Welcome Home, Pa'lante!

Today, I finished the conversion of MC Dondees, to yours truly.  It feels good to step out from behind the curtain.  The myriad reasons why we did it, shall remain locked in the past.  MC Dondees was a bad joke taken to the extreme.

Culebra, PR

For, good or worse, writing as MC Don Dees allowed me to rant about everything we learned about founding technology in Puerto Rico.  We thought we going to make a difference, and we did, but never in a way that we could actually monetize our traffic.

In the end, the concept of an Internet advertising startup based in Puerto Rico will always be sentenced  to a life of starvation.  I guess good, old Bob Davila from EnterPRize, knew it from the beginning.  The evidence eventually proved him right.

Even today, the non-existence of an Internet Advertising industry in Puerto Rico is astonishing.  Furthermore, the complete lack of search engine marketing is even more perplexing.  WTF? Search Engine Marketing is the most effective form of direct advertising ever invented.  Why would anyone NOT want to do it?

We're in the top ten on Puerto Rico Tourism

"Puerto Rico: Shit or get off the pot" has been popping up in my Google searches for Puerto Rico Tourism, which is cool, I guess.

Number 9 & 10 on my search*

* of source, with personalization in Google's PageRank formula your results may very. Especially if you're sharing you're browsing history with them. Then it becomes very unlikely that we could get the same results, even if we do the same search.

GFR Media Group Formed to Manage El Nuevo Dia and Primera Hora

A new media company has been created to manage the two biggest newspapers in Puerto Rico as part of a restructuring move.

The editor of El Nuevo Dia and Primera Hora says both papers will continue to be published under the format of their current print and digital editions.

Maria Luisa Ferre Rangel said Wednesday that the sales, advertising, human resources and other departments at both papers will not undergo any changes either.

But she said an internal news agency will be created as part of the restructuring move to produce news 24 hours a day for unspecified local media sites.

Ferre will oversee operations at the newly created GFR Media Group. Newspaper officials said they would release more information Thursday.

Analysis

Considering the depression the Puerto Rico market has been in for the last 12 years, this new company might be an attempt to pull together the diverse assets of El Nuevo Dia and Primera Hora to consolidate their respective values. I've heard that the Ferre Rangel family has wanted to sell the papers for a long time.

On the other hand, I'd like to remind everyone of the stranglehold that this new company has on local advertising spending. With over 65% of the local ad spending, this new company has solid short term earnings potential.

We should also recall that GFR Media Group is deeply integrated in the advertising agency monopoly that has so far successfully stunted the growth of Internet marketing in Puerto Rico. Please remember that Puerto Rico is unlike the United States, where television is the leading beneficiary of advertising spending and Internet Marketing is > 9%. In Puerto Rico, Internet Marketing is not even it's own category, with < 1%. Of the Internet Marketing happening in Puerto Rico, I assure you, GFR Media Group has an even bigger percentage due to their collusion with the advertising community.

Conclusion

El Nuevo Dia has been aggressively trying to replace the revenue lost to the free online classified advertising web sites. Just within the last five years they have launched InfoPaginas.com, a printed telephone book, and an online e-store. If were running GFR Media Group, I would be very worried. They've been able to survive the declining revenues that have claimed many local newspapers, however, the outlook does not look good.

I don't believe the vise-like grip that the duopoly of GFR Media Group and the local advertising agencies can hold back the self-service, convenience, and cost-effectiveness of Internet Marketing. Once the Internet Marketing dam breaks, I believe GFR Media Group will bleed red ink like it's been shot in the femoral artery. So if I were running GFR Media Group, I would slap a ton of lipstick on this pig and sell it as quickly as possible.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: Travis Lawton

Growing Impatience Changing Search Behavior

I hope that by now, the importance of search engine optimization is starting to sink in. (Or for those of you out there, who despise the apparent random combination of verbs and adverbs we in the tech community use, getting your web site to appear at the top of search results.) And it seems obvious why that you would want your web site to appear as high in the search results as possible, but just how important is it? Well, Don Don is going to tell you how important...

According to a study conducted by Jupiter Research in April 2008, the number of users who looked at only the first few results or the first page of search engine results increased between 2002 and 2008, while those looking at the second, third or further pages reduced in number.

In the study the researchers found that over 40% of searchers limited themselves to only the first page of search results (the first ten results). Further, the study also found that over 25% of the searchers only looked at the first few results, or what the industry calls the results displayed "above the fold".

The "above the fold" term is a carry over from newspapers, it referred to the news and headlines that were included at the top of the first page and still visible if the newspaper was folded in half. On the Internet, the term applies to the top portion of the page that is displayed when the web page first appears without having to scroll down. In Google, this usually means the first five or maybe six search results.

The study also reports that the number of searchers that try a new query after only viewing the first page of results has increased from 14% in 2002 to 26% in 2008. Which correlates to a continuing decline in the number of searchers looking at the second or third page of results. The searchers looking at the first two pages of search results fell from nearly 25% of all searchers to just over 15%. In addition, the percentage of searchers looking at the first three pages fell from around 10% to almost 5%

Conclusion

As the Internet evolves, search engines continue to grow in importance, but according to Jupiter Research searchers are growing more impatient. This matches up exactly with what I spoke of earlier, the conclusion of Dr. Jakob Nielson, who said: "Now, when people go online they know what they want and how to do it."

This study points to two possible options for web site owners who want to aim for the highest search results possible. The first alternative is to work diligently on your web site to make it appealing to search engines (readable by search engines, focus, frequently updated, and well linked to) or what the industry refers to as improving your organic search result (search engine optimization). The other option is to jump on the search engine marketing bandwagon and pay for keyword advertising on the major search engines. That's it! Without either of these two options, the chances of someone finding your company or your products, is small, and getting smaller every day.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: rileyroxx

Search Engines Rule The Web

One of the original voices in the wilderness clamoring for simpler web pages, smaller or no images, and improved usability was Dr. Jakob Nielson. His book, "Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity" is the number-one best-selling book ever about user interfaces, with more than a quarter million copies in print in 22 languages.

Recently he discussed the latest report on web habits with the BBC News. In the story he makes clear what we've been trying to tell anyone who will listen: "Basically, search engines rule the web."

Initial Search Engine Usage Rises

According to the story, in 2004, when starting an Internet session, 60% of people conducted a search first and then used a deep link that took them directly to a page or destination inside a site. In 2008, said Dr. Nielsen, that percentage has risen to 75%. Let me try stating that just a little bit clearer: Today, the first thing 3 out of 4 people do when using the Internet is complete a search.

Dr. Nielson believes that people are becoming much less patient when they go online. Instead of lingering on websites, many users want to reach a site quickly, complete a task and leave. According to Nielson: "Now, when people go online they know what they want and how to do it."

Conclusion

If you're not on the supermarket shelf, you won't sell any products. That's the metaphor we've been drilling home to people. The Internet is a supermarket, so if 75% find what they want in the supermarket by using a search, and if your company, product, or service doesn't show up on the first page of search results in the three major search engines, then your company, product, or service doesn't exist.

Dr. Nielson's perspective on what the web should look like.