More Big Deals for Position2

This week was one of our best weeks ever. We added 4 new clients in PPC and SEO as well as a significant web design and development project for an existing client. This is all because of the ROI our existing clients are seeing with us.

Most notably, one is a major Fortune 100 Insurance and Financial Services company to be their exclusive provider of PPC management services.

We are on a roll!

BizWise Interview

Today I did an interview for a BizWise, a Cisco sponsored segment for small and mid-sized businesses. The show will be on outsourcing. My section was on how even start-ups can begin in a multinational sense. When it comes out, I'll put in a link.

The cool part is that we were able to highlight Position2's unique business model and approach. We are a living example of what Michael Copeland of Business 2.0 (one of the interviewers) call the micro-multinational trend in offshoring. At 50 people, we're not that micro, but great to be part of a new trend.

Sunday's 60 Minutes

On April 1, 60 Minutes had a segment on government at it's worst - the passing of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. This was a 1000 page bill passed during the dead of the night written by the pharmaceutical lobby. The worst thing about this bill is that Medicare does not have the right to negotiate with drug companies. Drugs like Zocor costs 10x more through Medicare than through the Veterans Administration. Then many of those who worked on the bill got hired for substantial salaries by the pharma industry.

Hey, I'm OK with the pharmaceutical lobby having a fair chance to innovate and profit, but this is a disgusting use of industry money to bilk the taxpayer. Republicans should be embarrassed. A real Republican is for free competition and lower government costs, not for bilking the taxpayer and increasing our debt.

This is definitely no April Fool's.

The Big Emphasis on Bid Management

When you talk to various search engine marketing firms, they all talk about their toolset. Same with potential investors, "What are you using for a tool?" if you are going to manage 1000s of keywords, how can you do it without an amazing automated tool. People expect all kinds of things out of these tools - they dance, they sing, they do all kinds of things. They have this mysterious black box quality seeing patterns no human can see.

Hmmm...so what's reality?

Well, most tools simply automate a set of rules that are established like: stay within position 1-3 as long as cost is not great than $1. They do not look at portfolio vs. volume. There's only a few that do that. None of these tools write ads, tune landing pages or improve quality score. I can show you the math, but trust me, there are more ways to improve your cost of acquisition then bid management.

Quality score, you ask, what's that? Well, the big search engine folks at Google, Yahoo and MSN don't just take your bid prices and show your ad based on what you're willing to pay. No they are looking for the most they can get per search engine result. That means they care about how many clicks you actually get. They also have their long term interest in mind, so they also evaluate how well your keywords, ads and landing pages match. They also look at how sets of keywords are organized in ad groups. There are even time delay factors. We think there over 50 of these factors. A lot of this has to do with how your campaigns are organized and managed.

So a simple automated tool doesn't completely do the trick. Even a great one does not work if you don't have enough data. This is where processes and highly trained personnel come in that work in a holistic way from strategy to keyword to click to lead to revenue. Bid management is important, but it's only one part of the elephant. Beware of those that seek to rope you in with fancy sounding technology, because this stuff is a lot of detailed effort that only works when there's a lot of focus on the campaign.

And yeah, we do have one of those more advanced ROI based portfolio optimization tools...

Cool Pitch Slide Show

You have to complement the Boston Globe for putting together an excellent slide show on Matsusaka's pitching repetoire. Shows how he holds & throws, velocity, breaks, and how the catcher sees it. The net is so cool in this way. Just makes baseball more fun to watch. Can't wait till they one day add video to all this.

This is why being a Red Sox fan is so cool. You just don't get stuff like this in less passionate sports towns.

Oh yeah, in addition to the view of the famous gyroball in the link, go here to see a cool Japanese cartoon on it.

New Travel Client: ezeego1

We just signed up ezeego1, a new travel bazaar focused on India set up by the well-established UK travel operator, Cox & Kings. This agreement has us a their exclusive digital marketing agency providing our full suite of services + strategic guidance. We expect great growth to occur for them in India and around the world.

Congrats to the team for putting together a win-win for both sides!

New Client: ResponseLINK

We have already started work with a great new client - ResponseLINK. They have a personal emergency alert service specifically designed for seniors who want to live in their own home yet still have some monitoring. It is a excellent service for caregivers like family and friends who can know that their loved one is doing OK. ResponseLINK's SafetyLINK offering is a personal emergency service, so that if something happens, help can arrive at the touch of a button. Their WellnessLINK and RxLINK services allow for wakeup calls, wellness checks and reminders to take meds. The CompleteLINK service puts it all together for as little as $55/month.

