I put Spottt up on my blog last Friday because I’ve seen it on a few other blogs and thought it might be a good idea to try. If it worked half as well as Entrecard for pulling in people to read then it would be worth the space. I read that I would have to wait up to 24 hours for my blog to be approved, so I waited patiently, but when Sunday afternoon rolled around I decided to start looking into the service a little more.
Since I was now looking for the banner, I noticed where most other sites had their Spottt advertisement displayed. Spottt “requires” that the banner be placed above the fold. Their specific definition is no more than 850px from the top of the page. I placed the banner within that limit but then started noticing that most sites with the Spottt banner were not displaying it within the top 850px. Right off the bat I’m disadvantaged because the way it is supposed to work is that you receive advertising on other people’s sites based on how much you in turn advertise locally. People are much more likely to look at or click on an advertisement that is placed above the fold.
On Monday they finally approved my site and started running advertisements. I was clicking through my site to get to the admin page this evening and noticed that there was a scantily clad woman on the ad. I refreshed the screen and up popped a second scantily clad woman. Now TechByPC is not specifically family oriented, but it isn’t anti-family either, and I have no intention of offending any of my guests by displaying a picture of a woman that might offend some. I went over to my wife’s blog and checked it out there as well since I had requested hers be added at the same time. Similar advertising was being shown. Well, they just lost me.
I really thought Microsoft had some clue where they were going with those Seinfeld advertisements, but it appears that they were just as clueless as the rest of us. It is sad really. I was hoping for some of those “Oh, I get it!” moments as the advertisements continued. Instead we get a failed advertisement campaign similar to the failed Vista launch. What is Microsoft doing correctly these days?
The one thing that I hope was a good move was partnering with Packet 8. As Vonage tanks due to overwhelming debt, Packet 8 continues to rise as the VoIP leader. I hope the Vonage folks take a lesson from the Sunrocket debacle and start thinking about options to change their phones to another service NOW so that if it does happen you are prepared as much as you can be. When Sunrocket disappeared I was in the process of evaluating a free month of Packet 8 and so I got a jump start, but I know many people were burned pretty badly.
One day just suddenly, Sunrocket’s dissolution was reported all over the news. We didn’t get any warning from them at all. My reaction was this: My service was through Sunrocket and currently incoming phone calls are receiving a fast busy. We are still able to call out, but if you are trying to reach me you’ll need to know my cell phone number. I will get this switched soon. My primary choices are Packet8, or ViaTalk. ViaTalk has the most comprehensive feature package and has responded quickly to the news http://vtinside.com/blog.html but I am partial to Packet 8 because of it’s long-time existence and numerous VoIP patents.
My decision was made quickly: It is a tough decision to pick which provider to go with. Vonage is expensive and in trouble with Verizon so I’ve left them out. ViaTalk has the best feature set and great prices, but they say it will be 5-7 business days even with expedited processing and overnight shipping before I’ll see a device. Then I’ll still have to wait for the number to be ported. Packet 8 says they can port the number in 2-4 weeks, but this is their standard answer, and I have a feeling that it will be faster. ViaTalk is completely overwhelmed with people signing up for their service. Since this is likely to better than double their business, I am unsure if they are equipped to handle the onslaught, and expect that they can’t be far behind SunRocket in the going out of business club. Packet 8 on the other hand is a 20-year old communications company with dozens of patents regarding VoIP technology. I think they have the longest staying power of any VoIP provider out there besides cable companies and landline phone companies who also provide VoIP. I’m going with Packet 8. Call me on my cell phone until my number ports.
The 911 issue has always been a concern with VoIP – if the power goes out so does your 911 service. Well, I use a UPS, but that doesn’t protect me from ISP outages or VoIP company outages. I feel secure with Packet 8 knowing that their company is making a profit.
Full Disclosure: I do own a few shares of Packet 8 common stock.
At 4 and a half minutes it runs a little long. Again it leaves me scratching my head and saying why. There was a brief reference to Bill Gates “connecting” a billion people, but otherwise it was just about connecting to normal people. This may be my last entry on the topic because I’m getting bored with it. I haven’t seen any of these advertisements on TV, although with my PVR I doubt I would, but 4.5 minutes is too long for a TV advertisement anyway. They must be mainly interested in the virual effect which I’m helping to promote.
I didn’t find it too humorous, although it does make a good point that there really is no normal family. We’re all weird and we all are eccentric in our own ways. If this is the purpose of the advertising then I’m impressed. I can’t help but wonder if Microsoft’s goal here is really to:
I took a look at Microsoft’s new ad featuring Jerry Seinfeld. Below is the advertisement, and if you haven’t seen it you might want to take a look before reading the rest of this.
Do you get it? I’m not sure I totally did, but I’m not sure that’s the point. What I found refreshing about this was that it didn’t talk about Apple in a negative way and it didn’t say anything as bold as the Mojave Experiment to challenge public opinion. What it did was, possibly, humanize Bill Gates. I mean here’s the richest guy in the world trying on a shoe. Do you think he has his shoes specially tailored for him? Did you? Yeah, he probably doesn’t. He has never been one to live large in spite of often being the richest person in the world.
I’m looking forward to the next advertisement in this series. I’d still buy a Mac if they weren’t at such a premium to a PC. A good advertisement is nice to see because so many advertisements just turn up the volume and say nothing interesting over and over again hundreds of times a day. Just the kind of thing to make TiVo and other DVRs more popular. This is the kind of advertisement that you might stop the fast forward to see.
If that’s what they were trying to accomplish then it worked.
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