Comments on: Trigger Words and Censorship And Book Titles and Such http://timberry.bplans.com/2008/02/annoying-client.html Tim Berry on business planning, starting and growing your business, and having a life in the meantime Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:26:20 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Kelly http://timberry.bplans.com/2008/02/annoying-client.html/comment-page-1#comment-23 Kelly Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:23:00 +0000 http://timberry.bplans.com/2008/02/annoying-client.html#comment-23 <p>Brilliant P.S.: TypePad's antispam filter has flagged that comment of mine as potential spam.</p> <p>And I didn't even say anything!</p> <p>: )</p> <p>Kelly</p> Brilliant P.S.: TypePad's antispam filter has flagged that comment of mine as potential spam.

And I didn't even say anything!

: )

Kelly

]]> By: Josh Cochrane http://timberry.bplans.com/2008/02/annoying-client.html/comment-page-1#comment-22 Josh Cochrane Wed, 13 Feb 2008 13:41:29 +0000 http://timberry.bplans.com/2008/02/annoying-client.html#comment-22 <p>Tim, this reminds me of a related issue we ran into yesterday, less profane but no less problematic.</p> <p>Chelle recommended a new video sharing site she called "vee-mee-oh." We were in a meeting, so no spelling was involved. I entered my best guess -- vemio.com -- into my browser and got a site promoting the "micro mini thong bikini." Add that one to Great Moments in Meeting History.</p> <p>It turns out the video site is www.vimeo.com, though it could just as easily have been VmeO or veemeeoh or half a dozen other variants.</p> <p>In the quest for company and product names that make unique keywords online, businesses are increasingly failing on the basic requirement of making their domains verbally communicable.</p> <p>In fact, misbehavior here has become almost hip, with companies embracing willful obfuscation in names like XLR8R.com and mixxstr. (And does anyone remember, without Googling, where the dots are supposed to go in Del.icio.us?)</p> <p>As a marketer, I'm certainly aware of the difficulty of finding unique space to stake out online -- and of promoting a plain-English-titled product like, in our case, "Business Plan Pro" that faces a lot of keyword competition. But I don't think ambiguous nonsense words or aggressive misspellings offer a reasonable solution.</p> Tim, this reminds me of a related issue we ran into yesterday, less profane but no less problematic.

Chelle recommended a new video sharing site she called "vee-mee-oh." We were in a meeting, so no spelling was involved. I entered my best guess — vemio.com — into my browser and got a site promoting the "micro mini thong bikini." Add that one to Great Moments in Meeting History.

It turns out the video site is http://www.vimeo.com, though it could just as easily have been VmeO or veemeeoh or half a dozen other variants.

In the quest for company and product names that make unique keywords online, businesses are increasingly failing on the basic requirement of making their domains verbally communicable.

In fact, misbehavior here has become almost hip, with companies embracing willful obfuscation in names like XLR8R.com and mixxstr. (And does anyone remember, without Googling, where the dots are supposed to go in Del.icio.us?)

As a marketer, I'm certainly aware of the difficulty of finding unique space to stake out online — and of promoting a plain-English-titled product like, in our case, "Business Plan Pro" that faces a lot of keyword competition. But I don't think ambiguous nonsense words or aggressive misspellings offer a reasonable solution.

]]>