Voted +3, to make sure the thread makes it to the homepage.

What does the +3 mean?  How do you vote 3 times?

Not sure if this feature is only available for mods or for active members (might have to ask Ed about that).

Hmmm.... feels like mods shouldn't have the power to submit multiple upvotes. Potential conflict of interest and all that. This isn't implying any of the current admins would do this - I have great respect for all of them. That said, getting to the homepage of Inbound means a lot of traffic, leads, money, prestige and more. Would seem to go directly against the idea transparency and "democrating voting" I've come to expect from Inbound. If folks feel the results are rigged, they're less likely to have confidence in them.

Regardless, I support creating a PCC Category. Upvote from me.

I'd like to think Jason always submits good stuff and that's why it hits the homepage.... should I rethink this now?  The magical +3?

the +3 only shows up when you're using the vote up button (and not available when you're submitting a post for the first time) :) So basically, you can only vote +3 on others' submissions (particularly on really really really good stuff).

The more I think about it, the more I'm changing my mind. The "incoming" section has a lot of noise in it, and it makes sense that you'd want to give the admins a tool to help surface great content that might otherwise get lost. So yeah, maybe the +3 is a good thing.

Thanks Cyrus :) 

Same reason why I think the +3 also exist. But still not sure, if everyone can have this (particularly top members), or if mods are only allowed to have one. 

Exactly. This way they're "editing" the home page in a way. I personally think the first filter (by trusted admins) is a great feature. Mark

Jason - just so you know, this isn't directed at you, or any of the other great admins at all. You, especially, make Inbound more awesome everyday. If there was anyone I would give a +3 button to, we know who it would be. 

I see....... sounds like a good use.  :)

Posted a discussion about this here: http://www.inbound.org/discussion/view/yes-us-moderators-can-3-upvote-here-s-why

If you could keep the +3 conversation there, and the PPC petition here that'll be super :)

haha.... +3 for running a good community.  (if only i had the pwoer)

Hum Jason, Interesting, that inbound.org has feature which give you +3 Votes for same topics.

I think it's ridiculous that I'll have to bin something as Advertising/CRO/Copywriting/Data/Metrics when there's a whole industry category called PPC.

All in favor please say aye!

What's the matter with Advertising Victor?

Since the category RSS was discontinued I don't see a great deal of benefit in the categorisation right now anyhow, although I would really welcome more PPC goodness.

The greatest value I see in inbound in the future is the search function. Categories are extremely helpful for round-ups as not all titles will be reflective about the content it's about.

Buying ads is outbound IMHO. I was even surprised that we got an advertsing category here.

we could split hairs, retargeting is a derivative of PPC and is borderline Inbound. PPC is legitimate and effective. I don't regard it as the bastard child antithesis of Inbound.

It's effective but "push" and "interruptive" not "pull" and enticing in most cases. Next thing is we consider banner ads inbound?

http://www.hubspot.com/Portals/53/docs/Pay_Per_Click_Marketing_HubSpot_PDF.pdf Banner ads from a website you've visited with a high commercial intent keyword? I would consider that inbound. However, I definitely see where you're going here Tad - not all PPC is inbound. We'll leave it to the community to decide what's PPC inbound awesome, and what's not.

I've submitted PPC topics in the past. Fit fine inside of Advertising IMO. Perhaps "Advertising/PPC" would be appropriate.

Agreed. That would probably be the best work around.

Not that I hate on paid search, but erm... the site is called inbound.org. PPC is paid media, which is the polar opposite.

I believe other agencies consider PPC as a part of inbound marketing:http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31271/How-Inbound-Marketing-Works-From-Start-to-Finish-INFOGRAPHIC.aspx

 - but more focused on getting targeted leads for the lowest CPC.

Sure... but the same exact "get the most leads for your money" is the basic goal for any conversion oriented paid campaign in any channel. I don't particularly care either way, but it feels like doublethink meant to work in a topic we like, even though it isn't really on topic for the site.

I think PPC should be included in any inbound discussion for two reasons: 1, PPC from agency side is all about quality score and improving the campaigns, adverts and landing pages for users to WANT to engage with your ads. This doesn't interrupt the user it enhances it. 2, PPC is a great devise for improve organic campaigns as keywords can be researched live and tested, so in PPC/SEO works really well in tandem.

I actually think the current categorisation could be simplified! This is my suggestion:

from 28 to 16 categories:

ASK INBOUND (intentionally in capital letters, at the top of the dro-down menu)

Affiliate

Analytics

Content

CRO

Email

Entrepreneurship

Industry News

Marketing

Mobile

PPC

SEO

Social

Technology

UX

Web Development

We're looking at doing some kind of intelligent tagging system which could substitute the strict categories and allow for posts in multiple categories. For instance 'industry news' could also be in 'SEO' - people are often mixing categories which is annoying. On StackOverflow, people with XXX amount of karma/points can "create" new tags and categories on the fly so perhaps we could do something similar. That's some time in coming however...

In the meantime though, making "Advertising" into "Advertising/PPC" or something is a hot fix. Retargeting and retention marketing definitely sits more on the side of Inbound Marketing, but PPC is kind of the opposite. The nemesis. That said, it's still damn useful. Together our real enemy for noise, budget and mindshare is mass media advertising and PR.

Agree with the "quick fix" idea. Thanks!

I post a lot of content about PPC, and I think advertising is too broad. If I'm looking for PPC articles on Inbound, I know often I will find different content in the advertising section.

PPC is like comic sense.. Always left out.. 
PPC for president and PPC for Inbound.org!

Completely agree with eBiz here.

I think that PPC should be here. People are searching for things on Google, Bing, Facebook etc so if you pull them in through a PPC ad why is that any less "inbound" than an SEO ad?

In my process of Inbound Marketing, PPC works for me for quick promotion, and to perform A / B testing ...

Or to analyze the quality and the conversion of a word. Anyway, I think a ppc category, would be very useful.

I think it should not be literal, the inbound marketing is a term "relatively" new ... And what they say about 100% free, I doubt it. I do not think this argument is not to create this category.

Sorry for my English, I'm learning to write haha.

I'd like more clarity on the +3... how do I get such powers? :)

I appreciation the addition of the Advertising/PPC category (thanks) but just wanted to weigh in on the conversation as it helps if everyone in the industry is speaking the same common language to avoid confusing each other and more important, our clients.

It's not clear to me a context of how paid search would be interruption-based (i.e. outbound)? HubSpot coined the term inbound marketing and the reference to the post above by Jason is referencing a HubSpot infographic which shows PPC as inbound, albeit optional.

The HubSpot definition of inbound marketing, as I understand it, is not bound by paid vs earned, but seeking versus interruption.

If someone someone is seeking a product or service from withing Google or Bing and then clicks on a paid link, which for high commercial, non informational/navigational queries, is more likely than many think, then why would that be considered interruption-based? If you are looking for an offer, the paid search results is often where you find them. 

Not trying to stir the pot but rather try to line up behind a common definition of inbound marketing and whether or not PPC is considered an inbound or outbound tactic and why.

You're wish is granted. "Advertising/PPC" category now live :)

Finally :) Can't wait to submit and to read. Great move inbound.org team!

Glad to see this category included, even though I wonder about it being "inbound", but nevertheless, stoked! (",)

I'd say +3 to PPC being considered as inbound. Provided of course that they aren't using some weird keywords.