InsideGoogle

Ian Turner Reported Found

The top story going around the blogospehere is that Ian Turner, a well-known and respected search marketer, has gone missing, dissapearing on the way home from last week’s WebMasterWorld Conference. The Google Blog and the Yahoo Search Blog have posted, as well as Steve Rubel, Andy Beal, Danny Sullivan, and Search Engine Roundtable. Advertisements were bought on Google and Yahoo, and almost $7000 was raised to hire a private detective.

What was known, according to the page setup by ThreadWatch to aggregate all information and aid in the search, is that Ian was last seen checking out of the Park Plaza hotel, saying he was transferring to the Monaco. It was also known that Ian’s plane ticket to Atlanta was used, but it did not seem like the connecting flight to London was used.

Dave Naylor reported on ThreadWatch twenty minutes ago (while I was writing this post) that Ian has been found, and is on the ground in Atlanta. There has been no additional information. While it may have nothing to do with it, I would not be surprised if the outpouring of support and effort from the blogosphere played a role in locating him. As Nick said earlier on the page, “we look after our own”.

A new thread has been opened to detail his finding, with his disposition described as “inconvenienced”, which is as good as anyone could have hoped for. The blogosphere breathes a deep sigh of relief, and I hope Ian is back with his wife as quickly as possible.

UPDATE: Dave Naylor explains it all. Suffice to say, this is what happens when you act human in an airport in a post-9/11 world. Sorry Ian had to go through all of this, but at least he’s headed home.

July 1st, 2005 Posted by Nathan Weinberg | General | 3 comments