How the iPad Changed My Life :)

I don't want to be overdramatic or 'overplay' this but dad-gummit the iPad has changed my life!  130 days in and I still can't believe how amazing this device is.  I have always had lots of technology toys in my life.  From the Casio Telememo watch to the Palm Pilot to the Treo smartphone, I've had them all!  So why has the iPad created such a stir?  There are three things it does extremely well that have literally changed the way I work and live.

First, I love to read... I consistently read three newspapers, six magazines, dozens of blogs, Twitter posts and Facebook updates.  (Not to mention about a book a month!)  Suffice to say I am an avid reader.  The iPad has changes where, when and how I can read.  I subscribe to the Wall St. Journal for the iPad.  It is a great app, easy to update, simple to read and can go anywhere.  For blog reading I love the Pulse app... it makes reading blogs easy and moves quickly between an extract and the full post on the web.  Flipboard is a new app that makes everything look and feel like a magazine.  I use it for reading Twitter and Facebook posts, as well as some magazines.  (I'm hoping that Flipboard and Pulse merge, that would be the perfect reader!)  Instapaper is an incredible app that allows you to "read later" any story you find online.  I recommend it highly.  All in all, I have become a more productive reader with the iPad.

The second aspect of the iPad I am amazed by is the business functionality.  I travel a lot and have found that the iPad is almost a complete replacement for my laptop.  I recently was in NYC and had 14 meetings with friends and investors discussing a new company I've been helping.  In each meeting all I had was my iPad and Moleskine calendar.  I simply fired up the Keynote app, set my iPad on the table and stepped through the deck page by page.  It was seamless and made for great conversation.  From calendar to email to presentations, spreadsheets and documents it does it all.  The single downside today is the inability to easily print.  Surely Apple will fix this soon.  (Side note, I can now type about 80% of the speed of my laptop, not bad!)  I have also begun taking meeting notes into my iPad using Notepad Pro.  It is a very handy app and makes meeting recaps quick and easy.

Finally, I love the apps!  It has huge entertainment and information value.  I watch streaming movies and TV shows from Nexflix.  I play Words with Friends with my son (and consistently lose!).  There are incredibly functional apps including TripIt, Amazon, Maps, Skype, Flixter, Yelp, Redbox, Starbucks and NYCWay to name a few of my favorites.  I even manage my accounts from my iPad... in fact, just about everything I need is right there in the 10" by 7 1/2" little pad.  I have found myself taking it just about everywhere.  Yes, I have an iPhone too but the size and comfort level of reading the iPad makes it a must have when I am out and about.  It is lightweight and not at all a burden to carry around.  I can't imagine leaving home without it!

So if you don't have an iPad I suggest you get one.  Try out a friends for a day and you'll see what I mean.  I know there are imitators on the way.  That will be a good thing in the same way that iPhone imitators have brought better functionality in it as well.  It is a rare occurance in my life when anything exceeds my expectations.  As I sat on my porch on April 3rd waiting for the UPS truck to arrive I was already excited.  Now, 130 days into being an iPad owner, I continue to be blown away and I predict  you will be too!

Tom Cuthbert

iPad Pre-ordering Fun

This morning at 7:30 AM, I stopped what I was doing and logged onto the Apple site using my iPhone.  I zipped into the Apple store and  pre-ordered my iPad, a 32g Wi-Fi model.  Sure, I thought about joining the club and camping out overnight at the Apple store on April 2nd (with hundreds of other dorks!) so I could get mine sooner.  But alas... I chose to simply sit on my porch all day long on April 3rd and wait for the Fedex truck.

Apple's device has been called the, "Most eagerly awaited tablet since Moses delivered the Ten Commandments".  I have to say, it's been awhile since I've been this excited about a new product release.  So why and I so pumped about the iPad?  Simple... for me, I believe it is a game changer.

There are three aspects of a Apple tablet product that I believe will change things.  First, portability.  I always travel with my laptop.  Over the years I graduated from a Treo to an iPhone (like jumping from kindergarten to grad school!) and still a laptop is a must have for most business travelers.  The iPad will fit perfectly size-wise between a phone and a laptop.  Throw in a portable keyboard and poof, you have a computer well-suited for business travel.  It will be ideal for everything from email and spreadsheets to games and movies, all in a compact, portable size.

