August 31, 2007's Posts

August 2007

Naming names: which mobile blogs put ads in the text?

Posted by Scott on August 31, 2007 at 7:36 p.m.

On his personal blog, Ryan Block (editor-in-chief of Engadget) posted An open letter to friends and colleagues on keyword popovers.

You know who you are, and many of you are people I consider friends and colleagues in the industry. You’re smart, independent businesspeople carving out your niche in the new media landscape. You know how to connect with your audience. And yet you use keyword popover ads. You’re getting some of those ad revenue dollars from IntelliTXT / Vibrant Media and like ad services whose entire business depends on polluting your content, confusing your audience, and tricking them into clicking on ads that just won’t go away.

What are these popover ads and why are they so annoying?

Here's the pitch:

IntelliTXT enables every word to be an opportunity to engage with your customers.

100% User-driven

Engage with your customers on their terms, only when they're interested. Deliver a user-initiated movie trailer, game preview, music video, or commercial through IntelliTXT VIDEO.

In-Text Placement

Use in-text placement to cut through the online advertising clutter.

Use Words to Engage. Contact us today...

Here's the problem. First, it mixes ads directly into the text, rather than having ads in a separate section that is clearly labelled. Second, it's deceptive. By convention, links are underlined. IntelliTXT underlines ordinary words (sometimes with double-underline), fooling the reader into thinking that the blog's author created a link to something the reader might find interesting. Instead of a link, the reader gets a pop-up ad. Third, popups are annoying.

So, which sites are trying so hard to ~~engage~~ annoy their readers? Here are some mobile blogs we found that have IntelliTXT ads on the home page today:

jk On the Run with James Kendrick & Kevin Tofel ... using mobile devices since they weighed 30 lbs.

click the image to enlarge

ad keywords: operating systems, mobile

Pocket PC Thoughts Daily news, views, rants & raves

click the image to enlarge

ad keywords: email (later in the day: "AC adaptor")

Mobileburn

click the image to enlarge

ad keywords: smartphone, email

Slashphone

click the image to enlarge

ad keywords: phone

We'll visit some general gadget blogs next. Meanwhile, did we miss any mobile blogs? What about other categories? Is this our first Digg-worthy post?

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Top Celebrity Gossip Blogs

Posted by Scott on August 31, 2007 at 7 a.m.

The misadventures of those in the entertainment industry are chronicled by 4 blogs in the Technorati 100. TMZ was founded 2 years ago by Harvey Levin. Unlike most of the top blogs, it started life in a big company -- and individual posts are credited to "TMZ Staff" rather than individual writers. A TV show is in the works.

"Perez Hilton" (Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr.) mingles with the stars he covers, and also has a TV show in the works. One of many attention getters: an "easily digestible style of scrawling crude commentary on celebrity pictures". (source)

The Superficial is written by, er, they don't say. Following in TMZ's footsteps perhaps?

Go Fug Yourself is written by Heather and Jessica.

TMZ.com

(http://www.tmz.com/)

#10 on the Technorati 100 *

Entertainment > Celebrity Gossip

TMZ- a joint venture between Telepictures Productions and AOL- has enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence by breaking the biggest stories in entertainment.

PerezHilton.com

(http://perezhilton.com/)

Celebrity Juice, Not from Concentrate

#17 on the Technorati 100 *

Entertainment > Celebrity Gossip

Hollywood's Most-Hated Web Site!

(Juicy celebrity rumors and Hollywood gossip blog from Perez Hilton, Queen of All Media)

The Superficial

(http://thesuperficial.com/)

Because You're Ugly

#45 on the Technorati 100 *

Entertainment > Celebrity Gossip

The Superficial is a brutally honest look at society and its obsession with the superficial. It is not satire. It is not social commentary. It is the voice of our society at its worst. It is first impressions without sense of social obligation. It is the truth of our generation. It is ugly racism. It is jealousy. It is honest.

Just kidding. Our goal is to make fun of as many people as possible.

Go Fug Yourself

(http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/)

fugly is the new pretty

#61 on the Technorati 100 *

Entertainment > Celebrity Gossip

Go Fug Yourself attracts ... smart, savvy, and snarky readers ... people who not only enjoy leafing through Hollywood-centric publications and fashion-related media, but who do so with a critical eye and a keen sense of the absurd.

* as of August 1, 2007

If anyone wants to look back to see the moment that blogs went mainstream, they could check when these online tabloids first hit the Technorati 100.

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