Michael was first introduced to Kontera in 2007 while working with them at SmartMoney. In October, he became the newest member of the Strategic team where his focus will be on developing partnerships with premium publishers.

Michael grew up in northern New Jersey and attended the University of Maryland (he’s the third MD alum to work at Kontera).  Outside of the office Michael enjoys traveling, surfing, and spending time with family and friends.

What was your role at SmartMoney?

I first joined SmartMoney as their Director of Digital Advertising on the west coast before moving to New York in 2008 to become their Director of Digital Strategy.  In that role I worked as a liaison between ad sales, editorial, and marketing and was responsible for identifying new partnership opportunities with outside vendors.

What was the publication trying to do in terms of monetization and user value? What are the main factors that premium publishers take into account when choosing which monetization strategies to employ?

At SmartMoney’s core, the goal of the site is to be an empowerment tool that enables its users to make intelligent investing decisions.  In that same light, SmartMoney looks to attract and partner with advertisers that can deliver additional value to its audience through the products and services they offer.  These same principles carried over to the decision-making process when determining which vendors to partner with.  Of course, revenue potential was always heavily weighed, but keeping true to user intent was equally as important.  On some level there had to be a benefit to the users as well.  I would say most publishers fall into that same line of thinking when evaluating which vendors to work with.

Why did you look at In-Text Advertising?

We first considered In-Text Advertising after seeing that more publishers (large and small) began adopting the technology.  We also felt that we could have been doing more in terms of working with additional technology providers that could help to further monetize the site – be it with rich media, mobile, behavioral or In-Text advertising.  Ultimately, we decided that In-Text advertising was something we could test without dedicating a lot of time and internal resources.

Why did you choose Kontera?  What separated Kontera’s In-Text solution from other offerings on the market?

The decision to work with Kontera boiled down to a couple of key solutions that we didn’t find were offered from their competitors.  While the revenue was certainly an important motivating factor, we were more so impressed with Kontera’s hybrid unit and its ability to both deliver related content to our users and keep them engaged.  When we first evaluated in-text advertising we did not realize it was something that could actually add to the user experience.  We also were excited about Kontera’s white label solution as it allowed our sales team to go to market with an additional product to sell to advertisers.

From your experience, what “words of wisdom” or recommendations do you have for publishers as they set out on their journey to grow their websites?

I believe the key to growing and sustaining a successful website lies first and foremost with audience engagement.  Does the site keep a constant dialogue going with its users and truly understand their intent?  More importantly, do they provide them with a reason to come back to the site on a daily or weekly basis?  If the answer is no, I don’t think it’s possible to succeed in the long run.  From a monetization standpoint, ad integration that is appropriate and introduced to an audience naturally is not only a good thing for the advertiser and publisher, but something that can end up being useful to the user as well.  At the end of the day, relevancy seems to be the key to keeping both users and advertisers happy (and publishers wealthier).

How did Kontera deliver for you over the years?

While I was with SmartMoney, Kontera provided us with a consistent revenue stream that we could count on month-to-month, as well as top-notch customer support.  We were always impressed with the proactive nature of Kontera’s Publisher Services Team.  Good customer service was not something you could automatically expect from all vendors.

Why did you join Kontera and what is your role with the company?

As a former client and someone who understands and believes in the technology I felt that working at Kontera would be an exciting opportunity for me.  I also felt that I would be joining a great team and a company that was committed to success, while also having fun in the process.  As a part of the strategic team I am looking forward to establishing additional partnerships within the premium vertical and extending Kontera’s contextual advertising technology to the top properties on the web.

Kontera has recently announced the closing of a $15.5 million financing round, led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Carmel Ventures and Tenaya Capital. Today, we are glad to interview Kontera’s CEO and co-founder, Yoav Shaham, whom we want to ask more about this exciting news as well as Kontera’s continued growth.

Yoav, you have been pioneering this space for almost 10 years, has your vision for the technology and the company changed throughout this time?  And if so, how has it changed?

The original mission that we set for ourselves, to serve users by connecting the web’s information through an understanding of the true meaning of content and identifying user’s interests on any page, has not changed.

The technological approach and the algorithms that we use have gone through several major evolutions including growing from client to server solutions, and from business rules to more statistical analysis approaches to prediction of user intent.

Kontera has been profitable for some time, and growing very rapidly, why raise money now?

