Opinions

May 27, 2009 at 10:21 AM EST

By Jack Hurwitz

Is marketing the same as lying? CPX Interactive marketed us. Wanted to be one of our premium AD networks. Said they could pay what others pay. Then you pulled your tags after 2 days because you didn't get much traffic for 25 cents a CPM. That now what premium networks pay. You know that. So your marketing is a lie? FWIW, these "bait and switch" tacitc are something every publishers knows about it. I told CPX we didn't want to deal with that yet you marketed us that you are better. You are not even good. You are the worst I have dealt with. CPX can't keep the promises they market themselves with so why should people believe you?

May 27, 2009 at 04:54 PM EST

By David Shay

As EVP of Marketing with CPX Interactive, I decided to engage Jack Hurwitz's comments by picking up the phone and speaking to him directly. He and I spoke at length this morning. We began by speaking about his specific issues with his interaction with CPX and the convo segued into issues (and misunderstandings) that exist, in general, between ad networks and publishers. While I will leave Jack to decide if there is anything he would like to add about how he viewed our conversation, I will say that once we got passed his underlying anger with how he perceived the interaction...and my own disappointment about the original manner in which he chose to discuss it...we both agreed that the industry as a whole could benefit from more conversations like the one we had. Ironically, these are the very issues that Mike Seiman was addressing in his original post.

Jun 12, 2009 at 10:46 AM EST

By Jack Hurwitz

David you are trying to decieve people about what's really going on. I am not going to let you get away with it. CPX Interactive could not keep thier word to save thier lives. Everyone should know this is the worst deal I have ever done in 15 years of working at dotcoms. You did promise you would fix things. Then proceeded to make things worse. For the record, I want to be clear here on why I think CPX Interactive is inept and have dropped the ball over and over: - CPX Interactive solicitied me offering premium ads at premium rates. You never demonstrated you have either. - CPX Interactive told me you could beat $1 CPMs no problem. Then you send me a revenue share contract with no rates stated. - Your rep Yael Klien stopped returning emails and phone calls after I told here I needed the contract as was promised. - When I called and asked to speak to a someone in charge about it. It took over a week to get a response. - When I finally talked to Chris Brannen about my promblems. I said I needed $1 on the contract as we agreed orginaly, Chris offered me 25 cents for International only. - Chris said he would fix everything and make me happy, then took over 1 month to answer my questions and get me tags back. - All your contracts have a 24 hour cancellation clause. Where's the trust in a clause like that? - You cancelled the 25 cents contract after 2 days without warning. - When saw my posts here, we talked and you assumed no obligation make up to me and offered a highly targeted campain at even less money, 15 cents CPM. - You pulled out the targeted ads before we could even run the campaign and swtiched in filler ads instead. - You blamed me for being inflexible for not accepting the untargeted campains. - Various tall claims were made about your partners AD and customers that I was unable to verify. - When I asked for $500 to make up for the three unfulfilled contracts CPX offered us, Michael Zacharski told me to get lost telling me a have some other agenda. Of course I have an agenda. To make the money you proposed you would pay us. - You guys do not listen to your publishsers. At every turn all these problems stemmed from you guys doing the very things I said I would not do. - After five months of patiently working with you and negotiating you have canceled three of your own deals. Now I have $0 for show for it working with CPX Interactive. Ultimately, you sought us out promised us wonderful things then proceeded to deliver on none of it. The very same claims your site supports as I write this. Even after we talked and gave you another chance you engaged in the same deceptive practices. Anyone reading this need not believe me, just do a search on these guys. There are many other publishers who have CPX's tank treads accross their back. I believed in you. Yet your lack of ability to keep your word, EVER, showed you could not be trusted and had to be watched at every turn. Instead of being a partner you're a predator on publisher's traffic. I my experince, CPX Interactive only cares about making the smallest payout to their so-called partners. In my experince, CPX Interactive is evil!

Jun 12, 2009 at 11:39 AM EST

By David Shay

Jack - I have no desire to get into a pissing match with anyone..especially someone as extremist in their words and actions as you have illustrated yourself to be. However, while my best angels tell me to remain silent, as a student of history, I know better than to leave a shoot completely unanswered... Our entire interaction is littered with inappropriate actions and language on your part, as is evidenced by your own posts and emails to us. Even your account of the 'facts' is laced with self serving slants that serve your own purposes and show no sign of mature consideration that is necessary in any two way communication. You continually change your tenor, with seemingly random explosions of temper. Perhaps the strongest challenge to your self-created sense of righteous indignation is that fact that you made very clear in both your emails to us and your own posted last comment...that for the completely-pulled-from-the-air price of $500 (your company neither lost, nor is owed, any $ from its interaction with CPX), you would not only drop this public attack on us, but would recant the sentiments. How terrible committed you are to the 'principle of the matter'...huh. In fact, how much less credible can a 'voice of opposition' become then when it speaks the language of blackmail? Jack - you are hurting the very group of people you claim to be shouting for. There are many misconceptions that exist between adnetworks and publishers. There are real bridges that must be crossed in order for each party to be able to be completely candid about their own agendas while stilll able to understand the business realities of the other. These conversations must be had and we are advocating for them . You, Jack, are standing on a hill top, yelling into the wind, rather than lending your voice to the cause. And, frankly, the language you use as you yell is neither useful nor appropriate. In closing, I will engage in the metaphor of your choosing from many of your emails to use. In one, you challenged us "Let's tango!" when providing a link to one of your comment tirades. In another you chided our lack of public response by saying "You guys can't dance!" Jack, while I am certainly willing to defend myself and our company on any even playing field, if you are trying to goat me into a downward spiral of a public mudslinging campaign where crude language becomes a substitute for real conversation, then "I'll sit this one out...thanks." I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors and hope you and your company continue to prosper.

Jun 14, 2009 at 06:20 PM EST

By Jack Hurwitz

Your company solicited me. Made repeated promises it never delivered on. If you call me wanting to make a profit from those offers you made "blackmail" then it's clear you guys are only interested in exploiting others. That's a sinister way to spin what should be the simple result of good business that no one shoudl have to demand. If anyone needs proof you guys are evil, you just gave it to them. I need not say anymore.