Wednesday, November 19, 2008
PointRoll said axing dozens more employees
Regarding job cuts at one of Gannett's more promising technology subsidiaries, a reader says in a comment moments ago: "Another 30 or so PointRoll employees are being laid off as I type this."
28 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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How is PointRoll a promising technology subsidiary? It promised to deliver ads to IPhones, Blackberries, etc., but stumbled because individuals told verizon and other providers they are not about to pay for ads to be delivered to their phones. It's a technology that didn't have an application. As an individual, you pay to get these ads, just as you pay for someone calling you on your cell phone. I do not want to (and will not under any circumstances) pay for ads, thank-you very much. Whoever the GCI tech wizards are, they aren't thinking through these sort of investments. Hey, it's new technology, and it's real cheap, let's buy it. It is the same with Ripple6. GCI is not thinking of the consequences.
ReplyDeleteAnon 12:49p What are you talking about? Get a clue. You pay for a service and you get the ads with that service. Do you pay for a newspaper and do you get ads with that newspaper too? Do you pay for cable and broadcast and get ads with that as well?
ReplyDeleteAh, 12:59…people expect newspaper and television ads, but not cell phone ads, especially those who’ve had them for years.
ReplyDeleteIf Verizon starts sending any to one of the many phones I support, I’ll block them just like I do with all of the ads from the websites I visit, including Gannett’s. Now, if Verizon gave a discount in return, it better be good, else it'd still be no.
The funny thing about your argument is that I expected to pay newspapers for the news and advertising they provided, now I get all the same print content online for free and the best part is that I get to block the ads - which is obviously not good for this industry is it?
So, it seems like you and a few others who continue to lead the give it all away online for free model need to get a clue.
Any word on Planet Discover? That company charged my paper pretty exorbitant fees for technology that has never worked and never helped generate a single dollar. I'm sure they have to be laying off people very soon.
ReplyDelete12:59 I absolutely know what is going on. When I pay Verizon for my phone, I expect to pay charges for phone connections and Internet connections. I do not expect to pay, and will not pay, for ads or telemarketing phone calls. The reason you get telemarketing calls on your old landline phone, and you don't get them on your cell phone is the federal government has ruled advertisers cannot shift the costs of their marketing to innocent consumers. This is basic consumer rights, nothing to do with the service.
ReplyDeleteI think I saw the Planet Discover name and logo at the bottom of a Pulse 360 ad. Who owns Pulse 360?
ReplyDeleteBack to Pointroll... I have heard the same thing. Sounds like some key people are being let go.
ReplyDeleteRead the writing on the wall:
Saridakis left to go to GCI because he's an egomaniac looking to pad his wallet. This is evidenced by Ripple6 and his various other extracurricular activities (Mom Junction, teaching at Penn, multiple boards...)
The co-founder and CTO left the company.
The company is now up to 50 employess that have been let go over the last two months. The company isn't very big. Pointroll - without Shop Local - was around 270 employees. Now deduct 50.
Also consider the company is run by two hardly 30 year olds in CEO and head of Sales positions.
Pointroll is not the future for Gannett and is looking more like a cancer to the organization.
@ 3:50 PM: Regarding your comment that the company is "two hardly 30 year old." Really? Wow. People accomplish incredible things when they're in their 20s and 30s. Orson Welles coscripted, directed, and starred in Citizen Kane when he was 25. T.S. Eliot wrote "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" when he was 23. People are at their peak in their 20s an 30s. PointRoll is a company full of very talented, smart - and, yes, young - people. And having fresh talent fill the shoes of people like the older CTO is good, not bad. PR is one of the only companies making Gannett some money. So what you've said it completely untrue. You're probably just mad that you missed YOUR opportunity to do something when you were younger. Haha!
ReplyDeleteSorry to burst your bubble 5:20 PM, but people do not peak in their 20's nor 30's (guess you haven't heard about Sam Walton, Frank Lloyd Wright, etc). Your inability to grasp that suggests that it may be true with you though. And, please if you really believe that why not sign your name to it as you'll really cost Gannett some money, especially if you manage that way.
ReplyDeleteAnd, by the way, there are many parts of Gannett making money, just not as much as they used too.
@3:50. We at PointRoll actually wish Saridakis was back in charge here at PointRoll. He built this business and, although he is tough, you know where you stand with him. He is one of the most inspiring leaders that we want back here.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct that the svp of sales Deann Harvey and the ceo Jason Tafler are definitely no replacement for Andy and Chris.
The jury is out on the new CTO, we miss Keith Gelles too.
Saridakis was ruthless. He would toss you in a minute if you screwed up at PointRoll.
ReplyDeleteTafler is no where to be found today. I think he is hiding.
It seems like he left all the dirty work for Brian Spence to do.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI just removed a comment that included an especially personal attack. Please don't do that.
ReplyDeleteNow we know what to look forward to at Ripple6, the latest Saridakis revenue vehicle.
ReplyDeletePump and dump!
