Have you heard?
Technorati Launches their blog ad network.
Found this from TechCrunch
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Blog-focused advertising networks are all the rage right now, with both Federated Media and Glam pulling down big valuation financing rounds in the last few months based very early growth metrics. Other startups, like Six Apart, have launched their own blog advertising networks as well.
As we predicted, Technorati now joins them with the launch of Technorati Media later this morning (the site will be password protected until 9 am PST today), their own blog advertising network.
The company has been testing the new sales product with a number of partners, including BlogTalkRadio, BlogCritics, BlogCatalog, BlogTV, Technabob, GPSMagazine, GeekAlerts and NerdApproved. CEO Richard Jalichandra says these blogs reach a combined audience of approximately 17 million unique monthly visitors.
Advertisers include Honda, Acura, Toyota, t-mobile, Adobe, HP, Sandisk, MSFT, Verizon, Sun, Sony, Visa, Nike, Scion, Chevrolet, Paramount, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Best Buy.
Technorati has explored selling ads for third party sites for some time, but this is the first time they’ve opened the service up to anyone. Unlike Glam and Federated Media, they will take all comers, and say they expect blogs, from the large players on down through the long tail, will find they do a better job monetizing sites than the current options.
Ads are sold on a CPM basis. They will not make revenue guarantees, says Jalichandra, but the split between parties is negotiable. He declined to state what rates have been negotiated with beta partners. This is a similar argument to what Six Apart promises, which is also targeting the long tail of blogs.
Jalichandra also says Technorati is uniquely positioned to sell ads at premium rates, even through small blogs, because they will be able to use descriptive tags/keywords, along with their existing blog indexing technology, to better match ads with content.
Technorati’s has seven sales professionals, led by VP Sales Tony Pribyl, a new hire. They also hired a new marketing lead, Jennifer McLean, away from Glam recently.
For now Technorati is only working with larger blogs, although it will be open to all comers in 2-3 months.
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Is that cool or what???
Next up – FireFox 3 on its way out to you! I tried to reach the site at 9:53am PST and it was… down. I guess EVERYONE and their dog…er, fox is waiting for FireFox 3. It’s been covered in the press as well – from BBC, to ZDNet, CNet, even Time and New York Times have been covering the story.
The boys over at WebMonkey have an excellent post today Why You Should Download Firefox 3 Right Now:
- History, bookmarks and discovery
- Speed and performance
- Security
- Native look and feel
- A better fit for your workflow
What more could you ask for from a browser?
…as of 10:15am PST I could still not connect to download FireFox. Yah – it’s that popular!
UPDATE JUNE 18, 2008 – I wasn’t the only one having trouble getting FireFox, with OVER 5,000,000 downloads on F-DAY there were A LOT of people trying to download the latest and greatest browser. I finally managed to download it, but waited till the 18th of June instead of trying to compete. Luckily a lot of people were willing to wait and FireFox beat the 5,000,000 download target!
What do I think of it – well, so far, so good. But it’s too early to tell.
Thinking of Spamming MySpace? Think Again!
From Mashable comes this story:
MySpace has just released a statement saying that it has won its lawsuit against Media Breakaway and its founder Scott Richter, for their spam attacks on MySpace. Last Friday, the American Arbitration Association awarded MySpace over $6 million in damages and attorney’s fees, as well as the entering of a permanent injunction against Scott Richter and Media Breakaway.
This is the second recent example of MySpace winning a high profile court battle against spammers, which had previously been pretty tough for the social networking giant to do. Last month, Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines lost out to MySpace (big time) with a $234 million judgment against the two notorious spammers. And Richter has spent some time in the hot seat for spamming in years past, having been legally pursued by Microsoft and former New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.
The court battles and their subsequent rulings, however, have been a long time in the making, with the initial onslaught of spam from Media Breakaway beginning in August, 2006, with the lawsuit being brought against the company by MySpace in January, 2007. Thanks to the anti-spam CAN-SPAM law of 2003, it’s been easier for MySpace to attempt to deter spam through court measures.
I don’t know about you, but I could find better ways of spending my millions… oh wait, I don’t have any. Oh well. Spamming is still bad. Don’t do it.