Secondly, the newspaper and magazine industry should be thrilled that they will soon be able to distribute their content digitally.  I know Amazon has the Kindle and numerous others have  e-readers that do this now.  But Apple has figured out how to digitally dominate music and they will do the same with "print'.  I wrote recently about the "Future of Newspapers" and noted that this is an industry in transition.  The seemingly easy to read iPad will make newspaper content more relevant, timely and easier to access.  It also will launch the micro-payment industry.

Finally, the iPad will set the bar significantly higher for entry laptops.  I imagine that these devices will become staples for students (the textbook possibilites are enormous), older folks who want the simplicity of an Apple product for a low price and travelers.  The idea of being able to do the "basics" (email, video, music, pictures) all in one $500 device has mass market appeal.

I really didn't see the need for 3g... I will always have my iPhone with me and Wi-Fi is pretty ubiquitous between Starbucks, hotels, airports and even some airplanes.  Plus I am already paying AT&T for 3g access and don't want to fork out more.

So if you are looking for me on April 3rd... I'll curled up in the corner of my porch, waiting for my iPad :)

Tom Cuthbert

Surfing at 32,000 ft.

Yesterday I flew back on American from New York to Texas. Even though I have a bazillion miles on AA,  I have been avoiding them like the plague the last few years (don't get me started!).  These days I prefer Southwest or JetBlue... friendlier people, newer planes and convenient routes.  But on this trip, AA made sense so off I went.

I have to say, I was somewhat giddy when I saw the friendly "Wi-Fi Onboard" sign!  As soon as allowed (ok, maybe a few minutes before) I logged on to GoGo (the provider) paid my $8 and started surfing.  The connection was flawless.  I checked email, posted to Twitter, checked in on Foursquare, sent text messages via Google Voice, browsed the news online and recorded a fascinating live video of me and my box of raisins!  I wanted to try Skype but the terms of service clearly stated no voice over IP calls.  Yeah, so anyway I can confirm it works too!

While I was mostly goofing off, the ability to have Wi-Fi in flight is a game changer from a communication and productivity perspective.  Business travelers spend a lot of time sitting on airplanes and honestly I find that time generally pretty productive. The price of $8 for a 3 1/2 hour flight is reasonable and the connection was quite stable.

My only complaint is that while you can share the service between mobile devices (although not simultaneously), you cannot switch between a mobile device and a laptop.  Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but it would be nice.  Considering the airline industry is struggling to grow revenue, Wi-Fi is a potential gold mine.  I feel a lot better about paying $8 for internet access than $10 for a cold, stale turkey sandwich!

Happy flying!

Tom Cuthbert

Full and fair disclosure:  I own Southwest Airlines (LUV) stock and am long.

Netflix Movie Streaming Hookup

My dad is a smart cookie!  As a PhD Electrical Engineer and published author, he knows his stuff when it comes to technology.  For Christmas, I got him a Roku Video Player to connect to his Netflix service.  I asked him to write a blog about his experience and I'm happy to have him as a guest blogger on my site.  (Looks like my gift was a success!)  His post is below... thanks dad!

Netflix Movie Streaming Hookup

It is easy to select from more than 17,000 movies to view on your TV if you have a high-speed Internet connection for both a Personal Computer and a Digital Video Player. The cost is just a little more than $100 up front and $9/month. My son, Tom III, asked me to describe my recent experience creating such a setup. Several alternative ways of doing this are described at:

http://www.netflix.com/GetStartedStreamingInstantly

A Roku Video Player was a Christmas gift from my son, but it can be bought from Amazon.com by searching there with keywords “Roku HD Player” to find it available for $99.99 plus shipping. It is a small box with separate power supply that connects to a TV using the included composite audio/video cables or by connecting to the S-Video or HDMI high-definition jacks to get better picture quality.

The Roku Player also must connect to the Internet by either Ethernet cable or by its built-in Wi-Fi if you have a wireless local area network (LAN). You can sign up for Netflix’s cheapest option of $8.99 per month “1 DVD out at-a-time (Unlimited)” with a menu of 100,000 rented movies and TV shows on DVDs sent by mail, which also includes the Netflix "Watch Instantly" Internet streaming feature for more than 17,000 of those titles.

