When the
idea of a “thanks” article came about, I looked at my editor and made some face
that only I appreciated since we sit 3000 miles apart. I have plenty for which
to be thankful, but the first thing that popped into my mind weren’t those
things, it was, “Another holiday… why?!” I love time off as much as the next
person, if not more, but too frequently time off from work equals leaving cats
alone for too long - expect surprises.
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By the time this article gets
published, I will have already left for my mini-vacation, hoping that I
configured my voicemail and set the out of office wizard properly. Chances are I
will have forgotten at least one of those two things. Don’t live vicariously
through me just yet. Unlike others in our jet set space, my departure involves
nothing to do with exotic destinations. Instead, I selfishly leave the office to
seek time away with people that care none about our industry – no, not the Inuit
… my parents. Yes, it’s Thanksgiving, and in the most sentimental
fashion, I cannot think of a better locale to spend these wonderful tryptophan
filled days than with those who provide the attention of a good advertiser
without the headache. This time away will bring about reflection but a big
“thanks” I’m not sure it will lead to.
Traffic levels stink over the holiday. I almost cannot wait until
the Monday following when traffic levels return to normal. The graphs look
terrible. Where did all the people go? And, those that are around, what is their
deal? Don’t ask for the server logs, but holiday traffic, besides being lower in
volume is lower in quality too; users simply do not click and convert at the
same levels as they do non-holiday. Seeing as I still can’t believe that the day
after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, the chances of my
understanding traffic levels seems remote.
My bitterness over holiday traffic aside, we do have much to be
thankful for in our industry. As is often the case, the year has flown by, but
unlike years past, this one flew by on the wings of optimism and excitement.
People eagerly await next year, and not because this one was disappointing. Rather, they
look at how well this year has gone and anticipate similar success moving
forward. It is why I believe that Ad:Tech New York coincides with Thanksgiving.
In many ways, Ad:Tech is the industry version of Thanksgiving. It is the time
when we, the internet family, gather together to catch up and plan for the
future.
As I mentioned two weeks ago in
the Ad:Tech article, I particularly enjoyed the rise of the ad networks. Many
companies that have long done very well, more so than most of their competitors
and others in the industry could have guessed, finally decided to strut their
stuff. That they chose to do so, having been capable, economically, of doing so in
the past implies good things about our space. It’s nice to see them taking the
lead and letting the rest of the industry know not to be afraid of success, that
we should take our place among the “real” companies.
This year also brought a renewed interest in our industry from the
mainstream press, and luckily not all of it bad. This time last year, the
industry had momentum, but most of us were busy ensuring that CAN-SPAM did not
impact business. Last year, our businesses rose but the foundation didn’t feel
as secure. The continuation of that growth along with no major interruption in
business practices ultimately provided the base for this year’s optimism. That,
in conjuction with upwards of a billion dollars in acquisitions and funding that
took place certainly didn’t hurt. For many people, this was a great time to be
in the space and is time to give thanks.
Other than a chance to put to paper rambling text from one who has
mentally already gone on vacation, I do want to say thank you to everyone in the
space. I especially want to thank the readers of this column for their support.
Finally, I want to congratulate everyone on their accomplishments. Many people
have had life altering years. To them I say, leave already so the rest of us can
gain market share. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
