Author Archives: Rakesh Agrawal

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About Rakesh Agrawal

Rakesh Agrawal is a 0-1 product leader. Ex-Amazon, Ex-Microsoft, as well as a number of startups. He tweets at @rakeshsfnyc

Adapting online newspapers to a search/Web 2.0 world

Posted on January 3, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’ve written earlier about troubles facing the newspaper industry as well as some ideas for improving online newspapers. Here are a few more ideas. Make sure your pages are crawlable. Most newspaper sites do just fine at this when it … Continue reading →

Posted in journalism, newspapers, search, seo, web 2.0 | 10 Comments

How low can Netflix go?

Posted on January 2, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

Netflix is testing a new $3.99 a month plan. (If you’re already a subscriber, you need to logout to see the offer.) This plan is a re-pricing (for new subscribers) of the current $5.99 plan, which allows subscribers to rent … Continue reading →

Posted in movies | Comments Off on How low can Netflix go?

McClatchy dumps the Star Tribune

Posted on January 2, 2007 by Rakesh Agrawal

The end of the year is the time that savvy investors dump their losers for the tax write-off. McClatchy did just that, selling off the Star Tribune in Minneapolis for $530 million. McClatchy paid $1.2 billion for it in 1998. … Continue reading →

Posted in journalism, newspapers | 1 Comment

Show me the ads

Posted on December 18, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I like ads. At least some ads. When I’m watching programs that I’ve recorded, I sometimes will rewind just to see an ad. These are usually ads from creative advertisers like Target and Apple. Occasionally, I want to share ads … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, video | 1 Comment

MovieBeam’s (sort of) video on demand

Posted on December 18, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Imagine a Tivo that could only record one channel, would only record shows that the networks thought you might be interested in, charged you every time you wanted to watch something and then would delete it whenever it wanted. Doesn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer electronics, media, movies, video | 2 Comments

Comcast tests early release movies on demand

Posted on December 18, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Comcast is testing the release of movies on settop boxes at the same time they are released on DVD, according to The New York Times. The tests are being conducted in Pittsburgh and Denver. The big winners in such a … Continue reading →

Posted in apple, media, movies, video | 17 Comments

Making the most of search engine traffic

Posted on December 17, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

News organizations are actively playing the SEO/SEM game. If you do a search for “Iraq War“, “taco bell“, “litvinenko“, you will get both organic results and sponsored links from major news sites. The sites take different approaches to where they … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, google, search, seo | 3 Comments

Metro puts real-time train information on mobile devices

Posted on December 16, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Metro is now offering access to real-time information on trains on its redesigned mobile site (http://content.wmata.com/mobile). This is the same information that’s displayed on station platforms, indicating the time until the next several trains. You can bookmark the pages for … Continue reading →

Posted in mobile, mobile search, transit, wireless, wireless data | 1 Comment

Searching for Web talent

Posted on December 16, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I’m in the process of hiring two Senior Product Managers for AOL Search. The people I hire will be working on two very exciting and truly innovative products that have the potential to significantly improve the way more than 40 … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, aol, newspapers | 2 Comments

Where does DC want to go today?

Posted on December 16, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I was playing with Kayak and found a feature that’s interesting to explore – a map of where people want to travel. You enter an airport and it will show you the top 25 searched for destinations from that airport. … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, travel | Comments Off on Where does DC want to go today?