An interview with Danny Sullivan.
[Brett] You have given so many mainstream interviews, that I hope we can spin something a bit different for you this time. First, thanks for coming out to PubCon this November. We are excited to finally get you on the speaking roster! This is your first time to one of the big stateside PubCons. What type of training regiment changes have you been making in preparation? [Danny] In terms of talking, I have some themes in search I've been doing at SES this year that I'll touch on. But I'm also thinking about things especially for the PubCon audience. Many of them I know are independent, small shops, focused more on organic listings. I think some of this group often feel they aren't as important or attended to when all the cash flows with search ads. I think they are very important, so that's something I want to address.
[Brett] What would you say are the top two trends in Search for 2006? [Danny] Probably understanding the social aspect that's coming into search along with the greater verticalization of it. People continue to fixate that search is whatever comes up tops on Google by default. That's web search, and Google-specific. Search is more than this, and there are lost opportunities for those who don't understand that video, news, shopping and other types of verticals are more and more getting "default" treatment. Meanwhile, I think everyone is looking at how social sites are growing and wondering how that's going to come into search. It will, but the trend so far is that exactly how remains unclear.
[Brett] Has Google peaked or topped out in your opinion? [Danny] I don't think they've peaked. I think it's hard when you are on top to continually maintain the hype and excitement. Google's coming from a place where some likened them to God. They never were that, and so it's inevitable that they'll normalize to a more mortal role in the space. But they are a smart, nimble, innovative company that I think still has plenty that will be coming from it.
[Brett] You tend to be a big follower and reporter of the various internet statistics and statistical services. From the Nielsen NetRatings to the WebSide Story's of the internet, you have covered most of them. How much weight and faith do you actually put in them? How accurate do you think they are? [Danny] I think they provide rough, broad strokes. The more detailed you try to get, looking at any particular month or week, the harder I think the figures are to trust. Pull them out over a long-term, look at them against each other and among other factors, then they are much more useful to understand how things are going.
[Brett] The big question on every ones mind, is if you have decided what you are going to do next? [Danny] I wish I could say exactly just yet. I'm still reviewing a lot of options. My preference is to keep doing the writing and conference work that I was doing. I'm pretty likely to find a new way to do that, either on my own or working with another company.
[Brett] From Jupiter to Incisive, you have had to work within the constraints of the corporate network. How tough or easy has it been to build a site and work with a corporate website team? [Danny] The hardest thing is that the site isn't the only thing that the owners were doing, so they'd prioritize when development resources would be provided. I wanted more and faster, like any site manager would likely want.
[Brett] Are you still holding out hope that Incisive will come back with a big offer? [Danny] I'm still talking with them, and if there's a way to keep working together, I'd definitely consider it. But I made a decision to depart from them about a month before I went public. Going public wasn't an attempt to get them to negotiate harder. It was simply time for me to tell people generally what was going on, because I was getting questions about next year that I couldn't answer properly.
[Brett] About 50% of PubCon attendees are independent business men and women. On the other hand, you have lived in the small to midsized corporate world for about the last decade. Do you ever see yourself running your shop? Captain of the ship? If so, what kind of business? [Danny] I prefer the small shop. That's just me. I don't really want to manage a bunch of people or a giant organization. If I do something new on my own, I'll try to maintain a small, tight shop as much as I can.
[Brett] Do you ever stress about optimizing searchenginewatch at all? Or do you build it good - and forget it for good? [Danny] In the early days, like anyone else, I'd focus on how we were ranking for various terms. But once the site became a leading resource, it effectively generated its own weather. Links would come to it naturally; stories would generate search queries naturally. I always have SEO thoughts in mind. I think carefully about titles, in particular, and the site accessibility. But being a news site, we naturally have lots of content rich pages plus content people tend to link to.
[Brett] From CNN, to Nightline, to the recent story in USA Today, your press efforts over the year at proactively acquiring and managing press relations have been exceptional. What advice can you give to people trying to do the same? [Danny] Care about the subject, rather than caring about being quoted about the subject. I spend a lot of time talking to reporters. Not all of those talks turn into a reference, and sometimes the talks go on for a long time. But I care about my subject. I'm talking with reporters primarily because I love the industry and dislike seeing things get reported inaccurately. The side benefit is that you get the press attention, since they trust you have no particular agenda.
[Brett] Podcasting was the serious 2005 buzzword. How's it working out for you over there on DailySearchCast.com? What kind of traffic numbers are possible? [Danny] We have about 4,000 listeners, if you go by the Feedburner figures. That's just to our own feed. WebmasterRadio has their own feed which I think hits a few thousand more. The figures are rough estimates, of course. What I judge more highly is that I get lots of feedback and continually hear from people who say they like and depend on the show. It's been great to do for that reason.
[Brett] Do you ever think Melrose will make a comeback? ;-) [Danny] Yes. It's called The OC. Mark my words, somehow, someway, Heather Locklear will turn up on that show.
[Brett] You recently turned 40. What toys did you buy yourself as a right of passage? [Danny] I had a big party back in Orange County, actually at an original PubCon venue, Buster & Dave's. I had a bunch of friends from college, my newspaper days, my web development time and from search get together, and we played on the video games.
[Brett] Lastly, we are hiring ;-) [Danny] :-)