Yes, we’ve been asked this question a few times in recent weeks.  We certainly did not need the additional funds for survival. Not only were we profitable, we also had a nice amount of cash in the bank. However, we identified some significant emerging opportunities in the market, and we want to ensure that Kontera is a dominant player.  We believe that an injection of cash now allows us to make quicker and bigger moves in the marketplace, while maintaining our track-record of fiscally responsible operations.

Why did Sequoia Capital invest and lead such a large late-stage financing?

First of all I’m not exactly the best person to answer this question…  What I can say is that this is a great testimonial for us, from one of the best Venture Capital investors in the world. They happen to know the search and advertising space very well, and they are very familiar with Kontera.  Sequoia had a major stake in our company previously, but their recent investment is a clear indication of their confidence in how large this company can become. They did not need to lead this round, nor participate to the extent that they did. There were several external investors that wanted to come in, but Sequoia wanted to lead this round and to increase their stake, and we are honored by that validation.

What is your vision for growing the company? Do you anticipate any structural or organizational changes?

Growth always requisites some changes with it, it’s a function of maturity. In our case we’ve successfully managed transitions from 25 to 50 people, from 50 to 100, and from 100 to our current size. We are currently laying the foundational infrastructure required to run an organization of 250 and more people. I do not want to get into specifics, but can share that one of our highest priorities is to pursue excellence for the entire company.  We are investing significantly in our people, their growth, and in our management.  Historically we’ve been technologically, and engineering focused, with a smaller investment in market facing activities. Going forward we intend to increase our R&D ranks, and to significantly increase the sales, marketing, and services functions.

What are the implications to end users, and the more than 100 Million consumers who view Kontera’s technology in action each month?

As I mentioned earlier, our vision is to connect the Internet’s information dynamically to satisfy users’ current needs. Throughout the years we’ve continually improved the user experience, and the relevancy that we’re able to attain and deliver to consumers, today, is second to none.  Looking ahead, users will see even greater utility as we increase that ad relevancy, as we increase the number of formats of in-text advertising offerings, and as we grow the breadth of information that we are able to bring to each pageview.

Our related-content and Hybrid offerings deliver beneficial consumer information, and we intend to do more in the area of In-Text related content.  Also, within the advertising domain, we find that in many cases  consumers prefer In-text advertising to much of the” loud” advertising that currently dominates sites and often occupies more that 30% of publishers’ page real-estate.  Good in-text advertising can help users to better enjoy their internet experience.  With this funding we will be able to more quickly provide users with a better experience at each of our publishers’ sites, and a better internet experience overall.

What does this funding mean for Kontera’s Publishers and overall network?

The user benefits I just discussed will also accrue to our publishers, whose core mission is to create and maintain their user communities. More engaged and satisfied users equate to healthier operations for our publishers.  In addition, over time, Kontera’s publishers will be seeing new forms of engagement and related information for their audiences, and greater monetization opportunities for their content.

What does this funding mean for Kontera’s Advertisers?

Advertisers are looking for good return on investment for their advertising dollars. This may translate into more effective branding campaigns for some, or more effective direct-response campaigns for others. In either case, we’ll be able to deliver greater returns and greater performance for advertisers. The ways that this happens is first through our work on greater relevancy and user experience as discussed above, and second through greater engagement within our existing ad units and through creation of new innovative advertising units.

Where do you foresee taking the technology and products from here?

I don’t want to discuss our plans in too much detail, but there are a few headlines that I can probably share. The first is our on-going refinements to the relevancy engine. This is an analog to the R&D work that you see the search-engine vendors perform. This type of low-level algorithmic work does not produce many bells and whistles because the work is largely done on the back end. However, this is really the heart of the solution and improvements here create greater satisfaction for users and much greater financial results for advertisers and publishers.  In addition you will see us offer greater flexibility and configurability, and customization ability for the various publishers and advertisers with whom we work. The last area to mention is the ever-growing set of tools that we provide to advertisers and publishers for utilizing our In-Text advertising and related content solutions.

Keren Zohar has been with Kontera for over two years, during which she managed HR operations and has overseen many organizational changes that accompanied Kontera’s corporate growth.  It was a pleasure to meet with Keren to learn more about Kontera’s recruitment and get a few tips about looking for a job as well as getting your foot in the door at Kontera.  In Keren’s personal life, she is a proud newlywed, and this is a great chance to wish her and husband the best–all the happiness and success to both.

With the current economic and employment market situation and implications, have there been changes in trends regarding  the way people execute a job hunt?  Anything creative or new you’ve seen?

