Rimstalker Profile Joined May 2011 Germany 699 Posts Last Edited: 2014-03-14 11:53:05 #1



Hello TL! This is the 2nd round of recruiting we are doing on teamliquid, the thread for the first one can be found



Hello TL! This is the 2nd round of recruiting we are doing on teamliquid, the thread for the first one can be found here If you are under 18, we will not be able to contract you. If you are about to turn 18, feel free to apply

Unless you are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, we are NOT interested in interns

This hiring process has nothing to do with the positions available in the careers section on the simpli.fi webpage!

Because it came up several times already: I did not put this on reddit, that was one of the contractors



Update March 14: Daniel started a couple of weeks ago, Aaron about two weeks ago, and Michael this week. Aaron lives pretty close to the office, chances are he will be hired as a full time employee soon.



Update January 23: Almost finished with the sorting, I will start sending out emails asking for appointments tomorrow, Friday the 24th



Update January 24: So much for 'almost finished', about 10 more people submitted their applications, so still some to sort through. I have emailed 4 people now, asking for appointments. I'm doing it alphabetically. I will have very little time tomorrow, but should get a couple hours of work in on Sunday. There is also a 'maybe' folder that I have to revisit.



Update January 26: I have reached out to more people, some for appointments (these were not in alphabetical order), to others to ask some questions and to some already with reasons why they didn't make it. If nothing out of the ordinary happens, I will finish with the sorting and asking for appointments part tomorrow.



Update January 27: I corrected the date above. I have sorted through all applicants. I have reached out to people for appointments who have first names from A to L. I will finish emailing people for appointments tomorrow. I guess you can call it 'out of the ordinary' that five people actually wanted to be tested today.



Update January 28, 14:00 CET: I have emailed everyone I want to test, and two people with some questions. Feel free to bombard me now if you have not been contacted.

I will not enter a discussion with you in any case. You are getting way more here than what you would ever get in a regular interview process. I will be blunt and direct, if you are easily offended, don't contact me.



Update February 3, 21:30 CET: Almost everyone who I reached out to about an appointment has taken the tests already. To these people I said I would expect to be finished on Sunday with testing and reach out Monday-ish. Of the test-takers I have already contacted 9, everyone gets a personal message, so that takes a bit of time. I'm done for today, though.



Update February 4, 22:00 CET: From everyone who has taken the test, I have reached out to the ones that did not pass. If you have taken the test and have not been contacted by me via email or skype, you are among the people that did OK or better. I'll try to get a 2nd and 3rd set of eyes on everyone who is left tomorrow and then reach out again.





Who are we and what do we do?



Simplifi is a startup from Fort Worth, Texas.



We do online advertising. We do 'Real Time Bidding'. We do a lot of 'Search Retargeting'. This means that our customers set up campaigns with targeting criteria of their choice and we bid for them on so-called ad exchanges, one banner ad at a time, up to 600 000 times per second. Imagine ebay, with 40 milliseconds between putting the auction online and the ad being sold and displayed.







We are looking for contractors to help us in our day to day campaign work.



Contractors, what does that mean exactly?



You need to be able to legally invoice us on a montly basis. In some countries this requires setting up a company, or it would at least be highly advisable for taxation purposes. You are responsible for your own health cover, there are no paid sick days or holidays. You work x amount of hours in a month, send an invoice of x times your hourly rate, and we pay that.



We currently have contractors from the States, from Germany, Slovakia, England, Australia, Czech Republic, Ireland and Bulgaria, so if you are from those countries, we could probably give you some pointers what you have to do to set up shop.



We communicate via Skype and email and collaborate via google docs and google drive. We try to do regional meetups every couple of months.



Our minimal starting hourly rate is 15 dollars, if you just meet our requirements. For more qualified people, 20 dollars is possible, and if you really impress us and - thanks to your existing online advertising knowledge - we don't have to train you, we'd offer 25. Once you show us how hard-working and efficient you are, the 15 dollars will go up rather quickly.



What are our minimal requirements?

fluent English



ability to quickly analyze data, quick judgment



ability to handle multiple projects



tech savvy



broad knowledge, open minded, detail oriented



work unsupervised



What will you do?



absolute entry level:

run reports, change parameters to make campaigns meet the campaign goals



expand targeting to spend the budgets in full



contribute to building a library of targeting information



'senior' level:

manage clients independently



access to production servers: logfile analysis, database queries, administrative tasks



use of our homegrown reporting engine



design tools to streamline work



possible avenues for personal growth:

Gentoo Linux admin



(P)SQL proficiency. This here is just an example of a SQL query one of our senior contractors put together a couple of weeks ago + Show Spoiler + select c.id, c.name, ls.name as seg_name, ls.user_count as seg_users,

c.start_date,c.end_date, c.daily_impression_cap, c.daily_budget,

round(cast(float8(sum(cst.total_spend)) as numeric),2) as yest_spend,

round(cast(float8(c.daily_budget - (sum(cst.total_spend))) as numeric),2) as leftover,

round(cast(float8((sum(cst.total_spend)/c.daily_budget)*100) as numeric),0) as spend_percent,

sum(cst.impressions) as imps, sum(cst.clicks) as clicks,

sum(((c.daily_budget/c.max_bid)*1000)/ls.user_count) as needed_imps_per_user

from campaigns c

inner join campaign_statuses cs on c.campaign_status_id = cs.id

inner join companies co on c.company_id = co.id

inner join campaign_goals cg on c.id = cg.campaign_id

inner join campaign_types ct on c.campaign_type_id = ct.id

inner join campaign_stats cst on c.id = cst.campaign_id

inner join campaign_labels cl on c.id = cl.campaign_id

inner join labels_seen ls on cl.name = ls.name

where c.campaign_status_id = 1

and c.id = 47904

and c.company_id in ('25','1705','1534')

and cst.stat_date = 'yesterday'

and c.campaign_type_id = 3

group by c.id, c.name, c.start_date,c.end_date, c.daily_impression_cap, c.daily_budget,

ls.name, ls.user_count

order by needed_imps_per_user desc;



Spoiler expert for ad-issues (shockwave, macro-expansion, javascript, iframes)



graphic design work



contribute to open-source software we use and customize: nginx, redis, nagios



write, use and deploy shell or ruby (or any other scripting language) scripts



DNS wizard



How do I apply?



