365 days and 296 posts later, I’m still here and loving every second of it.

I started this blog on a whim with a goal of educating myself and others about the industry. Today I consider myself a fiercely independent industry analyst. My goal is still to educate myself and others, but hopefully I’m also constructively contributing to the growth of this innovative industry.

I was going to bore you with the history of ComparisonEngines and do a recap of important events over the last year. Instead, I’d like to express my thanks to everyone for sticking with me. I truly appreciate the support, constructive criticism, and encouragement you’ve provided.

It’s tradition to give presents on birthdays. So in case you were looking for something nice to give me, here are a couple suggestions…

-Tell me I’m an idiot (or genius). Tell me I made a mistake. Tell me something. And share that comment with all the readers of this site. I’ve encouraged you to contact me, and I’ve received hundreds and hundreds of emails, IMs and phone calls. Unfortunately, though, you have not been as free with comments on the site. Part of the joy of learning is doing so in an interactive and collaborative environment (can you tell I went to a nice liberal arts college?). Posting comments and expressing your opinions will enrich everone’s experience. If you work at a shopping comparison engine and are concerned about the implications of posting on ComparisonEngines, send an email to your boss right now asking about your company’s policy (feel free to pass your boss’ reply onto me). I’m not asking you to share trade secrets. I’m not asking you to speak for your company. I’m asking you to intelligently add to the conversation.

-Write a guest commentary piece. This is not to be confused with a press release or an advertorial. I’m doing an ok job of covering some topics, a terrible job of covering other topics. If you have something to say that’s related to ecommerce (future of shopping online, site loyalty, local shopping search, social shopping, crawling technology, what shopping comparison engines are doing right/wrong, normalization/categorization technology, merchant optimization tips, etc.), let me know. The second most popular request from readers is more content. Help me out.

-Introduce yourself. I’ve only heard from a very small percentage of readers. Send a quick hello to ‘brian at comparisonengines dot com’ and tell me why you’re reading. Tell me what you want me to cover. Tell me my writing style sucks.

-Buy me lunch (I’m located in Silicon Valley) or send me your company’s t-shirt/baseball cap (snail mail is on the contact/about us page).

-Keep reading & spread the word.

Thanks!

-b