Author Archives: markpilip

You’re Probably Laundering Oligarch Bucks

Posted on Monday, 16 December 2019 9:42 am

It seems the ad fraud perpetrated by the adtech industry on advertisers (by design) might help some other folks out. Like Russian oligarchs with their stolen loot. It is way easier to setup advertising networks to launder one’s stolen dollars … Continue reading →

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Killing the Paywall

Posted on Monday, 12 August 2019 7:56 am

Tom Goodwin’s recent article, “Why making content on the internet free was our biggest mistake… and how to fix it” is required reading for all marketers in publishing. I’ve felt this way for a long time. Mr. Goodwin only wrote … Continue reading →

Posted in digital marketing, Leadership, Marketing, Media, Strategy, Tactics | Tagged , , , ,

D-Day

Posted on Thursday, 6 June 2019 9:15 am

It’s pitch black, 00:16 hours and you’ve just crash-landed near Caen. You’re in hostile territory, lost, and some of your comrades are already dead and wounded. You’re just 20 years old and have never been in combat. So began D-Day … Continue reading →

Posted in Leadership | Tagged , , , , ,

USPS 3685 and the State of Marketing

Posted on Tuesday, 23 April 2019 7:00 am

Sometimes reading the USPS-required Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation (form 3685) can reveal a lot about the state of one’s industry. As a direct marketing and postal junkie, I find USPS forms fascinating. (I don’t get out much.) I … Continue reading →

Posted in Data, Education, Marketing, Strategy | Tagged , , ,

First Mile Problems

Posted on Thursday, 18 April 2019 7:30 am

I was recently interviewed by Tim Furey, CEO of MarketBridge, on The Last Mile Podcast. Among our discussion of SAC, CAC, LTV, ROI, other three-letter acronyms, we also spent time on “first mile” marketing problems. As a practicing performance/direct response … Continue reading →

Posted in Direct Response, Marketing, Media, Philosophy, Rants, Strategy, Tactics | Tagged , , ,

At the End

Posted on Wednesday, 6 March 2019 11:07 am

When my brother-in-law passed away early Sunday, his wife was by his side. I hope to be as lucky. Godspeed, John. Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged | 3 Comments

Buy direct

Posted on Sunday, 10 February 2019 1:14 pm

There’s only one correct way to buy ads, and that’s direct from the publisher. If you buy any other way you’ll pay too much in adtech tax or get scammed buying something that’s not what you think it is. Probably … Continue reading →

Posted in digital marketing, fraud, Media | Tagged ,

Ads on blogs

Posted on Monday, 26 November 2018 9:24 am

I just had a chance to check my blog. Here’s the type of quality ad that gets served on blogs like mine. Do you know if the creative is automatically generated by some brilliant AI? Or have you ever really … Continue reading →

Posted in digital marketing, Direct Response, Marketing, Media, Tactics | Tagged , , , , , , ,

Ads back on temporarily

Posted on Friday, 9 November 2018 9:57 am

I just turned the WordPress WordAds monetization tool back on. Doing a little test.

Posted in Uncategorized

2.8 billion years of evolution, down the drain

Posted on Tuesday, 23 October 2018 8:40 am

Someday, as expressed in this article by Shelly Palmer, AI and technology will be so good it will be impossible to tell truth from fakes. In other words, we won’t be able to trust our eyes and ears any more. … Continue reading →

Posted in fraud, Marketing, Media | Tagged , , , , , ,