Simplifying our message

With Google soaking up a lot of mind-share, we've been looking hard at refining how we present Blogads. I just had long chat with Allan Karl, an old hand in advertising who has been exploring the nexus between blogging and business. Allan offered some blunt and very useful tips on simplifying and reinforcing the Blogads message. We'll impliment his suggestions tomorrow AM.

[5] comments (3569 views)  |  link

Blogs inspire political hackles and heckles

Rick Bruner writes: "blogs are in themselves the most inspiring movement in politics I've seen since I was last idealistic back in college, lo many years ago."

[4] comments (3528 views)  |  link

Lunging to this finish

Having lost out in most of the arm wrestling for the family copy of Order of the Pheonix, I'm only now nearing the end. Rowling has continued to churn out amazing fiction, but is she wearying? In the penultimate fight scene, she serves up three "lunged out of nowhere" transitions. Or more. I'll have to reread that section and tell you.

[6] comments (3876 views)  |  link

$500 prize for blogtrading...

Seyed has announced a $500 for the best blog trader. My blog portfolio is up 186% this month, but I'm number 580 out of some 7000 traders.

[6] comments (3509 views)  |  link

Broiled Tigers

Spent a great afternoon in right field seats at Fenway, watching the Red Sox beat the Tigers 6 to 4. We were in the shade and got occassional breezes, but outside the day was ablaze. After the game, we walked 40 minutes along Commonwealth Avenue to the car. Having wondered all year, my son can confirm that Boston does were red sox.

On another local tangent, welcome to Steve, my first Amherst friend to be bitten by the blog bug.

[5] comments (3558 views)  |  link

They sold out!

Congratulations to Marketingfix, which has been bought by marketing guru Andy Bourland. Yes, folks, blogs are media.

[6] comments (3539 views)  |  link

Bruner vets 'top clickthrus' feature

Rick Bruner and I enjoyed a beer together at the great happy hour hosted by Aaron and Jen last Thursday evening.

Rick's had his nose deep into online marketing since 1995 -- while I focused on the journalistic side of things when I started online in 1996 -- so I was interested in getting Rick's more senior view on whether our beta "top clickthrus" feature, which shows the top blogads clickthrus in the previous hour, had been done before. Seems obvious that advertisers might benefit from each other's experience, right? Rick said he'd never run into the functionality. He offers more views on blog advertising here.

[5] comments (3368 views)  |  link

King no more

My six-year-old son first beat me at chess on May 11. He didn't beat me again for a couple of weeks. A few days later, he snuck another one past me. Yesterday he beat me twice and again before school this morning. "Now, I've got my plan of attack," he says at a certain point in each game. "Huh?" I say.

[5] comments (3390 views)  |  link

eBay shadows Adwords

According to Auctionbytes, online auction giant eBay and ad serving technologists Doubleclick have paired up to offer a variation on Google's Adwords. Worth recalling that eBay is the biggest used car dealer in America.

Sadly, most newspapers still think their classified ad revenues are down because of the soft economy. Wake up guys.

[5] comments (3679 views)  |  link

Reason #531 blogs will thrive

Dave Barry, normally a hilarious comedian, gives a straight-faced account of how the news gets made. "This requires a complex team effort, which I will explain by putting key terms in capital letters: First, the REPORTER gathers information by interviewing PEOPLE and trying to write down what they say, getting approximately 35 percent of it right. The REPORTER then writes a STORY, which goes to an EDITOR, who bitterly resents the REPORTER because the REPORTER gets to go outside sometimes, whereas the EDITOR is stuck in the building eating NEWSPAPER CAFETERIA 'FOOD' that was originally developed by construction-industry researchers as a substitute for PLYWOOD. The EDITOR, following journalism tradition, decides that the REPORTER has put the real point of the story in the 14th paragraph, which the EDITOR then attempts to move using the 'cut and paste command,' which results in the story disappearing into ANOTHER DIMENSION, partly because the EDITOR, like most journalists, has the mechanical aptitude of a RUTABAGA, but also because the NEW COMPUTER SYSTEM has a few 'bugs' as a result of being installed by a low-bid VENDOR whose information-technology experience consists of servicing WHACK-A-MOLE GAMES. So the REPORTER and the EDITOR, who now hate each other even more than they already did, hastily slap a story together from memory, then turn it over to a GRAPHIC DESIGN PERSON who cannot actually read but is a wizard on the APPLE MACINTOSH, and who will cut any remaining accurate sentences out of the story to make room on the page for a colorful, 'reader-friendly' CHART, which was actually supposed to illustrate a story in an entirely different SECTION. Yes, it's a lot of work, but we do it night after night, with story after story, all so that when you, the reader, go out to your front yard to get your newspaper, it's not there. Check your roof, OK?" (Via Gawker.)

