The God vs CEO analogy of Jim Collins

Analogy is an important tool when it comes to problem-solving issues, it is a fact. However, can some of our greatest thinkers fail to derive accurate conclusions from their own analogies?

I am reading Jim Collins' Good to Great book, an interesting research on what differentiates good companies from great ones. One of the key findings reverted the researchers to the leader. In Jim Collins' own words, he kept insisting " ignore the executives" until the data won over.

He reasoned: ' "Leadership is the answer to everything" perspective is the modern equivalent of "God is the answer to everything" '. To him, this perspective held back scientists from making great findings in the dark ages, he did not want to fall into the same trap. Thus, he kept holding back, until the facts were overwhelming.

That said, the research's most important finding was a certain common point in the leaders of the great companies (read more about this topic here: level 5 leaders). Consequently his initial stance against "Leadership is the answer to everything" was abandoned.

and since he wrote: "Leadership is the answer to everything" perspective is the modern equivalent of "God is the answer to everything" - I wonder whether this made of him a believer in the latter statement; as his initial approach of discrediting the CEOs correlates with the atheists who keep ignoring the option of God, despite the evidence, and keep looking elsewhere... Just a thought.

Retail Magic

I am ecstatic lately. For once, I am at the receiving end of the marketing effect. With a great concept and minimal advertising, I stand to witness the remuneration in terms of sales and customer visits. I now am convinced that marketing is deadly.
We just inaugurated a small shop for gifts for men, Captain & Captain. The new shop is based on a new concept, for the first time in the country, shopping by personality. We offer a solution for men gifts hunting, with great ideas rarely found in the same place.
That said, advertising was limited to an advertising page and 1 press release in one single magazine, a few leaflets distributed in the neighborhood, and a third of a billboard double sided, shared with neighboring stores. In addition a PR opening event with around 500 visitors. Finally, a facebook campaign with small ads, a facebook group and an application allowing its users to discover there personality type and inciting them to get a matching gift.
A small survey was set along with the invoicing of all customers coming into the store, allowing us to find out the magnitude of the effect of our endeavors.
We soon realized that advertising in itself had a visible effect, but what's more is that word of mouth was spreading like wilde fire; and it's all about efficient marketing.
The reason? the campaign as well as the shop opening were set in the beginning of December, right before Christmas, thus answering a latent customer need to find suitable gifts. Moreover, the maverick concept came with another rare finding in the market, a shop completely dedicated to men. It was not hard to figure out that our main customers will actually be females buying gifts to their male friends/ lovers/ family members as most shopping is actually done by women. However, what we did not expect was males offering themselves presents and indulging in our offerings.
Add to these factors, a detailed attention to the packaging and presentation, as well as, salespeople acting mainly as a guide to help support and explain the products benefits to the customers.
A promising entrepreneurship initiative.

Why I Loath Media

Allow me to break down a sentence that drove me crazy today "Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, have signed an agreement to co-operate in the peaceful use of nuclear technology."
Let me repeat " peaceful use of nuclear technology" - peaceful and nuclear - are those two words even capable to coexist?
what the hell happened to the critical thinking of the journalists?
It is such a shameful world we live in. There is too much brainwashing taking place. Readers need to be careful.

The Konami Code Frenzy

Never a game code has gained such a popularity. A hype is being created on the digital scene as developers are adding a secret code to some sites, the konami code.

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, A, B and you're in for a surprise!

While this trick is spreading like wilde fire on facebook statuses, more famously recognized as the red circle trick, very few people are aware that it is not only restricted to facebook. While composing this code + enter creates interactive red circles coupled with lens flare effects, it has different results on different sites. While on netlog you get a meaningless fat dragon on your screen, on goolge reader, you get a slight change in the design of the left bar, and so on. the Konami Code site has a beautiful collection of websites where this magic code applies, and ironically, requires the code to be composed to view the list.

I think this movement ought to create a new rave in digital marketing soon, as it is attracting credible sites and an astounishing amount of visitors. Stay tuned!

Is Climate-Change a Fraud?

Lately, rumors have been going around about leaked documets from one of the world's most credited sources when it comes to global warming, the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (Eastern England).

Hacked emails, are currently posted online http://junkscience.com/FOIA/mail/ for everyone to witness the falsification of the data presented in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report. This report has been the source of many arguments for the pro-climate change initiatives, as it was perceived as one of the most trusted sources.

The current buzz around the climate change fraud concludes global warming to be another political scam, a hasty conclusion, yet worth examining.

