10 reasons why Impnerd is wrong and CMF Ads will survive
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This is in response to a post over at impNERD dot com. Special thanks for Turnip of Power for answering some questions and clarifying some of the finer points surrounding CMF Ads.
1. Impnerd doesn't write a balanced review.
Aside from the errors throughout his post (which we'll get onto in a moment), Impnerd's review of CMF ADS has no value whatsoever. This is because he fails to provide a balanced view.
Some time ago when I was really unhappy with PerformancingAds, I still managed to highlight some good points in my review. I also took the opportunity to interview Chris Garrett to answer some questions that were tough but that everyone was asking. Because I was professional and courteous at all times, Chris responded accordingly.
2. Impnerd didn't ask the owners of CMF ADS for their views.
If Impnerd wanted to publish a review that bloggers could read and benefit from, he should have made an effort to contact Turnip and Stan with his concerns. They would have been able to answer his questions, corrected his misaligned views of CMF ADS, and perhaps taken a bit of constructive criticism. Instead, he posted without getting his facts straight.
How would you feel if you launched an advertising network that someone panned without giving you the opportunity to respond to it first?
As a result, the review just makes it look like Impnerd has an axe to grind, and his post cannot possibly be taken seriously. Still, let's break it down anyway...
3. CMF ADS is not only for Entrecard users.
As you'll see from the rest of this post, attention to detail is a major flaw in Impnerd's criticism of CMF ADS. It's one thing if a blogger makes a typo here and there, but when facts and figures are completely misrepresented, can you really trust that blogger?
Impnerd says: "CMF Ads is an advertising system made specifically for Entrecard publishers". This is incorrect. Turnip's explanation is as follows:
While the initial blogs were chosen from some of the better Entrecard blogs, Entrecard membership is not a requirement of CMF ADS. Any social widget will do. Entrecard was merely the social network Stan (the other CMF ADS founder) and myself were most active in.
Our members page is open for the world to read. Our blog clearly states, "We aren't tied to Entrecard. Any social widget will now work. This allows all members more flexibility, and allows us to consider blogs in other networks for inclusion."
4. A blog's subject does not guarantee a certain CPM rate.
Impnerd makes a major error with the following statement: "Medicine, technology, and automotive industries generally have high CPM rates, but when you include personal, romance, and other areas the value is diluted".
Where is the basis for this blatant attack on blogs in the personal and romance categories? How can you make an argument when you only name two categories and resort to cop-out tactics by saying "and other areas"?
Turnip explains how CMF ADS does not fit with Impnerd's analysis - remember that Turnip is the guy with the figures:
Last month the CMF Network had 384,744 page impressions. Of those, 303,429 were in the areas of blogging tips, internet marketing, and SEO. So if 79% of our impressions come from popular areas, where is the dilution? The 14 blogs that make up the other 21%?
5. Entrecard is not the only source of traffic.
Impnerd claims that with CMF ADS, "most traffic comes from Entrecard". Now hold on a moment, what do you know that we don't?
As you'd expect, Turnip has the scoop on this:
We chose the blogs in our network specifically for their appeal outside Entrecard. Check out any blog that has Project Wonderful installed on it and you can see the Entrecard Percentage. Take Evilwoobie.com for example (view her Project Wonderful stats here). I see mostly search engine traffic.
Since some of our members are no longer in Entrecard, I doubt their Entrecard traffic would be considered "most traffic". I suspect the author is quoting his own percentage of Entrecard traffic?
I think it's fair for a reviewer to state their own experiences with a site. But Impnerd does not state anywhere in his post that the review is based on his own usage of CMF ADS. It's very misleading.
6. CMF ADS does allow advertisers to target specific groups.
Well, not according to Impnerd: "The huge array of differing categories makes advertising to a specific group impossible". If that was true, all advertising networks should just tell blogs to choose the closest fit out of a handful of generic categories.
Turnip also says this:
From the CMF ADS Standards and Guidelines: "Advertisers should look over all 20 blogs on the network and notify CMF ADS before insertion if they would like to exclude any sites from their campaign."
We give our publishers the ability to opt out of any ad, and advertisers the ability to opt out of any site. The category of each site is clearly listed on the CMF ads homepage. Having blogs in over 14 categories one of our strengths. Combined with geotargetting, an advertiser can target exactly the traffic they want.
7. CMF ADS will assist with converting to their ad size.
Another criticism from Impnerd is as follows: "The ad space is unconventional (123×125). You have to create an ad specifically for them."
Turnip's rebuttal:
Actually, we create the ad for you. We take any 125x125 ad and reduce it by 2 pixels in width. This is done to allow the ad to fit next to a social network widget in a 250pixel width sidebar. Every advertsier so far has taken us up on this offer. Even animated GIFs are no problem to convert.
