Dreamer
November 16th, 2006, 03:52 PM
YMMSS and STA has only been able to survive based on hype. Everything that they claim they were doing was going to be bigger then anything out there. STAuctions was going to be bigger then eBay, they were going to be bigger then microsoft, google, the world. The problem with that is its so far fetched its impossible to succeed. Why do you need to be bigger and better then eBay? You dont. You can create a similiar auction site that caters to a certain group of people and be very successful at it. Not because what you are doing is better, but maybe one single aspect you are doingis better and you can get a clientelle that way.
But the past is the past. Its auction site was substandard and just a cookie cutter site designed probably to get kim to sell some spaces at the lodge. As an advertising business it is a failure, and as it is currently being handled will always be a failure, simply because there is too much competition out there that can do a better job then them for cheaper or free. As a banner site, they were probably doing things illegial.
But, they claim to have PPUV. They've been testing it and testing it and testing it, non stop. Do they really have it? Of coruse I'm skeptical. I mean this is an advertising business, who do they have in their ranks that can write the code for PPUV? And, why are they even looking at PPUV when they are supposed to be an advertising business? Can you download you own version of PPUV and is that what STA has?
But, lets consider the unlikelness that they actually have this and it will work. There are 2 major hurdles they have to overcome. One they can, one they cant.
1. The one they cant - You cant patent/copywrite an idea. I'm sure Microsoft would love to patent the idea of a word processor, but they cant. I used to use Apple Works for the Apple IIe for word processing, and every unique concept, everything that seemed great eventually was found everywhere. You cant patent a spell checker or making text bold.
STA does not own IP addresses. So, just because it can graphically locate you based on your IP address isnt unique. And, just because it will only consider one click from you instead of 10 isnt unique either.
All it is is:
1. Identify IP address and locate user.
2. IF IP address is unique, within a given time frame, charge banner.
Now the concept is simple. Implimenting...I dont know.
But if they use it for their own site with 15,000 members, whats the chance one of those members lives within 25 miles from me, a potential advertiser? Very little. And, whats the chance if they did that they would click on my ad? Maybe high. But using STA for its members might net me 3 or 4 unique visitors locally. And, for small businesses all it takes is one new customer to really help out. But STA has 15,000 members all across the world. I might be better off just globablly advertising my business and pay for potential click fraud because that might bring in more business.
So, what they need to do, which is no suprise, is blanket the internet with their PPUV. Not 100 or 1000 popular websites. Think of the magnitude of doubleclick. Think higher. If every site that had a banner ad ran thru PPUV then that could be monumental.
But even at that magnitude, will it pay off? I'm sure there is a higher permium to advertise this way with PPUV and what percentage of those clicking on my banner will convert to a custoemr? Thats what STA will need to sell to businesses and websites. If the conversion from unique click to new customer is high, its a very easy sell to everybody. If its low then its a hard sell.
So, why is PPUV not rampant on the internet now? Is it really unique? I dont think so. I've seen for years websites giving me banners with my current city in.
Why wouldnt it work? It seems like it should. Well...this is the internet. You advertise to get your name out there and to get more customers. You want a world wide audiance, not a local one. A local newspaper ad will be seen by more people, cost alot less, and will be viewed by people who actually want to buy something. Maybe the something isnt your product, but if they are looking thru the ads they want to spend money.
And, there are better sites out there that can give local advertising new customers. I use the yellow pages online frequently to look for local businesses, and I expand my radius until I find what I am looking for. When I do this I want to spend money. I'm not looking at banners. I'm looking for something specific, not the local deli that is 10 miles away.
I think that is why PPUV isnt out there today because the concept is kind of backwards. But, maybe its just new, I dont know. So, lets consider that STA gets this on every single site out there and it becomes bigger then google, and STA considers buying google because they are making so much money.
Original point #2 - Profit sharing will not work. Lets say the first week they can pay $1,000 per WAC. Would anybody in their right mind not buy all the WACs (or whatever they are called) at that rate? What is that 10,000% ($10 - $1,000).
No matter how much STA is making with PPUV, there will be too many WACs out there that they will eventually become worthless like they are now. Thats just because there is no upper limit to the amount of WACs that can be sold. Wallstreet doesnt do this. The value of stocks are determined by the demand for them. This version of profit sharing the values are only determined by whos not buying them.