With the emails available for the public, science has lost its credentials. Left to witness its effects come to life in the COP15- Copenhagen Climate Change Conference which will be held from December 7 until December 18. Looking forward.

How Audi Bank's Newsletter got it right

A fanatic of business news revolving on the Lebanese market in particular, I have my google news set to showcase articles with the key terms Lebanon and Beirut. As I spend a few minutes daily on this search, I have realized that the juicy articles are most often listed in the Audi Bank's newsletter!

This is a newsletter that's main focus lies in the economic and financial environment. Yet, they have a thorough understanding of their clientele. Their articles are tailor made to appeal to the Lebanese public.

Tapping unto the Lebanese pride of belonging, the messages are chosen and maybe sometimes rephrased to suit the Lebanese ego. Far from being dull information, for instance, instead of stating that Lebanon ranked 80th in the world based on a recent UN report, up three places from the previous year, the title proudly boasts "record improvements"...

Beyond their own understanding, I would assume, the Audi Bank's newsletter is a remarkably marketing oriented tool...

The Creative Work's Effect on Ads

Mike Bendixen, in a research entitled "Advertising effects and effectiveness", argues that the creative work has no effect on the magnitude of an advertising campaign; as the latter is only affected by the frequency of use of the medium in question.

As I stop to assimilate his research findings, I cannot help but pause thoughtfully. If indeed creativity does not in any way compensate on frequency; how can smaller campaigns, at times, get better response?

I would have to disagree in parts to the way the finding is presented. "Magnitude" by definition refers to the size. Thus obviously we are talking about frequency and reach. However, the way I see it, good creative work helps support the campaign in magnitude too, and is not merely a tool that dictates the efficiency of the campaign, as Bendixen seems to put it.

How? A good creative work stimulates the brain. It can be humor, it can be shock, simply beauty or even creativity. Whatever it is, it increases the magnitude exponentially as it is bound to create word of mouth.

Thus, I would not go against what has been stated by Bendixen. The magnitude within the medium in question is not affected by the creative work. Yes. The same medium will not multiply simply because the work is good. However, the medium will shift to incorporate other mediums which consequently would create a greater magnitude.

There, lies the beauty of marketing, the art of efficiently allocating budgets to maximize return by juggling not only the financials but also the qualitative.

*food for thought*

Care to contribute to science? ...Play!

Discover Fold It:

a free game that allows its users to contribute to the evolution of science and thereof to the discovery of new medication and ways to cure sicknesses as harsh as cancer, HIV and the likes... Interested?

The game can be downloaded for free on www.fold.it, and is available for Win, Linux and Mac users alike. Supported by big names like Microsoft and Adobe, this game was created by the University of Washington's Computer Science and Engineering department and the department of Biochemistry.

Another good use of the open source strategy that draws from the collective brain power of humanity, this game offers us much to hope for. With a smart and easy tutorial, anyone can dig in and become an expert in protein folding, compete and have fun for the greater good. Simply put "solve puzzles for science".

21 December 2012

I am extremely amused and I want to share the fun!!

I don't know if you are yet familiar with the whole propaganda surrounding the end of the world... Here's the scoop. Rumors are spreading on the world wide web that the end of the world is coming on December 21st 2012.

This propaganda coincides with a movie being launched that revolves around this topic... and yes, I don't believe in coincidence.

Do you remember the Blair Witch Project's marketing stunt? They filmed a trailer that seemed so real and fooled so many that it spread like fire over the internet. The entire marketing strategy revolved around cheap and fake publicity which made the movie extremely popular.

Back to the new movie launch: "2012".

The end of the world concerns everyone. What better message can create word of mouth, and what better medium to spread false rumors than the undictated web?

A great stunt of "mischief marketing" as Ray Simon would put it, and I would argue that it is more successful than the Blair Witch Project... With 8 million viewers so far, the "December 21 2012 THE END" is not doing so bad on youtube.

...What about Outsourcing R&D?

Talking about evolution and revolution; I cannot but bring about the subject of Innocentive.com, an ambitious company that aims to be "Where the World Innovates". Based on a social network, the company is set out to bring about solutions from the four corners of the globe to the businesses in need. A revelation?

It operates by creating a link between companies seeking solutions and business development through R&D with people around the world ready to take up the challenge in their fields of expertise, ideally scientists, PHD holders and researchers.
The network allows “Seekers”, companies such as Eli Lilly and P&G, to post challenges with a proposed remuneration for the winner, creating an incentive for “Solvers”, registered members, to participate; thus following Linux’ open source policy and the new digital trend extracting information from the common human knowledge source. This system ought to allow progress in a timelier manner, at a cheaper cost, and with better results.