Send me an up to date CV and something like a cover letter (feel free to ignore any kind of structured approach your culture might have there, I just want you to convince me that it would be worth my time to run you through our tests). matthias_at_simpli.fi



How does the interview process work?



We will select the candidates we want to interview and reach out to them to make appointments. During the appointments, we will throw some tests at you. We will look at the results, choose the ones we think did well, and take it from there.



What is the time frame for this whole operation?



This thread will be sponsored for a week, applications will be accepted during a 10 day period starting today, Monday, the 13th of January. We will need a couple of days to sort through all of them, but will start scheduling appointments for January already. You could start working as early as the first week of February.



Have you played Starcraft?



Yes, I have. We were having a LAN session in my parents' basement the week it came out and played it pretty much non-stop then. I have also played on Bnet and my crowning achievement was beating OgerRod and OgerTob in a 2on2 LT at a LAN. I have never played Starcraft II however. Currently, I am playing (and translating) the Alpha of Grim Dawn, and grinding through Hearthstone.



Any questions you have, feel free to post in this thread, send me a PM, or email me at the email address mentioned above.



FAQ



How many hours do you expect us to work?



On the first round, I stated 'at least 20 hours per week'. However, 90% of part time people have abandoned us again. We are quite willing to do a slow start, that allows you to keep your current job for the time being, but after some weeks, I would expect more or less full time work.



You really don't care where I work from and at what times?



As long as you do your job, I don't care. For the initial couple of weeks, you probably want to work during times where some other contractors are online, so that you can ask questions, but this is the case at least 20 hours per day. The guy who wrote the SQL statement above has been traveling for the last two years. He has to go to some effort to have good enough internet to work (like getting mobile broadband contracts, or switching hotels until he finds one that has a stable connection), but I think that is a price he is quite willing to pay for his endless summer.



This is your second thread, how did the first one go, in the end?



Five people actually started, of which three are still around. The two that dropped out were part time, both students. I will try to get Matteo, Patrick and Maxwell to post here as well.



Can I get some ideas what you are looking for in the applications?



Sure, I posted about that



It looks interesting, but can you expand on what the job actually entails?

Especially "run reports, change parameters to make campaigns meet the campaign goals" and "expand targeting to spend the budgets in full".



We have a campaign that is advertising for a retirement home in Baxter, Minnesota. The daily budget is 10 dollars. Currently the campaign is set up to target people that have searched on a list of about 2300 related keywords within the last 7 days, and their IP addresses resolve to the following locations:

Minnesota > Baxter

Minnesota > Brainerd

Minnesota > Crosby

Minnesota > Merrifield

Minnesota > Nisswa

Minnesota > Pequot Lakes

Minnesota > Pillager

Ads are displayed up to 3 times in a 12 hour window to them, and we are blocking around 600 domains where we don't want to serve ads on for this campaign.

The client put a click-through-rate goal into our UI of .2, we are currently far from achieving that.

We have about 10 different types of reports available through our UI (hourly, adposition, by exchange, domain, keyword, etc.), and about 30 more through our special reporting engine. The 'factors' from the latter can even be combined (query for geo-information, combined with contextual, timestamp, grouped by browsertype), but that is usually not necessary.



Based on these reports, you edit the campaign to get the click-through-rate closer to that .2 goal. One example would be to remove the keyword 'obits', since it was spending a good portion of the budget without seeing any clicks, or noticing that no clicks are occurring between 3 and 6 am and not serving ads there during that time period.



If the campaign is not spending the full budget, one would use a tool like google adwords, or



How much time does it take to work one campaign?



Once you know what you are doing, one iteration over an 'easy' campaign would take 5 to 20 minutes. At the beginning, people only work on easy campaigns. Later on, there will still be easy ones, but you would get trickier ones, where the customers have very specific wishes, or where we are actually looking for conversions (people signing up, or buying stuff, or requesting a quote), not just for clicks.



Simplifi is a startup from Fort Worth, Texas. http://www.simpli.fi/ . We have been growing steadily over the last 3.5 years, and just completed a round of funding We do online advertising. We do 'Real Time Bidding'. We do a lot of 'Search Retargeting'. This means that our customers set up campaigns with targeting criteria of their choice and we bid for them on so-called ad exchanges, one banner ad at a time, up to 600 000 times per second. Imagine ebay, with 40 milliseconds between putting the auction online and the ad being sold and displayed.We are looking for contractors to help us in our day to day campaign work.You need to be able to legally invoice us on a montly basis. In some countries this requires setting up a company, or it would at least be highly advisable for taxation purposes. You are responsible for your own health cover, there are no paid sick days or holidays. You work x amount of hours in a month, send an invoice of x times your hourly rate, and we pay that.We currently have contractors from the States, from Germany, Slovakia, England, Australia, Czech Republic, Ireland and Bulgaria, so if you are from those countries, we could probably give you some pointers what you have to do to set up shop.We communicate via Skype and email and collaborate via google docs and google drive. We try to do regional meetups every couple of months.Our minimal starting hourly rate is 15 dollars, if you just meet our requirements. For more qualified people, 20 dollars is possible, and if you really impress us and - thanks to your existing online advertising knowledge - we don't have to train you, we'd offer 25. Once you show us how hard-working and efficient you are, the 15 dollars will go up rather quickly.Send me an up to date CV and something like a cover letter (feel free to ignore any kind of structured approach your culture might have there, I just want you to convince me that it would be worth my time to run you through our tests). matthias_at_simpli.fiWe will select the candidates we want to interview and reach out to them to make appointments. During the appointments, we will throw some tests at you. We will look at the results, choose the ones we think did well, and take it from there.This thread will be sponsored for a week, applications will be accepted during a 10 day period starting today, Monday, the 13th of January. We will need a couple of days to sort through all of them, but will start scheduling appointments for January already. You could start working as early as the first week of February.Yes, I have. We were having a LAN session in my parents' basement the week it came out and played it pretty much non-stop then. I have also played on Bnet and my crowning achievement was beating OgerRod and OgerTob in a 2on2 LT at a LAN. I have never played Starcraft II however. Currently, I am playing (and translating) the Alpha of Grim Dawn, and grinding through Hearthstone.Any questions you have, feel free to post in this thread, send me a PM, or email me at the email address mentioned above.On the first round, I stated 'at least 20 hours per week'. However, 90% of part time people have abandoned us again. We are quite willing to do a slow start, that allows you to keep your current job for the time being, but after some weeks, I would expect more or less full time work.As long as you do your job, I don't care. For the initial couple of weeks, you probably want to work during times where some other contractors are online, so that you can ask questions, but this is the case at least 20 hours per day. The guy who wrote the SQL statement above has been traveling for the last two years. He has to go to some effort to have good enough internet to work (like getting mobile broadband contracts, or switching hotels until he finds one that has a stable connection), but I think that is a price he is quite willing to pay for his endless summer.Five people actually started, of which three are still around. The two that dropped out were part time, both students. I will try to get Matteo, Patrick and Maxwell to post here as well.Sure, I posted about that here and here We have a campaign that is advertising for a retirement home in Baxter, Minnesota. The daily budget is 10 dollars. Currently the campaign is set up to target people that have searched on a list of about 2300 related keywords within the last 7 days, and their IP addresses resolve to the following locations:Minnesota > BaxterMinnesota > BrainerdMinnesota > CrosbyMinnesota > MerrifieldMinnesota > NisswaMinnesota > Pequot LakesMinnesota > PillagerAds are displayed up to 3 times in a 12 hour window to them, and we are blocking around 600 domains where we don't want to serve ads on for this campaign.The client put a click-through-rate goal into our UI of .2, we are currently far from achieving that.We have about 10 different types of reports available through our UI (hourly, adposition, by exchange, domain, keyword, etc.), and about 30 more through our special reporting engine. The 'factors' from the latter can even be combined (query for geo-information, combined with contextual, timestamp, grouped by browsertype), but that is usually not necessary.Based on these reports, you edit the campaign to get the click-through-rate closer to that .2 goal. One example would be to remove the keyword 'obits', since it was spending a good portion of the budget without seeing any clicks, or noticing that no clicks are occurring between 3 and 6 am and not serving ads there during that time period.If the campaign is not spending the full budget, one would use a tool like google adwords, or spyfu to find more keywords to target, or look in our past campaigns (we have more than 50 000) for similar ones for some inspirationOnce you know what you are doing, one iteration over an 'easy' campaign would take 5 to 20 minutes. At the beginning, people only work on easy campaigns. Later on, there will still be easy ones, but you would get trickier ones, where the customers have very specific wishes, or where we are actually looking for conversions (people signing up, or buying stuff, or requesting a quote), not just for clicks. On January 14 2014 10:59 AltaiR_ wrote:

