Update: The second email listed below, sent to the Courting Destiny blog, was actually sent by an identified THP employee and not (as I had initially believed) an anonymous member of the public (unlike the email I received). The text of this post has been changed to include this new information. There is still plenty of evidence to support my conclusion that THP was attempting to engage bloggers in a viral marketing campaign using emails from individuals that did not disclose the nature of their relationship to THP.

Marketing — I don’t know too much about it, but I’m learning. Having never actually read a marketing book or taken a course or even really googled the subject, I bet one of the key maxims of marketing is ‘know your audience.’ At MaxPower, I try to keep track of my audience.

This month (June), my audience has shifted. Somehow I have attracted the attention of a ‘predominantly leftist news and commentary outlet’ called the Huffington Post. I don’t really know too much about the post; a little wikipedia research leads me to believe its a blog run by a famous person. It makes money by selling advertisements and is apparently very popular with most of its stories written about politics, ‘big issues,’ and the like.

Anyway, someone (or someones) at The Huffington Post (THP) seems to have a keen interest in MaxPower. Recently, I wrote a post about how I believed THP was “astroturfing” (the use of paid shills to create the impression of a popular movement [source][wikipedia]) after I received an unsolicited anonymous email that asked me to promote THP’s newest marketing venture with an ad firm called JWT. I label it anonymous because this initial email did not disclose that the sender, an intern, worked at THP. It was only through a series of subsequent follow-up emails where it was disclosed that the intern sent, “a few emails to blogs he likes.” This final piece of information was revealed by THP partner and technology director, Jonah Perretti as sent via a contact form on MaxPower.

Here is where things get interesting: » Read the rest of the entry..

Executive Summary (with updates 23/06/06):

JWT (a marketing firm) and ‘The Huffington Post’ (a popular blog) have teamed up to market and promote a series of advertisments. On June 20th I received an email sugesting the readers of this blog would enjoy one of the JWT advertisements. On June 20th the YesButNoButYes blog received a very similar email suggesting that their readers would enjoy one of the JWT ads promoted at The Huffington Post. The marketing dept at the Huffington Post is run by a well known viral marketing pioneer. All emails came from the same IP. At the same time, comments on the JWT ads are limited to only the positive variety (with the approval rate estimated for some ads at about 3%). In the latest twist, a comment by Val over at the YesButNoButYes blog brags about how much more popular The Huffington Post when compared with YesButNoButYes. This comment originates from the same IP as all the emails sugesting we promote the JWT ads as well as the short reply to this story by Jonah Peretti. All this ads up to viral marketing Foie Gras.
» Read the rest of the entry..

I don’t pretend to be an expert on SEO, but I can spot a good idea and follow up on it. The following, when done correctly, can benefit both wikipedia and you (original credit goes to the author, Dominic of DigitalPoint forums).
» Read the rest of the entry..