TODAY'S BEST PRACTICES FOR WEBSITE MARKETING

SES For The First Time -
Dollars to Donuts with Danny Sullivan

Feature article by Steve Caming

But something here was different. Something was going on beneath the veneer of business as usual...these people clearly were operating in a parallel universe, as well. A landscape full of futuristic characters, each seeking their own level in which to operate; black hats and white hats, cloakers and hijackers...spammers and bloggers and hawkers, oh my!

This is made all the more remarkable when one considers that these players are plying their trade in a virtual economy built on ever shifting technologies. A true castle built on software sand, but with pontoons. The arena of internet search grows in tandem with e-commerce overall. According to a recently published report, $23.2 billion was spent online by consumers during this past holiday season and following the immutable golden rule, advertising budgets continue to go where the customers are.

So, as this flood of consumer driven attention generates an ever greater flow of resources into the "search stream", a new generation of technology prospectors have set up their own unique sluice gates to snag the golden click. You don't need to be Google or Yahoo, if you know how to work within their systems to deliver results...just like you don't need to be the U.S. Postal service to deliver a letter.

If there is a cowboy element (black & white hats) to some of these efforts, it's because this work takes these cyber pioneers to the edge of a frontier (as in no law west of the Pecos) and the cattle (clicking consumers) are running loose on the range needing to be herded (provided with search results).

But, enough metaphors for the moment--back to the action. After arriving and meeting up with the Beyond Ink team, Anne, Alex and Stephanie, we met a larger group for dinner in the Hyatt restaurant. Though I didn't know it at the time, this assemblage represented a good cross-section of the industry's leading businesses. Competitors, to be sure, but one wouldn't know it listening to them speak.

Arriving late but always on time was the ubiquitous Danny Sullivan. As the moving force behind the Search Engine Strategies conference series, besides having vast experience in the technologies involved, Sullivan somehow bridges the wide variety of styles and business models of those in attendance.

His congenial nature serves him well as a kind of "super moderator" for the event, setting a tone that allows for any subject to be tackled. In one seminar, for example, the subject of redirect hijacking came up (in short-sending a consumer to a website other than that which they intended). A panelist commented he'd like to tell what he was doing about it, but since some of those doing it to him were in the room...everyone shared a laugh and moved on. Sullivan, besides choosing all the subjects, moderators and panelists, delivers keynotes and helms other seminars throughout the week.

By virtue of having evolved with the technology over the past five+ years, a handful of people have a commanding historic perspective of where search is and where it's going, Sullivan and his square round table among them. But moving among the old guard are those innovators with no institutional memory, no collective heritage or corporate culture--just a temporarily superior way of doing one thing, which can make them a great deal of money in a very short time. One trio of partners, James, Justin and Aaron, who hosted a by-invitation-only gathering at a Chicago institute of higher drinking named Cavanaugh's, appeared to all be in their mid-teens, while running a company of more than 20 people. Their business model and ethics were all sound and their big smiles were testaments to a good idea, well executed.

Then there was Jake, a large young fellow with a wireless device seemingly implanted in his ear, a trench coat and a backwards cap, who took a few of us to hear some old school Chicago blues at B.L.U.E.S. Jake has another of those satisfied grins that comes from knowing how to dance with an algorithm.

Other industry players adhere to a more recognizable model, with extra large exhibit booth space and a team of well groomed employees in matching logo polo shirts. These types of companies, among which is one run by a clever fellow named Bruce, can establish a major presence within what is still a relatively small industry bubble. By showing the flag in Chicago as both an event sponsor and exhibitor, Bruce has established a beachhead that can seem a familiar comfort zone for corporate marketers trying to find a safe haven. One would not, after all, want to wander unescorted in the confusing and potentially mean streets of search technology.

Then there was the MSN party, or was that the Overture party? It doesn't necessarily matter after day three. Well, it does matter really, because during the MSN shindig at a trendy, architecturally challenging sushi restaurant, there was again more going on than meets the eye. This particular raw clambake commemorated the launch of MSN Search. With its shiny new entry into the search arena MSN faced a couple of obvious challenges (besides Google and Yahoo). The first is building a crystal palace in the middle of Indian Country. Yes, MSN will eventually embed themselves on every toolbar in the known universe, but they are still going to be just another postman carrying the mail for players who've already drawn some of the maps they're using.

Like any good cavalry on the move, MSN has engaged several native scouts to help guide their forces. These pathfinders, otherwise known as consultants, in some ways are leading the fox to the henhouse, by helping a behemoth like MSN to make up for their lost time, late entry into the field. On the other hand, one can never truly discern the true loyalties of these consultant guides. They are a crafty set of entrepreneurs, perhaps the biggest brains of all, but well versed in the dark arts of guerilla campaigns, which keeps them always a step ahead.

I found myself in a limo on the way to one of the evening functions with one of these SEO "rock stars" and six or so others and was impressed with the cult of personality he commanded. Not a showy or ostentatious fellow, this particular leather jacket and jeans kind of guy (let's call him Greg) exudes a kind of tech-charisma-a stroke my goatee style of knowing aura. It would be hard to pick him out in a crowd, but for the fact that he always has one around him. You can just sense that somewhere along the line, somebody really showed him the money. But, he earned it by being one of the best at what he does, which must be respected. His posse includes other bonifide brains that are presumably just as adept at navigating the uncharted algorithmic wilderness.