PointRoll is a great company. Sorry for those who have gotten laid off, but you probably sucked anyway.
ReplyDelete10:18 - What a lame flaming comment. The reality is Pointroll only hires A gamers. Look at Young, Keith, Kieser and Ellenthal. All A gamers, all gone. The current leadership is clearly the B team and is using the staff as an excuse for their blunder.
ReplyDeleteOne thing to keep in mind, this is not about Pointroll - the layoffs are clearly a dictate from Gannett and most likely an attempt to prop up the segment considering the acquisition of Shop Local and Ripple6. This dictate would only be given by Saridakis.
PointRoll,Eyeblaster and Eyewonder are done. They can not compete in the long run with Googleclick and Atlas-Soft. These 800 pound Gorillas will continue to slash CPM's to gain more market share. There are no significant differences between any of the RM vendors in terms of technology.
ReplyDeleteTo those going back and forth about ads on phones, I don't think you understand HOW Pointroll is involved with ads on phones. Sure, no one wants to 'pay for ads' on their phones, but that isn't what is happening here. Pointroll is enabling advertisers to deliver rich ads to pages that target the iPhone browser - so if you visit, say, usatoday.com on your iPhone, you might see a small ad on the page that can be expanded to view additional product/service information.
ReplyDeleteThese are light-weight HTML ads and by default iPhone's users are required to have unlimited data plans. So these ads are not costing the user money or time, but they make money for the site and the success of these ads will lead to more sites setting up mobile versions of their sites that use such technology.
To Anon @10:57 AM - I disagree about the technology being no different. Pointroll's ad platform is and always has been javascript-based which allowed them to deliver to the mobile market well ahead of any of the other RM vendors. Also, Pointroll's code has always been leaner than the code delivered by its competitors which equates to lower bandwidth costs. Pointroll might be running lean right now, but they will not be easily conquered by the slash and burn mentality of the big boys.
ReplyDelete@10:57, you have no clue what you are talking about. You say "There are no significant differences between any of the RM vendors in terms of technology." Are you serious?
ReplyDeleteI have been with pointroll for a long time and it is definitely going downhill. it's hard to find people who are enthusiastic, love their jobs and not stretched to the edge. it didn't used to be that way~~it was always fun (for years!) and everyone looked forward to work but not anymore :(
ReplyDeleteWe have had to play catchup to eyewonder and eyeblaster on their tools and now the new CTO is going to run things...that's scary along with the 'kids'. we lose revenue because we don't have enough key people in place and they fire more! they are only looking at the near term and not how this is going to really hurt next year.
They axed the entire marketing department thanks to the COO Ken Graffeo who is completely cluessless. Why would they put someone who ran a now defunct marketing department for HD DVD at NBCU into a day-to-day operations lead for an online advertising company?? Great judgment by management! He is out of touch and simply is micro-managed by Jason Tafler, ceo.
Wish gelles, keiser were back...it used to be a fun place to work but now 75% of us are looking for new jobs. 2009 won't be fun for pointroll...
if you want more information about pointroll go to glassdoor.com and jobvent.com~~good feedback!!
shout out to baughman!
AHAHAHA - how rad that I get two shout outs on some blog about a company I don't work for anymore - you guys are A+!!!!
ReplyDeleteXOX
Baughman
PS: "oh LAWD!" to all this mess.....
Funny how that works, Graffeo while EVP at Universal was working side by side with Saridakis when Saridakis was CEO of Pointroll and Graffeo never looked or used any competitive rich media technologies...! And Graffeo knew nothing about online marketing, the Internet or even what a click thru, rollover or interaction was. So I guess it is a game about who you know and not what you know. Both of these clowns are ruthless characters that only care about themselves and their wallets. When Graffeo failed at Universal with HD, his good ol buddy Chris found him a job he certainly is not qualified for...
ReplyDeletePaul Grassinger is running Pointroll into the ground... he should be shit canned ASAP.
ReplyDeletehe and graffeo make quite the pair....all puppets of saradakis who rules with an iron fist.....they are all cheats who have lied and cheated their way, but they will get caught, its just a matter of time!!!!
ReplyDeleteI cant wait!
PointRoll has gone down over the years and the latest round of executive dopes is a worst crop ever. Tafler and GrASSinger are both petty, immature, cheap, ignoramuses. I suspect that Grassinger is up to no good.
ReplyDeleteThe losers that are complaining about pointroll should get off the blog and their lazy ass and get to work!!!! Be thankful that you have a job and if you don't it's your own fault. Get over yourself!!
ReplyDeletePointRoll wouldn't have to layoff so many if it wasn't charging other Gannett companies ridiculous fees to use its service! Hello-we all work and are owned by the same parent company. WTF! $1500 to setup/create an ad and then a $1 cpm, greed at its worst! This not so secret overpricing of a service that Adinterax (congrats Yahoo, you brought the right company) does better and much cheaper is a joke that Gannett online mgrs are not in on.
ReplyDelete