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September 2006

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Technorati Intros Smarter Blog Search Feeds

Technorati has opened up RSS feeds for keyword and URL searches to all users. You no longer need to register for an account and set up watch lists. (Technorati is an Edelman partner.) You couldn't do this prior to now. However, you could always subscribe to feeds for tags.

The feeds for URL searches are formated as follows: http://feeds.technorati.com/search/www.micropersuasion.com. Keyword searches also follow the same convention: http://feeds.technorati.com/search/yankees. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Where it really gets interesting is what you can do with these feeds. Starting today you can now set up sophisticated keyword feeds that are limited to blogs with a certain level of authority. This essentially strips out most spam blogs. All you need to do is set up the right search on Technorati and then click on the RSS icon to the right of the search (see screen grab below). For example, using this technique you can set up a search for Yankees only within blogs that have a lot of authority and get an RSS feed that delivers these results.

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Posted at 04:45 PM in RSS, Search, Weblogs | | Comments (7) | TrackBack (4)

links for 2006-09-30

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Friday, September 29, 2006

How to Create a "Blog Feeder"

One of the questions I am often asked is "How do you find content to blog about?" The answer is easy, I use my Blog Feeder. If you blog often I highly recommend setting one of these up as a tab on a personalized home page. Mine sits on Google, but you can easily use Windows Live, Netvibes or a host of other similar services. I recommend using a start page as a Blog Feeder over a traditional RSS reader like Bloglines since you may not want to see every item in the feed. These feeds tend to be massive in volume.

The first step is to determine what newsy topics you want to track. In my case, it's a snap. I blog about social networks, social media, Wikipedia and more. I set up a bunch of searches on Google News for these topics using the "OR" value (e.g. digg OR youtube, etc.) Each search generates a feed, which I have added to a special tabbed section of my Google Personalized Home Page.

Next up, head on over to Technorati's Discover section. Here you will find mini meme trackers across dozens of subjects such as music, television, tech, politics and more. Each section has an RSS feed. Grab that and add it to your Blog Feeder.

Last but not least, add some other sites like digg and/or diggdotus and relvant Topix.net feeds (each topic page has a feed link). That's all there is to it. Here's the result...

Blogfeeder

Posted at 07:57 PM in Handy Resources, RSS, Tagging, Web 2.0, Weblogs | | Comments (13) | TrackBack (1)

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GE Blogs Nextfest

A team of folks from General Electric, an Edelman client, are blogging the Wired Nextfest event this weekend. The blog is being authored by GE scientists, communicators and more. If you want to keep an eye on all the cool technology, gadgets, etc. coming from the event, be sure to hit the blog this weekemd.

Edelman in DC is assisting (not writing) with the blog. Comments are open. There's also a Flickr stream. Also note how the blog's focus goes well beyond GE's presence at the event.

 

 

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Posted at 07:25 PM in Shameless Promotion, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Gawker's Jessica Coen Jumps to Vanity Fair

Jessica Coen, the talented blogger behind Gawker, is leaving Gawker Media for Vanity Fair. She joins as deputy online editor after two years blogging and over 6,000 posts.

Posted at 06:30 AM in Journalism, Weblogs | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1)

links for 2006-09-29

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Thursday, September 28, 2006

Forbes Hearts YouTube

1016nav YouTube is on the cover of Forbes magazine. Meanwhile, one story wasn't enough for the pub. They devoted nothing short of nine stories on YouTube and online video plus a couple of photo essays to boot. There's even a story for ad guys.

Posted at 09:38 PM in Video | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (2)

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Play the Web 2.0 Drinking Game

Can you get drunk on Web 2.0? SciFi.com thinks so. They have started a Web 2.0 drinking game in response to all the hype. Highlights...

digg: Take a drink if you see a story on the Digg front page about Digg itself

YouTube: Take a drink every time you see a video of a celebrity doing something embarrassing

Wikipedia: Take a drink for every article that seems to be of questionable accuracy.

And so on...