Activating Watch Instantly is easy by running Netflix.com on your PC while the Roku Player is connected to both the TV and Internet. The Roku Player comes with a small remote control, and the TV will show you a five-digit code, which you then enter on your PC using the Activate feature on the Netflix website. Any time after that you can add selected movies to your Netflix Instant Queue on the PC. Movies that can be streamed to your TV are marked with a small blue Play button. That queue also appears on your Roku TV screen where you can select a movie to watch. Netflix will ask you by e-mail about picture quality when you watch your first streamed movie.

I chose to connect my Roku Player to one of the High Definition HDMI jacks on my Sony LCD TV. Because that port was already used for my DVD player, I bought additional accessories by searching Amazon using the following keywords (I also show their respective costs):

“HDMI cable 3 ft”   $3.13

“HDMI cable 6 ft”   $9.99

“Apogee HDMI 3x1 mini switcher”  $15.70

The small Apogee Switcher has one HDMI port to connect to the TV and three HDMI ports to connect to video devices, one being my Roku Player. The included remote control is not essential because the Player has a button to select one of the three video devices. It also has a smart select feature, which switches to the video device last turned on.  The Roku Player hookup with my Apple iMac PC and Airport Extreme base station worked flawlessly the first try.

Finally, current background information is available for these video-streaming systems. For example, search for the keywords “Netflix Watch Instantly” at: http://news.google.com. Netflix's streaming service could be endangered if broadband Internet providers should impose limits on heavy bandwidth applications like video. There have been reports of proposed bandwidth restraints that may be necessary without advances in digital network technology. My Cox Preferred cable download speed is about 12 megabits per second (Mbps) and streamed Netflix movies started in less than a minute and played smoothly with excellent picture quality.

A Typical DVD movie disk contains about 32,000 Mb. The Roku Player tests your Internet connection speed and delivers the TV resolution your connection can handle without interruption. Roku notes that speeds greater than 2.5 Mbps provide highest quality, and speeds less than 1.5 Mbps provide basic TV quality. Apparently terrestrial broadband Internet service is best for acceptable movie video streaming. Some satellite Internet providers limit the amount of download data to less than 3600 Mb downloaded in any 24-hour period.

Thomas R, Cuthbert, Jr.

Moving Forward by Stepping Back

In April of 2005 I sat at my usual corner table at Krispy Kreme donuts in San Antonio.  It had become my “thinking place” and every few weeks I would ponder life over a couple of donuts and a cup of coffee. I was reading a series of articles on the growing problem of “click fraud”.  Our former parent company, Optimal iQ, had recently found a group of fake clicks and we were intrigued by the problem.  Perhaps it was the highly caffeinated sugar rush but at that moment, I had an epiphany.  I realized the problem of click fraud was only going to get worse and more complex.  Measure this challenge against the rapid growth of search marketing and there was an opportunity staring me in the face.

Click Forensics was born in January of 2006 through the hard work of my co-founders and our dedicated team. We raised over $15,000,000 to solve a problem, execute a plan and lead the industry.  Today Click Forensics is the clear leader in traffic quality management. Our original vision was to “help ensure advertisers get what they pay for” and today that is exactly what we do.  I’m very proud of Click Forensics and excited about the opportunity to continue to serve and improve the online advertising community.

In June of last year I made the decision to begin my exit from the company.  Click Forensics is growing rapidly and developing cutting edge technology our competitors can’t touch.  My role has deliberately been changing over the last year and I feel I owed it to myself and my family to explore “what’s next” for me.  So last week, I formally stepped back to a board of director position.  I will continue to help the company in any way I can and remain an active advisor, board member and chairman of the Click Quality Council.

As I reflect on the last four years or so of our growth, there are eight things that come to mind that I am most proud of:

1. We raised awareness about click fraud – Sure we may have ruffled a few feathers when we launched our Click Fraud Index ™ in the spring of 2006, but those numbers caused everyone to stand up and listen.  Google called us out in August of that year and dismissed the problem of click fraud as insignificant, claiming their own efforts to stop it were "reasonable".  The problem was hugely significant and no standards existed to stop it.  Something had to be done so we took the lead.  With the support of the advertising community, we “encouraged” Google to take the problem seriously and listen.


2. We brought “both sides to the table – No one wanted to talk about the problem of click fraud in 2006.  We recognized that solving this problem was in the interest of everyone in the advertising ecosystem.  We worked hard to listen to advertisers and work with search engines to develop sustaining solutions that are communally beneficial.