[4] comments (3327 views)  |  link

Gelernter likes blogs, but doesn't know it

Yale comsci prof David Gelernter gives a nice philosophical overview of print and online newspapers. Along the way, he offers a brilliant brief for blogging, although he appears not to know the word. On print papers:

A newsprint paper is a slab of space (even a closed tabloid is larger than most computer screens) that is browsable and transparent. Browsability is what a newspaper is for: to offer readers a smorgasbord of stories, pictures, ads and let them choose what looks good. "Transparent" means you can always tell from a distance what you're getting into (Are there lots of pages here or not many? Important news today or nothing much?)--and you always know (as you read) where you are, how far you've come, and how much is left. The newsprint paper is an easy, comfortable, unfussy object. You can turn to the editorials, flip to the back page, or pull out the sports section without thinking. It's light and simple and cheap: Spread it on the breakfast table and spill coffee on it, read it standing in a subway or flat on your back on sofa or lawn, on the beach or in bed. You can write on it, cut it up, pull it apart, fold it open to an interesting story, and stick it (folded) in your pocket to show to someone later. These small details add up to brilliant design.

On "online newspapers:"

The web-papers of tomorrow should be "objects in time," and here is the picture. Imagine a parade of jumbo index cards standing like set-up dominoes. On your computer display, the parade of index cards stretches into the simulated depths of your screen, from the middle-bottom (where the front-most card stands, looking big) to the farthest-away card in the upper left corner (looking small). Now, something happens: Tony Blair makes a speech. A new card materializes in front (a report on the speech) and everyone else takes a step back--and the farthest-away card falls off the screen and (temporarily) disappears. So the parade is in constant motion. New stories keep popping up in front, and the parade streams backwards to the rear. Each card is a "news item"--text or photo, or (sometimes) audio or video. "Text" could mean an entire conventional news story or speech or interview. But the pressure in this medium is away from the long set-piece story, towards the continuing series of lapidary paragraphs. There's room on a "news card" for a headline, a paragraph and a small photo. (If the news item is a long story or transcript, only the opening fits on the card--but you can read the whole thing if you want to, by clicking the proper mouse-buttons.) So: a moving parade (or flowing stream) of news items--new ones constantly arriving in front, older ones moving back.

In a footnote, Gelernter admits that the online newspaper (blog) sounds a lot like his company's attempt to revamp the basic OS, Scopeware.

[6] comments (3520 views)  |  link

Adsense-schmadsense

A number of people have asked me whether I'm worried about Adsense, Google's new ad service for publishers. Frankly, not at all... unless there's room in Google's spartan-25-characters-utilitarian worldview for the likes of this brilliant Gapingvoid blogad:

[7] comments (3849 views)  |  link

NYC trajectory

I'll be bouncing around New York for the next 36 hours. In addition to seeing a couple Pressflex clients, I hope to consume hot or cold beverages with blog friends and make 601AM's happy hour. My mobile number is 413 441 3098.

[5] comments (3311 views)  |  link

Reason #472 journalists need blogs

Cathy Seipp reprises the joys of freelancing.

[5] comments (3075 views)  |  link

LAX x 4

Great to see that LA Examiner has returned to its Tabloid(.net) roots with a redesign and an increased dose of scuttlebutt and snark.

