Why don't I spend time on the sites?

Simple. I cannot afford to. I have a mortage, and bills to pay.

When times were good, not only did I get a lot of hardware to review from
manufacturers, but I used to purchase a lot of hardware to review - as for
every dollar I spent on hardware to review, I made several dollars in
advertising revenue.

Now, I still have some residual revenue from the sites (which have over
1,200 pages of content, 99% of which I wrote) which justifies keeping the
server alive - however the sites are barely paying for their bandwidth.

I've gotten offers of $0.25CPM for targeted advertising.

Give me a break.

How much is that ad in the newspaper again? In that magazine? With NO
accountability or CTR ratio calculation possible?

CPC is usually a ripoff of the web sites; most CPC ads feature prominently
displayed URL's and 800#'s, and no action message.

Strangely enough, the CPM ads usually have a strong action message... and
usually no URL or 800 number (at least not when the advertiser is actually
trying to drive traffic to their site instead of branding).

Folks, branding works, but the current obsession on CTR's, CPC and CPA
campaigns is making it impossible for small/medium independent sites to
survive.

Now, even given all of the above, if I were willing to work an 80 hour week
I could probably drive my traffic high enough to earn $3000-$4000 / month
from my sites - but that is FAR, FAR less than I'd make consulting for 80
hours.

No matter how rewarding I found to run the sites I can't ignore the numbers.

Who loses?

Everyone.

1) The readers: independent, unbiased reporting is going the way of the dodo

2) The publishers: can't afford to keep writing

3) The advertisers: can't reach the proper audience, pay mega $$$ at
   "supersites" for ads on "advertorials"

Sorry gents, I am just venting as I REALLY enjoyed running my sites - and I
miss the positive feeback from my readers.

I really hope things recover in 2003 - I would love to be able to dedicate
more time for my sites.

[if any of you feel I am wrong, please feel free to respond to my note - I
am always interested in intelligent debate]

Best Regards,

Bill Henning

Editor,
CPUReview.com
AboutLinux.com




Received on Fri Jan 10 2003 - 08:49:17 CST