Talk:Search Engine Watch/Archive 1

Incisive Changes To SES History

I noticed a series of edits today made by Incisive Media's VP of marketing Matt McGowan Lafmm, where information I think was useful to this page has been removed. I contacted Jehochman and Cumbrowski via email about them, as both have had active work with the Search Engine Strategies page here that was similarly modified, are more impartial that either I or Matt. I cc'd Matt on that email, so he was aware of my action. Jehochman made some initial edits but suggested that I also post to the talk page, which I am now doing.

On August 28, Incisive trimmed this:

Search Engine Watch was started by Danny Sullivan in 1996. In 1997, Danny Sullivan sold it for an undisclosed amount to MecklerMedia (now Jupitermedia). In 2005, it was sold to Incisive Media for $43 million. On November 30, 2006 Danny Sullivan left Search Engine Watch, after his resignation announcement on August 29 2006.[1][2] He is now partner and chief content officer of Third Door Media, which owns several search related companies.[3]

To this:

Search Engine Watch was started by Danny Sullivan in 1996, who then sold it for an undisclosed amount to MecklerMedia (now Jupitermedia) one year later. In 2005, Jupitermedia sold the site along with ClickZ.com and the global conference and expo series Search Engine Strategies to Incisive Media. On November 30, 2006 Danny Sullivan parted ways with Search Engine Watch, after his resignation announcement on August 29 2006.[4].

The key changes were: 1) Removal of how much the site was purchased for by Incisive Media

2) Removal of the link to my personal blog that provides a detailed explanation of my departure, http://daggle.com/060829-112950.html.

3) Removal of the reference and link to my current company that publishes Search Engine Land, which competes with Search Engine Watch.

The first is a relevant and known historic fact that should probably be retained. The second I'd say should also be restored. It was originally deemed noteworthy to mention my departure and link to my explantion. Seems like that should continue. I could see the third going either way. Those who want to know what I do now could click on my name and discover this. But I'd be more comfortable if the reference was removed by someone other than the company I departed from.

http://searchengineland.com/070609-010050.php is a reference I would recommend adding. It is a detailed history of the site over the past 10 years, published on its 10th birthday. You will also find it useful for references to how the site has added new editors and changed since I left. The only major things missing are the site's latest redesign on July 23 (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/070723-092615, others are covering in the 10 year recap) and the naming of its executive editor on August 21, http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/070821-133745

For what it's worth, the consideration of deleting a reference to one of the oldest search resources on the web, which has been widely cited in the mainstream media as well as the original paper from Brin & Page on how Google works, seems silly. Of course, if you're going to retain it, I'd argue that an entry about Search Engine Land also makes sense, since despite being less than a year old, it also has been widely cited and earned third party awards of distinction.

Dannysullivan 19:03, 30 August 2007 (UTC)dannysullivan