8. Click-through rates are comparable to other advertising options.
Impnerd states: "Advertising on blogs notoriously has a low CTR rate, which results in advertising costs being lower than traditional websites. Even in niches where $2.50/1000 page views is common, the price is cut dramatically."
When you've finished rolling your eyes over "CTR rate" (which translates as "click-through rate rate"), here's Turnip's reply.
In October we had a 0.17% CTR. There is zero incentive for our members to click their own ads. Compare that to Adsense where I get a 0.31%. I have 2 Google ads per page. A 250x250 and 468x60. Over 6x the real estate to double the CTR.
If you need a comparison of our rates, check out blogher.com or http://www.scrubtheweb.com/advertise/. Their rates are almost triple our rates to advertise. This shows a complete ignorance on the author's part of the Internet advertising industry.
9. CMF ADS is simply too new to criticise so strongly.
CMF ADS has only been around since October 1st. I don't think Impnerd has really given them a chance. I've written various reviews, the latest ones being my blog reviews. Even if I don't like a blog, I look at the pros and cons. I'm not going to look at a brand new blog with a default template and say "Your blog sucks! Everyone should avoid it!" How can anyone improve if you don't give them anything to work with?
10. CMF ADS is far from done with fulfilling their vision.
I asked Turnip what's coming up for CMF ADS. Here's his reply:
Starting the 2nd week of November, we are going to offer a Holiday special for new advertisers. Twenty dollars gets you a review on the CMF ADS "Featured Sites Page" containing 2 dofollow links, 1 picture of the website, and a picture of your product, along with 8000 impressions on our network.
Sounds pretty good to me! How many other advertising networks can match that?
In summary
A fair, balanced post is far more likely to be taken seriously than a one-sided rant with baseless arguments and numerous fundamental inaccuracies. And CMF ADS is so new, I don't see how it's possible to give such a damning criticism at this stage.
You get a lot further by making alliances than you do by making enemies.
I've gone on long enough - what's your view of Impnerd's post? What do you think of CMF ADS?
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Comments on 10 reasons why Impnerd is wrong and CMF Ads will survive
2
perhaps Impnerd did CMF ads one favor, he created a need for this article. The end result, I am going to pursue placing such ads for my blog!
Thank you for your review, I really feel I have a better understanding and I am one who reads "for Dummies" when it comes to anything traffic building.
3
you know...
I dont know if this is related or not but some "SEO gurus" who are friendlier and generous with linkbacks get more business than those who keep blog shells (defined: blogs with linkbait titles and very good tags but no real content... except repeating words that are rearranged in series... oh, that's SEO for sure, silly me...)
As i said, I don't know if this is related to the topic at hand.
4
I think ImpNerd was too quick in his evualation of CMF Ads. They've been at this for only 1 month. Give them a chance.
5
Thanks for the comments. :)
@fragileheart - I didn't see the need to contact him before writing this post, because he's made his opinions quite clear. I simply added some balanced comments to his criticisms. I don't think that bloggers need to ask other bloggers before replying to a post.
The reason why I think he should have contacted Turnip and Stan is because his criticism is not of one blog post, his comments are potentially very damaging and on a larger blog they could stop a lot of people from giving CMF ADS a fair go - when Impnerd himself didn't give them a fair go.
In my view, his comments are totally unjustified, baseless, inaccurate, and they sound like he just did it for linkbait. As nhuong says - give them a chance.
6
Oh don't get me wrong - I don't agree with his assessment at all. I was actually just trying to be funny =P you know, li'l jab, jab?
hehe
7
I guessed as much, but it's still a fair question that should be answered. :)
8
This is just another example of a blogger losing his temper and hitting out at anything he could find. If one looks at the recent article on Turnip's site regarding the lack of netiquette, you will find the reason behind all this.
9
A very informative post. Now, I have to check out what CMF AD is.
10
I was wondering how long it was going to take for someone to fire back on this one. Not long, apparently. Thus far, I'll admit I haven't gotten much out of being part of the network... but I had no reason to think I would have yet, either. It's not costing me anything to keep the widget there, either, and I think the future returns will far outweigh what I've put into it.
Turnip has done a fantastic job keeping everyone up to date on what's happening with CMF ads through the Members blog, and things are just getting started.
As to the post, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but even in the internet world, sometimes it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool.
11
Lyndi: You are correct. Rather than helping other members of CMF ADS, it was clear from the start that this particular blogger was out only for himself. So now in addition to making every link of his no follow, I have removed him from my technorati favorites, thumbed down his linkbait articles that have no substance, and no longer comment on his blog. Let his lame biased posts wither on the vine.