The drawbacks?

1. Copyrights shift to the seeker. Would you want your hard work to be channeled? Had I been a Solver, I would want to keep the rights over my work.
2. Remunerations are low. If you are to present a cost-effective solution to the company in question, you might as well be paid for it.
3. Finally, who is to guarantee the solver gets his rights? The way I see it, the seeker can easily trick the system by providing the winning solver himself, thus recuperating his money and yet get inspired by the many submissions he receives.

Yet, the network boasts having the smartest people on board; are they really that smart to get involved? ...Nonetheless, it managed to get mentioned in CNBC, the Economist and Forrester. Revolutionary?

Rules of SEVEN

Hands-off marketing if you are not a marketer!

You won't see an sportsman working on accounting, or an accountant fixing the television. Why the hell does everyone feels he can get involve when it comes down to marketing?!

Things CAN and DO go wrong! In the name of all those who have to sit quiet and watch their campaigns get smashed by the decision maker:

GENERAL GUIDELINES

1-Make use of white space. It makes the eye more at ease and your ad more attractive.
2-Let the borders breathe. Always leave a margin.
3-Beware misspellings in the text.
4-Beware misinforming the public.
5-What is a beautiful piece of work without an audience? The medium is key.
6-Use integrated marketing communication; convene the same message, with the same soul.
7-Present the logo properly, always follow the guidelines set for its identity

OUTDOOR

1- Outdoor bookings should be done early on. NO you cannot wait for a better price, unless you're ready to deal with the worst locations.
2-Locations are to be chosen wisely, avoid locations in the middle of nowhere, avoid advertising clutter, avoid that tree blocking the view but mostly avoid the panels that are parallel to the road, they need to have a minimum tilted angle.
3- PLEASE outdoor advertising cannot handle a three paragraph text, in fact, it cannot even fit a three sentence text!! You want your ad to reach the audience? Try three to seven words; and that's that.
4-The logo HAS to be big enough. What is visible on your pc is not necessarily visible on the roads. No general rules. It all depends on the logo's font and recognition ratios.
5-Too many items in the picture might seem to offer a better understanding of your goal; do NOT be fooled, too many items in the picture equal no picture at all to the passers by. Keep it clean and simple, use a human character if you can, otherwise make it a very intriguing picture.
6- DO use sans serif fonts. Those like Times New Roman are less readable from distance.
7-Consider the use of eye catching colors like red, orange or yellow for the background. (However, the effectiveness of these colors is highly dependent on the surroundings)

DAILIES

1- When booking in a newspaper, choose your ad location wisely. You don't want a festive ad next to the picture of a mourning woman.
2-A quarter page size is ideal in terms of value. GO for it when possible.
3-Better one ad in the front or back page than three in the middle.
4-Write concisely, and make it informative.
5-Consider the low resolution and bad printing quality, text and logos should be big enough and do not put 2 layers of the same color and expect it to be visible!
6-Use serif fonts, as they are more readable up close.
7-Always include a picture. It makes the ad more attractive.

TELEVISION

1-Some colors look better on TV, like purple and blue. Take this into account.
2-When it comes to animation, go slow enough to make the information graspable but fast enough not to make it boring.
3-Cut, cut and cut. It helps the eye keep its focus.
4-The brand should be mentioned prominently enough to be remembered; especially of the ad includes a lot of fluff and talk. In that case, increase the frequency.
5-Music is core. Make it relevant.
6-The choice of medium is very important. Take a keen look on the viewership ratings and assess your investment accordingly.
7-Choose your timing wisely, for a maximum viewership aim for news-time.

RADIO

1- Balads work greatly
2- Make the information concise so as not to lose the listener
3- Manage frequency effectively for optimum results
4- Music is crucial
5- Beware the pace of the speaker, leave room for breathing
6- Chose the right language to reach your audience
7- For optimum reach aim for rush-hours

Marketing amid Turmoil

Faced with security turmoil, marketing in Lebanon has always been a question of controversy. As I tried to enter the marketing field in this part of the globe, the Middle East, I realized that very few research had been targeted on marketing under hostile conditions. Thus, I took the subject at heart.

First aiming to investigate the "accountability" in marketing; I seeked to read more on marketing measures. Finding it a very subjective case; I thought a practical case might be more interesting... I mean, for learning purposes!