We really like this kind of client because it has tremendous benefit for seniors who want the freedom of living independently yet have care that is unobtrusive. For family and doctors and nurses there is comfort in knowing that the beloved patient has some form of monitoring. For the healthcare system, this can dramatically reduces the cost of care for the growing senior population. It's a win all around.

At Position2, we are very excited about growing this business to take full advantage of the web and search engine marketing so that more people can hear about them.

Cracking the Code

I haven't blogged in a while because we've been knee deep in cracking the code for our clients. Part of the game in PPC is in optimizing according to a given goal, whether it's clicks, leads or revenue - that's right revenue. When clients give us access to actual revenue data, we can change our optimization process. That's more than simply adjusting bids - we adjust ads, budgets and landing pages as well.

One finance client gave us a goal to get them a 1000s of mortgage leads and do it quickly. Once we got to the right thresholds, we then managed the costs to actual revenue. This enabled our client to get to the right volume for various lead buyers, then by hitting profitability. The key to this is creating the right search engine account and messaging structure from the beginning. Initially, progress is slow until it just explodes. Once it explodes bringing costs under control is relatively straightforward.

Because we work across multiple industries those same tools and processes can be adapted to each other. For example for an internet dating client, we grew their ad spend 10x while keeping their cost per trial constant. Because they earn a certain proft per trial, this is like getting 10x greater profits - not counting the network effects of having more members. More members mean more revenue opportunities. There are so many examples of this with our clients and others who truly "get" search engine marketing.

It's a blast when the team cracks the code, because now a client can see the true benefits of rapid growth through search engine marketing. PPC becomes a profit engine.

American Idol Time Sink

Can you imagine that 30 million people will watch 5 hours of American Idol this week? It seems like every advertiser in America has piled on to get in on this 3x weekly Super Bowl.

Now let's do the math: 1.5 minutes/song x 24 songs = 36 minutes of singing.

Wow! 36 minutes of actual content over a 300 minute period. That means 88% of the time we are watching commercials, previews & judge content.

If that's not an example of packaging, I don't know what is.

Hey, did you see how Seacrest dissed Simon Cowell at the end of the guy's show?

Ramos Quoted on TheStreet.com on Google & Microsoft

Andreas Ramos, our resident expert on all things search was widely quoted in a recent TheStreet.com article on the search race between Google and Microsoft...



Tech Stock Update
Vista Makes Run at Google
By Vishesh Kumar
TheStreet.com Senior Writer
2/15/2007 8:37 AM EST
URL: http://www.thestreet.com/newsanalysis/techstockupdate/10339036.html

The release of Microsoft's (MSFT) highly anticipated Vista operating system has been met with murmurs that a big push by the Redmond, Wash., software giant isn't quite what it used to be.

But it should garner some attention at Google (GOOG) .

That's because Microsoft plans to build in Web search capabilities with Vista and its immensely popular suite of Office software over the next six months, according to Andreas Ramos, director of search engine marketing at Position2, a search advertising consulting firm.

Microsoft will tie in contextual Web search across its host of popular applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint in a way similar to how Google's email system currently displays ads, Ramos says. The move will allow Vista users to launch Web searches at the click of a button and from their desktops, rather than having to maneuver to an Internet browser.

If the development pans out, it has the potential to cut a larger-than-expected slice out of Google's market-share domination.

Microsoft, of course, will be nowhere near dethroning Google. But history has shown that being brought into Microsoft's fold can give even technically inferior products a big boost. And at a time when investors have come to merely nod at still-excellent showings by Google in the search space, news of slippage to Microsoft can go a long way in tripping up a stock that's already down nearly 7% in February.

According to research firm HitWise, 63% of Web searches were run on Google during January, compared with 21% for Yahoo! (YHOO) and only about 10% for Microsoft's MSN division.

Many other search experts arrive at an even higher number for Google by using a different method, which checks where specific Web traffic came from. Ramos estimates that about 89% of search traffic to Web sites is routed through Google.

But with such big numbers, it's more difficult for Google to chalk up each additional point of market share. Microsoft, meanwhile, faces an easier climb.

Moreover, Microsoft's ability to tie Web searching to the desktop operating systems and applications it has a stranglehold on can have a powerful effect. In order to gain market share, Microsoft doesn't have to deliver search results that are appreciably better than Google's. It simply has to make sure its results aren't markedly worse to win over new converts because of the convenience.

Such a strategy has served Microsoft well in the past. During the 1990s, the company was able to suffocate the threat from Netscape's Navigator browser by bundling its own Internet Explorer product with its Windows operating system. Many saw Netscape as technically superior, but it didn't matter.

