13 posts and columns on Randall Stross

Social Networking's Advertising Dilemma: Which Came First, the Ad or the Consumer?

in News on December 15, 2008 at 8:40 am PT

Another day, another article about how social-networking advertising has a steep uphill ride to get to any kind of decent pinnacle of profitability. This time, it’s the New York Times’s Digital Domain columnist Randall Stross weighing in on the allegedly troubled experiments going on between Facebook and the world’s largest advertiser, Procter & Gamble. But the article represents the high-water mark of the Facebook-Is-Dead theme, which was, of course, preceded by the Facebook-Is-Immortal story. BoomTown did not buy the latter, but I certainly don’t accept the former either.

The Don't-Worry-Jack Yahoogle Argument (BoomTown Is Still Not Reassured)

in News on September 24, 2008 at 12:30 am PT

With more critics piling onto the just-say-no-to-Yahoogle bandwagon–questioning the controversial ad deal for Yahoo to outsource some of its search ads to Google–sources said some top Google execs are now hightailing it to Washington, D.C., to smooth over any regulatory feathers the company might have ruffled with its aggressive, damn-the-torpedoes approach to pushing the deal forward. Meanwhile, Yahoo creates a don’t-worry-jack digital ad council. So why is BoomTown still worried?