Therefore, after specializing in a master of science in marketing, I decided my dissertation topic will be on the impact of security turmoil on marketing response. My work was to be based on a case study approach based on the Lebanese market.

Throughout my research I noticed the capacity of the Lebanese economy to stand and improve amid the recent global economic turmoil; noting a certain parallelism between security and economic turmoil. There was no question, Lebanon managed to stand undefied because of the precautions it used to face eminent risks. Could this parallelism apply on marketing response?

I'd say yes... *to be continued*

The Paradigm of Marketing

What is marketing? Definitions abound. I will not go into the details of the interpretations and the different schools and references. However, I can tell you what marketing is not; and that is Advertising. Not to say that advertising is not part of marketing but marketing, contrary to popular belief, is not restricted to advertising.

Why am I making this point? Simple.

My knowledge in marketing gave me insights into entrepreneurship. I truly believe that every entrepreneur should take marketing courses before venturing into risks beyond his capability. Again, you may ask, why? Here's the scoop.

Be it a service or a product, marketing teaches us the art of introducing, implementing and raising our offerings, of knowing the market, creating needs and satisfying them. Marketing is all about understanding the customer and the theories revolving around the market. Thus, to me, marketing is entrepreneurship at a micro scale. What applies to a product can definitely apply to a set of products, not collectively, but individually.

Everything else in organizations can be mathematically calculated, but marketing takes intuition, it takes comprehension of the global view. One should not fall into the bulk of information available at his grasp, he should know where to look and what to seek, what lens to create and how to get the customer to see through it.

This is the art of marketing, the way I know it. Whoever thinks that marketing is narrow, fails to see the big picture. At the risk of sounding too general, I dare to state that business is all about marketing, and everything corporate , beyond operational, revolves around it.

The Old School

Marketing strives on evolution:
psychological and technological, but mostly, on communication.

Experience matters in the business world. However, it feels that young fresh new comers are a step ahead in understanding the predominance of novelties and effects of the new implicit regulations that dictate the market. The old school of marketing has a bunch of attributions that in today's world are almost extinct!

The obvious change - the one that even the most conventional do not fail to identify - The Medium
In the book Mavericks at Work the authors discuss whether Google and WPP cooperate or compete, they conclude that they do both at once, quoting WPP's own CEO they are "frenemies". Yes, marketing has shifted, as new modes of communications are being adopted, from targeted sms, to digital marketing, the new technologies are offering various ways to deliver the brand.

Other changes come subsequently - The Delivery
New possibilities open new doors. What was once a one-way delivery is transformed today into an open dialogue. What was entitled "delivery" became, finally, what marketing is all about, "communication". Thus we entered the world of interactive marketing.

What the old school still does not understand, is that with the changes stated beforehand, the most important change took place - The Message
The brand is no longer communicated in emotional statements, as the audience now has the power to retort. Today, marketing is about content, and no longer about fluff. It is about being informative and no longer descriptive. The client seeks, and the marketeer's job is to supply. The line between B2C (business to consumer) and B2B (business to business) marketing is becoming very thin, as the end consumer now almost requires (as the rules in B2B marketing dictate) a rational value added proposition to purchase a product.

Finally, the receiver has evolved - The Audience
The audience has become bombarded with information, with brand names, with slogans, it has finally gained an immunity to the traditional advertising brainwashing. The message can be fatal. The audience has grown to become aware and conscious. It can discern truth from lies and does not like to be taken for a fool. Information is broadly available and word-of-mouth spreads fast.

...So innovation took place in terms of medium, delivery, message and audience. Where do the marketers stand on keeping up?

Advertising in Lebanon

Advertising is getting kind of hard to avoid in Lebanon. Here's a list of some Advertising in Lebanon posts:

Politics Advertising in Lebanon
Advertising in Lebanon Trends Spring 2010
Outdoor Advertising Trends in Lebanon
Creative Works Effect on Advertising
Advertising in Lebanon Rules of Seven
Lebanon: The Old School of Advertising
Variations in Advertising Media Sensitivity

Sales, Academics and Literature

...So I am reading 5 books at once.
In fact, I am more inclined to start a new book than finish one these days.
I was told I would get lost, but I thought I could pull it out.
It turned out I can't.

I am writing this down to share my concern for the similarities between the two marketing books "The New Rules of Marketing and PR" by David Meerman Scott and "Guerilla PR 2.0" by Michael Levine. I honestly cannot remember what part i read in which of the two books!! Well, I am further ahead in the reading of Guerilla PR 2.0, but only because I started it first.