There’s no question that people see a tighter gap of competition for a position.  We are seeing more applications coming in all the time.  This of course brings a new level in qualifications of experience, education, and other hiring criteria.  I also have found that people are really taking their job search further—they are utilizing and leveraging all their resources; essentially “anything goes”.  People have expanded their job hunts to rely more heavily on social media and online networking as a supplement to traditional means for searching.

We don’t want anyone to feel discouraged, so maybe you can clue us in:  as an HR manager of an online network, what strategies do you best relate with for finding the right candidate?

I search the web and use different recruiting strategies to find good candidates or potential employees.  When using the web, LinkedIn is a very useful tool, as it makes desirable web professionals more accessible and easy to contact directly without the need for a recruiting agency as a middle man. I also join and take part in professional and other relevant forums and in several Facebook groups  that enable me to reach a broader spectrum of candidates.   Like many companies, we also rely a great deal on our current employees and business partners to bring in fresh faces for our team.

Based on your experience, what defines someone well fit for Kontera?

First and foremost, we’re looking for people who have an aptitude for technology and are truly passionate about the web. Kontera  wants individuals who can demonstrate their passion for the web right off the bat.  A team-player attitude and willingness to be dynamic with their position are crucial traits.  Like the Internet, the company is evolving constantly, rapidly, and always presenting a new twist.  Employees should be ready for new challenges and get excited about them.  We work hard, but it’s important for us to keep the office environment fun and light—we’re looking for people who will contribute to making our coffee breaks and lunch time fun.

Since you are the first person to interview prospective employees, I’m sure you’ve seen all sorts of interviews, good and bad.  Any examples or tips as to do or not when interviewing?

Assuming that you want to get hired please turn off your cell phone before the interview begins… Another hint – if you forgot to do so – taking that call is not a good idea either . On a more serious note – there’s the obvious rule of thumb: come prepared!  Research the company you are interviewing with so that you know what you’re getting into and they know you’re serious.  It’s always good to get familiar with the market competitors so you can demonstrate a wider knowledge of the company’s challenges.  Work out your “sales pitch”, explain why you are the best possible candidate for a position, be ready to include facts that will promote your “personal  brand” into the answers you are giving the recruiter. Mention your successes and initiatives, but try not to come off arrogant – balance is key.

We’re looking for confident, energetic people where the resume and personality meet to reflect the way you’ll deal with our work environment.  For the most part,  recruiters are looking for focused people—those that present themselves with confidence and send out a message that they’re the best match for the position.

Bottom line, is Kontera hiring?

Absolutely – we’re always on the lookout for talented people and have recently opened a few positions in our US and Israel offices, which you can read more about in our Careers page.

Tired of browsing through streaming video sites just to hear the latest hit songs or an obscure beat?  Often music searches on the web end in a tragic stream of low quality, choppy, disastrous renditions of your favorite jams.  The music search is over as Kontera is glad to present our May Publisher of the Month: musicremedy.com.

MusicRemedy is an extensive source of information completely music-centric, of course.  The site includes everything a music lover could look for including news, songs, pictures, videos, a forum and much more.  MusicRemedy.com allows users to listen to full songs, watch full videos, and have other multi-media experiences completely free of charge.  This is a fantastic way to help potential music buyers decide what they like the best or just get introduced to tracks they wouldn’t otherwise hear.

One thing that MusicRemedy.com has done to set itself apart from other music sites is include a section dedicated to contests.  This section features opportunities for users to win great prizes by answering music trivia questions.  Some of the questions take some major digging in order to find answers, but are proven well worth the search as prizes like music memorabilia, autographed CD’s, and gift sets are given away regularly.

As part of Kontera’s Publisher of the Month series, we had a chance to interview Jermy Leeuwis MSc of MusicRemedy.com to gather insight on this truly “note-worthy” online music destination.

What inspired you to start Musicremedy.com?

My passion for music, to keep it short. Like most people, I too have been listening to music for all my life. I am not a great singer nor dancer but I enjoy listening to (new) music. Listening, watching, reading and writing about music became my passion. Combine music and some computer-skills, you have a music website titled “MusicRemedy”.

Dedicated music fans are sometimes known to be vocal and opinionated, and with the idea of Web 2.0 at full reign, what have you done to provide an outlet for user-input on Musicremedy.com?

