Last May, after 6 great years at UBM – and a decade helping legacy media businesses adapt to a new reality defined by the Internet – I decided to step back. I wanted to really explore the trends that continue to reshape media, marketing and technology before deciding what to do next. Over the past [...]
Historically I’ve not invested in individual stocks, particularly tech-related stocks. Given my background running technology media companies I’ve followed the policy that if you have responsibility for editorial operations, you don’t trade in the stocks of companies your media brands cover. I’ve always analyzed the value of tech companies however: their market positioning, their product [...]
Never has something so valuable been worth so little. Never in the history of media has a still new medium had the vast majority of its inventory valued at zero. Such is the state of online advertising. The latest click-through rates for online media sit at .09%. Given that click-through rates serve as the foundation [...]
After a decline of over 11% in 2009, the US advertising industry grew at the anemic rate of 2.8% last year. Estimates for 2012 are in the same range. But with two major events that are historically drivers of high advertising spending — a presidential election and the Olympics — slated for 2012, the lack [...]
For the last 6 years I have led a team that has transformed a declining print-centric business into a fast-growing $200 million digital media, live event and marketing services behemoth, otherwise known as UBM TechWeb. It has been an extraordinary experience and one that I’m immensely proud of. I’ve made the difficult decision that this [...]
Fifteen minutes after the first Tweet stating that the US military had found and killed Osama Bin Laden, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was struggling on air. Blitzer could only react to what he (and everyone else) was reading on Twitter. For an excruciating amount of time Blitzer repeatedly explained that they couldn’t verify the reports. At [...]
A newspaper was always so much more to its readers than a printed page full of news. It was the place that provided local, regional, national and international news. It was also at the center of your universe, your community. It was a breakfast routine. It was utilitarian as well as informational. Unfortunately, everything that [...]
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last week, you have likely heard all about Google’s latest step into social networking, Google+. I received my invitation to test the Beta version last week and have spent some time with the platform. For Uphoff On Media readers who haven’t yet received an invitation please [...]
The LinkedIn IPO has generated a ton of debate in Internet, investing, technology and media circles. Some like stock analyst Jim Cramer think the nearly $8B + valuation is “ridiculous” and “outrageous”, and potentially a sign of another “Internet Bubble”. Others like business writer and former analyst Henry Blodget think the rapid rise in LinkedIn’s stock [...]
There’s been a ton of debate over the value, or lack thereof, of “content farms”. The company Demand Media has served as a lightning rod in the debate drawing both ire and praise from media pundits and investors. If you’re not familiar with Demand Media and other content farm operations, the model is based on generating cheap [...]