Microsoft's Explorer continues to dominate even now, though new browsers with superior capability and more reliability such as Firefox are available for free, thanks to the open-source software movement. Microsoft's Internet Explorer had 86% market share as of January, compared with about 12 % for Firefox, according to the research firm OneStat.

Much was made in the quality-of-search debate about the announcement earlier this week by the high-profile search start-up Powerset that it had licensed "natural language" search technology from Xerox (XRX) . But while Powerset, which hopes to let users search through queries that use normal words instead of particular key terms, hopes to outdo Google through better searches, it's really Microsoft that Google should worry about.

Several commentators have suggested that because so many Web surfers are accustomed to launching their searches through Google, this is almost as much of an asset to the company as its search technology. But even more users may be familiar with the Microsoft desktop environment than with the Google search box.

Google, for its part, seems to be anticipating the threat. The company has been beefing up its suite of online tools, which are similar to Microsoft's Word, Excel and PowerPoint, but which the search giant is giving away for free. Finding a way to decrease the popularity of Microsoft's staple franchise would be one way to blunt a potential attack.

Still, investors expect big things from Google, not the least of which is continued dominance over the one business that makes up nearly all of its revenue. And while Google is eager to tap adjacent, new markets, those efforts remain decidedly mixed. The company keeps increasing the amount of money it makes per search; this led to fourth-quarter results that again surpassed Wall Street expectations.

But it's important that Google show investors it has a solid plan in place to make money in some other endeavors. Otherwise, it will begin to look like a one-trick pony that's trapped in a cage with the 800-pound gorilla of the tech world.

Foulke a Class Act

Today Keith Foulke, the famous Red Sox closer who finished the final game of the 2004 World Series retired today. After the World Series, he never regained his form, having tough injury ridden 2005 & 2006 seasons. Pummelled by the fans and media, especially over the Joe Burger King remark, he never really regained his form on the field or off. Even though he could have stuck around with the Red Sox, he decided to take a 1 year $5 million deal with the Indians. After realizing that his body was not up to snuff, he retired.

He just gave up $5 million. If he had reported to camp, the Indians would have to pay him even if he sat on the bench for the rest of the year. Now that's a class act.

For the millions that pay our players, we expect them to have these incredibly fan friendly attitudes even in the face of tremendous criticism. The same guy that won it all for us one year is then batted around the next. He could have pocketed a ton of cash, yet he frees up the cap so that the Indians could find another player. He decided to hang it up, not only to save his body, but to help his new team.

We won't forget that magical 2004 and all you did for us Keith. Pitching a 0.67 ERA in the 2004 playoffs. Pitching like a rock during the famous turnaround Game 4 against the Yankees. Thanks for the memories Foulkie!

Asthma Post Mumbai Marathon

After coming back from the Mumbai Marathon, I checked my eNO level. It had hit a new high of 49 ppb (learn more about my previous eNO measurement). This was even though I was taking Advair 100/50. That means 2 things: the dose was too low to keep airway inflammation under control, and that my inflammation must have been much higher on previous trips. While my run was slower than usual, I did not necessarily feel any symptoms.

My sneakers told a different story. They went from pure white to as if I ran in a clay field. The amazing part was that the marathon streets were cleaned before the run. The air in India is dusty, but who know that there is that much out there.

During my run today (2 weeks later), it was not particularly easy even though it was a modest 4 miles. Could my lungs still be affected by the particles in the Mumbai air?

Well, let's see how quickly we get the measurement down.

Google's Plans

This is from late 2006, but I'm sure Google's plans are current:

http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2006-10-26-n80.html

Thanks to Andreas for sending it over

Mumbai Marathon 2007 - I Made It

I just arrived in Palo Alto yesterday. The soreness has subsided except for a few spots. I can now touch my toes without pain. I can climb stairs as well.

The 2007 Mumbai Marathon was the most difficult marathon I’ve ever run. My time was a full 30 minutes slower than previous ones. I attribute it largely to the heat and humidity. I knew it would be difficult, but there’s really no easy way to train for the combination of weather and distance with my schedule. I was lucky that my asthma was under control. I tried my hardest to maintain a pace and not walk, but the heat was overbearing. I was tempted by some of the taxis that passed in the driving lane. I wondered many times about the info girl’s hint, “You know the energy drink is only for those running the full marathon.”

Yet the marathon was one of the most amazing runs out of the 4 that I’ve completed. Because the field was relatively small I got to see the Africans warm up. They are thin but all muscle and damn fast. I could barely sprint as fast as their marathon pace. I met one of the elite runners who told me he planned to run it in 2:12. I told him that it would take me more than twice the time, but I would cheer for him whenever I saw him. It was JK M--- (I can’t remember his last name). It was like meeting a rock star because he was one of 5 recognized international runners at the start. When the initial rush came at the start, I got behind him to make sure he would not fall down. If he won, I could claim that I helped a tiny bit.