So, in order for PPUV to become successful, it must get it out to every single site out there, and it must cap the amount of WACs or RCs or whatever they are called and let people sell off theirs to other people.
But, I'm still a skeptic. I dont see this happening. I dont even think that STA has PPUV. And if they did, they are not serious business people but serious conmen so they wont beable to make it successful.
But the past is the past. Its auction site was substandard and just a cookie cutter site designed probably to get kim to sell some spaces at the lodge. As an advertising business it is a failure, and as it is currently being handled will always be a failure, simply because there is too much competition out there that can do a better job then them for cheaper or free. As a banner site, they were probably doing things illegial.
But, they claim to have PPUV. They've been testing it and testing it and testing it, non stop. Do they really have it? Of coruse I'm skeptical. I mean this is an advertising business, who do they have in their ranks that can write the code for PPUV? And, why are they even looking at PPUV when they are supposed to be an advertising business? Can you download you own version of PPUV and is that what STA has?
But, lets consider the unlikelness that they actually have this and it will work. There are 2 major hurdles they have to overcome. One they can, one they cant.
1. The one they cant - You cant patent/copywrite an idea. I'm sure Microsoft would love to patent the idea of a word processor, but they cant. I used to use Apple Works for the Apple IIe for word processing, and every unique concept, everything that seemed great eventually was found everywhere. You cant patent a spell checker or making text bold.
STA does not own IP addresses. So, just because it can graphically locate you based on your IP address isnt unique. And, just because it will only consider one click from you instead of 10 isnt unique either.
All it is is:
1. Identify IP address and locate user.
2. IF IP address is unique, within a given time frame, charge banner.
Now the concept is simple. Implimenting...I dont know.
But if they use it for their own site with 15,000 members, whats the chance one of those members lives within 25 miles from me, a potential advertiser? Very little. And, whats the chance if they did that they would click on my ad? Maybe high. But using STA for its members might net me 3 or 4 unique visitors locally. And, for small businesses all it takes is one new customer to really help out. But STA has 15,000 members all across the world. I might be better off just globablly advertising my business and pay for potential click fraud because that might bring in more business.
So, what they need to do, which is no suprise, is blanket the internet with their PPUV. Not 100 or 1000 popular websites. Think of the magnitude of doubleclick. Think higher. If every site that had a banner ad ran thru PPUV then that could be monumental.
But even at that magnitude, will it pay off? I'm sure there is a higher permium to advertise this way with PPUV and what percentage of those clicking on my banner will convert to a custoemr? Thats what STA will need to sell to businesses and websites. If the conversion from unique click to new customer is high, its a very easy sell to everybody. If its low then its a hard sell.
So, why is PPUV not rampant on the internet now? Is it really unique? I dont think so. I've seen for years websites giving me banners with my current city in.
Why wouldnt it work? It seems like it should. Well...this is the internet. You advertise to get your name out there and to get more customers. You want a world wide audiance, not a local one. A local newspaper ad will be seen by more people, cost alot less, and will be viewed by people who actually want to buy something. Maybe the something isnt your product, but if they are looking thru the ads they want to spend money.
And, there are better sites out there that can give local advertising new customers. I use the yellow pages online frequently to look for local businesses, and I expand my radius until I find what I am looking for. When I do this I want to spend money. I'm not looking at banners. I'm looking for something specific, not the local deli that is 10 miles away.
I think that is why PPUV isnt out there today because the concept is kind of backwards. But, maybe its just new, I dont know. So, lets consider that STA gets this on every single site out there and it becomes bigger then google, and STA considers buying google because they are making so much money.
Original point #2 - Profit sharing will not work. Lets say the first week they can pay $1,000 per WAC. Would anybody in their right mind not buy all the WACs (or whatever they are called) at that rate? What is that 10,000% ($10 - $1,000).
No matter how much STA is making with PPUV, there will be too many WACs out there that they will eventually become worthless like they are now. Thats just because there is no upper limit to the amount of WACs that can be sold. Wallstreet doesnt do this. The value of stocks are determined by the demand for them. This version of profit sharing the values are only determined by whos not buying them.
So, in order for PPUV to become successful, it must get it out to every single site out there, and it must cap the amount of WACs or RCs or whatever they are called and let people sell off theirs to other people.
But, I'm still a skeptic. I dont see this happening. I dont even think that STA has PPUV. And if they did, they are not serious business people but serious conmen so they wont beable to make it successful.