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The Evolution of Blogging

posted on November 17, 2009

Oh, how I wish this was a cool YouTube video that could go viral. But it’s not. Instead, it’s some pretty interesting research by PostRank on how reader engagement in blogging has evolved over the last three years.

Not so surprisingly, trackbacks as a means of joining the conversation have dropped off in favor of taking the discussion to Twitter or other social sites. Over the last there years, trackbacks have dropped from 19% of total engagement to 3%, while social networks have soared from <1% to 29%.

This is indicative of the larger trend—the move to engagement off the site itself:
on-vs-offsite-eng
On-site engagement is down 50%, but total engagement engagement is still high—the conversation has just moved onto Facebook, Twitter and other social networks because of the “Share this” phenomenon.

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Google Waves Goodbye to Conference Twittering

posted on November 9, 2009

I still have no clue how to use Google Wave. Not that I’m stupid, I’m just not motivated to invest the tremendous effort needed to learn the new interface–especially when not all of my friends have invites yet.

Still, it helps to see a real-world use of Google Wave–at a conference no less. Instead of using Twitter–and hashtags–attendees at the recent Ecomm conference were given Google Wave accounts. The resulting collaboration gives me a better feel for at least one practical use of the new service.

Take a look:

Of course,  I see one immediate problem. Where’s the opinion? What I love about conference Tweets–and blog posts–is reading the opinion that’s thrown in with the coverage. The above Google Wave example seems just a little too sterile for my liking.

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Most Bloggers Discuss Products/Brands

posted on November 6, 2009

According to Technorati’s 2009 State of the Blogosphere report, 70% of bloggers talk about products or brands on their blogs, eMarketer reports. And obviously some of these mentions would be prompted by free sample products, etc.—a practice popular enough to draw the notice of the FTC, which now requires disclosure on such review products.

Interestingly, corporate bloggers were least likely to blog about brands and products (lawsuit anyone?), and hobbyist bloggers were second least likely. Technorati defined hobbyist bloggers as those that blog for fun. They don’t make money (and only some of them want to, which I think is awesome). Instead of brands and products, they mostly share “personal musings” (53% of hobbyists), and 76% blog to speak their minds. 72% of bloggers fell into this category.

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New Google AdSense Interface Will Tell You Precisely How Much You Suck

posted on November 6, 2009

You know that $3.40 you make in Google AdSense each month? Well, Google is about to make it a lot easier to see just how badly your blog sucks at using AdSense. :-P

A new AdSense interface design will start rolling to users over the coming weeks:

For those of you making more than enough AdSense revenue to buy a Big Mac, you’ll enjoy these enhanced features:

  • Detailed metrics including the amount you’ve earned from various ad, targeting and bid types
  • More options to manage the ads that appear on your site
  • Simplify common tasks, such as making a change to several ad units simultaneously
  • More help options, tips, and alerts

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IAB Against New FTC Regs

posted on October 16, 2009

Dollars FloatingIn case you’ve missed it, the FTC has finally finalized its new blogging guidelines—including an up-to-$11,000 fine for not disclosing free products or other remuneration given for product reviews (or maybe not). Naturally, this has caused an uproar in the blogosphere—and now the president and CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Randall Rothenberg, has written an open letter to the FTC objecting to the new guidelines (via).

He reports that he nearly tweeted about a delicious bass halibut he cooked this weekend—until he remembered he’d received the cookbook for free review 13 years ago. But the real issue isn’t restricting his free fish speech. It’s

the implication that online social media represent a separate class of communications channels with less Constitutional protection than corporate-owned newspapers, radio stations, or cable television networks is of particularly grave concern.

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The New Technorati Thinks It’s a Blog

posted on October 14, 2009

technoratiHave you ever seen one of those people who spends so long studying a group, they begin to believe they’re part of the group? If not, you can now: Technorati has launched a new design/mission/layout, and it looks like the once-awesome blog search engine has been assimilated. As they put it:

While we’ll still track and link to the top blogs, posts, and tags, the unique content written by hundreds of bloggers will complement what the rest of the world is saying. In addition to this, each of our channel editors will be writing a daily column called Blog Focus, in which the top story of the day is told through the eyes of the blogosphere’s varied and eclectic authors.

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Banks Get Billions in Bailouts, but an Unemployed Blogger Loses Benefits Over AdSense Check

posted on October 12, 2009

Google AdSense or unemployment benefits? It’s your choice, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too–even when that cake amounts to just $1.30 a day in AdSense earnings!

The New York State Department of Labor is investigating the eligibility of an unemployed attorney who was receiving $405 a week in unemployment benefits. That $405 has been stopped while the DoL decides if the earnings she receives from ads displayed on her new restaurant review site are either:

a) Income

b) Residual earnings

c) Self employed revenue

Surprisingly, there is no option “d”–is ~$40 a month in AdSense enough to live on?

Of course, most people would have just kept quiet about the check, but “Karin”–the semi-anonymous blogger who’s the focus of the Forbes piece–is studying for the bar. She likely knew she had a legal obligation to report her earnings: