January 02, 2006
Yahoo to launch reality TV series online
Xeni Jardin: Snip from SF Chronicle article: Terry Semel, the former movie studio chief who now leads Yahoo Inc., is back in show business. His Web portal has filmed a pilot for a reality series called "Wow House" that will be broadcast online within the next few months. (...)... [MORE]
December 19, 2005
So, One Year Later, How'd I Do?
Each year I make predictions. Each year, I review them and see how I did. Then, I make some more. Alright then. Here's my 2004 predictions post, written in late December, 2004. As much as I might wince at the one or two clunkers, I'd say I did pretty... [MORE]
November 20, 2005
Scott Gatz
Matt MacAllister pointed to a new blog last month and I took notice. It was from a guy named Scott Gatz of Yahoo. I has met Scott on various occasions during my travels and I was recently told that he wa sthe ‘blogging guy’ at Yahoo. So I planted... [MORE]
November 17, 2005
Deliciously Blogging
Our client, The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, this week took the wraps off their new resource site for high-growth entrepreneurs. It's called eVenturing. Our team counseled them in setting up their blog and are also are supporting them with an integrated public relations and blogger relations program. One of... [MORE]
CNet: Taking Back the Web
Day three of CNet's five-day special report on the social web (Taking Back the Web) focuses on tagging: “The idea behind tagging may be irresistibly simple, but its ramifications are enormous and complex. For more than a decade, the primary way to categorize and find information on the Internet... [MORE]
November 15, 2005
Why Blog Search Sucks
Randy Charles Morin at The RSS Blog explains the State of Blogosphere Search or put another way, Why Blog Search Sucks: “It's been awhile since I reported on blogosophere search. This is mostly because it's not getting any better, with a few exceptions. The problems mainly arise from the... [MORE]
November 08, 2005
On Business Blogging and Character: Panasonic Redux
A few days ago I wrote about Panasonic's odd new weblog "DefPerception," which attempts to engage video technology enthusiasts on high-definition video topics, especially Panasonic products in that field. This is a "character blog," in which authorship is attributed to a fictional character: video geek "Tosh Bilowski." As I've... [MORE]
Blogging's Impact on Search Position Quantified
Search Engine Watch has an article about search's impact on PR and reputation management. Blogs are featured at the end of the piece. However, one statistic really jumped out at me. According to Converseon's study of the top 20 search engine listings for the BusinessWeek 100 brands in July... [MORE]
June 24, 2005
Blogs Hold Wealth of Brand Insights
Bloggers' spontaneous opinions and comments are a source of invaluable insight that marketers are more and more tapping into, using new technology to analyze blogs and other "consumer-generated media," including chat groups, message boards and electronic forums, writes the WSJ.com. For example, WPP Group PLC crafted a new promotion aimed at teenagers by scrutinizing blogs to hear what is being said online about new products, old ad campaigns and aging brands. Those who are promoting the new methodology and their clients say that blog-watching can be cheaper, faster and less biased than focus groups and surveys. And blog watchers spot trends before they become news. The Wall Street Journal piece goes on to describe various available solutions and uses.
June 10, 2005
Greatest American - Advertises on Blogs
Omnicom Group's Agency.com said it has begun an online advertising campaign that relies on blogs to promote Discovery Networks' Greatest American show.
The push will turn to blogging to raise interest in the show, including ads on blogs through BlogAds, placements on Gawker and Friendster's blog network. Greatest American also has its own blog, www.greatestamericanblog.com, hosted by AOL's Live Journals. At the blog, fans can debate who should be named "greatest American." The site will post brief profiles of nominees and invite users to comment and vote on the Greatest American Web site, hosted on AOL's TV section.
May 16, 2005
Blogs - Political Influence Questioned
Bloggers were not as influential as the traditional news media during the 2004 presidential election, according to a new study.
The Pew Internet & American Life Project and BuzzMetrics found that bloggers often followed the lead of the mainstream media and politicians. It found that despite the high-profile impact bloggers had on events like "Rathergate," blogs' influence was mostly circumstantial, confined to moderating discussions of news events rather than driving them.
April 07, 2005
Fox Promotes Stacked on Friendster Blogs
Fox is hoping that Pamela Anderson's blog will drive viewers to her new star-vehicle, "Stacked."
Fox is promoting "Stacked," which premieres on Wednesday April 13, through Friendster Blogs, a free weblogging service hosted by popular social-networking site Friendster.
Along with Anderson, thirty members of the cast and crew have created Friendster profiles and blogs, highlighting the show's behind-the-scenes action.
The "Stacked" blogs on Friendster are viewable to the public at stacked.friendster.com, while cast profiles are only available to Friendster members.
February 08, 2005
Ask Jeeves Buys Trustic's Bloglines
Ask Jeeves said it bought Trustic, owner of the Bloglines service for publishing and searching news-syndication feeds.
The purchase brings Ask Jeeves, an Oakland, Calif.-based search company, one of the leading providers of Really Simple Syndication (RSS) readers, which let users organize syndicated Web content like blog entries and news headlines. Bloglines, founded in 2003, also has an index of more than 280 million Web content elements, including news feeds, blog articles, video and audio.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The addition of the popular RSS reader and search capability could help Ask Jeeves establish more visitor loyalty. The search engine released a personalized search application in September 2004 and desktop search two months later in attempts to tie users more closely to its site, rather than search giants like Google and Yahoo.
Ask Jeeves previously tried to gain ground through acquisition. It paid $343 million last March to acquire Interactive Search Holdings, which published search sites iWon and My Way. Still, Ask Jeeves' share of the search market is less than 6 percent, compared to 34 percent for Google and 32 percent for Yahoo, according to ComScore Networks. Ask Jeeves reported a $17.1 million profit on $86.1 million in sales last quarter, mostly through clicks on Google text ads displayed next to Ask Jeeves search results.
Since Google acquired blog publisher Pyra Labs in February 2003, search companies have added blog-related tools to their sites. Microsoft released MSN Spaces, its blog-publishing software, in December 2004. MSN and Yahoo both offer free RSS readers.
Blogs have emerged as key distribution outlets for Google's AdSense for Content service, which places targeted text ads on Web pages. Some paid listings services, like Kanoodle and Yahoo's Overture Services, have experimented with including ads in RSS feeds.
Ask Jeeves said Bloglines would continue to operate as an independent brand and offer its services for free. Bloglines CEO Mark Fletcher will join Ask Jeeves as vice president and general manager of Bloglines. Ask Jeeves said it would incorporate Bloglines in its search properties and use its Teoma search technology to improve Bloglines' search capability.
January 07, 2005
IPG Establishes Blog Specialty Group
NEW YORK Interpublic Group's MWW Group said it has set up a blogging subsidiary.
Called Blog 360, the division promises to help corporations create blogs that will provide "a unique and highly effective platform to connect with key constituents and audiences who are more difficult to reach via traditional marketing and public relations," the agency said in a statement.
Blog 360 has enlisted the expertise of Stephen Morgan Friedman, who runs the blog overheardinnewyork.com. "Through blogs, MWW's clients will have the ability to truly speak the language of their customers," he said.