One wonders if the collective "wink and a groan" that accompanies the tacit acceptance of tech-predators in their midst will ever come back to haunt the still young industry. During one seminar, a panelist (let's call him Todd) mentioned with more than a hint of nostalgia of a heady two month period some time ago when virtually anyone who searched for Viagra found his client's website as the king of all rankings. Ka-Ching!

Eventually those methods went the way of the horse and buggy, but not the method-makers. Today they are at work in their haunted castles--maybe building the next search monster which will run rampant around the countryside until the villagers and town leaders can stop it. Which brings up an interesting question-will they? Can they?

There are some serious issues facing this sector in the coming year. The subjects of trademarks and copyrights, cloaking, hijacking and click fraud threaten to create a perception of unreliability within the media buying community. The very cornerstone of advantage that search offers for advertisers is reliable, verifiable tracking that traditional media can't supply. If that data becomes suspect, or even perceived to be so (i.e. India's Secret Army of Clickers), it could set the whole industry back. In other words, when the sheriff clears the saloon he takes the good cowboys out with the bad.

Some of these issues were briefly touched upon during a lively session called "Black Hats, White Hats & Lots of Grey". Moderated by Danny Sullivan himself, it brought together a couple of the aforementioned players, as well as a white hat lady, actually wearing a white hat (let's call her Jill) and a man who consistently appeared in the most remarkable Technicolor dream suits, (let's go with Mikkel on this one). The one panelist who went a long way towards calling the question on the ethical dilemma which faces the industry went largely unnoticed. A pleasant chap with a winning smile (call him Alan), he foresees a day when there may be a reckoning of sorts, when the frontier will, by necessity, be tamed. For now, it's just a panel discussion, but the white hats do represent a business model based on utilizing an ethical bag of tricks and their results are just as impressive.

Personally, I can perceive the value of both efforts and if I were king I'd want to be well versed in both Merlin's magic (if only for defensive purposes) and have the regular army at my back. For now a savvy widget company can have both if they know where to look and have a commensurate tolerance for risk.

In fact, as the industry both grows exponentially and compartmentalizes into niche specialties at the same time, unusual collaborations may be formed. Politics and search strategies can both make for strange bedfellows, as outsourcing becomes a necessity for SEMs and SEOs unable to keep up with demand for their services.

My personal favorite in the session's category had to be the one that launched "Goohoo," a mythical new search engine formed by the merger of two "former" industry dinosaurs, Google and Yahoo. It was made all the more comical by the reverse type casting which found panelists portraying corporate archetypes that cut across the grain of both their personal and professional natures. And the Emmy for best performance of a non-recurring character (NRC) goes to ….Dana of SiteLab, who along with her cohorts Erica and Rick, cut a wide swath through whatever venue they were found in. Dana's poker face delivery of the Goohoo corporate position on Non-Converting Clicks (NCC) set a new standard for terminological inexactitude.

By day four the collective fatigue level has begun to show in the eyes and weary shuffle of the participants. Some hearty Viking types actually find their rhythm by midweek, while others are flagging. "I live for day four," observed one moderator/night owl who we'll refer to as Elisabeth. One must obviously command a great deal of respect from one's peers to be able to appear at night in elegant evening wear and the next day as a morning averse, sleep deprived, cammo-clad urchin, moderating a session from a chair in the audience.

But there isn't a whole lot of sleeping going on at night, for that matter. As the organic mass of searchers find their way through the night festivities, no city can be left unexplored. I discovered early that it becomes easier to move with the flow, rather than to influence it, as these people are obviously professional denizens of the night. How else could one be at a swanky, sponsored open bar at 2 am, drinking shots that do indeed taste like chocolate cake!

Even better, if the planets align just right, you may find yourself in the wee hours of the night enjoying and sharing Danny Sullivan's omnipresent donuts with cabdrivers, passengers in the cab next to you, local citizens and bartenders. Copious amounts of sugar is obviously one of Sullivan's secrets of success. All followed by White Castle burgers and presumably, delirious dreams. But, not before a last beer, right? What's that you say, the Hyatt Bar is closed? ... Not exactly, you say?

It was at this point, 4 am in the hotel bar on the last night with a few of my new favorite people now stationed behind the bar serving beers that I didn't even want (or end up drinking), that I realized a parallel universe is not a bad place to be. In fact, when I had to be up and out at 9am the next morning, the real universe held little appeal.

What continues to fuel this industry is these people and what drives these people (besides the obvious financial imperative) is a genuine passion for an evolving technology and their part in it.

Yes, it's a quirky group here at SES, but with all the driven, type A personality traits that make them so adaptable and unique. It will be a sad day when the wildcatters and cowboys leave town looking for the next frontier...when search itself or top-heavy search engines become fully gentrified, with standard operating procedures and Stepford programmers. What began as revolution ends simply as evolution.

The innovators will continue to do just that and others will follow, further institutionalizing what was once only a conceptual possibility. As this industry comes of age, the searchstream will continue to change the landscape of how business is conducted. In five years, as everyone in search is acutely aware, nothing will be done as it is today.

The search continues for the next better mousetrap and in all likelihood, it will be built by the mavericks who attend SES. Keeping up with these people, intellectually or through the wee hours of the night requires a strong constitution, which is pretty much what the overall industry is going to need in the coming years. These truths we hold to be self-evident.

See more pictures from SES Chicago 2004.