The path was really beautiful. The organizers tried to put us near the ocean whenever possible. Many of the streets also had good shade in the early half. There are so many modern buildings rising across the skyline. It’s a lot like Hong Kong, but with much more masala. It’s very impressive to see the growth of India juxtaposed with the trees, oceans and older buildings between km 15-30. I tried to memorize the path so I could remember the landmarks as I passed them. I saw Mumbai in a way I’ve never seen before.

Fellow runners were equally nice. I met a whole bunch of people while running. We passed each other with words of encouragement many times. All were very nice. One overweight looking Swedish woman in her 40s had run 20 marathons in the last 5 years. And yes, she did finish in under 5 hours. It shows you anything is possible.

The organizers did an excellent job making sure there were water, energy drinks, and medical aid at many locations throughout. It’s amazing that people are willing to volunteer so much time just to help out.

While there was some bureaucracy in the end, it was pretty good considering that this was only the 4th time the event was run. They will only get better. Maybe they’ll forgo that steep hill at 35 km and start an hour earlier. Then again, just having the event was a boon for the city as about 5 crore was spent cleaning up.

Most of all, the fans who sat along the course were inspiring. Lots of kids called out “Rajiv Uncle” and slapped my hand. Many people cheered us on the hot sun even though there were no famous people or race to see. It helps push you along. My parents, Rajesh and Sameer were waiting for me at many points along the course. It was so nice so see them each and every time. It makes a huge difference. You know you have to finish. When I saw my father a ways away at the Finish, I grit my teeth and ran as hard as I could. I felt that as difficult as the end was, I had to finish strong. I hit 8.2 mph at the end, the fastest I ran that day.

I was lucky that I was well enough to go to dinner that evening with the Position2 Mumbai team. I didn’t actually feel all that sore, though it could be the Advil. That came the next day, but I’m glad to have some gas left in the tank to do all those meetings the next day. Even the plane ride back was OK.

Thank you all for the warm support and kind words!!!

Here's a pic taken by Sameer from our Mumbai office:



Below are some kind comments by Sameer from our Mumbai office:

Mumbai Marathon - One of the most grueling courses in the world. Non-natives are known to melt in the intense heat and humidity. Rajiv braved the 42.3 kms + the bureaucracy to get his medal & certificates to finish 171 of several thousand marathoners. This feat was achieved well under 5 hours, which is amazing, since many marathoners give up mid-way or do not get ranked if they exceed 5 hours.

This is him at the 18 km mark with the official drinkskeeper (me).

More pics of crossing the finishing line, jubilation, medicine tent, etc to follow.

Mumbai Marathon

Phew, I just finished the Mumbai Marathon. Not a sparkling time at 4:48, but happy to finish. Mumbai itself was beautiful even in the heat.

More later...

Nardelli's Ridiculous Severance

I'm amazed at reading stories of Robert Nardelli's $210 million severance package. As a CEO, I find it disgusting by any measure. A man as wealthy as him should be embarrassed by the size of the package for failing to deliver for Home Depot. In his time, we worked to make the company more efficient by destroying the service led culture of the company. After he took over, you could not find what you were looking for. On top of that, you couldn't find people to help you. Even worse, those that worked there could not give advice on what to do. Then when you found something, you'd have to wait in a long line to pay. This is not how to run a company. It is how you get short term financial results.

No wonder Lowe's ate their lunch. No wonder Home Depot's stock is down. CEO's have great responsibility - that is for sure. However, large company CEO's have access to great resources for consultants, staff and capital investment. With all that is available to them, CEO's should be fired if they trash a company. Being allowed to take shareholder money like this shows a lack of diligence from the Board of Directors. It also sends a terrible message to other employees about how their work is valued.

The risk/reward equation for large company CEO's is completely screwed up vs. the entrepreneurial founder and CEO. If you fail at a startup, you typically lose money, especially if you started it. If you fail at a large company, you make money while you are failing and then get more on your way out. This makes no sense. Shareholders need to take action to prevent this if they want innovation and performance.

Back from Hawaii - Off to Mumbai

Our fun family trip to Hawaii is over as the New Year begins. See the sunrise from the our house above.