3. We built a bridge – In a groundbreaking partnership with Yahoo!, we built the FACTr™ system (Fully Automated Click Tracking and Reconciliation).  FACTr allows advertisers to communicate directly to the ad providers via Click Forensics.  Yahoo! led the way and by the fall of 2007, Looksmart, Google and others followed suit.


4. We saved advertisers money – Our tools and insight are effective in identifying unwanted traffic and allow an advertiser to work with the ad provider to get what they pay for.  Hundreds of customers have used our technology to find click fraud and improve their campaign ROI.


5. We led the charge for standards – Working closely with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and dozens of online advertising companies we developed standards that were released in June of last year.  It was a team effort from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Click Forensics and many others.  The result is a document that can be built upon for years to come.


6. We worked with some of the best – Our customer list includes industry-leading advertisers like Vegas.com, Progressive Insurance, Experian and EBay.  On the ad network side our clients include leaders like Adknowledge, Turn, Yahoo! and Lycos.  The relationships I have made through customers, partner companies and industry leaders means a lot to me (even Shuman!).  The online advertising industry is vibrant and growing.  Some of the brightest people I have ever been associated make this industry great.


7. We caught click fraud – We have an incredible team of scientists, engineers and developers. Many of them have PhD’s and tremendous industry experience.  We have put their knowledge to work by innovating ahead of the fast moving bad guys.  One example of this is our identification of the “Bahama Botnet”, an organized group of fraudsters using a highly sophisticated approach.  Our discovery of this (subsequently alerting Microsoft, Yahoo! and Google) saved advertisers from paying for these clicks.  Additionally, it forced the bad guys to change their approach.


8. We changed online advertising… for good – The work that we have done and continue to do is meant to have a sustaining effect on online advertising.  Improving traffic quality in real time means that publishers and ad networks can send out highly qualified clicks to advertisers and enhance trust.  This relationship, built on standards and delivered on quality, will accelerate the growth of online advertising for years to come.  We are proud to play an important part in the ecosystem.

I have enjoyed the opportunity afforded me to play a role in our company and the industry.  I'm deeply appreciative of the support, encouragement and hard work from our employees, partners and board of directors.  It's been an amazing five year ride!

And so now I look ahead.  Currently, I’m enjoying an “entrepreneurial sabbatical” to consider options and explore opportunities over the next few months.  I’m enjoying time with friends and family, traveling and learning about new businesses.  I’m keeping busy by consulting with an advertising technology company, joined the advisory board of an NBA agent firm and of course reading, writing and learning.  At some point, I’ll head back to Krispy Kreme.  There are an unlimited supply of donuts, coffee and problems to solve.  I can’t wait~

Tom Cuthbert

Click Fraud Gets Slicker

Andy Greensberg of Forbes has written about the problem of click fraud for years.  In fact it was Forbes who published a "debate" between Shuman Ghosemajumder of Google and me that helped set the record straight about discrepancies.  While the problem of click fraud has been widely covered by media outlets ranging from the Wall St. Journal to Search Engine Watch, Forbes (and Greenberg) have always been on the leading edge.

This is still the case today as Andy wrote and excellent piece on the problem titled, "Google Faces The Slickest Click Fraud Yet."  The article focuses on the work of Harvard professor Ben Edelman.  Ben's site (www.benedelman.org) is an impressive compilation of research and reports on a wide range of topics with a focus on spyware, click fraud and online advertising.

The article highlights "a new form of click fraud that accomplishes what online fraud watchdogs might have once thought impossible: a scam that not only simulates valid clicks on a Google ad sold to an advertiser, but seems to result in a real customer who spends money on the advertiser's site."  This is the worst case scenario for an advertiser and Edelman is right on in his method of identifying the threat.  While this approach is limited in it's ability to scale, it is the most significant finding since Click Forensics identified the "Bahama Botnet".

I applaud the work of Ben Edelman and others as well as Andy and the folks at Forbes for continuing to shine the light on this ongoing problem for our industry.  For over four years now, we have been on a mission to "ensure advertisers get what they pay for".  As long as Google lacks transparency, there will be click fraud.  Ben ends by saying, "Google owes its advertisers something better than that."  I agree and we need more guys like Ben to help hold their feet to the fire.

Tom Cuthbert