The whispers have started: Big Data projects are sometimes yielding rather ho-hum ROI’s, with data scientists underestimating both the cost and the time-to-market of their projects. Executive management teams are starting to ask, “Is Big Data just an endless money pit?” Continue reading Is the Big Data craze past its zenith?
Untapped content: how user comments expand articles
Here’s a metaphorical statement that tends to stick in your mind: “The targeting canvas is larger than people think.” Steve Roy, head of marketing at Disqus, said this while telling me that there is good material in the comment section of webpages that is under-appreciated by marketers. Despite that some news outlets look disparagingly on user comments, I now have numbers to back up Steve’s statement. Continue reading Untapped content: how user comments expand articles
Silicon Valley’s “graduating class” of 2009: Where are they now?
I was taken aback by a former serial entrepreneur when he told me, upon selling his last start-up to a Big Company, that he was finished doing start-ups — the way he put it was, “I’ve graduated.” The intent of the metaphor is clear: start-ups are a great way to get an education in a hurry, learning about various aspects of a business as you wear different hats. His education done, he was ready for big-time business. But that’s not the part that shocked me. Continue reading Silicon Valley’s “graduating class” of 2009: Where are they now?
The devaluation of writing
What do the Oscars, the SAT test, and the content marketing industry have in common? Last week, all three of them signaled that the value our society grants to good writing is on the decline. Let’s take these in the order they occurred.
Continue reading The devaluation of writing
7 things we’ve lost by becoming all-digital readers
I’m practically a poster-child for Amazon Kindle. A bookworm from birth, my library of print books was overflowing until I bought one of the very first Kindles, and never looked back. I consume mountains of blogs, online news, etc., but rarely read hard print anymore. In all this, I’ve lost several good habits that were bringing me beneficial results before I slowly, unconsciously gave them up.
Continue reading 7 things we’ve lost by becoming all-digital readers
Why I’m not deleting my BlueKai or eXelate cookies and neither should you
I received a bit of shoot-the-messenger feedback from my recent three-part series on third-party tracking cookies, wherein I noted that several trends point toward a decrease in cookies over the next few years.
Continue reading Why I’m not deleting my BlueKai or eXelate cookies and neither should you