There are different kinds of being ‘dedicated’ to music. The dedicated music fans, MusicRemedy targets at, want to be info- and entertained without being too ‘Mr. Know-It-All’. This means that they want to have fun through reading, commenting, listening and watching their favorite music.

What strategies do you employ to create such a great balance of content ranging from well-known artists as well as independent and non-label-affiliated musicians?

It is quite simple: “Let your visitors be the judge.” This means that MusicRemedy features new music everyday whether it is independent or famous. Naturally, a selection has been made of the finest so visitors will listen to the latest and the best. This way the visitor does not have to search hours for new songs but uses his time wisely to listen to great music on MusicRemedy.

Musicremedy.com covers a wide range of music content, based on your users’ feedback, who are the current top five artists?  What do they have in common if anything?

Naturally, Hip-Hop and R&B are doing very well the last few years but rock is still rocking . Anyway, here goes: Eminem, Keyshia Cole, Lady Gaga, Kid Cudi, Elliott Yamin.
All five have in common that the music genres ‘Hip-Hop’ and ‘R&B’ have become popular. These songs can be categorized as Hip-Hop or R&B but also as pop songs. I know there are quite a few people who will disagree but the facts show otherwise.

When did you start monetizing Musicremedy.com and what role does In-Text advertising play in your overall monetization strategy?

Musicremedy started over ten years ago and grew over the years to a loveable music site. About nine years a few companies were interested in advertising, while we were trying to make the site bigger and better. At some point the site’s development and maintenance requires some costs and so the site had to make a few bucks.

After a few years new sorts of advertisements appeared on the internet (ie., in-text, video, etc…). In all business activities you need to stay focus and innovate. So we did. In-Text has been around a few years but not as heavily targeted as nowadays. I assume this is because a lot of blogs use them.

The main advantage of Kontera In-Text is that it is not annoying like popups and visitors can choose whether to view and/or click. This combined with quality content, will give you better earnings without lowering other earnings.

In what direction do you see your site moving in the coming year?  Are there specific sections of your site that you are working to develop further?

There are quite a lot of movements coming up. First, a fresh new design we have been working on for over a year. Afterwards very interesting functions will be added for even more information about artists and naturally, more interaction for our visitors. Sorry but I can not tell you more because it is highly classified .

Ok ok, if you insist. Our latest section “Upcoming Songs” is one of these new developments which is becoming more popular every minute. In the upcoming months this section will get more user-input. This section, and upcoming ones, are also available as RSS-feeds making it interesting for visitors to use on their blogs or personal sites.

The Kontera Publisher of the Month series kicked off in January of 2009. A publisher is selected from Kontera’s network each month and provides an insider’s perspective on what it takes to manage a successful site. To learn more visit the Publisher of the Month Category.

The online content and advertising industry is a dynamic, fast changing environment where new and creative ideas are constantly introduced.  It is fascinating to note that only a few short years ago, in the early 2000’s, In-Text Advertising was still the new kid on the block.  As the online advertising landscape has undergone many changes in recent years, the In-Text Advertising industry has evolved immensely in this short period.

Today, we are glad to interview Kontera’s Vice President of Products and one of the company’s founders, Assaf Henkin, whom we want to ask more about the evolution of In Text Advertising.

For starters, can you tell us a little bit about the history of Kontera In-text?  What sparked the idea? When did the technology first get developed?

Kontera and the In-Text vision behind Kontera started with the idea of connecting information online.  Meaning that instead of users using search engines to search for information, the question we asked ourselves is how can we proactively link keyword phrases and help users connect to additional information?  So we started with an application where users could click on different keyword phrases and get relevant information from different content sources, product reviews, encyclopedias, commercial information etc.  However, the business evolution prompted us to go more towards advertising and that’s how in text advertising evolved as a subset of In-Text information.

If you think about it, advertising is information and our vision from day one has been to make advertising relevant and useful enough so it’s used as an additional information source.  In the last 18 months we’re going back to fulfilling that promise with our Hybrid product that combines related content and advertising. The future holds exactly that. Our mission is to connect the entire web.  The idea is that every page with text online would have several links powered by Kontera.  These could be links to ads and/or related information.  Our duty, role and responsibility are to make these links relevant and useful so that they’ll become a powerful information tool for users.

What did the market look like when Kontera first emerged?

