Pay-Per-Gate Update in Maine

Lance Dutson at Maine Web Report: Time for a pay-per-gate Update - I haven't done a lot of digging on this yet, but it's an interesting little story. Basically, a small web company in Maine is complaining about the Maine Office of Tourism aggressively bidding for 'Maine' related terms in Google's Adwords program. (On a side note, I find it odd that there was no competition at all (and still isn't) for certain keywords I was running for Muncie Free Press. Then, all of a sudden, the minimum bid went up to a dollar a click for these certain keywords...) Anyway, this has (at least initially for me) the taste and smell of citizen journalism - a good example of it.

Dutson wrote:

Lack of Sufficient Response from the State

Dann Lewis has been really out of line during this whole inquiry process, there are obviously many legitimate issues that need to be addressed, including the specific amount of money that has been spent during this period of mismanagement. But he refuses to be transparent about the relationship between him and Northern Outdoors and Mark Wrenn, he refuses to comment to media that has made inquiries to him, he refuses to tell us what the expenditures have been.

He has stated that the goal of this campaign is to level the playing field for businesses that can’t afford to advertise online. So he feels totally justified in injecting the state where it shouldn’t be, and artificially inflating the advertising budget of every business in Maine, in order to attain a vague redistributionist fantasy, which just so happens to positively affect Russell Walters and Mark Wrenn.

This is a huge issue that deals not only with the technical details of internet advertising, but also it touches on a mindset at the state government level that ‘We know better’, and that somehow it is the state’s mission to make sure every business gets equal representation online. It touches on the danger of a technically illiterate political body, and the need for new minds in what has become nothing more than a cronified gang of hacks at the Office of Tourism.

Tourism is what every person in Maine relies on, every business, every politician, every ward of the state. The internet is the absolute primary vehicle for tourism business, and this therefore is a critical debate to have at a time when the state teeters on the precipice of financial disaster. I have heard so many businesses call this summer ‘ make or break’, businesses that feel they will go under if the season turns out to be as bad as the previous couple of years.

Dann Lewis has presided over an intense decline in a once-prosperous industry, and he addresses this by blaming the president, blaming innkeepers for charging too much, blaming citizens for asking questions. He has funnelled taxpayer money to questionable sources, continues to funnel almost $4 million a year to New York, and continues to cause financial pain to every internet-marketed business in Maine by using his office’s budget to elbow them out of the advertising arena.

Nice work Dann. It’s too bad your paycheck doesn’t depend on a thriving tourism business like the rest of us.

A bit on the snarky side, perhaps, but he asks some good questions.

The trick is in finding people like him and working closely with them for your own new media independent site.

EDIT TO ADD: Poking around some more on the site, I came across this post, which included, "The false and libelous statements you made on your Maine Coast Design website have not been ignored. "

Lots of angles on this story. Also interesting to note the tech savvy and non-tech savvy clashing. Case in point:

I look forward to seeing this response posted in the next edition of the Maine Coast Design blog. Try to save your own puerile commentary for the end and let my response stand alone. I like the idea of letting the taxpayers think for themselves. Then I look forward to seeing your complete retraction and apology.

Sincerely,

Thomas McCartin
President
Warren Kremer Advertising

It seems most of this is recent, currently happening even. I wonder if there will be an apology? Will the Office of Tourism sue for damages? Is it all a publicity stunt?

Thoughts?

Technorati Tags: Advertising Citizen Journalism New Media Independent Online