About a year ago, Internet mogul Barry Diller appointed J targeted at the Black Internet user.
“We felt that the Black community could be better served by the Internet and so we carried out a lot of focus groups. We found that Black people in the US do a lot of search, they look at news, and they look for jobs. Out of that work we decided to launch a search site called Rushmore Drive that offers mainstream search but also something extra for the Black community.” It also has its own editorial department staffed by journalists, and a jobs site where people can also network similar to LinkedIn.”
“It’s interesting. When we ran focus groups I was surprised that there was a lot of suspicion from people about a large corporation targeting the Black community, because I don’t really pay much attention to being Black myself. I was watching a lot of hostility through a two-way mirror. But when I stepped into the room and people could see me, they immediately changed their attitude and were much more welcoming of the idea. They also told us that they want great search, they don’t want just a bunch of Black targeted search results.”
Mr Taylor said that the site is not a Black version of Ask.com. It provides high quality search results plus more. The term Black is hardly used on the site and it won’t be used in marketing or advertising.
Classy…
The search site’s name is based on the address of the business group, located on 1115 Rushmore Drive, in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It’s like Rodeo Drive, it is a classy name.” Classy is an important quality, Mr Taylor says, which is why the right type of advertiser is important.
“I could have tripled my first year numbers from just one advertiser that wanted to be part of the site but I turned down the business because I did not like the association with the product.” Mr Taylor declined to name the advertiser (I would guess it could be a malt liquor brand) and said he wanted top advertisers such as Gucci and Ferragamo.
A Black Linkedin…
Black writers…
“For example, the recent death of R&B singer Sean Levert was a big deal in the Black community but it didn’t make much news elsewhere. We would promote that news and also discuss why he was in prison for failing to pay child support. We would look at the issue of paying child support in the Black community and not shy away from uncomfortable issues,” Mr Taylor says.
Mr Taylor’s challenge will be to demonstrate how Rushmore Drive can provide a better search experience that is inclusive while at the same time exclusive in its strong focus on the 60m strong Black community.
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(Thanks to Steve Gillmor for the headline inspiration.)
Additional Info:
Wall Street Journal April 18 2007
IAC Site to Court Minorities In Push Into Growing Sector
By JESSICA E. VASCELLARO
Time Warner Inc.’s AOL Black Voices offers news, videos and blogs that highlight prominent African-Americans, such as actress Halle Berry or presidential candidate Barack Obama. The site, which attracts about 3 million unique monthly U.S. visitors, according to comScore Networks Inc., also assembles articles on themes likely to resonate with the community.
BlackPlanet.com, operated by Community Connect Inc., is a social-networking site that aims to connect African-Americans over common interests and issues, such as the latest trends in black fashion and music. The site includes an online dating service and a job-search engine for employers.
Such sites have engendered significant loyalty among some African-Americans who find the rapport more relevant than what they get on other portals and social networking sites. “The vibe is just there,” says Joseph Bell, 39 years old, of Jamaica, New York, who logs onto BlackPlanet.com almost daily to meet people who share his interests in music, entertainment and morals. “You just feel really comfortable.”
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