We like the human-ness of a Single Belly Button (SBB). Really, what's required is a combination of a human being, lots of coherent data and a data interface. In the old days, when labor was abundant, recruitment advertising transactions were expensive and advertising opportunities were extremely limited, this person was called an Advertising Agency Rep.

Although the Bernard Hodes organization was smart enough to get out of the job board business, the agencies have lost credibility with their customers. Can you really expect the TMP advertising sales force to be objective when they are pumping their Monster product line? We assume that the Hodes team will start really using this difference to their advantage.

Objectivity is the single most important thing that an SBB can bring to the game. It is impossible to achieve that objectivity when you own one of the properties that you are selling. While we believe that Monster has earned its place as the default source for online recruiting transactions, the TMP strategy comes at the expense of traditional (and contemporary) advertising service delivery. The fact that Chief Monster (TMP's new executive level offering) competes directly with a core constituency (Search Firms) isn't lost on those firms. We've gotten large numbers of letters from the emerging "Just Say No To Monster" campaign. Third party firms (their postings are the foundation of Monster's success) are beginning to realize that TMP has organized to compete with them directly.

In other places (Canada, Australia and Europe), the historical distinctions between search firms and ad agencies are not as clear as they are in the US. Most of the Recruitment advertising business in those places is filtered through the Search Firms as an upsell. They position advertising as a performance accelerator in a contingency contract. While we're certain that TMP will bring that concept to the American market, the Achilles heel in pricing is that the non-US approach always involves an arm's length transaction. Objectivity is impossible when the thing held at arm's length is your own hand. By directly competing with its core customers, Monster is sealing its fate as a large player in the sourcing business.

It's not a bad position unless you are selling infinite growth to Wall Street. Monster clearly won't be going out of business anytime soon. But, they jeopardize their upside with a number of their current market moves. No objective middleman can deliver from its own arsenal.