Good to see you're hiring again. Have you ever considered any of the previous applicants sent before reposting? Or are you considering starting at square one again?



I interviewed all the ones that looked promising, and out of the interviewed ones I took the ones that did well on my tests. There was no cutoff at 'the best five'.



So, we are starting at square one again, but with what we learned on the first round, and Matteo is now my recruitment assistant.



I interviewed all the ones that looked promising, and out of the interviewed ones I took the ones that did well on my tests. There was no cutoff at 'the best five'.So, we are starting at square one again, but with what we learned on the first round, and Matteo is now my recruitment assistant. On January 14 2014 11:49 negativedge wrote:

What exactly do you mean by "tech savy" as a "minimal requirement?" Is this a general catch-all that signifies, say, internet competence, the ability to decipher UIs and proprietary software, etc., or do you want concrete programming, database, or advertising skills?



To give an example here: Some of our ads don't display, when viewed outside of the US. This is done with geo-ip filtering, and you need to use either a proxy server or a vpn with a US endpoint to view them. With tech-savy I DONT mean that you know what the difference is between the vpn and the proxy, but that you are able to use the proxy server we have set up. Either by already knowing where to set the proxy settings, or asking if I recommend a tool for it and using it (Proxy Switchy! is what I use) or by googling it yourself.



To give an example here: Some of our ads don't display, when viewed outside of the US. This is done with geo-ip filtering, and you need to use either a proxy server or a vpn with a US endpoint to view them. With tech-savy I DONT mean that you know what the difference is between the vpn and the proxy, but that you are able to use the proxy server we have set up. Either by already knowing where to set the proxy settings, or asking if I recommend a tool for it and using it (Proxy Switchy! is what I use) or by googling it yourself. Here be Dragons

Jetaap Profile Blog Joined November 2010 France 3251 Posts Last Edited: 2014-01-13 15:43:34 #2 Great to see you working with TL again, sure the money is not amazing and being a contractor sucks but you're clear with what you are offering and having flexible work hours has its benefits.

Salazarz Profile Blog Joined April 2012 Korea (South) 690 Posts Last Edited: 2014-01-13 17:00:20 #3 Applied to Simpli.fi back in July without really expecting anything out of it, but it turned out to be a great opportunity. The work is a lot more interesting than it sounds, and seeing results of the changes you make virtually in real-time is very rewarding; setting your own schedule and having no snotty upper management to listen to (the 'bosses' we report to work on the same campaigns as the rest of the team does) are pretty big advantages, too. As part of work, we also get to learn about all sorts of useless things, from different types of lawnmowing and snowploughing equipment to exotic holidays in India or private jet hire.



~20$ an hour might not sound like a lot, but considering you waste no time or energy commuting etc and it's very easy to put in a few extra hours in the evening or on the weekends without feeling the stress of typical company crunch / overtime, it works out to a very decent amount - depending on the tax brackets you end up in (and there are ways to minimize these, too), you'd probably be looking at about 30k euro in your first year which isn't half bad considering nothing is stopping you from taking a laptop to Tenerife for 3 months or whatever. The online advertising industry as a whole isn't likely to stop growing any time soon either so there are plenty of future career options.



Would be more than happy to answer any questions people might have about this job, from a 'new recruit' point of view; although I might sound a bit too much like an excited salesman since it fits my lifestyle so well.

IPS.Blue Profile Joined January 2004 Germany 308 Posts #4 Hi,



I'm the aforementioned Patrick and got recruited via the first Simpli.fi thread here on TL.

I'm not working full time and divide my time between Simpli.fi and a business I'm trying to start. Dividing time isn't easy of course. One of the side effects was that I dropped from Masters to Diamond. ;P



So far I have enjoyed my work for Simpli.fi very much. Every campaign is different and trying to get the most out of it can be a very rewarding process. I can work whenever I want, whether I'm at home or somewhere else (Internet provided) which is a huge plus.

If you have an affinity for tech heavy subjects like SQL, Linux or Javascript that certainly keeps up the long term motivation.



