Google print closed last month. Somehow I missed it, though ironically from the sound of the post, I think I may have been one of the biggest customers of the site.
I started using it last fall to test some advertising ideas for my firm, and it was a brilliant interface. My needs were somewhat unique, in that I had basically equal interest in using any newspaper across the entirety of several different states– I was only interested in getting state-resident eyeballs on my ad for my purposes.
The website was set up to bid in CPCI or CPM, which I learned is cost per column-inch, or cost per thousand impressions. For my purposes, it was very convenient to use. The minimum bid was 20% of listed ad rates, I believe, and my initial bid was usually at that level. It was a lowball bid, but 1. nobody pays retail, right? and 2. I figured at least a few might get picked up. I was right, as I did get many ads run at 20% listed retail rates, and was willing to negotiate from there.
The website was a little clunky, and I assume it would have continued to develop over time. My biggest frustration was that occasionally I would try to submit a bid and get caught in a loop where it would tell me there was a problem with my form, scram out the contents of my form, and cause me to fill out a long ass form over and over. I worked it all out though.
What didn’t work out was the deep-seated douchebaggery of the newspapers I dealt with. Some were great (The Clarion-Ledger in Mississippi was excellent– professionals all around) but most were absolutely awful. If I was fortunate enough to have them even decline my bid (many just let them float out there in cyberspace), most refused to respond to repeated emails. Those that did respond were insolent at best. The worst were ones that accepted my bid, then didn’t run some or all of the expected ads. Sometimes the tearsheets simply were never uploaded– I wonder if the ads never ran or the papers were too screwed up to bill me properly.
I didn’t feel like a sincere customer looking to explore the print world and discover the wonders of newspaper advertising. I felt like the newspapers hated me for even assuming I could challenge their carefully developed, exorbitant retail pricing. Bottom line– I had a horrible experience and I spit on the grave of the newspaper industry. I guess they’ll just have to to the best they can without me. I may be small potatoes, but I think I’ll have the last laugh– I’ve chuckled as I’ve watched newspapers crumble or go online.
Maybe the newspaper is just screwed– the buggy whip manufacturer of the 21st century. Just read about Kindles and the NYT! But if print is a sinking ship, I feel like these jokers are dropping submersible pumps over the side and spraying water into their holds. If it was one or two papers that treated me like crap, I would understand… but it was probably 80%. You won’t catch me advertising in newspapers again– postcards are looking like the way to go.
In the “Google print” equation, the Google was fine… the print part was screwed up.
I love this song. It’s something about her voice, combined with the power of her lyrics (she wrote this one) that really makes this a classic for me. It’s so uncommon for someone to be graciously jealous of someone else– if more people were, the world would be a much more understanding place.
Verse 1
You’re the lucky one so I’ve been told
Free as the wind blowindown the road
Loved by many, hated by none
I’d say you were lucky cause I know what you’ve done
Not a care in the world not a worry in sight
Everything’s going to be all right
Cause you’re the lucky one
Verse 2
You’re the lucky one always havinfun
A jack of all trades a master of none
You look at the world with a smiling eye
And laugh at the devil as his train rolls by
Just give you a song and a one-night stand
And you’ll be looking at a happy man
Cause you’re the lucky one
Chorus
Were you blessed? I guess
By never knowinwhich road you’re choosing
To you the next best thing to playinand winning
Is playinand losin
Verse 3
You’re the lucky one I know that now
Don’t ask you why when where or how
You look at the world through your smilineye
And laugh at the devil as his train rolls by
Just give you a song and a one-night stand
And you’ll be looking at a happy man
Cause you’re the lucky one
Chorus
Verse 4
You’re the lucky one I know that now
Don’t ask you why when where or how
No matter where you’re at is where you’ll be
You can bet your luck won’t follow me
Just give you a song and a one-night stand
And you’ll be looking at a happy man
Cause you’re the lucky one.
just reading the lyrics might not do it– try listening to the song:
[Doug comes into the Sidewinder without a shirt on]
Doug: What’s up, Josh? Give me two packs of cigarettes today. Working overtime: Sixteen hours.
[Puts malt liquir bottle on the counter]
Doug: And nature’s nectar, wake-up juice. And give me six of these beef jerkys. I’m hungry enough to chew the crotch out of a rag doll.
[Sidewinder Boss spots him]
Sidewinder Boss: Hey. Hey. How many times do I have to tell you? No shirt, no service. Get the hell out of my store. What do you think this is, Club Med?
Doug: It’s called America, dude. Learn the rules.
Sidewinder Boss: “Learn the rules?” No, YOU learn the rules. We Greeks invented democracy.
Doug: You also invented homos.
Sidewinder Boss: Fuck you.
Doug: You wish. You gotta buy me dinner first.
I thought this was a cutting edge theory, not something that could be happening right now. It seems like below freezing temps would be the worst time to get the moisture out of the clouds, but evidently I’m not thinking Chinese. I just hope they picked the children’s toys out of the hazardous chemicals before they fall from the sky, or else they might hurt someone.
I don’t totally agree, but this post causes me to again bask in the wonder of free content like this drifting around on the internets for the taking. I love you, The Internets.
I really have to agree with this post. I have long believed that abortion is unequivocally killing a human life, any way you look at it. Now, sometimes that is justified– AnarchAngel talks about the killing as OK, if the life didn’t evolve of free will. I’ve never had much use for the concept of free will. I would take it a step further and say that maybe it should be legal for even those that make bad choices and get pregnant. I just want people to call a spade a spade. People who have abortions are saying “this human life is too inconvenient for me to birth and raise,” and for them to shroud that decision in some kind of syntax implying the baby was not a human life is just plain stupid.
I think that’s the point of the “forced ultrasound” legislation proposed– to make people understand that they harbor a human life inside them. This concept that fetuses aren’t humans reminds me of laws regarding African slaves as not deserving of citizenship– or even a place in humanity, be it for voting purposes or constituionally recognized (not constitutionally granted, mind you) rights.
