Most web communities are built with lots of help from volunteers – forum moderators, review writers, members who report problems, etc. One of the more common tales of woe told by online community operators is how, in an effort to reward the contributions of these volunteers, they somehow demotivated them. A typical story goes, “I had great forum mods who spent a lot of time keeping the forum going. When the site finally started to generate revenue, I wanted to show my appreciation for these volunteers with some nominal pay. Most of them ended up spending less time or even quitting entirely!”
Nov 282006
In the early days of Web commerce, brick and mortar stores were thought to be threatened with extinction. Amazon.com, the pioneering Web bookseller, even turned into a verb briefly: “getting Amazoned” meant having your business taken away by online sellers. Of course, retail stores didn’t go away, Barnes & Noble parking lots are still packed, and holiday sales are up in most retail stores. But it appears the Web has caused one retail casualty: used book stores can be added to the endangered species list. According to NBC: Web killing U.K.’s quirky bookshops, the inroads by eBay and other online booksellers have made the practice of browsing dusty shelves looking for the odd treasure obsolete.
Nov 282006
When Google announced its Google Book Search project, publishers and authors closed ranks to protest their work being indexed by Google. Although loss of revenue was ostensibly the big concern, perhaps more than a few were concerned about their plagiaristic tendencies being exposed. An article in Slate by Paul Collins titled Dead Plagiarists Society – Will Google Book Search uncover long-buried literary crimes? describes how as more books are digitized more examples of borrowed content are found.
Nov 222006
Yesterday, Google (GOOG) shares closed at $500 for the first time. This is a significant milestone, and the real question is whether Google shares are worth that much. Its closing price of $509 represents a P/E ratio of almost 65. That may not be as bad as the infinite multiples applied to early dot com firms, but is still a lofty value. The driving force for Google shares seems to be a combination of two factors: solid growth in revenue and earnings, and the expectation that more advertising dollars will shift to the Web. Currently, a much smaller portion of ad dollars are spent on Web ads vs. other media when compared to the time individuals spend using the Web. These dollars are shifting, as evidenced by the stagnant or declining ad revenue at many newspapers, but many expect an even bigger shift in the future.
Nov 212006
Web community operators should chill an extra bottle of Champagne for the upcoming holiday. I haven’t had a chance to review the full decision yet, but it appears that the California Supreme Court has taken a big step by extending free speech protection from internet service providers to their customers, like bloggers and forum operators. MSNBC.com’s Pete Williams reports in Calif. court says bloggers can’t be sued – State’s Supreme Court said a federal law gives immunity from libel suits: Continue reading »
Nov 202006
Last week I did a couple of presentations (on Community Building and Competitive Intelligence) at WebmasterWorld’s Pubcon, and caught the opening keynote session by Guy Kawasaki. Guy is a funny and engaging speaker, and a good choice to kick off a conference that covers a broad range of marketing, business, and tech issues. In Guy’s allotted hour, he covered a variety of topics, ranging from anecdotes from his Apple days to what makes a great business idea. A good keynote speaker’s job is usually to entertain and perhaps inspire – one doesn’t expect much in the way of business “takeaways” from keynoters. That’s not a bad thing, just a reflection of the usual role of a general speaker in a very specific conference. One point that some other Pubcon presenters would have done well to make note of, though, was his 10/20/30 rule for PowerPoint presentations.
Nov 072006
Ahhh, the joys of user-created content. Why pay for professional writers and researchers when your users will create it for you? Nobody has exploited this key Web 2.0 concept better than Wikipedia, the massive online encyclopedia created by thousands of volunteer contributors. The content has been surprisingly accurate and informative, although Wikipedia has had occasional issues with bogus entries, warring factions on controversial topics, and posting of stolen content. Now, there’s a new wrinkle on user-created content headaches: malware distribution. The Register reports in Wikipedia Blaster ‘fix’ points to malware that an article in the German Wikipedia was hijacked to include false information about a new version of the Blaster worm. The supposed “fix” link pointed to content that would infect the user’s PC.
Nov 072006
Now, music lovers can become angel investors, too. A Dutch site, Sellaband, lets new bands upload music where site members can listen to it. If a member likes a band and thinks they have potential, he or she can “invest” in the band in the amount of $10. When a band collects $50,000 in commitments, they are given access to a professional studio and production environment, along with song-writing and marketing expertise. For their part, the investors get a free copy of the CD and a cut of any profits from the CD. Since the profits are shared with 4,999 other investors, not to mention Sellaband and the group itself, one would presume that most investors expect the CD to be the main payoff, along with knowing they played a part in giving an unknown band a shot at stardom.