If you're asking yourself whether you're the right guy for the job, here are a couple of things that will make your Simpli.fi life easier, if you're good at them:

- Good reading skills: Good English is useful and so is the ability to read quickly. Just think of looking through a keyword list with a few hundred keywords in it.

- Being able to quickly make decisions: Is keyword x too broad for campaign y? Could campaign z spend its budget when running with a lower recency? (If you searched for Tennis shoes two weeks ago and you still get ads for tennis shoes displayed, you know what recency is.) There are lots of decisions you have to make when optimizing a campaign. You will look at diagrams or tables and will have to make a call rather quickly: what do you change to what extent in order to reach the campaigns goals?

- Being able to work on your own: You will have to test things out. Maybe keyword x is too broad for campaign y. If so you'll be smarter the next time. If you have problems with accepting uncertainty, or if you like having people telling you what to do and when, you will not be a happy campaign optimizer.

Hatsu Profile Joined March 2010 United Kingdom 467 Posts #5 Hello, my name is Matteo I am one of the three people who were recruited through the previous thread and are still working for the company. I would like to share my thoughts, having worked with Simplifi for approximately six months.



I have to admit that, when I first read the original recruitment post by Matthias, I shared a sense of mild distrust: after all, there are not many legitimate work-from-home positions out there and working as a contractor can be a bit scary and pose some challenges.

However, from my research the company (as well as the people behind it) appeared to be genuine and the requirements looked too detailed and consistent to be a fake/scam. This, along with my personal lifestyle and career considerations as well as the awesomeness of potentially finding a good job through Teamliquid, made me decide to give Simplifi a shot.



Was it worth it? In short, yes, most definitely. The work we actually end up doing is surprisingly varied and there are large opportunities to learn new things as well. Since I started out, I have for example been polishing my SQL skills, got to play around with Linux and I am now in the process of learning Nagios. This is just what I have chosen to focus on - if you are interested in any of the areas mentioned in the OP, you would most likely be able to devote time to exploring them (obviously once you have a decent grasp in terms of campaign optimization).



There is a great deal of satisfaction to be found in turning a poorly performing campaign around, perhaps thanks to using a skill that you did not possess a week before.

It is also great to be able to work in what feels like a very dynamic environment. Things are constantly being worked on and improved, and we are always encouraged to contribute to the process by giving feedback and offering ideas. You can feel that there is a strong drive to grow both individually and as a company.



If you are the sort of person who knows how to get better at Starcraft/Dota, you are likely to possess at least some of the skills required to thrive in Simplifi. This job rewards individuals who are independent, disciplined, rigorous, efficient and are eager to learn new stuff.



The people you will be working with have always been helpful, with no exception. Most importantly, they also all possess good to exceptional brains - not having to deal with less-than-clever colleagues is a major plus, and I am not saying this to make them happy, it is something that I honestly feel and that you need to know when considering whether or not to apply.



One final point I would like to touch upon is contracting. As a contractor who set up his own company in the UK, and factoring in the savings (and extra free time) you get from not having to commute (transportation, food and so on), $20/hour is actually pretty decent money even by London standards and even at the current unfavourable USD to GBP rates. If you live in the countryside or in a cheaper city, you will actually enjoy a good/very good salary.



I am happy to answer any questions you may have, so please feel free to post here or even send me a PM if for any reason you would prefer not to share your thoughts with others. Sedit qui timuit ne non succederet

NSGrendel Profile Joined August 2010 United Kingdom 235 Posts Last Edited: 2014-01-13 18:37:33 #6 + Show Spoiler + On January 13 2014 23:51 Rimstalker wrote:





Hello TL! This is the 2nd round of recruiting we are doing on teamliquid, the thread for the first one can be found



If you are under 18, we will not be able to contract you. If you are about to turn 18, feel free to apply

Unless you are from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, we are NOT interested in interns



Who are we and what do we do?



Simplifi is a startup from Fort Worth, Texas.



We do online advertising. We do 'Real Time Bidding'. We do a lot of 'Search Retargeting'. This means that our customers set up campaigns with targeting criteria of their choice and we bid for them on so-called ad exchanges, one banner ad at a time, up to 600 000 times per second. Imagine ebay, with 40 milliseconds between putting the auction online and the ad being sold and displayed.







We are looking for contractors to help us in our day to day campaign work.



Contractors, what does that mean exactly?



You need to be able to legally invoice us on a montly basis. In some countries this requires setting up a company, or it would at least be highly advisable for taxation purposes. You are responsible for your own health cover, there are no paid sick days or holidays. You work x amount of hours in a month, send an invoice of x times your hourly rate, and we pay that.



We currently have contractors from the States, from Germany, Slovakia, England, Australia, Czech Republic, Ireland and Bulgaria, so if you are from those countries, we could probably give you some pointers what you have to do to set up shop.



We communicate via Skype and email and collaborate via google docs and google drive. We try to do regional meetups every couple of months.



Our minimal starting hourly rate is 15 dollars, if you just meet our requirements. For more qualified people, 20 dollars is possible, and if you really impress us and - thanks to your existing online advertising knowledge - we don't have to train you, we'd offer 25. Once you show us how hard-working and efficient you are, the 15 dollars will go up rather quickly.



What are our minimal requirements?

fluent English



ability to quickly analyze data, quick judgment



ability to handle multiple projects



tech savy



broad knowledge, open minded, detail oriented



work unsupervised



What will you do?



absolute entry level:

run reports, change parameters to make campaigns meet the campaign goals



expand targeting to spend the budgets in full



contribute to building a library of targeting information



'senior' level:

manage clients independently



access to production servers: logfile analysis, database queries, administrative tasks



use of our homegrown reporting engine



design tools to streamline work



possible avenues for personal growth:

