4 Ways To Say “I Told You So”

Here are four of the ugliest words you can speak and still make it past pretty much any censors, anywhere:

I Told You So

No big deal, right? Ignore the nyah-nyah-nyah element of the phrase “I told you so”, and the words mean something simple.

Not today.

Today, we have a story about how shortsightedness can lead to really, really bad results. Reported first here, but in a way that’s easier to understand here, a group of publishers who demanded Google stop linking to their content or pay for the privilege have now begged for Google to re-link them. And my reaction is simple: I told you so. And I have, for years; the Internet is pretty much the only place you can do effective marketing any longer, and managing links matters. I told you so.

And I told you so, and told you so, and told you so. (So), with today’s self-promotional point made, let’s move on to the underlying issue behind this I Told You So.

1. Remember when the European Union passed that ridiculous “Right To Be Forgotten” law? Remember my comments that it would backfire? I Told You So.
2. Being Connected Matters. People Like It. I Told You So.
3. Linking and Framing are difficult copyright issues. But they aren’t going away. I Told You So.
4. Links bother you? Get Off The Internet. I Told You So (as did John Dvorak).

Bottom line: the very survival of your business depends on your willingness to address the way the Internet really works. And yes, I’d like you to contact me and hire us to help you get your search engine optimization and all the other elements of content marketing in order.

But you don’t need to do that, right? You can just wait for this stuff to shake out. It’s all just this year’s fad, right?

RIGHT?

Nope. And I’ll say it again: I Told You So.