Paul Cook

Founder of TagMan - smart tags, smarter marketing(www.tagman.com). The ultimate Container Tag and De-duplication and online marketing attribution solution which is an independent alternative to Doubleclick Floodlight and Atlas UAT. Over 10 years of experience in Online media and marketing having previously been head of sales for one of the UK's largest radio stations. Founded eCRM software company RedEye in 1997 where he pioneered online advertising measurement.

http://www.twitter.com/adtechzen

Before we take path-to-conversion reporting for granted…

One day, you might ask ‘what the hell have path-to-conversion reports ever done for us?’ These reports now exist, are a massive leap forward and are already driving some advertisers to better online marketing plans.

However, given the pace of change and the ease with which we take such advances in our stride, here’s a pre-emptive strike against us ever taking full path-to-conversion reporting for granted.

by Paul Cook 09 December 2010 12:18pm 2 comments

Optimise paths to conversion, not channels

Forget last click, first click or even our own 'best click', one of our favorite clients, Boden, has been talking brilliantly about how, now they can see all their customers' paths to conversion, their mission is to optimise these and not necessarily the individual channels that make them up.

by Paul Cook 27 October 2010 11:27am 7 comments

Apple: digital's greatest challenge?

If Apple’s version of the digital universe were to reach real scale, then alongside privacy legislation, it poses the greatest challenge to the development of digital.

by Paul Cook 15 September 2010 11:32am 11 comments

Cookies under fire as regulators move in

A massive push on securing opt-ins from consumers on cookies is well under way both here and in the US.

For the record, and contrary to what you might think, I’m glad, if only because it forces us to review how we failed so badly to keep the wider world informed about how online advertising works.

by Paul Cook 25 March 2010 11:44am 3 comments

The great specialist vs. network agency debate

Every three years or so, advertisers decide to put all their media and marketing into a single agency network. Three years later, once they’ve seen their performance in the different marketing channels eroded, they head once more for the specialists.

It has been going on since the 80s, and it would be nice to see the cycle broken...

by Paul Cook 11 January 2010 11:03am 15 comments

Marketing attribution in practice: how it works and how to do it

After much discussion about ‘marketing attribution’, the process of awarding different marketing events different levels of commission depending on their role in the conversion, it seemed appropriate to explain how exactly this works in practice and to demonstrate that the technology is available to make it happen.

by Paul Cook 30 October 2009 10:00am 2 comments

Does Google Analytics overstate the value of search?

A fantastic post by Francois Derbaix, CTO at top French travel site Toprural.com, tells us that Google is as susceptible as anyone else to imposing conditions that make its services look good when you analyse your site traffic.

Comparing the stats for Toprural delivered by Google Analytics with his own 3rd-party solution, he finds that, while his own system (AT Internet’s XiTi) says 37.8% of visitors come via Google, GA says it’s 71.8%. The core of the problem, he discovers, is the good old cookie window. It turns out the default cookie window Google ascribes to visitors that arrive on a site via Google is six months. Six months!

by Paul Cook 05 June 2009 10:30am 16 comments

Better technology, better marketing attribution

Web analytics expert Eric T. Peterson has gone on a new tip about campaign attribution, aka the ability to apportion credit for any campaign effectiveness to the channels, executions and partners that delivered it.

by Paul Cook 27 April 2009 13:40pm 5 comments

IE8 InPrivate mode threatens online ad tracking

Will the new privacy measures in IE8 spell the end for third party cookies and how can companies get around these issues?

by Paul Cook 01 September 2008 09:00am 1 comment

It's time to end the tagging nightmares

Never has something seemingly so simple as page tagging caused so many problems.

Poor tagging is costing companies thousands of pounds a month from wasted web analytics, duplicate affiliate commissions and marketing that isn't tracked properly.

by Paul Cook 29 August 2008 09:54am 2 comments