Gentoo Linux admin



(P)SQL god. Here is an example of a SQL query one of our senior contractors put together a couple of weeks ago + Show Spoiler + select c.id, c.name, ls.name as seg_name, ls.user_count as seg_users,

c.start_date,c.end_date, c.daily_impression_cap, c.daily_budget,

round(cast(float8(sum(cst.total_spend)) as numeric),2) as yest_spend,

round(cast(float8(c.daily_budget - (sum(cst.total_spend))) as numeric),2) as leftover,

round(cast(float8((sum(cst.total_spend)/c.daily_budget)*100) as numeric),0) as spend_percent,

sum(cst.impressions) as imps, sum(cst.clicks) as clicks,

sum(((c.daily_budget/c.max_bid)*1000)/ls.user_count) as needed_imps_per_user

from campaigns c

inner join campaign_statuses cs on c.campaign_status_id = cs.id

inner join companies co on c.company_id = co.id

inner join campaign_goals cg on c.id = cg.campaign_id

inner join campaign_types ct on c.campaign_type_id = ct.id

inner join campaign_stats cst on c.id = cst.campaign_id

inner join campaign_labels cl on c.id = cl.campaign_id

inner join labels_seen ls on cl.name = ls.name

where c.campaign_status_id = 1

and c.id = 47904

and c.company_id in ('25','1705','1534')

and cst.stat_date = 'yesterday'

and c.campaign_type_id = 3

group by c.id, c.name, c.start_date,c.end_date, c.daily_impression_cap, c.daily_budget,

ls.name, ls.user_count

order by needed_imps_per_user desc;



Spoiler expert for ad-issues (shockwave, macro-expansion, javascript, iframes)



graphic design work



contribute to open-source software we use and customize: nginx, redis, nagios



write, use and deploy shell or ruby (or any other scripting language) scripts



DNS wizard



How do I apply?



Send me an up to date CV and something like a cover letter (feel free to ignore any kind of structured approach your culture might have there, I just want you to convince me that it would be worth my time to run you through our tests). matthias_at_simpli.fi



How does the interview process work?



We will select the candidates we want to interview and reach out to them to make appointments. During the appointments, we will throw some tests at you. We will look at the results, choose the ones we think did well, and take it from there.



What is the time frame for this whole operation?



This thread will be sponsored for a week, applications will be accepted during a 10 day period starting today, Monday, the 13th of January. We will need a couple of days to sort through all of them, but will start scheduling appointments for January already. You could start working as early as the first week of February.



Have you played Starcraft?



Yes, I have. We were having a LAN session in my parents' basement the week it came out and played it pretty much non-stop then. I have also played on Bnet and my crowning achievement was beating OgerRod and OgerTob in a 2on2 LT at a LAN. I have never played Starcraft II however. Currently, I am playing (and translating) the Alpha of Grim Dawn, and grinding through Hearthstone.



Any questions you have, feel free to post in this thread, send me a PM, or email me at the email address mentioned above.



FAQ



How many hours do you expect us to work?



On the first round, I stated 'at least 20 hours per week'. However, 90% of part time people have abandoned us again. We are quite willing to do a slow start, that allows you to keep your current job for the time being, but after some weeks, I would expect more or less full time work.



You really don't care where I work from and at what times?



As long as you do your job, I don't care. For the initial couple of weeks, you probably want to work during times where some other contractors are online, so that you can ask questions, but this is the case at least 20 hours per day. The guy who wrote the SQL statement above has been traveling for the last two years. He has to go to some effort to have good enough internet to work (like getting mobile broadband contracts, or switching hotels until he finds one that has a stable connection), but I think that is a price he is quite willing to pay for his endless summer.



This is your second thread, how did the first one go, in the end?



Five people actually started, of which three are still around. The two that dropped out were part time, both students. I will try to get Matteo, Patrick and Maxwell to post here as well.



Can I get some ideas what you are looking for in the applications?



Sure, I posted about that



It looks interesting, but can you expand on what the job actually entails?

Especially "run reports, change parameters to make campaigns meet the campaign goals" and "expand targeting to spend the budgets in full".



We have a campaign that is advertising for a retirement home in Baxter, Minnesota. The daily budget is 10 dollars. Currently the campaign is set up to target people that have searched on a list of about 2300 related keywords within the last 7 days, and their IP addresses resolve to the following locations:

Minnesota > Baxter

Minnesota > Brainerd

Minnesota > Crosby

Minnesota > Merrifield

Minnesota > Nisswa

Minnesota > Pequot Lakes

Minnesota > Pillager

Ads are displayed up to 3 times in a 12 hour window to them, and we are blocking around 600 domains where we don't want to serve ads on for this campaign.

The client put a click-through-rate goal into our UI of .2, we are currently far from achieving that.

We have about 10 different types of reports available through our UI (hourly, adposition, by exchange, domain, keyword, etc.), and about 30 more through our special reporting engine. The 'factors' from the latter can even be combined (query for geo-information, combined with contextual, timestamp, grouped by browsertype), but that is usually not necessary.



Based on these reports, you edit the campaign to get the click-through-rate closer to that .2 goal. One example would be to remove the keyword 'obits', since it was spending a good portion of the budget without seeing any clicks, or noticing that no clicks are occurring between 3 and 6 am and not serving ads there during that time period.



If the campaign is not spending the full budget, one would use a tool like google adwords, or



How much time does it take to work one campaign?



Once you know what you are doing, one iteration over an 'easy' campaign would take 5 to 20 minutes. At the beginning, people only work on easy campaigns. Later on, there will still be easy ones, but you would get trickier ones, where the customers have very specific wishes, or where we are actually looking for conversions (people signing up, or buying stuff, or requesting a quote), not just for clicks.