Online public relations and digital marketing are incontestably the stars today in the marketing world. It's new, it's trendy, it's cheap, and given the crisis, it's sales material.

It triggers my concern on the trendiness of certain topics. One day there's the elections and all the books are suddenly revolving around it, the next there's a financial crisis, and hey, take a look at the books published. Now, seriously, ever read a good book under those conditions?

It is sad but true. We cannot resist to purchase a book with a trendy topic. Yet, they're never worth it. It just never fails.

The Heartache of a Subordinate

I write this down on behalf of all the people employed out there. As my first job that entails a "boss" I finally understand the pain of being a subordinate.

I admit I'm not a perfect employee, I cannot stand doing silly tasks, and I don't like being told what to do, and even less being criticized, especially when I am right.

However, it helps.
Being an employee helps you become a better boss.

This is what I have learned:

• I understood that the first 15 seconds are the most important to make an impact.
• Sometimes it is not what you say, but rather how you say it that matters.
• The way you greet and the way you say goodbye are the most important criteria in all the conversations.
• Memorizing names and faces is a must, and when you know the name, use it!
  
• When you know something of value, share it.
• Cut down on the gossip, it never fails to get you in trouble.
  
• It is ok not to answer questions when they're tricky.
• Never pretend to know what you do not.
• Ask as many questions as you think necessary.
• Interact, do not be a passive listener, direct the conversation in ways that could be beneficial.
  
• I learned that it is important to be authentic and true to yourself as well as to others. Even if the person whom you put up the mask for can't see your true face, those who get to see your many faces will figure it out, and you'll eventually loose all credibility.
• It is important to remain positive in all circumstances. I suppose it is common for a boss to become stressful and to spread the tension around.
• Yes, you should keep your employees motivated, and it definitely helps to give compliments, but how about if they were truthful? mean what you say, or do not say it.
• Take responsibility for your own failures, especially when others get blamed.
• I realized that loud people tend to be the most confident and they tend to get ahead in their careers, as they put their best foot forward. Of course, not all loud people.
• Let your little stars shine, give them the freedom to grow and take initiatives, and maybe, just maybe, you'd relieve yourself of some of that stress and responsibility.
  
• Love to be loved. The more I see, the more I get convinced that to love is the single most essential thing, even in business. It's like how people say "the more you give, the more you get".

I suppose I am no longer a fan of the high EQ leader. I am more inclined to believe that an authentic leader makes a better one. I am currently seeking to read the book "The leader as a mensch: become the kind of person that others want to follow" by Bruna Martinuzzi as I believe it describes my views today of the ideal leader. (and no, this is NOT affiliate marketing).

MIT Arab Business Plan Marketing Campaign

The MIT Arab Business Plan campaign was a broad regionally-spread marketing effort to incite people to participate in an entrepreneurial competition. Thus the marketing message was action-oriented: register online. The participation is free of charge, thus it eliminates the pricing factor on the measuring of campaign effectiveness.

Yet, I was shocked to realize there was only 1,241 completed applications, better yet, of which only 266 qualified for grading? OK, so if you do not live in the Middle East, I understand that you are bedazzled at my surprise. However, you must understand that this campaign ran on a top national TV for months, was featured in newspapers, it was even paralleled with a television program and was supported by direct mailing and facebook targeted advertising.

Bad marketing?...

Real-Life Product Placement

"Product placement" is a term generally used for the act of paid brand visibility featured in a movie or TV series. However, the consumer is becoming more and more aware of this practice which makes it lose its effectiveness. The latest Jim Carrey movie "Yes Man" seems to have carried the Red Bull product placement a bit too far plotting the script of an entire scene around it, and mentioning the brandname several times in a row... OK!!! We understand it was paid for!!! Now STOP!!
That said, what consumers are less conscious about is the real-life product placement. I have noticed it, because, well, I am a marketing freak. However, this marketing is as subtle as effective.
In my opinion brands like Rolex have it down to an art: from placing their brand and retail stores in the most fascinating city streets (in Paris, Geneva, Milan...) to associating themselves to monumental items and high-end activities. What actually generated this article is the watch in the middle of down town Beirut. It has a big fat ROLEX logo on all four sides, and this was not the first time I notice a real-life product placement for this brand: at the golf center in Grenoble they had a big branded Rolex watch too. Of course, they also had Evian bottles (and I was wondering, since this was a mutually beneficial association, how discounted the products were).
This got me thinking about the advertising function. The ultimate aim of ads is to make you familiar with the brand and communicate a positive intuitive attitude towards it. The essence of this would be the strength of the brand recognition factor on our decision making process. This leads me to consider brands like Siemens, which are widely known, but not specifically for one industry. They've spread out on so many levels. The common ground? A brandname. This big product and services distribution network, although spread on different items, remains, in my opinion, the best marketing strategy. It provides an unintentional real-life product placement. The brand is familiar. It is recognized. The idea might be ambiguous as to what it represents, but the message and recognition is there. They mass-branded and generated a branding economies-of-scale effect not by production, nor by cost reduction, but rather by a shared branding initiative. By seeing the brandname and experiencing it, the public is more likely to remember it. The down side is: one bad experience with any of the related products would affect the opinion on all the lines. Thus, I suppose it takes a quality-oriented German engineering firm to pull this off. Kudos.

