Management

Why is Twitter in real trouble? In a world that is becoming more and more connected every day, Twitter has done the unthinkable: it has shrunk. What's worse is that Twitter gets more free TV advertising than almost any other product or service which leaves two possibilities: (1) TV advertising does not work. (2) People don’t like the product. I’ll go with number 2. Here's why ... Continue Reading →

The Arabic hashtag #stab is something I'd rather not see on a social media post. Israel's UN ambassador, Danny Danon, recently showed a version of the instructional graphic that accompanied that hashtag to the UN Security Council with the English-language title, "How to Stab a Jew." Mr. Danon was making a point – but also describing a form of warfare so new it does not yet have a name. Continue Reading →

Every crisis needs a villain. The advertising crisis is no exception. Some want to blame ad networks, others want to blame programmatic pricing tools, and still others believe that bad coding is at fault. Page load times are an obvious villain, but maybe we should blame the evildoers who clutter our world with massive amounts of interruptive, unwanted ad fodder. In practice, there are a number of easily identifiable tactical and executional factors contributing to the industry's existential crisis. Sadly, even if the industry could solve all of them, the effort would do very little, if anything, to correct the misalignment of outcomes and incentives that are the root of ad evil. Continue Reading →

Perhaps a better title for this article would be "TiVo BOLT – For People Who Love to Be Informed, Enlightened and Entertained by Watching Free Over-the-Air Television or IP-Delivered Traditional Television Content Through a Set-Top Box Rented from a Cable, Satellite or Telco, but Hate the Commercial Advertisements that Subsidize the Content." No matter how you spin this, the TiVo BOLT is a referendum on the state of the commercial television business. After all, you don't really hate TV; you really hate TV commercials. You probably also hate the experience of trying to get all of your content to play on your big-screen TV. This is all about to change. Continue Reading →

If former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did delete emails from her private email system (that she should not have deleted) will forensic computer technicians find them? It's about the most popular question I get asked these days. So – for your reading pleasure – a primer on email deletion, data destruction and hard drive erasing. Continue Reading →

Fake women, fake privacy, real hack – that's the way my eulogy for Ashley Madison's IPO would start. Fake women, because the ratio of female names to male names in the hacked database dump is skewed extremely male. Fake privacy, because everyone now has access to Ashley Madison's private database. Real hack, because the hackers have actually ruined people's lives. Continue Reading →

Remember the receptionist on the 15th floor who used to take excellent phone messages on those adorable pink pre-printed message pads? Her job predeceased yours by a few short Internet years. Continue Reading →

Preview modes are great – they give you an idea of how your work will look or sound in the best possible scenario. The problem is that all such tools are gigantic crutches, and in most cases they will severely limit your creativity and your creative potential. Continue Reading →

In the 1770s, America was a relatively low tech, agrarian society. But all that was about to change. So here, for your Independence Day reading pleasure, are the seven hottest tech trends circa 1776. Continue Reading →

During this time of transition, many of my friends are pondering the merits of starting a consulting practice. It seems like a logical career path. It may be. But the transition from corporate executive to successful consultant has more to do with self-knowledge than subject matter expertise or skill. If you have been successful in business, you probably have the skills to become a successful consultant. That said, here are seven things to consider before you start your new, new thing. Continue Reading →