Mark Downing
道马克
SEO & LLM Answer Engines
Marketplaces & eCommerce
Sinologist
+ armchair anthropologist, eschatologist & cosmologist
Toronto, Canada
Expertise
SEO
Award-winning & recognized thought-leader
Industry speaker:
TFM&A Beijing eCommerce Panel (2011)
SES Shanghai: Keynote (2012)
SES Shanghai: Omnichannel eCommerce (2013)
SES Toronto: International SEO (2013)
DigiMarcon Canada: C-Suite Benchmarking & China is an eCommerce Vanguard (2024)
GenAI & LLM Answer Engines
Have been following Artificial Neural Networks Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence since I had asked Prof. Geoffrey Hinton—the “Godfather of AI” and now Nobel Laureate—for help on a paper back when I was in grad school
eCommerce
Beyond professional work experience, I have been selling stuff online since 1999
Strategy & Consulting
While at Big Blue and and boutique consulting firm
Work Experience
Dell
SEO Management
Nearly 20 years of eCommerce & SEO
Spent most of this time in China, supporting Asia-Pacific
eBay
Marketplace Management
Grew the Collectibles categories, partnering with Crown Corporations, major museums, leading trade shows and top auctioneers
IBM
Web Consulting
Web pioneer
Technology Solutions Canada
IT Management Consulting
Big Banks & Big Rail
Education
Regularly attend University of Toronto engineering & business school events, seminars, networking sessions, book launches & debates about management, politics, AI, science & economics.
Member of the Creative Destruction Lab’s Reading Group, currently focused on AI.
Languages
French
Most of my schooling was in French Immersion
Mandarin
HSK4
Japanese
Beginner, Genki I
Middle Egyptian
Took two courses at the Royal Ontario Museum.
𓃛𓅱𓃡𓄫𓅱𓄣𓏤𓎟𓆑𓅓𓉐𓏤
Passions
Astronomy
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada member
Space Place Canada Toronto Planetarium advisor
Telescope enthusiast
Training
4-8 hours/week of:
- MMA
- Muay Thai
- BJJ
- Weight Training
Scuba Diving
PADI Advanced
PADI Enriched Air (Nitrox)
Memorable dives:
- Dahab
- Koh Tao
- Ambergris Caye’s Blue Hole
- North Malé Atoll
- Roatan
- Borocay
Learning & Addictions
Magazine Subscriptions
- L’actualité
- Archaeology
- BBC Music Magazine
- Diver
- The Economist
- Foreign Affairs
- Opera Canada
- Scientific American
- Scuba Diver
- Sky & Telescope
- World Archaeology
Performance Subscriptions
Canadian Opera Company
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Great Courses Plus Subscription
Completed several dozen courses in:
- Astronomy
(Radio, Astrophysics & Cosmology) - Biochemistry
- Gross Anatomy
- Modern Electronics
- Molecular Biology
- Palaeontology
- Physics
(Classical, Quantum & Nuclear) - Meteorology
Online University Courses
Human Behavioral Biology
Prof. Robert Sapolsky
Cosmology
Prof. Leonard Susskind
Virology
Prof. Vincent Racaniello
Culinary Arts
Culinary Arts Certificate from George Brown College
23 Continuing Education courses
Highlights:
- Advanced French
- Japanese
- BBQ Style
- WSET Beer 1
- WSET Wine 2 (current)
Plus a bunch of Coursera courses in Machine Learning, Prompt Engineering & PowerBI.
