News of the search expert’s departure from the website and conference most strongly identified with him has the search engine community buzzing with commentary.
“For the search industry, this is a nine on the Richter scale and has the potential to shake the whole industry for a few months,” wrote Cutts.
No kidding. Fortunately, Sullivan had a few moments at what is certainly a busy time for the man who has been associated with search engine commentary for the past decade to share some insights with our readers on his pending departure from Incisive Media.
Sullivan noted that he made the decision to leave Incisive in July. He had been negotiating with Incisive CEO Tim Weller, and Sullivan had been urged to continue to have talks with the company. Ultimately those did not prove productive.
As he noted earlier today, Sullivan is definitely leaving. He did allow that, contingent on financial terms, he could do SES shows on a case-by-case basis. “I really don’t expect that to happen,” he said.
Contractually, Sullivan does not have a non-compete agreement in his way as he charts out his future. About five serious offers have been made for his services as of right now, so he won’t lack for opportunities, including ones he can make for himself.
On the topic of going forward from Incisive, I asked him what appealed to him the most. “Mainly being in control of my own destiny more, plus the ability to know that if I want to start a new site, I can get things going faster than with the existing development structure,” he said.
Could that lead to a new version of Search Engine Watch? “Possibly. Right now, the first step for me has simply been to say goodbye to the institutions I’ve helped build. The next step really will be to consider what exactly I want to do going forward,” he replied.
Whatever happens, followers of the search engine industry can be assured that one way or another, Danny Sullivan will continue to write, as he responded on one last question – could he see becoming a mainstream media columnist on search?
“It’s very possible, and it appeals a lot. My favorite thing is taking an important issue and examining it through writing, something that I’ve been pulled away from more and more as the site has grown. Getting back to that, probably through a new blog or site, is something I’m very likely to do,” he said.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