The Industry of Information

In digital marketing, we often emphasize the need for online Public Relations. This can be done in different and various ways. One of the most common being the creation of press releases. I had, for a while, randomly added online press releases to give more visibility for my brand and website, without ever questioning the motives or business model of these portals that permit the publication of my work.
Of course, a contact is always required. There! They got a database, and then I started receiving promotional materials in my name. Test. Changed my title on these online portals. Bingo! There was their source. Did they intentionally make a living out of selling our contact information? It is not clear to me. However, I do know that those direct marketing gurus are getting my contact from the internet.
What I had never realized crossed me yesterday night, as I was investigating open local job positions. Zawya.com, one of those portals, was looking for a data analyst. What for? To investigate and analyze the data provided to the benefit of firms such as Booz Allen Hamilton and Merill Lynch. They were in the business of selling up-to-date market information, which, us marketers, willingly offer them.
Brilliant! It seemed clear now that they needed us as much as we needed them, and what's wrong with a win-win relationship after all?

The KAIZEN Approach

I have recently learned a new process for goal achievement: the Kaizen approach.
Apparently the word-for-word translation for it is: good change; while the more accurate translation is improvement.

What is your daily life about?
I was first happy for having found passion for a subject. Then I found myself adding up issues and goals to achieve. I drained myself in too many ambitions and spread myself so thin that I ended up tired for having thought about them all; and still stood in the same place, looking up, as the goals I had set were too high and seemed almost impossible to reach.
Now I need to move forward. I took a break from bumping my head against a wall and feeling guilty of being unproductive. It seems that waking up early and sleeping late are not enough in order to get things done. Something else needed to be changed.

Solution? moving backwards with the process:
So this is where I need to go. How do I reach it? by creating small steps and turning them into a ladder. I had not invented the wheel.

This step by step approach to getting things done have been around for ages: "The seven step approach to financial success", "a 5 step approach to behavioral change"... everything seems possible when it is taken one thing at a time. Apparently this has a name in the Japanese culture. It is called the Kaizen approach: setting small goals to reach the big one. Too bad, I had to learn it the hard way.

Google, eBay and Microsoft jump into cost-per-action sales

2008- the digital world was met with an escalating interest in pay-per-action advertising modules. The Internet big names are fighting for the web dollars. Google, eBay and Microsoft all embarked in this challenge. The news created shock-waves that promised to change the online advertising industry for good.
By the end of the year Google had retreated from it's pay-per-action plan while it was still in its betta version. Two "substitute" programs were introduced; none that equates or nearly replaces the initial plan.
Did they meet with failure? Perhaps, an obstacle that the world's top search engine was not able to defy? or were they scared to hamper or impede their current stable advertising revenue? Surely, shaking the industry in which you're on top could generate some odd repercussions on your company; had this risk suddenly come to surface?
The race is still on, as the cost-per-action plan is yet to reach utmost optimization and conquer the web. My say is: this is the future.

Wikipedia: The Common Human Knowledge Database

I have just recently conducted my first contribution to Wikipedia. While the system is perfectly crafted, it left me wondering about the credibility of the information provided.
1-Anyone can edit the information, regardless of his capabilities
2-The data entered is automatically displayed, without any "clearance"
The concept is simple. The text can be mercilessly edited continuously; bringing about a common knowledge ground that can happen to be an accepted misconception of the truth. It is really great to entrust people with such a powerful "weapon", but wouldn't it, one day, turn into a destructive tool?
Surprisingly, so far, the information I added have been reviewed without any major changes, links have been constructively added to other Wikipedia articles and my references have been included in the footnotes.

Quite an impressive tool indeed.