JohnDeMayo.com: Internet Advertising Insight

AIM / Plaxo annoyance

    I downloaded a copy of AOL's latest instant messenger software after the messenger-aggregator I've used forever GAIM decided it wasn't happy running on my system any more.  Apparently AOL has tightly integrated Plaxo into the AIM software.  In the install / configuration process, I made the mistake of updating my mailing address.

    Apparently AOL used this as an opportunity to mass-email a bunch of people it has listed as my contacts, telling them about my updated information, despite the fact that I in no way intended or requested this to happen.  I can't even find these people in my Plaxo contact list -- perhaps I am in theirs, or perhaps AOL is scraping my buddy list for email addresses of my AIM contacts, to mail about my supposed Plaxo update?

    They seem to be going out of their way to email people "on behalf of me" in what appears to be an attempt to grow their user base.  I've heard similar complaints of Plaxo before, but the integration into the AOL AIM product makes me think AOL is at risk of alienating a large and valuable consumer base -- their AIM users.

    I will be uninstalling the AIM client as soon as I get GAIM or a similar piece of software running, and will attempt to steer clear of any AOL software moving forward.  This seems like viral marketing at it's worst....it appears likely that by attaching this to the AIM product they will alienate more users then they will gain.

Some great jobs open at Adchemy

Updated 10/5.  Adchemy has a bunch of positions open for anyone interested - impressive start-up full of ridiculously smart people.  Redwood City, CA.

Current open positions:

• Campaign Product      Manager
• Database      Administrator
• Director of Sales
• Director, Technical      Operations
• Research Scientist
• Senior Research      Scientist
• Search Product      Manager
• Software Engineers   

Founded in 2004, Adchemy is a next-generation online marketing startup. We are focused on delivering superior results to our pay-for-performance customers through a proprietary platform that integrates highly scientific, algorithmic approaches from various disciplines, including statistical machine learning, combinatorial optimization, information retrieval, and experimental design.

We are backed by August Capital, a top-tier VC firm whose track record includes Microsoft and Intuit. Our early investors included Rajeev Motwani, a Professor in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University who was the co-author of the PageRank paper that led to the founding of Google. The management team consists of veterans of several online advertising, marketing, and search giants such as Shopping.com, Advertising.com, and Yahoo!.

The research team includes several Ph.Ds and faculty members from leading universities such as Stanford and Cornell. We are located in Redwood City, CA.

# of times a mortgage lead is sold. the 3, 4, 5 question?

Update 8/15: I missed Rob Leathern's related comments in the original post.  Sorry Rob, Hadn't updated to the location to your new feed yet.

     There's been some recent discussion in regards to some players moving from a 4x sold model to a 5x sold model in the mortgage lead industry.  Original post by Jay here, also see here.  I'm not sure if this change in times sold is going to help or hurt the lead sellers, or the lead buyers, but I think the following examples illustrate how to consider the variables, and possible outcomes.

     It might be that 4 times are optimal....but then again, I don't know of anyone that has really tested times sold well.  That number could well be 3 or 5...personally I think 5 might well be more effective for the lead aggregator and for the lead buyers.

     From the illustration below, the first table shows a possible current scenario at 4 times sold.  Then possibility #1 shows how this scenario could be worse for the seller and the buyers, and possibility #2 shows how it could be better for both buyers and sellers.  The real unknown factors are how much each lead buyers close rate erodes when it is sold one more time, and how much they push back on price.

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