Posted at 09:00 PM in Social Networking, Tagging, Video, Web 2.0, Weblogs, Wikis | | Comments (4) | TrackBack (2)

Google Unveils Big RSS Reader Upgrade

Google today dropped a big update to its feed reader. They're characterizing their RSS reader as "your inbox for the Web," which I kinda like. One of the big new features is that each user now gets their own public page where they can share feed items. It's similar to Bloglines' clip blogs. Another feature is feed discovery tool. More info is here. Screen grabs follow...



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Posted at 08:09 PM in RSS | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (5)

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AccuWeather Offers Weather Widgets to Bloggers

AccuWeather has rolled out a suite of widgets that are read to be integrated on for blogs and social network pages. The widgets come in six sizes and eight colors and cover the entire world. Publishers can display current conditions, five-day forecast, temperature maps, and radar or precipitation maps. They're also available in English or Spanish. (Via Adotas.)

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Posted at 03:40 PM in Social Networking, Web 2.0, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

CNET Launches Second Life Presence

CNET has expanded its presence online with a new virtual outpost inside Second Life. The space includes a building that looks like CNET's offices in San Francisco offices. It has an amphitheater where CNet reporters will conduct interviews and host events. According to 3PointD, other tech media brands will soon follow into Second Life. As this occurs watch for the PR media tour to become a fixture for certain clients inside the metaverse.

Posted at 03:27 PM in Avatar Marketing, Journalism, PR | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Social Media eBook Published

Spannerworks, a search engine marketing company, has published a handy dandy guide to social media (PDF). The ebook covers the basics of blogs, podcasts, social networks, tagging, communities and Second Life. Thanks to Anthony Mayfield for sending me this link via del.icio.us.

Posted at 09:33 AM in Avatar Marketing, Handy Resources, Podcasting, RSS, Social Networking, Tagging, Weblogs | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (3)

links for 2006-09-28

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Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Joining the Blog Herd vs. Being Your Own Cow

"Timid" by Tricky

With the advent of tools like Techmeme, TailRank, digg and Technorati's Discover pages, it's easier than ever to find the hot discussion of the day in a given subject area. This means as a blogger you're faced with an important choice. You can follow the heard and join the big conversation du jour or be your own cow (or even a little of both).

Some days I love running with the bulls (I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell!) Other days I prefer to be my own cow and hang back. There are pros and cons to each. Lately, I have been avoiding the heard. I find I prefer to be a leader than a follower. Other times, I flip flop faster than Bill Clinton and all I do is hop from herd to herd. I go in phases but it seems to work for me and it mixes up the content.

Surfing a meme is certainly fun. You get to add your perspective to often important conversations that align with your area of interest. However, if this is all you do with your blog, then it's not going to be very well read. There are a few rare exceptions. For example, Nicholas Carr seems to surf a lot of memes. It works for him. He gets noticed because he's incredibly controversial. However, more often than not, unless you start a stampede every so often, you'll be trampled under the memes if you don't add value.

A more viable model for success (at least for generating attention) is to start your own stampede. First, you need to pick a high interest subject. Second, I wouldn't launch your stampede the day Google, Yahoo, Apple or Microsoft make a big splash. Finally, you have to break news or put a big idea out there. Find stuff that no one is linking to. Get it early and put a strong POV out there. There are lots of simple ways you can automate this process with RSS. Your "find" doesn't need to be a top secret site. It can be the important news article that everyone missed.

What's your view? Do you like to ride the herd or be your own cow or both? Has the rising popularity of memetrackers changed how you blog? I think it's made some of us more lazy, and others more creative.

Posted at 10:44 PM in Weblogs | | Comments (13) | TrackBack (2)

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RealNetworks Rolls Realtime RSS Readers

Speaking of RSS aggregators, RealNetworks has launched two of them.  You can download a beta of the desktop version over here. It will officially launch in early 2007. However, there's an online version too.

