Two interesting articles on the money-side of online media: Cost-per-click ads vs. affiliate programs “…the benefits of going with affiliate programs that pay larger amounts when people purchase a product…” Marketing on RSS feeds “…a number of great examples of RSS marketing including coupons, affiliate marketing, PR/IR feeds, deals, classifieds, podcasts branded entertainment and more…”
Social Networks & Privacy
Facebook, the social networking site for college students has made some updates to their system this week, to dramatically mixed reviews. Facebook describes the change as: “Before, it was an encyclopedia model, but now we’re changing to a news model.” Basically, if you had a Facebook account, you can now see daily updates of activities… Continue reading Social Networks & Privacy
Changes to Digg
In order to prevent fraud, Digg is making some changes to how stories can be promoted on their Website. “While we don’t disclose exactly how story promotion works (to prevent gaming the system), I can say that a key update is coming soon. This algorithm update will look at the unique digging diversity of the… Continue reading Changes to Digg
Odds & Ends
Some other interesting stories this week: Local Search Spending To Double Google Introduced Mobile Ads How to be a Net Video Hit The Effects of Line Length on Reading Online News
Magazines Target Students with Digital Editions
The New York Times reports on a new initiative: “A new digital initiative to begin this month will give away thousands of magazine subscriptions to college students, but the magazines will be delivered via e-mail, not in print. The Magazine Publishers of America, the trade group that is sponsoring the initiative, is hoping to convert… Continue reading Magazines Target Students with Digital Editions
Monetizing Web Video
YouTube is another site that illustrates the power of focusing on building a dedicated audience before confusing it with ways to monetize. New York City Venture Capitalist Fred Wilson looks at YouTube’s potential revenue: “YouTube could be generating $440 million in annual revenue.” While Fred’s numbers illustrate an intriguing “what-if,” the site is not likely… Continue reading Monetizing Web Video
Splogs
What happens when you mix blogs with spam, you get splogs. A primer, from Wired: “Like email spam, splogs use the most wonderful features of networked communication – its flexibility, easy access, and low cost – in the service of sleazy get-rich-quick schemes. But whereas email spammers try to induce recipients to buy products, sploggers… Continue reading Splogs
A Fundamental Shift in Journalism
Adrian Holovaty has a follow up to the recent Bivens report for Tips to Improve Newspaper Websites: “…more fundamental shifts need to happen for newspaper companies to remain essential sources of information for their communities. One of those important shifts is: Newspapers need to stop the story-centric worldview. Conditioned by decades of an established style… Continue reading A Fundamental Shift in Journalism
Web Trends
Two new reports out: Current demographics of internet users Online Classifieds Increase in Popularity; Category Visitation Surges 47 Percent in the Past Year Greg Sterling offers his thoughts on state of classsified: “Obviously newspapers have to make some bold moves online (beyond their existing vertical relationships) to build their destination consumer traffic and/or find additional… Continue reading Web Trends
Google Releases Newspaper Archive
Google has launched a search archive of 200 years worth of newspapers. From The New York Times: “This symbolizes a major moment,” said Allen Weiner, a research director at Gartner, a market research firm. Google has reached an accommodation with the content companies that will benefit both sides, he said.” What is interesting is how… Continue reading Google Releases Newspaper Archive