Need someone to lead product management at your software company? I create software for people that create software and I'm looking for my next opportunity. Check out my resume and get in touch.

This is the blog of Adam Kalsey. Unusual depth and complexity. Rich, full body with a hint of nutty earthiness.

News and Commentary

Google Ad Auction

Freshness Warning
This blog post is over 22 years old. It's possible that the information you read below isn't current and the links no longer work.

Mercury News | Google will let Web sites bid for higher rankings in ad listings: "Under a new feature scheduled to launch Tuesday night, the rankings of a search engine devoted to advertisers will be determined in part by how much Web sites offer to be listed in specific categories.

"The system lets Web sites raise their bids to increase their chances for higher placement on the section of Google’s site that’s devoted to sponsored links."

It’s not made entirely clear in this article, but Google does not intend to take money for search engine placement. This program is for the Sponsored Link section of their site. Sponsored Links are text ads that appear at the top of the listing in a shaded box.

What Google is doing is essentially auctioning off those ads instead of using a random rotation. The more money you pay to Google, the more often your ad will appear under the keywords you have bought.

Recently Written

Video calls using a networked camera (Sep 25)
A writeup of my network-powered conference call camera setup.
Roadmap Outcomes, not Features (Sep 4)
Drive success by roadmapping the outcomes you'll create instead of the features you'll deliver.
Different roadmaps for different folks (Sep 2)
The key to effective roadmapping? Different views for different needs.
Micromanaging and competence (Jul 2)
Providing feedback or instruction can be seen as micromanagement unless you provide context.
My productivity operating system (Jun 24)
A framework for super-charging productivity on the things that matter.
Great product managers own the outcomes (May 14)
Being a product manager means never having to say, "that's not my job."
Too Big To Fail (Apr 9)
When a company piles resources on a new product idea, it doesn't have room to fail. But failing is an important part of innovation. If you can't let it fail, it can't succeed.
Go small (Apr 4)
The strengths of a large organization are the opposite of what makes innovation work. Starting something new requires that you start with a small team.

Older...

What I'm Reading