My Thoughts On Twitter
I still don’t get it. BUT I am SMS’ing my wife regularly, as you know my son and wife are in Tanzania visiting family. It’s expensive to call there – around $0.49/minute and conversations never last a few minutes, more like 30-60 minutes so we use pre-paid calling cards which cuts the rate down to around $0.30/minute or thereabouts so $10.00 will normally get me 30 minutes.
SMS’ing is fun, and easy. A lot like Twitter. So slowly I “get” what Twitter is all about. SMS’ing on the computer to a gazillion other people instead of one. Cool.
Gas Prices – WTF/OMG…THUD
I think we’re all shocked at the price of gas. Here in Richmond, BC I filled up the other day at $1.43/litre. For all ya Americans that works out to about $5.60/gallon. Yah. That’s a lot of money.
I made a few changes on my car – new tires to replace the old ones and ensure that the air pressure is always 100% correct. That alone made a difference of about 10%-15% in the distance I can drive on a half-tank of gas. I used to get only 300km on half-tank of gas, but can get between 330km and 350km. This week, I ended up getting 400km on a half tank of gas. How did I do it? Used some hypermiling techniques. Biggest change I made? NO MORE LEAD FOOT! I cruise at the speed limit in the slow lane. I get where I want to get on time, and I save on gas.
Here are some easy techniques that we can all follow:
- Go easy on the accelerator and follow the speed limit. It’s a no brainer, but how many people actually
drive 55 mph? Fuel economy drops like a stone above 60 mph, so slow down. You’ll bump your fuel economy by 7 to 23 percent.
- Take all the junk out of your trunk. Why are you hauling those tire chains in July? When’s the last time you used those golf clubs? That big brush guard with the million-candlepower lights may look cool, but it’s killing your fuel economy. Every 100 pounds of stuff you’re needlessly hauling around drops your fuel economy by 1 to 2 percent. Ditch it and it’ll rise accordingly. While you’re at it, lose the roof rack and gain another 5 percent. Keep the spare though. You’ll need that.
- Get a tune-up and use the lightest viscosity oil your engine will live with. A well-tuned engine is an efficient engine, and lighter weight oil reduces drag. Can’t remember the last time you had a tune-up? Getting one could raise your fuel economy as much as 10 percent.
- Keep your tires properly inflated. The softer the tire, the greater the rolling resistance – and the more gas you burn. Being 10 pounds under pressure can cut fuel efficiency by 4 percent. Pump those babies up!
- Don’t idle. How many miles per gallon do you get sitting in the drive through? Zero, that’s how many. If you’re going to be stationary for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine.
Do this already? Try these:
- Buy a fuel economy gauge. Nothing will turn you into a hypermiler faster than seeing, in real time, exactly how much fuel you’re sucking down. If your car was built after 1995, fuel economy computers like ScanGauge are plug-and-play. Older cars may require a vacuum gauge, but they’re pretty easy to install.
- Coast. Hyper-milers suggest turning off the engine and coasting downhill. Be warned, though – automakers and some consumer groups say you could lose the power brakes and steering, making the car hard to turn and stop.
- Inflate tires to the maximum pressure listed on the sidewall. The pressure recommended by the automaker is a compromise between fuel efficiency, handling and comfort. If you want maximum efficiency, go for the maximum pressure. The ride quality will suffer, but you’ll get better mileage. Here, too, critics have a warning – over-inflating your tires could lead to premature wear and poor handling.
- Lay off the brakes. In traffic, maintain a slow creep instead of accelerating and braking. Ignore the horns and middle-finger salutes.
- Draft. This one’s controversial because it’s dangerous. But we trust you: Inch up behind, say, an 18-wheeler, and kill the engine as you enter its slipstream (you’ll feel it). You’re drafting now, getting pulled along by the truck’s gas instead of your own.
Additional Resources:
Source: http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Get_More_Than_40_Miles_Per_Gallon_Without_a_Hybrid
BlahBlahBlah Image – http://www.lcdlove.com/myspace/graphics/blah-blah-blah-myspace-graphic/
Fuel Image – http://flickr.com/photos/mag3737/185141687/
Technorati Tags: blog ad network, firefox 3, hypermiling, saving money on gas, sms, technorati, twitter