Hello TL! This is the 2nd round of recruiting we are doing on teamliquid, the thread for the first one can be found here Simplifi is a startup from Fort Worth, Texas. http://www.simpli.fi/ . We have been growing steadily over the last 3.5 years, and just completed a round of funding We do online advertising. We do 'Real Time Bidding'. We do a lot of 'Search Retargeting'. This means that our customers set up campaigns with targeting criteria of their choice and we bid for them on so-called ad exchanges, one banner ad at a time, up to 600 000 times per second. Imagine ebay, with 40 milliseconds between putting the auction online and the ad being sold and displayed.We are looking for contractors to help us in our day to day campaign work.You need to be able to legally invoice us on a montly basis. In some countries this requires setting up a company, or it would at least be highly advisable for taxation purposes. You are responsible for your own health cover, there are no paid sick days or holidays. You work x amount of hours in a month, send an invoice of x times your hourly rate, and we pay that.We currently have contractors from the States, from Germany, Slovakia, England, Australia, Czech Republic, Ireland and Bulgaria, so if you are from those countries, we could probably give you some pointers what you have to do to set up shop.We communicate via Skype and email and collaborate via google docs and google drive. We try to do regional meetups every couple of months.Our minimal starting hourly rate is 15 dollars, if you just meet our requirements. For more qualified people, 20 dollars is possible, and if you really impress us and - thanks to your existing online advertising knowledge - we don't have to train you, we'd offer 25. Once you show us how hard-working and efficient you are, the 15 dollars will go up rather quickly.Send me an up to date CV and something like a cover letter (feel free to ignore any kind of structured approach your culture might have there, I just want you to convince me that it would be worth my time to run you through our tests). matthias_at_simpli.fiWe will select the candidates we want to interview and reach out to them to make appointments. During the appointments, we will throw some tests at you. We will look at the results, choose the ones we think did well, and take it from there.This thread will be sponsored for a week, applications will be accepted during a 10 day period starting today, Monday, the 13th of January. We will need a couple of days to sort through all of them, but will start scheduling appointments for January already. You could start working as early as the first week of February.Yes, I have. We were having a LAN session in my parents' basement the week it came out and played it pretty much non-stop then. I have also played on Bnet and my crowning achievement was beating OgerRod and OgerTob in a 2on2 LT at a LAN. I have never played Starcraft II however. Currently, I am playing (and translating) the Alpha of Grim Dawn, and grinding through Hearthstone.Any questions you have, feel free to post in this thread, send me a PM, or email me at the email address mentioned above.On the first round, I stated 'at least 20 hours per week'. However, 90% of part time people have abandoned us again. We are quite willing to do a slow start, that allows you to keep your current job for the time being, but after some weeks, I would expect more or less full time work.As long as you do your job, I don't care. For the initial couple of weeks, you probably want to work during times where some other contractors are online, so that you can ask questions, but this is the case at least 20 hours per day. The guy who wrote the SQL statement above has been traveling for the last two years. He has to go to some effort to have good enough internet to work (like getting mobile broadband contracts, or switching hotels until he finds one that has a stable connection), but I think that is a price he is quite willing to pay for his endless summer.Five people actually started, of which three are still around. The two that dropped out were part time, both students. I will try to get Matteo, Patrick and Maxwell to post here as well.Sure, I posted about that here and here We have a campaign that is advertising for a retirement home in Baxter, Minnesota. The daily budget is 10 dollars. Currently the campaign is set up to target people that have searched on a list of about 2300 related keywords within the last 7 days, and their IP addresses resolve to the following locations:Minnesota > BaxterMinnesota > BrainerdMinnesota > CrosbyMinnesota > MerrifieldMinnesota > NisswaMinnesota > Pequot LakesMinnesota > PillagerAds are displayed up to 3 times in a 12 hour window to them, and we are blocking around 600 domains where we don't want to serve ads on for this campaign.The client put a click-through-rate goal into our UI of .2, we are currently far from achieving that.We have about 10 different types of reports available through our UI (hourly, adposition, by exchange, domain, keyword, etc.), and about 30 more through our special reporting engine. The 'factors' from the latter can even be combined (query for geo-information, combined with contextual, timestamp, grouped by browsertype), but that is usually not necessary.Based on these reports, you edit the campaign to get the click-through-rate closer to that .2 goal. One example would be to remove the keyword 'obits', since it was spending a good portion of the budget without seeing any clicks, or noticing that no clicks are occurring between 3 and 6 am and not serving ads there during that time period.If the campaign is not spending the full budget, one would use a tool like google adwords, or spyfu to find more keywords to target, or look in our past campaigns (we have more than 50 000) for similar ones for some inspirationOnce you know what you are doing, one iteration over an 'easy' campaign would take 5 to 20 minutes. At the beginning, people only work on easy campaigns. Later on, there will still be easy ones, but you would get trickier ones, where the customers have very specific wishes, or where we are actually looking for conversions (people signing up, or buying stuff, or requesting a quote), not just for clicks.



SQL god seems to be an overstatement. The query listed should be within the bounds of anyone who has a basic knowledge of SQL reporting.

SQL god seems to be an overstatement. The query listed should be within the bounds of anyone who has a basic knowledge of SQL reporting.

Detri Profile Blog Joined February 2011 United Kingdom 657 Posts #7 On January 14 2014 03:09 NSGrendel wrote:



SQL god seems to be an overstatement. The query listed should be within the bounds of anyone who has a basic knowledge of SQL reporting.







Must be great to know everything.



Ridiculous statements deserve ridiculous replies, I *work* with SQL and I can tell you 99.99% of queries used in the REAL WORLD are much simpler than that. Must be great to know everything.Ridiculous statements deserve ridiculous replies, I *work* with SQL and I can tell you 99.99% of queries used in the REAL WORLD are much simpler than that. The poor are thieves, beggars and whores, the rich are politicians, solicitors and courtesans...

TheCzarOfAll Profile Blog Joined March 2009 United States 170 Posts #8 I applied. Hope to hear back. ^_^

-Dereck Yes.

NSGrendel Profile Joined August 2010 United Kingdom 235 Posts #9 On January 14 2014 03:39 Detri wrote:

Show nested quote +

On January 14 2014 03:09 NSGrendel wrote:



SQL god seems to be an overstatement. The query listed should be within the bounds of anyone who has a basic knowledge of SQL reporting.







Must be great to know everything.



Ridiculous statements deserve ridiculous replies, I *work* with SQL and I can tell you 99.99% of queries used in the REAL WORLD are much simpler than that. Must be great to know everything.Ridiculous statements deserve ridiculous replies, I *work* with SQL and I can tell you 99.99% of queries used in the REAL WORLD are much simpler than that.



This is simple reporting SQL, utilising basic commands. There's no inserting, no partitioning by row, no roll backs, nothing that even remotely requires significant SQL knowledge. I also worked with SQL. If this is "advanced SQL" then I guess normal SQL knowledge is "Select * from table",



I'm not being clever. I'm far from suggesting I know everything.



"It must be great to bullshit one's way into every job knowing nothing!"



See, I can make empty statements even though I know nothing about you too!



Still doesn't change the fact this is basic reporting SQL. Just because your standards are low doesn't mean they are accurate

.





This is simple reporting SQL, utilising basic commands. There's no inserting, no partitioning by row, no roll backs, nothing that even remotely requires significant SQL knowledge. I also worked with SQL. If this is "advanced SQL" then I guess normal SQL knowledge is "Select * from table",I'm not being clever. I'm far from suggesting I know everything."It must be great to bullshit one's way into every job knowing nothing!"See, I can make empty statements even though I know nothing about you too!Still doesn't change the fact this is basic reporting SQL. Just because your standards are low doesn't mean they are accurate

hp.Shell Profile Blog Joined April 2010 United States 2517 Posts #10 Thanks for giving us this opportunity. I've sent you my resume and cover letter in two file formats. Let me know if there's anything else you need from me.