The market was much less sophisticated-we were pretty much the pioneers of this type of information browsing and consumption.  The market was nascent in the sense of both advertising and content consumption.  You didn’t have any mature syndication models, distribution, RSS, information consolidation-things which are obvious today.  So what we did back then was very revolutionary.  Advertising was also in its very early stages. There were no sophisticated metrics, monitoring or advanced measurement.

Today, the online ad and information market are very different and Kontera is a natural fit in this world because of our level of relevancy, targeting, and the utility value we provide users and the level of performance we bring to advertisers.

Did you have to convince the market back then?

Obviously introducing a new product to the market requires some education. Some publishers were standoff-ish, as they didn’t want to have any automatic mechanism that would add links to their pages. BUT, this is a few years back.  Today, we see a constantly growing adoption rate. The evolution of user-information consumption is also to our benefit, because the model is no longer confined to search and portals alone.

For example, today, while visiting an a Yahoo or AOL page, users will also interact with content from external sources using widgets, RSS feeds, and other products that AOL implemented which are not necessarily controlled by the site managers or editors.  A site’s editors control its content and articles, but there are a lot of other dynamic components that change every time the user will refresh the page.  The change is based on who the user is, their geographical location, the evolving inventory, and this is something that is similar to what Kontera does.  Every time the user views a page that is utilizing our technology, we will select different Keywords, we can show different content and different ads. In a sense, the market is becoming more and more open to having less control and trusting technology as long as the technology delivers positive user experience.

What more can we look forward to in 2009 in terms of new development?

We’ve just completed a major release of our Publisher Center and by mid to end 2009 we’re going to do a new release of our Ad Center-our dashboard for advertisers.  We’re also working on some innovative content units and ad units that are part of partnerships with some of the larger media companies and ad agencies in the market.

Where do you think the In-Text technology is going in the coming future, how do you believe it will be embedded in peoples’ online behavior?

As I said before, we see In-Text as an inseparable medium for users to interact with information and the better job we do at it, the more interlined it will be with users lives’ online. Furthermore, we view In-Text as a very powerful product for mobile information and consumption because of the small devices and small footprints that mobile devices offer.  We are also looking at IP TV or the TV and video implementation online.  Think about video content, or the way TV and movie companies are consumed online today. It is clear that a few years from now, more and more people will watch their favorite TV shows online, using a computer. For our technology it would be a natural extension- a medium where, based on semantic meaning, and on a set of other parameters, additional information could be offered to the user.  This is another area where we expect that In-Text will become popular in the next coming years.

David Gorcey joined Kontera in July of 2006 and has lead the Publisher Account Management team for the last two years. He grew up in Southern California and has spent time living in London and Finland before moving to San Francisco 5 years ago. As Manager of Publisher Services, David primarily works with Kontera’s Account Management team on the optimization and management of Kontera’s publisher network.

Can you point out a few things that Kontera’s top earners have in common?

I know we’ve touched on this on the blog already (see post 5 Things Kontera Top Earners Have In Common) but having targeted, well written content is really something that characterizes our top earners. When you think about it, this is beneficial in several ways- 1) it improves the relevancy of the ads Kontera can serve in your content, 2) It also brings you more targeted ads if you use AdSense or something similar, and 3) it helps you from an SEO perspective. The more targeted and quality content you are able to include on your site, the better off you will be from an advertising and user experience perspective. Most of our top earners have also put some effort into the design of their site because you want the aesthetic and flow to be one that users find visually pleasing and easy to read and navigate.

What would you like to tell Kontera’s present and future publishers?

For Kontera’s current publishers, the first thing I’d like to say is that we truly do appreciate your business and that we look forward to pursuing a successful long term partnership with each and every one of you. We value your input and always welcome your insight and suggestions so please keep them coming. Near term, you can expect to see us build on our technological leadership and continue to pursue advancements that will increase our ability to provide relevant advertising with meaningful earnings for you. Overall, I am excited for what 2009 will bring to everyone using Kontera already, and anyone who might be looking to give us a try in the coming months.

What communication channels does Kontera offer to assist and serve its publishers?

Kontera places very high importance on interacting with and responding to publishers. Some publishers have a direct account manager so for them, this is the most effective way to get in touch with us. Aside from that, our email support staff (support@kontera.com) are very effective at realizing what someone’s specific needs are and determining who best can help them with their question. Although different inquiries require varying degrees of resources, our goal is making sure that no matter what it is, a publisher’s question is addressed as quickly and effectively as possible so I would recommend this as the primary communication channel for any publisher questions or input.

