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One of the surest ways to confirm your uber-geek status is to be able to solve riddles, puzzles, and other mental challenges. Google first made it’s mark in this world with their innovative recruiting billboards in the valley designed to drive techno-geeks to a secret URL to test their intellect in order to get a … Read more
There are few other industries that have suffered as much across the board as airlines in America. From bankruptcy to solvency to operational issues – flying domestically in the US is not what it used to be. There are news stories about 30 million bags being lost, service deteriorating, employees protesting, and airlines folding. Yesterday’s … Read more
Tagging is in right now. From a network for teens to Yahoo’s purchase of del.icio.us and Flickr … everyone in the industry is betting big on tagging. And why shouldn’t they? Search is no longer the only way to find information online. Jakob Nielson (the controversial usability guru) even categorized search engines as leeches. That … Read more
In times square this weekend, I spotted a long billboard with mathematical equations and schematic drawings along with the cryptic URL – www.beyondthedrawingboard.com. Unfortunately, a visit to the website delivers neither a new online community for tech geeks, nor an innovative new virtual drawing board for users to collaborate on. Instead, the site is nothing … Read more
I’m at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in New York and will be participating in a panel discussion tomorrow about agencies and search. The topic raises an interesting discussion about where search engine marketing should fit. Is it a PR activity? An advertising program? These are the questions that not only agencies are struggling with, … Read more
Every year there are lists of the best and worst ads from the Super Bowl – and usually I look at them with frustration because they have nothing to do with advertising effectiveness … just pure entertainment. Entertainment is fine, but it’s hard to imagine that any of the advertisers in the Super Bowl will … Read more
For clients new to search marketing, I have often explained the concept to them as "only paying for results." In effect, the beauty and sales proposition of search marketing has always been that you are only paying for clicks, and impressions are essentially free. I anticipate for many SEM professionals, this has also led to … Read more
Here’s a question. If you are a marketer trying to reach consumers, would you rather hit 500,000 people in one site, or use 1,000 different sites (with a readership of 500 unique people each) to reach the same number of individuals? Making the broad assumption that a higher majority of readers of smaller publications are … Read more
One of the biggest hurdles that online publishers have faced in trying to make money from content has been the lack of a single standard for micropayments. While services like Paypal have made strides in popularizing a form of digital cash, micropayments of less than 1 cent still remain impossible online. As a result, sites … Read more
Imagine if online media outlets only ran advertising that they agreed with? Of course, this level of censorship would never be tolerated (or legal), however blogs hold a special distinction when it comes to running advertising. As a blog owner, you have complete control over what ads you display. Unfortunately, the most prevalent form of … Read more
Non-Obvious Thinking is my latest book about the 4 secrets of becoming a non-obvious thinker - relesaed 10/01/2024.
Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator, founder of the Non-Obvious Company and the 3-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author of ten books.
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In addition to Non-Obvious Thinking, Rohit is the author of 10 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.