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Posted at 10:41 AM in RSS | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (1)

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When RSS Aggregators Become Ad Networks

Despite all of the issues with click fraud, pay-per-click advertising has largely been a boon for online marketing. It delivers a very precise way to target consumers at the exact moment they are "in market" for certain products and services. Now it's time for RSS to venture down a similar path.

Over the next several years, RSS use will skyrocket. It's going to become a much more seamless experience than it is today. The vast majority of users may never know what an RSS feed is or how it works, but they will slowly alter their online habits. As individuals, we have already evolved from surfers to searchers. As feeds become even more embedded and easy to use, we will become subscribers too.

When RSS adoption goes broad, it's going to generate all kinds of clickstream data on the sites that serve millions of feed subscribers. These platforms - which all of the big portals are pushing in different ways - will be able to take this rich aggregate data and use it to create innovative ways to target.

For example, what if Bloglines could identify for you the tech feeds have the most engaged subscribers? In other words, they could show you the feeds have not only the most subscribers but also the readers that actively click-through on embedded links.  Bloglines then could create a special "tech deals" feed for an online retailer like Amazon and offer it to these subscribers to opt into. Or, they can turn themselves into an ad network and make it easy for marketers to buy across several feeds at once and then split the revenue with the Long Tail publishers.

All of this is the tip of the iceberg. What's clear to me, however, is that the feed aggregators have not monetized their platforms yet and you can bet this will happen really soon. When this occurs, RSS targeted advertising will take off just as it did with pay-per-click.

Posted at 10:27 AM in Advertising, Marketing, RSS | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

links for 2006-09-27

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Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Make Magazine Feeds Feature Page Permalinks

Make Magazine is continuing to break new ground in how print content is distributed online. First came PDFs in iTunes. Now they are offering customizable RSS feeds that link to specific pages in their digital edition. In other words, you can subscribe to feeds for any term/topic/author that appears in the print magazine and immediately click through to read the articles in the digital edition. Great stuff.

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Posted at 07:35 PM in Journalism, RSS | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (1)

Location, Location, Location

The following is also my column in this week's AdAge.

'Geotagging' Will Bring Everyone Closer Together. Advertisers, Take Note

Technology has transformed our world and made it really small -- or, if you're a Tom Friedman fan, flat as a pancake. And if you thought things couldn't get any more intimate, they're about to, thanks to geotagging, which might change the way you buy local media in the near future.

Geotagging is the process of adding geographical data to online content created either by individuals or big media. Usually it involves integrating a Google or Yahoo map into a site and allowing users to pinpoint where they reside. Sometimes it goes a step further by letting individuals "tag" the content with the locations where their articles, photos, videos or blogs were created.

Like anything created digitally these days, geotagging becomes incredibly more valuable when information from millions of individuals is aggregated into a single view. A great place to see this in action is Flickr, one of the world's largest photo-sharing sites and a division of Yahoo. A month ago Flickr launched a feature that lets users drag their photos onto a map and identify where they were shot. In just 30 days a staggering 4.1 million photos have been geotagged by the community.

Other sites that use geotagging are helping like-minded individuals who live in the same region find each other and even connect offline. Frappr, for example, has become a hit with bloggers and podcasters.

All of this is just the beginning. In the months ahead, geotagging will become part of virtually every website you can think of -- from consumer review sites to news, blog platforms, search engines and more. It will connect disparate online sites into solidified virtual networks all based on location data.

As geotagging becomes more popular, it will open up new avenues for advertisers. For example, a marketer who wants to target influencers in the Big Apple will, in the near future, be able to easily find the most influential bloggers in New York and buy ads across all of them.

Geotagging is not just about the little guy, either. Look for big media to adopt it too. Newspaper sites, for example, could plot out all their articles on maps and let advertisers make micro buys on pages that roll up the news on a single town.

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Posted at 01:52 PM in Advertising, Marketing, Mobile, Podcasting, Social Networking, Tagging, Web 2.0, Weblogs | | Comments (5) | TrackBack (3)

links for 2006-09-26

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