Because our product is focused exclusively online, we also play an active role in many online forums and discussion boards that pertain to our industry or product specifically, and this is another way we have been able to engage and communicate with our users. Finally, our blog helps us spread the word on news, developments, or anything else that is going on here, and along with our knowledge base (kb.kontera.com) provides an excellent resource for information and tips. As you can see, we expend a lot of efforts on engaging and interacting with the people that use our technology

Overall, I’d just like to reiterate the value Kontera places on all publishers in our network and our sincere desire to develop successful long term partnerships with every one of you. You’ve helped us become the leader in the in-text marketplace and we look forward to building on that success with you even more in the coming year.

Smartcarofamerica is America’s largest Smart Car based internet community. Smartcarofamerica incorporates an extensive knowledge base about Smart Cars with discussion between perspective buyers, owners, and Smart Car fanatics from near and far.

Smart Car enthusiasts can get together in Smartcarofamerica forums in order to exchange ideas, learn about new models, discuss, share pictures, gossip, and everything in between.

SmartcarofAmerica provides extensive information that will help a prospective buyer transform their dreams of Smart Car ownership into an environmentally friendly, ultra-trendy, and gas saving reality.

We’re glad that ContentLink ads are “parked” within the words of Smartcarofamerica.com, and are pleased to introduce it as Kontera’s February Publisher of the Month. It was our pleasure to meet with Ryan Porter, Director of Marketing of Smart cars of America, for a short interview and we’re glad to share his answers with you here.

What was the impetus for starting Smartcarofamerica?

In 2000 we had one of the first smart cars to grace the shores of the U.S. and actually launched SmartCarofAmerica.com after this funny looking little car made such an impression on everyone we introduced it to, including us. We sensed this mode of transportation was exactly what our economy and our planet needed. A unique and fun car that everyone would love to drive and love to be seen in, a car that offered unbeatable gas mileage, could fit into a parking space reserved for a motorcycle and a car that helps to keep our planet healthy.

Smartcarofamerica has an active forum where members can share opinions and find useful tips. Are there any topics that seem to be the hottest of discussion?

As North America’s leading “independent” source for unbiased and timely information and news concerning these great cars we consider all topics of discussion important, as I’m sure the SCOA forum enthusiasts do as well, and because of the lack of dependable news and unbiased information (for many years) any and all dialogue is imperative.

Smartcarofamerica has a very informative FAQ section, but as a Smart Car enthusiast we wanted to ask you about the ability to park it virtually anywhere. What’s the most obscure space you’ve seen a Smart Car occupy?

That’s a good question. Honestly, I would have to choose two diverse places. I really love the new RV’s that completely conceal the fortwo, but for entertainment purposes I have to say the British chap who attached 2 Smart cars, one on top of each other takes the prize!

Thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs start their own websites/forums daily. What advice do you have for those focusing their sites on automobile related products?

Spotlight a unique vehicle or niche market automotive product and take advantage of the emptiness within that niche market and by all means supply readers with information, content and real news. Be candid!

When did you start monetizing Smartcarofamerica and what role does In-Text advertising play in your overall monetization strategy?

SmartCarofAmerica.com was launched in 2001; however we only began our monetization strategy in 2007. In-Text advertising with Kontera has been a crucial component for the overall revenue success for our company.

What sort of responses have you been getting from Smartcarofamerica users with regards to the various types of advertising you employ?

As with any type of advertising you use, some readers are OK with it. We’ve found that our Kontera ads in conjunction with Google are a great source of revenue and in most cases our readers are pleased.

In what direction do you see your Smartcarofamerica progressing in the future?

Like the car itself, Smart Cars of America is unique. We want to keep all our wheels turning by getting the word out about all innovative and intelligent vehicles. Most importantly we want to gain the entire clever car community’s confidence, with grass roots participation.

Visit SmartcarofAmerica.com

The Kontera Publisher of the Month series kicked off in January of 2009. A publisher is selected from Kontera’s network each month and provides an insider’s perspective on what it takes to manage a successful site. To learn more visit the Publisher of the Month Category.

2009 has only just begun and we’re kicking it off with a brand new post series -”The Kontera Publisher of the Month”.

Through this post series, each month we’ll introduce you to one of the most interesting and unique sites from amongst Kontera’s network of publishers. Ask-Leo.com, the first Kontera Publisher of the Month for 2009, is a perfect example of a website that truly deserves your bookmarks.