Somehow my wife always finds an excellent house for us to rent. This one was in the little town of Kualoa on the Windward side of Oahu. It's a place where Jurassic Park was film with , soaring mountains that would hide their tops in the clouds. Our house faced the beach, where we could see the rising sun every morning from our bedroom. Because of the protection of the coral reef, we had a mellow beach where the kids could play all day without worrying about any undertow. You could walk half a mile and the water would never get more than chest high. While canoing we saw a sea turtle up close that darted away the minute they sensed our presenced. While nothing like Hanauma Bay, snorkeling provided excellent views of all kinds of fish.

Given that the Mumbai Marathon was only a month away, I decided to run a 17 and 20 miler during the week. Oahu had 2 of the 3 elements I would face in Mumbai - heat and humidity. I'm hoping that I will be able to cope with the pollution. The runs were grueling, but with some weight loss before the event, I hope to finish - albeit slower than previous times.

The best part was spending time with my immediate family and my uncle's family that happened to visit Oahu at the same time. We took them to the Polynesian Cultural Center (terrific web site) and the Big Waves of the North Shore. We saw 20 foot waves crash into the shore - some with manical boarders.

I thank our clients for taking time to enjoy the Holiday Week. It allowed me to actually get away from work for the first time in over a year.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy Holidays - Off to Hawaii!

Hope you all have a great Holiday! I'll be taking next week to spend time with the family in Oahu. Bhairavi has found a house on a quiet beach where we'll be playing with the kids. I hope all of our clients take the week off as well so we can collectively catch a breath.

Will be posting some pictures next week.

I do have a data card, so I will be in touch.

2006 UNH CEPS Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes Silicon Valley entrepreneur

Earlier this year, UNH surprised me by giving me this award. It was quite an honor. It is posted below:

2006 UNH CEPS Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes Silicon Valley entrepreneur

Electrical engineer finds new applications for innovative technologies

DURHAM, N.H.— Silicon Valley entrepreneur Rajiv Parikh is the recipient of the 2006 University of New Hampshire College of Engineering and Physical Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award.

Originally from Goffstown, Parikh now lives in Palo Alto, Calif., where he is currently founder and CEO of Position2 Inc., an online performance marketing company that combines search engine marketing with ad networks to generate sales leads for companies around the globe.

“Twenty years ago, when I first came to UNH, I never thought that I would someday receive an honor like this,” Parikh said after receiving the award at a dinner co-hosted by the New Hampshire section of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the CEPS Alumni Society on April 21. What’s amazing is that a lot of the professors I had are still here, and the passion is still here for uplifting students and taking them to the next level.”

The annual dinner meeting was also attended by engineering seniors just inducted into the Order of the Engineer. “You are taught a structured way of thinking, and that is something that offers tremendous value, not only to yourself, but to society,” Parikh told them. “As long as you are passionate about what you do, you’ll succeed.”

Since earning his bachelor of science in electrical engineering from UNH in 1990, Parikh has been an entrepreneur and executive in the high-tech and life sciences sectors, specializing in matching innovative technologies with new applications. “I had a hard time trying to determine how to describe Rajiv’s career because he has been so successfully involved in so many different ventures,” said Mike Dalton, chairman of the society’s award selection committee. “Passionate, dedicated, entrepreneurial and innovative are some of the adjectives that can be used to describe him.”

After graduating from UNH, Parikh worked as a sales manager at AT&T Global Information Solutions, before earning an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1997. He then held senior positions at Sun Microsystems and AltaVista Company before co-founding Aperon Biosystems. He led the venture-backed medical device startup, which has so far raised more then $20 million in investor capital, for two years. He has also worked in the software, hardware and wireless industries.

While visiting UNH, Parikh toured the newly renovated portions of CEPS’ home in Kingsbury Hall. Currently under construction, Phase II of the project includes a computer cluster that Parikh and his wife Bhairavi Parikh ’91 helped finance. “I was really excited to walk through the new Kingsbury,” he said. “I saw the same great professors, but a much better facility, making it more fun to work in the labs.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Rajiv Parikh accepts the 2006 UNH College of Engineering and Physical Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award from Mike Dalton, chairman of the CEPS Alumni Society award selection committee.

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Copyright 2006 The University of New Hampshire • College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
UNH is part of the University System of New Hampshire.
Kingsbury Hall • 33 College Road • Durham, N.H. 03824
Phone: (603) 862-1781 • Fax: (603) 862-2486 • E-Mail: ceps@unh.edu
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Last updated 2006-Jun-01

Big Win at Position2

Today we secured a significant new client at Position2. This firm is a significant, public software company. Since we did this through a partner, we can't mention the name yet, but we will be able to leverage our experience with db40bjects and Pathworks Software to grow their base of leads.

The best part is that the client chose us over a major SEM firm that did not expend the resources required to properly serve them. This is for PPC and SEO.

There will be even greater momentum next month.