This Post Was Almost Called “Why Microsoft Shouldn’t Be Invited Back to SES”
2007 at 3:51pm | by Dave
Continuing with SES Toronto 2007 coverage, I’d like to tell a little story. A story about three panelists, all from the same company. Perhaps, you’ve heard of it… it’s called Microsoft. I’ll be honest, I’m not a windows fanboy, I really dislike Vista… but I’m not a die hard Bill-hater either.
Obviously, Microsoft will always be at SES events. They are a huge player and therefore should be represented, plus they probably provide a significant amount of money to the show and we all know that money talks. However, sitting through two Microsoft presentations (Big Ideas for Small Sites & Small Budgets and Search User Behavior) on day one left a really bad taste in my mouth, and also contributed to my poor experience on day one as compared to day two.
The two presentations (which actually shared some of the same slides) made me feel like I was sitting through a sales presentation, and after being promised a free vacation I was just starting to realize the horrible mistake I had made. One of the biggest problems I had with the presentations was that they seemed to be pushing Ad Center by slagging the competition. The Search User Behavior presentation was like a bad Michael Moore documentary where we heard some partial truths (MSN Live traffic converts to sales at a higher % than Google and Yahoo), while important facts that put things into perspective (like Google and Yahoo holding over 70% of total searches vs. MSN’s 12% or so) were conveniently forgotten.
Naturally, when you are starting an SEM campaign depending on your (or your client’s) goals and product… one network may be a better fit than another. Or you may even need all three. What it boils down to is, when you make thinly veiled jabs at your competition as a panelist who has been put into a position of trust in a public venue such as this, it makes your company look small and petty - not one of the most successful companies in the world with a viable SEM platform. Unfortunately, as of right now the two presentations aren’t up on the SES website yet. I would like to compare the two, to see just how similar they were. It was really the second presentation that sticks out most in my mind here, so the first one may have been colored negatively by it.
Flash forward to day two, I’m sitting in “Are You Findable? Relevancy and the Big Picture”, and I’m literally sweating in my seat, dreading the presentation to be given by Jason Dailey (ok, I admit it, I was making nasty little notes about MS to myself in the margins of my note pad). My expectations couldn’t have been more wrong! The presentation was not only informative, but entertaining. He didn’t even mention Yahoo or Google, which in retrospect is the way to go. If you mention your competition, I’m going to think about them even if you’re trying to portray them in a negative light.
I feel like I should have some profound statement or truth after all that I’ve typed, but it really comes down to the basics. If you slag your competition and use a venue you’ve been given to teach as a method to push your product a little too hard, you are going to alienate people.
Good Profits.