Ask-Leo is a website that offers answers to hundreds of tech questions in a variety of categories.  The site is easy to use, and provides thorough and informative advice that anyone from a tech newbie to an experienced programmer or webmaster will find useful.  Leo A. Notenboom, the man behind Ask-Leo, is a former software engineer for Microsoft who has decided to share his wealth of knowledge in the personal computer and software industry with Internet users worldwide.

As the owner of the January Kontera Publisher of the Month, Leo has agreed to answer a few questions for us; we hope you’ll enjoy this interview.

It’s widely known that you were a Microsoft employee for over a decade prior to starting ask-leo!; what was the impetus for starting your own business?

I didn’t actually set out to start a business. After 18 years at Microsoft I “retired”. The problem, if you want to call it that, is that my job was also my hobby, so I couldn’t really stop playing with computers and technology. I have some friends who are also internet entrepreneurs, and I started to dabble in a world outside of Microsoft.  As you might expect family and friends were always asking me questions, so I started to write up the answers to questions I was getting asked most often. Those entrepreneur friends gave me guidance on things like web site construction, search engines and the like, and they also pointed out that this might well be a revenue opportunity. That was in 2003, and the rest, as they say, is history.

How many questions were submitted to Ask-Leo during 2008? What were the most common types of questions?

I don’t have an exact count, but on average I get between 50 and 100 questions and blog comments (which are often also questions) per day. So I’d put it in the 25,000 range.

Most common, by far, are questions relating to password recovery, email account theft, and loss of email account access. After that it starts to vary widely into areas like Windows quirks, suspected hardware failures, specific software problems as well as issues around viruses and spyware.

What was the strangest question you have received?

There are so many to choose from, I don’t think I could. But I certainly do collect the odd and off-beat questions, and each year on the anniversary of Ask Leo! (August 10th), I post a “best of” collection on my personal blog. You can see last year’s collection, and links to the prior years, here: http://ask-leo.com/d-bestof5. I will say this: I’m somewhat surprised, and a little concerned, at the frequency I get asked for relationship advice – I am a computer geek, after all.

Thousands of aspiring entrepreneurs start their own website/blogs daily with the hopes of building a profitable, internet-based business.   What “words of wisdom” do you have for these fledgling entrepreneurs?

There are no shortcuts, but well focused and well directed hard work can be both rewarded and rewarding.

Getting Ask Leo! up and running was a fair amount of work, and it took a goodly amount of time before it truly started to look like a business. It was probably two years before it was generating a reasonable amount of revenue. During that time I was carefully learning about what it means to write authentic content for the web, what it means to be search engine friendly, and what it takes to manage a resource of this magnitude.

Even then that’s not enough. I’m actually a fairly small player in what happens to be an extremely large segment (on-line tech support). It’s a great segment for me, because in many ways answering people’s questions is what I was doing anyway. Formalizing that, and doing it myself in a public venue like Ask Leo! not only capitalizes on my experience and interests, but also allows me to differentiate myself from other players by simply being myself. Every Ask Leo! article (save one, I believe) was written by me, and I plan to keep it that way. In all honesty, that’s part of what keeps it fun for me.

Another point of common wisdom is the adage “find a problem and solve it”. I don’t have to find problems, they come to me. I can’t solve them all, but when I can, everyone walks away happy, myself included.

When did you start to monetize Ask-Leo and what role does In-Text advertising play in your overall monetization strategy?

It actually started out as a for-pay service. For $27 I would answer your question or give you your money back. That lasted only a couple of months. Google’s AdSense program was picking up steam, and of course I signed up. That’s when the power of advertising in general became readily apparent to me.

In-text advertising such as Kontera’s came along later, of course, but has become an important source of not just revenue, but security. I say there’s a natural concern about building businesses or websites around a single advertising relationship. Kontera’s participation in Ask Leo!’s profitability turned out to be significant, and definitely helps mitigate the risk of perhaps otherwise having all my eggs in one basket.

What also became readily apparent, is that contextual targeting is key. With a problem/solution site such as Ask Leo!, it’s not that uncommon for one of the ads to actually be the solution that my reader is looking for. It doesn’t get much better than that when it happens.

What sort of responses have you been getting from Ask-Leo users with regards to the various types of advertising you employ?

I get amazingly little feedback on the ads. Occasionally someone will confuse an Adsense ad as being some kind of recommendation from me, but I’ve not heard of that happening with Kontera ads. I do get occasional complaints, either for advertising in general or for the in-text ads, but that might be once every other month or so. Given that I’m running 1.3 million visitors a month right now, I consider “one in two million” an acceptable rate. (And I do make available and answer that includes instructions for people who would like to turn off the in-text ads.)