Mike Please PM me with any songs you like that you think I haven't heard before!

CyCo Profile Joined January 2011 Belgium 67 Posts #11 On January 14 2014 03:09 NSGrendel wrote:

SQL god seems to be an overstatement. The query listed should be within the bounds of anyone who has a basic knowledge of SQL reporting.



This ;D This ;D

AltaiR_ Profile Blog Joined February 2007 Korea (South) 906 Posts #12 Good to see you're hiring again. Have you ever considered any of the previous applicants sent before reposting? Or are you considering starting at square one again? Translator

negativedge Profile Joined December 2011 3937 Posts #13 What exactly do you mean by "tech savy" as a "minimal requirement?" Is this a general catch-all that signifies, say, internet competence, the ability to decipher UIs and proprietary software, etc., or do you want concrete programming, database, or advertising skills?

warshop Profile Joined March 2010 Canada 487 Posts #14 On January 14 2014 03:53 NSGrendel wrote:

Show nested quote +

On January 14 2014 03:39 Detri wrote:

On January 14 2014 03:09 NSGrendel wrote:



SQL god seems to be an overstatement. The query listed should be within the bounds of anyone who has a basic knowledge of SQL reporting.







Must be great to know everything.



Ridiculous statements deserve ridiculous replies, I *work* with SQL and I can tell you 99.99% of queries used in the REAL WORLD are much simpler than that. Must be great to know everything.Ridiculous statements deserve ridiculous replies, I *work* with SQL and I can tell you 99.99% of queries used in the REAL WORLD are much simpler than that.



This is simple reporting SQL, utilising basic commands. There's no inserting, no partitioning by row, no roll backs, nothing that even remotely requires significant SQL knowledge. I also worked with SQL. If this is "advanced SQL" then I guess normal SQL knowledge is "Select * from table",



I'm not being clever. I'm far from suggesting I know everything.



"It must be great to bullshit one's way into every job knowing nothing!"



See, I can make empty statements even though I know nothing about you too!



Still doesn't change the fact this is basic reporting SQL. Just because your standards are low doesn't mean they are accurate

.





This is simple reporting SQL, utilising basic commands. There's no inserting, no partitioning by row, no roll backs, nothing that even remotely requires significant SQL knowledge. I also worked with SQL. If this is "advanced SQL" then I guess normal SQL knowledge is "Select * from table",I'm not being clever. I'm far from suggesting I know everything."It must be great to bullshit one's way into every job knowing nothing!"See, I can make empty statements even though I know nothing about you too!Still doesn't change the fact this is basic reporting SQL. Just because your standards are low doesn't mean they are accurate



No one said that SQL statement was hard to come out with, not sure where you got that impression. The example wanted to show you the kind of SQL statements that were useful for their targeted campaigns. No one said that SQL statement was hard to come out with, not sure where you got that impression. The example wanted to show you the kind of SQL statements that were useful for their targeted campaigns.

ackbar Profile Joined March 2011 United States 94 Posts Last Edited: 2014-01-14 03:40:54 #15 On January 14 2014 11:49 negativedge wrote:

What exactly do you mean by "tech savy" as a "minimal requirement?" Is this a general catch-all that signifies, say, internet competence, the ability to decipher UIs and proprietary software, etc., or do you want concrete programming, database, or advertising skills?



I'm interested to know this as well.



I have a marketing background, and currently do ppc ad campaign management for my company - but I am not into programming or database. But I do consider myself reasonably tech savvy. How deep should my tech knowledge extend in order to perform this job? I'm interested to know this as well.I have a marketing background, and currently do ppc ad campaign management for my company - but I am not into programming or database. But I do consider myself reasonably tech savvy. How deep should my tech knowledge extend in order to perform this job?

Salazarz Profile Blog Joined April 2012 Korea (South) 690 Posts Last Edited: 2014-01-14 08:07:36 #16 On January 14 2014 11:49 negativedge wrote:

What exactly do you mean by "tech savy" as a "minimal requirement?" Is this a general catch-all that signifies, say, internet competence, the ability to decipher UIs and proprietary software, etc., or do you want concrete programming, database, or advertising skills?



Tech savy doesn't refer to 'hard' compsci skills like programming knowledge or dns management or whatever, rather a general aptitude for working with computers - you'll be expected to (very quickly) get used to working with the tool set that company uses, as well as be able to find your way around spreadsheets and a variety of tools you may want to employ for keyword generation and whatnot. People on the team are very approachable if you have specific questions, but you should be able to figure out how to work with various software without anyone holding your hand.



On January 14 2014 12:39 ackbar wrote:

Show nested quote +

On January 14 2014 11:49 negativedge wrote:

What exactly do you mean by "tech savy" as a "minimal requirement?" Is this a general catch-all that signifies, say, internet competence, the ability to decipher UIs and proprietary software, etc., or do you want concrete programming, database, or advertising skills?



I'm interested to know this as well.



I have a marketing background, and currently do ppc ad campaign management for my company - but I am not into programming or database. But I do consider myself reasonably tech savvy. How deep should my tech knowledge extend in order to perform this job? I'm interested to know this as well.I have a marketing background, and currently do ppc ad campaign management for my company - but I am not into programming or database. But I do consider myself reasonably tech savvy. How deep should my tech knowledge extend in order to perform this job?



You won't need to run database queries manually for the first weeks / months on the job, and you will probably not 'have' to write any code at all, but refer to my reply above; you should be able to figure out how to use tools without too much guidance and pickup on linux commands & database reports eventually. Tech savy doesn't refer to 'hard' compsci skills like programming knowledge or dns management or whatever, rather a general aptitude for working with computers - you'll be expected to (very quickly) get used to working with the tool set that company uses, as well as be able to find your way around spreadsheets and a variety of tools you may want to employ for keyword generation and whatnot. People on the team are very approachable if you have specific questions, but you should be able to figure out how to work with various software without anyone holding your hand.You won't need to run database queries manually for the first weeks / months on the job, and you will probably not 'have' to write any code at all, but refer to my reply above; you should be able to figure out how to use tools without too much guidance and pickup on linux commands & database reports eventually.