[5] comments (3493 views)  |  link

Influence for 'the price of a half-can of soda'

Hugh MacLeod, the man who sums up the world on the back of a business card, has enjoyed promoting his art with Blogads recently. "With blogads I'm getting about 50% of the customers as [name deleted].com delivers... for about 5-10% the cost. Plus it's a better demographic. Buying a Blogad is a bit like getting this really cool person to tell everybody she knows about your work, for the price of a half-can of soda per day. Blogads are the next best thing to word-of-mouth."

[6] comments (3469 views)  |  link

Blogs deliver 'word of mouth'

Joe Senft, a marketing executive in Europe, sent comments about my Vienna paper on hubness and passion.

1. I know that some clients, particularly those in high-involvement
(consumer electronics, financial services, automotive) or restricted categories
(alcohol, tobacco, firearms, pharmaceuticals) would ache to talk with you
afterwards, to understand better this spiffy "hubness" factor.


2. Personally, I like to find and use new terms as they appear in the industry,
particularly those which add incremental value such as "passion"
and "hubness".

However, because the world of web marketing continues, frustratingly, to be
misunderstood and just plain-old ignored by major marketers, I wonder if it
would help your cause to describe passion and hubness using terms usually
applied to mainstream media. For example: "affinity", "index", and "loyalty".
These big-media terms may not be sufficiently precise to describe what happens
on blogs. However, using them would help clients, marketers, and media
planners to be more receptive to your message.

Do you ever get the feeling that, even today, after the dot-com burst, some
marketers and media people still think of web marketing as a kind of gee-whiz
thing for recent college grads?

I see this, especially in Europe. And the people who work in the business
don't especially help; they're often arrogant, impatient, and talk in a kind of
self-segregating Internet lexicon that to many marketers sounds like horse
hockey.

Go ahead and use the terms "passion" and "hubness", but make these subordinate
to vocabulary used by major advertisers and major media.

3. While we're on the subject of media vocabulary, there's one particular term
which is very often used to sell advertising campaigns in mainstream media...
but which is actually very seldom delivered! Word-of-mouth. Of course, I
don't have to remind you that this is precisely what blogs do best.

Whilst showing belonging by referring to blogs using standard media terms,
reveal the distinction of blogs -- not in terminology -- but in results
delivered. Right now, I guarantee you, somebody in New York is selling a :30
spot or a billboard campaign by saying that "its unique creative execution will
generate word-of-mouth". It certainly can. Just look at the Super Bowl spots
you referenced. But only a truely naive person would believe that a memorable
TV spot, alone, creates as indellible an impression as 100,000 people
discussing that TV spot on 100 web sites, on line.

I would move word-of-mouth -- the Achille's heel of big media -- to the fore of
your argument and justify this with affinity, loyalty, passion, and hubness.
After a right-good bashing, I would then return to show that blogs extend the
value of mainstream media -- both paid and unpaid (public relations).

4. I liked the way your speech takes a swipe at mainstream media when it says, "So
what if you can reach 80%... for free if every competitor" can too? This line
sounds great and I bet many heads nodded with empathy when you said it.

But the solution to clutter and fragmentation is not necessarily blogs; indeed,
special interest magazines and web sites are already referred to by some media
departments as "hubs" because they enjoy extremely high affinities, if not
large audiences (skate shop owners or expatriates or people who are especially
fond of cats).

What's more, in many categories, particularly in retail, in FMCG and in
automotive, share of voice in mainstream media continues to be a key
determinant of sales volume and marketshare.

I wondered if some borish big-media type might not pick a fight with you over
this "So what?" statement. Why not pull the carpet out from under him by
refocusing the argument on the word-of-mouth that blogs deliver best?

[5] comments (3653 views)  |  link

The untouchable past

Josh Marshall visits the scene of his mother's death: "Coming back to California this time I realized that through all those years I'd never touched it. I'd driven by it countless times and very rarely I'd feel some rush of the impact of her death as my car swept past the point in space where hers stopped in its tracks. But I'd never gotten out of the car and walked up to the spot or touched the dent. There must have been grooves cut into the metal -- perceptible only by touch. But I'd never stopped to feel the metal against my fingers or find its contours." (Via LA Examiner.)

