Review of Starbucks Instant Coffee: It's not very good

This morning at Starbucks they were giving out some free sample of their new instant coffee, Via. I had gotten a sample of it a few months ago and tried it again this morning.

My verdict is in, Via is not very good. Starbucks advertises their instant coffee as being as good their drip brewed coffee. This simply is not the case. Via definitely has the sort of burnt, stale taste of instant coffee. Via is a bit over-priced as well. An 8 ounce cup of instant coffee costs about about a dollar. That's practically the same price per ounce as Starbucks in store drip coffee.

However, Via does taste better than most brands of instant coffee I've ever had. I'd definitely take it camping with me but I can't think of when else I'd use it.

So final verdict: Via doesn't taste that great and is very expensive for instant coffee. As instant coffee goes, it's pretty good, but what does that really say?

Job Advertising Networks Generally Fail

It's now been about 3 years since we decided to start Personforce. When we first started, we had some idea about being a "Google Adsense for Jobs" or a "Ad Network For Jobs". After talking to potential customers, we dismissed the idea. Every few years though, a company tries to setup up this sort of ad network. There are a couple of reasons job ad networks are economically unsound ideas:

1. It's unlikely a job advertisement is the most lucrative use of ad space for a publisher. In fact, it's impossible.

2. Advertising to "passive job seekers" is a kind way of saying "advertising to people who have no interest in what you are advertising."

3. Cost per applications are very very expensive when you are advertising to people who have no "purchase intent" for what you are selling (your job opening).

4. An easier way to target passive job seekers is just to find their profiles on LinkedIn and message them.

These economic realities generally make it difficult to pull off an ad network for jobs.