Pandepic Profile Joined February 2011 Australia 176 Posts Last Edited: 2014-01-14 08:28:07 #17 On January 14 2014 12:09 warshop wrote:

Show nested quote +

On January 14 2014 03:53 NSGrendel wrote:

On January 14 2014 03:39 Detri wrote:

On January 14 2014 03:09 NSGrendel wrote:



SQL god seems to be an overstatement. The query listed should be within the bounds of anyone who has a basic knowledge of SQL reporting.







Must be great to know everything.



Ridiculous statements deserve ridiculous replies, I *work* with SQL and I can tell you 99.99% of queries used in the REAL WORLD are much simpler than that. Must be great to know everything.Ridiculous statements deserve ridiculous replies, I *work* with SQL and I can tell you 99.99% of queries used in the REAL WORLD are much simpler than that.



This is simple reporting SQL, utilising basic commands. There's no inserting, no partitioning by row, no roll backs, nothing that even remotely requires significant SQL knowledge. I also worked with SQL. If this is "advanced SQL" then I guess normal SQL knowledge is "Select * from table",



I'm not being clever. I'm far from suggesting I know everything.



"It must be great to bullshit one's way into every job knowing nothing!"



See, I can make empty statements even though I know nothing about you too!



Still doesn't change the fact this is basic reporting SQL. Just because your standards are low doesn't mean they are accurate

.





This is simple reporting SQL, utilising basic commands. There's no inserting, no partitioning by row, no roll backs, nothing that even remotely requires significant SQL knowledge. I also worked with SQL. If this is "advanced SQL" then I guess normal SQL knowledge is "Select * from table",I'm not being clever. I'm far from suggesting I know everything."It must be great to bullshit one's way into every job knowing nothing!"See, I can make empty statements even though I know nothing about you too!Still doesn't change the fact this is basic reporting SQL. Just because your standards are low doesn't mean they are accurate



No one said that SQL statement was hard to come out with, not sure where you got that impression. The example wanted to show you the kind of SQL statements that were useful for their targeted campaigns. No one said that SQL statement was hard to come out with, not sure where you got that impression. The example wanted to show you the kind of SQL statements that were useful for their targeted campaigns.



He was disputing the title "SQL God" which is where he got that impression, which is in the OP attached to that SQL statement that shows off only very basic query design ability. That kind of thing to someone that works with SQL at a professional level gives off a negative impression of the job recruiter, or the company and their standards.



Edit: just want to be clear that I mean this as constructive criticism for the OP and not as an attack or anything, I think it's great for companies to offer work at home opportunities to online communities like teamliquid as long as they're legitimate which this seems to be

He was disputing the title "SQL God" which is where he got that impression, which is in the OP attached to that SQL statement that shows off only very basic query design ability. That kind of thing to someone that works with SQL at a professional level gives off a negative impression of the job recruiter, or the company and their standards.Edit: just want to be clear that I mean this as constructive criticism for the OP and not as an attack or anything, I think it's great for companies to offer work at home opportunities to online communities like teamliquid as long as they're legitimate which this seems to be

Rimstalker Profile Joined May 2011 Germany 699 Posts Last Edited: 2014-01-14 10:23:42 #18



I do not see it explicitly anywhere that I stated that the code was 'god' level, I wrote that it is a possible avenue of growth. I will try to write it more clearly. On January 14 2014 10:59 AltaiR_ wrote:

Good to see you're hiring again. Have you ever considered any of the previous applicants sent before reposting? Or are you considering starting at square one again?



I interviewed all the ones that looked promising, and out of the interviewed ones I took the ones that did well on my tests. There was no cutoff at 'the best five'.



So, we are starting at square one again, but with what we learned on the first round, and Matteo is now my recruitment assistant.



I interviewed all the ones that looked promising, and out of the interviewed ones I took the ones that did well on my tests. There was no cutoff at 'the best five'.So, we are starting at square one again, but with what we learned on the first round, and Matteo is now my recruitment assistant. On January 14 2014 11:49 negativedge wrote:

What exactly do you mean by "tech savy" as a "minimal requirement?" Is this a general catch-all that signifies, say, internet competence, the ability to decipher UIs and proprietary software, etc., or do you want concrete programming, database, or advertising skills?



To give an example here: Some of our ads don't display, when viewed outside of the US. This is done with geo-ip filtering, and you need to use either a proxy server or a vpn with a US endpoint to view them. With tech-savy I DONT mean that you know what the difference is between the vpn and the proxy, but that you are able to use the proxy server we have set up. Either by already knowing where to set the proxy settings, or asking if I recommend a tool for it and using it (Proxy Switchy! is what I use) or by googling it yourself.



edit: also added this to the faq section To give an example here: Some of our ads don't display, when viewed outside of the US. This is done with geo-ip filtering, and you need to use either a proxy server or a vpn with a US endpoint to view them. With tech-savy I DONT mean that you know what the difference is between the vpn and the proxy, but that you are able to use the proxy server we have set up. Either by already knowing where to set the proxy settings, or asking if I recommend a tool for it and using it (Proxy Switchy! is what I use) or by googling it yourself.edit: also added this to the faq section Here be Dragons

Genie1 Profile Joined April 2011 Canada 332 Posts Last Edited: 2014-01-14 11:34:40 #19 Clicking about us shows culture under but when hovering over it, it does not show it which I would have to say is very odd. The second thing I check out is your leadership team page and when I click on the photo of the main CEO it brings me to a photo? I would expect clicking the photo of someone on the website would bring me to there profile. Some of your team leaders photos don't do anything. You should have both the names and photos bring it the persons profile.



I click resources and I see that partner resources is missing under it and you have to hover over the resources in order to get to it. I also clicked news and events expecting the same type of format for the website coming with nice clean links on the side to each section but then noticed it brought me over to a separate page entirely without these links and instead have to hover over it in order to reach other area's.



While I scrolled down while on the main page and noticed you have everything at the bottom which is nice but the fact that not all of it is under the tabs when hovering over them is bad and should be the same consistency through out the website.



The rest of the website is very nice and I do like the design of it. I just thought I would give some feedback on your website and I wish all those who apply the best of luck. [RAVEN ONLINE] "You don't talk like us" [....CAW CAW] -QXC

Emuking Profile Joined June 2012 United States 143 Posts #20 I am interested in this job as I am pursuing a degree in computer information systems. However, I live in Houston at the moment; are you looking to hire people from here or is it too close to the Dallas area? When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breath, then you'll be successful.

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