[4] comments (3487 views)  |  link

Best Blogad clickthrus

I'm catching up after a fascinating week in France. I'll type up some of my notes later. For now, I wanted to highlight this nifty page that tracks top clickthrus for blog advertising. In theory, an advertiser could use this feature to hone his/her presentation and learn from the experience of others. Give us feedback.

[4] comments (3514 views)  |  link

Strike

Not far from Beaubourg in a steamy Internet cafe; saw great march; train journey this AM took 90 minutes, people do a good job of routing around striking line, since info is posted on Internet. People seem sympathetic to strikers; see this poll for example.

Spent the metroride talking with friend about innovation inside places like France Telecom; he does consulting there: like selling balloon rides to agorophobes. Wandered into a France Telcom boutique at lunch and waited in line 'à mintes for service. Paid 30 Euros for phone number and 10 minutes of calling time; then paid 3 euro for 30 minutes of Internet. Same in UK would cost 30 Euro for 30 minutes and 1.5 euros for an hour.

Internet will bring deflation to Europe.

[5] comments (3341 views)  |  link

Free month of Messagefire

I just noticed that Messagefire lets me "refer a friend." So go sign up for Messagefire and use DMBDDTS in the "coupon" field -- you'll get a free month and I'll get a free month. See previous entry for why this is Good.

[4] comments (3202 views)  |  link

Spamless joy

Slurppppppp :) ... F R E E ink for your printer!... Get the Credit You Deserve... Las Vegas Vacation Blowout!... Smokers and Tobacco Users: Get Great Rates on Term... Better than Search Engines Placement... Someone wants to Meet YOU!... Open Your Very Own Dollar Store Now!... Great Deals! eBay - Find what you want... Police Auction Ends In 30 Minutes...

These are the first 10 spams (of 128) I didn't have to download and delete this morning, thanks to the Messagefire service I signed up for via a Blogad last week. I'll be visiting Pressflex newspaper clients in France next week and, for the first time in what seems like decades, won't spend 92% of every session online deleting spam from my webmail account. More time to eat steak pommes frites, drink coffee and muse.

[5] comments (3409 views)  |  link

'Death by a thousand comments...'

How many remember that six months ago an editor at the NYTimes tried to convince blogger/columnist Mickey Kaus to write an article trashing "blogger triumphalism." (I blogged Kaus saying this at the Yale blogger conference in November.)

So it is a not-so-poignant irony that today bloggers get some of the credit for bringing down NYTimes editor Howell Raines.

Of course, I could quote bleachers full of bloggers congratulating themselves for toppling the giant, but that wouldn't be quite fair or objective... even for a blog. So instead, I'll quote one of Raines' print brethren, and let him pronounce an eulogy for the way news used to be manufactured.

"In the end, it was the new world of Web sites, blogs, online editions and e-mails — not Raines — that set the pace of his exit," says the LATimes' Tim Rutten.

Rutten's commentary can really be read as an obituary for traditional media. "The new media's vast echo chamber already has demonstrated something that cannot be ignored: Questions about the Times' revival now will be posed and answered at speeds and in ways that defy the sober standards of conventional crisis management."

Leak fed leak, e-mail chased e-mail, with bloggers posting it all. "And so it went, with each day's instantly available disclosures triggering a fresh round of real-time commentaries, which in turn nudged those in possession of additional embarrassing information into virtually instantaneous rounds of fresh revelation. It was death by a thousand comments..."

How long before Raines gets a blog?

[4] comments (3573 views)  |  link

The politics of blogging...

Here's an interesting map of blogdom politics. (Via Jeff Jarvis.) We really need three or four dimensions to capture all the different axis of opinion, but this is a good start for now. And it is just a start.

