Comments on: Simon is looking for a boss – Director, mySimon

By: Tal Shaked

Tal Shaked — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 12:49:44 +0000

I do believe that they have the right combination of brand (Cnet especially) and content (expert reviews, product databases) to make some noise in the space. Don’t forget that they have a HUGE product database and they actually opened a separate division – Cnet Channel – which is now selling and licensing their content to major engines.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 02:54:50 +0000

Interesting theory….but I think you’re missing the point. Most comparison shopping sites are too focused on merchants and prices and are not focused enough on users. What does CNET do – they help people make educated decisions about what products to buy. Through a combination of professional editorial, user opinions, and data aggregation – CNET has the largest audience in the tech space.

mySimon is now positioned to leverage CNET’s positive assets (think editorial content, user opinions, and infrastructure) and has more dedicated resources than it’s had in many years. mySimon actually has quite a bit of technology to leverage including some exciting products that have not launched.

As Brian stated, this is a really great opportunity for the right person.

By: Dinkus Pho

Dinkus Pho — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 01:21:34 +0000

What a joke! CNET effectively killed mySimon years ago, by slashing its staff and switching its tech infrastructure. As a result, the site now returns fewer products for each query than it did five years ago.

In 2000, mySimon offered the most comprehensive product search available. Yes, better than Dealtime (Shopping.com), BizRate (Shopzilla), Pricegrabber, and NexTag– check out the most recent valuations of these competitors. Now, it’s a joke.

If the CNET bureaucracy were really “taking this comparison shopping property seriously”, they would hire a Sr. VP and a dedicated staff. A director is not a powerful manager in the organization.

And Brian, this part is downright funny: “MySimon is a combination of CNET Shopper listings (think tech) and Shopping.com listings (think everything outside of tech). This sounds like a great position!”

To me, this reads as “mySimon has no technology of its own. Its search results are powered by other companies. This sounds awesome!”