What’s in store for Ask-Leo users as we look to 2009?

Honestly, mostly more of same.

As we talk, I’m actually in the process of kicking off a major editorial review of the entire site, bringing the content up to more consistent level of quality, as quality is so key to continued success on the web. But that’s almost administrative in nature.

More visible will simply be my reacting to those 50-100 questions I get every day, and see where they take me. One of the reasons I so enjoy my career/hobby is that there’s something new every day; something to learn, to research or to play with. The fact that I can do so in a way that also helps people overcome some of the problems and frustrations they have with their computers is just fantastic.

The Kontera Publisher of the Month series kicked off in January of 2009. A publisher is selected from Kontera’s network each month and provides an insider’s perspective on what it takes to manage a successful site. To learn more visit the Publisher of the Month Category.

We discovered something quite interesting on the Net just recently that we want to share with you. It’s an online self-study course, called Site Build It! (SBI!) that shows you how to create – and have fun with – your own successful internet business.

According to statistic sources on the Net, a large percentage of online business do not make it past the 1st year of operation. While the reasons for this result vary, there’s always one main, constant, never-ending battle each website owner faces: the fight for traffic to their site. And it is this battle, especially for attracting free traffic from the search engines, where the vast majority small businesses fail.

About Site Build It! (SBI!)

Site Build It! is the creation of SiteSell Inc., a privately held company based in Montreal.

When you visit their site,  you will quickly discover that SBI! is an online self-study course (and suite of integrated software tools) that empowers anyone, from beginner to Internet expert, to build a successful online business from scratch.

The most relevant benefit provided by SBI! for online entrepreneurs is the power to attract targeted visitors on an ongoing basis.

The traffic levels to Site Build It! sites, compared to regular sites and blogs, are impressive. According to a Netcraft.com study:

• 6 out of 10 Site Built It! site owners get more website visitors than 97% of all other websites.

• And more than 3 out of 10 – a full 35% of folks using Site Build It! outperform 99% of all websites.

How Does SBI! Do It?

Watch this entertaining, informative 30-minute video for the complete picture.

Final Thoughts

We’re excited to recommend any resource from which our partners can benefit.

Site Build It! is a cost-effective and well-supported way to build a traffic-generating business on the web and we thought that Kontera publishers should hear about it here too:)

Site Build It! Now offers Kontera publishers an unconditional 30-day, money-back guarantee. To get started, click here. 

We all like to recommend our favorite websites, articles we find interesting or other attention-grabbing news stories.  In fact, social networking largely thrives on the idea that we love to share our web findings with our online friends.  Today, some of us at Kontera gathered to give recommendations of our favorite sites.  Thought you’d be interested in paying a visit:

Adi Elimelech, a Kontera Ruby Developer, recommends www.tripit.com. “Tripit is a site that helps you to quickly organize all your travel plans, and saves you the job by creating an actual itinerary of your trip.  I discovered it after some of my friends used it to plan their trip.  It’s a great website and an original utility- like having a personal automated travel agent”.

Gabi Peles, Kontera’s Director, Product & Operations browses through a relatively new engine, www.mahalo.com. “I discovered Mahalo not long ago and I have come to appreciate it. Mahalo is a kind of a user generated search-engine, where each page provides a rich description of the keyword sought”.

Ariel Gluckson, Publisher Support Coordinator tells about Woot.com. “Woot.com is a site I visit often to see what’s today’s buy. I think it takes a creative edge to blow-out sales tactics. Every day Woot lists one product for a 24 hour time period and sells it at a price well under the retail.  I’d totally recommend anyone to at least have a look”.

Mika Tal, Publisher Services Manager recommends  k21st.wordpress.com.  “K21 is a blog that aggregates all the best of new thought innovation in practically every known field. It includes everything that goes under the conception of futurism, bringing the latest advancements in various fields and incorporating them into one accessible arsenal of knowledge”.

Barak Levi, a QA team member spends his free time learning Ruby (a true programming devotee). His recommendations are all Ruby related. “I recommend www.ruby-lang.org and railscasts.com to anyone interested in getting into the world of Ruby.  These sites contain documentation and guides and screencasts that tell you how to start from zero and build your way up to becoming a top Ruby on Rails programmer.”