Mark my words: blogs are going to drive the next presidential election. Bloggers will publish leaks the traditional news (or even Matt Drudge) won't touch and will be knawing on particular factoids or angles long before and after traditional press. Smart insiders will secretly read, publish and/or stoke blogs. The press will quote blog pundits. Bush may mutter the b word. Blog readers, themselves articulate early adopters who are influential in their own communities, will be influenced by the blogs they read. Traffic will double (again!) for Instapundit, Talking Points Memo,Atrios, Andrew Sullivan, Daily Kos, Jane Galt, Matt Welch...

And mark these words too: mapping blog networks will transform marketing. Most people look to their peers for guidance before making most decisions. Blogging creates new peer groups, empowers or revives old ones. Blogs and their entwined links tendrils let marketers map peer groups. A new science of opinion is itching to be born. The coming election will make this explicit.

Wake up guys.

[6] comments (4672 views)  |  link

Moxie channels her ads

Moxie had an interesting Blogads moment. She had the first documented dream about a Blogad, actually.

[4] comments (4738 views)  |  link

New feature

If you look at the bottom of the front page, you'll get the inkling of our newest feature. A buggy inkling. Our goal is to let advertisers learn from each other. After all, how many blogadvertisers compete with each other. We've got a world to conquer, a pie to grow, a Sequouia to sprout... better to do it by learning from each other and letting the folks that don't Blogadvertise suffer the consequences. If you have any suggestions, hit the comments or drop me a private line.

[4] comments (3871 views)  |  link

ICQ from a train in eastern Hungary

Just got had this ICQ exchange with Csaba, a colleague currently on a train east of Budapest:

Csab (2:42 PM) : hi henry
henry (2:42 PM) : howdie Csaba!
Csab (2:42 PM) : just logged in very quickly to notify you, that first page (top 3) is done.
henry (2:43 PM) : wonderful.
Csab (2:43 PM) : just programmed it during my trip to home (Edeleny)
henry (2:43 PM) : cool.
Csab (2:43 PM) : needs a little more testing but seems good so far.
henry (2:44 PM) : fun feature. do you want me to test, or wait til tomorrow?
Csab (2:44 PM) : i need to hook the refresh of ad data to somewhere but other than that it's done.
Csab (2:44 PM) : haven't uploaded yet. still on the train.
henry (2:45 PM) : wow. extra cool. so this is via your cell phone?
Csab (2:45 PM) : (mobile office, gprs, laptop etc... having fun)
Csab (2:45 PM) : yupp
Csab (2:45 PM) : pretty impressive, huh?
Csab (2:45 PM) : ;)
henry (2:45 PM) : yes. i'm going to blog it.
Csab (2:46 PM) : cool. i'll be part of history then... ;)
henry (2:46 PM) : and you can read about it tomorrow, hearing the echo of your own shout.
Csab (2:47 PM) : great!
Csab (2:47 PM) : well, i need to log off now, because destination comes...
henry (2:47 PM) : Say hi to the conductor for me.
Csab (2:48 PM) : :) i will.

I should note that my colleagues in Budapest have far better gadgets than I do. Csaba has his wafer thin notebook. Tamas has been going wild making GPRS maps of his jogging routes. He made me walk around the block with him in Vienna just to map our neighborhood. But, ICQ by mobile phone is the weirdest/unwiredest thing I've seen this week. By the way, here's a picture of Edeleny.

[4] comments (4330 views)  |  link

Spam ban, thank you mam...

Saw a Blogad for MessageFire on Blogshares this morning and thought I'd try the $5 trial. So far, I'm shocked & amazed & tickled to watch MessageFire's filters keep the crud out of my inbox. Yippeee.

[3] comments (3618 views)  |  link

Trade magazines and the Internet

"The internet stops nothing short of threatening the very existence of trades [magazines], in its timeliness making obsolete much of the editorial of traditional weeklies and monthlies. Many advertisers have already pulled out of their trade publications, and they will be followed by many more. Far fewer will ever return. Ad pages for b2b publications fell 30 percent from 2000 to 2002, according to the Business Information Network. In comparison, consumer magazine pages were down 21 percent over the same period, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. So far this year, consumer magazines are up 3 percent in pages, while trade titles are down another 5 percent." (Media Life.)

[4] comments (3551 views)  |  link