Todd Cochrane and RawVoice posted a “white paper” regarding their statistics model today. I’ll save you the time. Skip it.
While I hoped it would shed some light on the statistics model they have repeatedly lauded over the last few years, truth be told it reads more as a “we know best” sales letter. Perhaps I am reading more into it than it deserves, but it appears Todd & Co are positioning themselves for a showdown with the ADM and others over metrics models. My guess is that with the recent updates to the Libsyn statistics engine the team at RawVoice would like to get out in front of the statistics issue, perhaps this was part of that strategy.
The folks at RawVoice can do better. They have some smart people on the team and I have no doubt that they have collected some interesting data and metrics. If their goal was to release a “white paper” then do a real one with the corresponding algorithms, detailed methodology, historic data, etc. Sure they have a paragraph or two with some examples, but a “white paper” it is not.
As a general observation I have always been a bit wary of the secretive aspects of RawVoice and their various media properties. The numbers are always generic – lots of fanfare but never any specifics. If they are doing what they claim why the secrecy? Mainstream media doesn’t even protect this info. It is easy to find out what a SuperBowl, TV series or radio ad costs. Why are RawVoice campaigns so different? Obviously it is their prerogative to keep it all buttoned up if they wish, I just find it interesting that in the open world of new media, CPM and CPA campaign numbers are so guarded.
Of course this is from the guy who has been doing public presentations for the last three years telling you exactly what we charge for sponsorships and how we sell them. I see no advantage to being secretive about it, no more so than hiding the cost of a gallon of gasoline. Things cost what they cost, no big deal.
As for the RawVoice white paper, I hope they’ll take another look at it and put out a proper one. In the long run I think it will do RawVoice and podcasting some good.
Rob Safuto says
3/14/2008 at 6:27 amI agree with you Mike. This is anything but a white paper. It’s simply a marketing oriented page on the RawVoice website. White papers should include detailed analysis, charts and actual numbers. This web posting has none of that. You can’t even download it as a document.
Having worked with these guys I can tell you that they are honest and their heart is in the right place. Unfortunately, Todd lacks the business chops to effectively turn RawVoice into a strong player in the web media space. Promoting this information as a white paper was simply a poor decision.
On another note, I compared the Blubrry statistics for one of my shows with the new LibSyn numbers and they are very close.