12
Turnip, you seem to be taking the post by ImpNerd a bit too seriously. Ben's post was fairly unbiased and I read most of it even though CMF doesn't interest me. (I thought it was too exclusive but understand the focus on MM bloggers as they share that goal). Anyway, to try to delete Impnerd from your blogosphere seems a bit extreme, the post must have really gotten under your skin. Too bad cause he was showing quite a lot of passion and sincere interest in the forums at EC. From what I have read here I would guess he applied for CMF and was ticked about not being accepted. Likely he'd get over it and move on. But will you?
13
I didn't even know about CMF before this so there really is merit to the adage that there is no such thing as bad advertising.
I did notice in their faq thought "2. The blog must be a current member of Entrecard."
Which would suggest other than what you have written...possible they have been busy and haven't changed the faq yet though.
I think they'll make a go of it but they really should become a stand alone product and not be tied into any other social widgets because by doing so they will continue to get such criticism.
14
Laura, It's not one post, we are talking 5 posts in a short duration of time. His "passion" as you call it is nothing more than his attempts to be controversial. Perhaps you should take a look at his latest posts and revise your opinion.
15
@Ben -- Thanks so much for letting Turnip clear the air on some things that were said.
As co-owner of CMF, maybe I can help for anyone that might still be confused. I pushed Turnip to let ImpNerd's blog in. Then ImpNerd wrote a post about Turnip, but did not link to Turnip, even though he mentioned Turnip by name. As we know, bloggers depend on the kindness of other bloggers through link-love. So Turnip wrote a post that said bloggers should share link-love, without ever mentioning ImpNerd. Well, the inference was clear to ImpNerd and his revenge was to write his post bashing CMF ADs. So, as you see, this has very little to do with CMF. But as Talen pointed out, any publicity is good publicity.
16
Thanks for the comments everyone.
I see there is a new post at Impnerd's site where he attacks Turnip on his use of "dofollow". Turnip is far from the only blog choosing to use "dofollow". Singling out one blogger for that just smacks of desperation. It certainly shows that Impnerd has a personal vendetta against Turnip. Needless to say, I think this speaks volumes about his credibility as a blogger.
17
I haven't read ImpNerd's blog in a couple of weeks. I haven't seen any of his posts. Don't have the interest to read a flame war. I understand you being annoyed with him if it has been a bigger issue than one pissy post. I also have respect for you Turnip as you keep your cool pretty well. At least that is the impression I have of you. Your comment above surprised me. If we don't add fuel to his fire, ImpNerd will burn out. From what Stan and Ben have written here I'd say ImpNerd needs to learn how to write about a topic without losing focus and making it about any other person, or making it personal. Also, as Ben wrote, it really is important to show both sides and good and bad points when reviewing something - whether it's a book or a blog group, etc.
18
Laura: I appreciate you looking at all sides of an issue. Rarely if ever do problems I have with other bloggers become public. Almost all are handled privately with a simple exchange of messages. Never do I take a difference of opinions to be a personal attack. I do however take personal attacks personally. I agree with not adding fuel to the fire, but I also have a need to respond when it seems others have a misunderstanding of the situation. I addressed my issues to the author in question directly. He chose to respond by attacking something he had been a part of. There is no way I will respond on his blog, so I chose to air my side of the story here.
19
I just don't get it. What benefit does impNerd get from making a negative review like that? The post was inappropriate and was not professionally written/executed.
This is an opinion coming from an independent observer, someone who doesn't benefit from both parties.
20
Thnks Ben for clarifying those remarks made by Impnerd. I read his blog as well as yours and Turnips' and I must admit that I was very proud to learn you and Turnip had formed this kind of business entity. Bravo for you! I know it will be a great success for the both of you because of the quality of work you have both produced on your blogs. Kudos, and happy money earning to ya!!
21
TeasasTips, actually I am not one of the owners of CMF ADS, which means I can remain impartial. I'm just one of the bloggers who was asked to join the network. Turnip and StanHayes are the owners.
22
Holy moly. Is this what I've been missing. I was wondering who the other person Turnip was talking about in that post (I was the 'nofollow' culprit, but I didn't do it on purpose). And now I know.
I'm really saddened to hear that something like this has happened between two people that I like (or liked). I agree with Archon, I don't understand what he had to gain but we'd probably have to ask him the answer to that question.
Btw turnip, so glad the nofollow thing didn't end up like this! Then again, I wouldn't exactly bitch anyone out on a blog post either. lol
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I agree that he hasn't done enough research before making his statements, and I'm glad that you've cleared it all up... but I do have one question to ask (that I'm pretty sure I know the answer to already): Did you contact him before writing this post?