Doug Stevenson, Chief Executive Officer of Vibrant Media, I hearby challenge you to a debate at AdTech in New York City on November 8th or 9th.

The debate would seek to answer the question if we, as an industry, should adopt Vibrant Media’s concepts for putting advertising links within the content area of websites and blogs.

A neutral party would moderate and the audience would be composed of publishers, advertisers, journalists and technologists in the industry.

At the end of the debate the audience would vote on whether they feel this technology should be adopted.

Mr. Stevenson, I eagerly await your response. I think you know where I stand on the issue.

It’s almost embarrassing to do a post like this, but I’m “thrilled” to report that all the Weblogs, Inc. sites now have search. Basically we would have had this a long time ago, but we had some issues with a corrupt install of some modules on our server. After a couple of tries at fixing it, and dozens of wasted hours, we basically gave up and moved to new servers and it is working fine. Go figure.

So, if you look in column three on the far right on our 57 or so blogs you’ll find our search box. wOOt! wOOt!

We’ve been building HackADay.com in stealth/beta mode for the past couple of weeks , and today I noticed a really important post regarding Google’s new Desktop Search.

It turns out some clever people have figuring out how to search another person’s desktop. Now, you have to have access to that computer, but you can imagine the implications of this if someone did it on their manager desktop at their office, or their kids desktop.

Sure, you could have done this with key-capture software any time in the past twenty years, but combining this with the power of the Google Desktop is really dangerous.

I guess users are going to have to get even more careful about what they store on their machines, what software they install, and who they let use their machines!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Weblogs, Inc., the world’s largest blog publisher, announces hiring of Editorial Director and Vice-President of Sales and Marketing.

New York, New York October 26th, 2004 – Today Weblogs, Inc. (www.weblogsinc.com), the largest publisher of professional blogs, announced that they have filled the executive positions of Editorial Director and Vice-President of Sales and Marketing.

Weblogs, Inc. produces over 50 blogs (a.k.a. “weblogs”) including Engadget.com, Autoblog.com, Joystiq.com, BloggingBaby.com and Mark Cuban’s BlogMaverick.com. With blogs ranging from trade to consumer, Weblogs, Inc. is the largest non-pornographic blog publisher in the world.

Leading technology industry pundit Judith Meskill has been named Editorial Director. Meskill has previously consulted with Fortune 500 companies on their technology and communications strategies, and is frequently tapped by media outlets for her opinions regarding social software, knowledge management, and Internet-based commerce. Judith’s professional history includes five start-ups, numerous consolidations, and three major merger/acquisitions.

Shawn Gold, an Internet industry pioneer, has been named Vice-President of Sales & Marketing. Shawn was previously President & Chief Strategic Officer of eUniverse, a top 15 trafficked Internet network. He was responsible for overseeing and driving eUniverse’s business and content strategy. Shawn previously served as vice president of marketing and communications for ecommerce company WHN and spent two years at Rare Medium as head of strategic planning. In 1995, Shawn, was the GM of Icon New Media’s advertising/sponsorship division which produced the web’s first zine, Word.com. Shawn began his interactive career in 1992 as a founding partner of TouchTunes Interactive.

“When I met Shawn in Silicon Alley in 1996 he was busy creating the Internet’s first interstitial for Altoids on the web’s first zine, Word.com” said Weblogs, Inc. co-founder Jason McCabe Calacanis. “Shawn’s played a leading role in the first 10 years in the development of the content and advertising industry on the Internet, I’m thrilled he has chosen to join us in defining the next 10 years” said Calacanis.

“Judith is not only an amazing editorial talent, she’s also the guru’s guru on communications and workflow,” remarked Weblogs, Inc. co-founder Brian Alvey. He added “We’re going have 100 blogs by the end of this year, and three hundred in 2005. Judith’s ability to create systems for managing growth while maintaining quality is going to be invaluable as we scale our business.”

About Weblogs, Inc.
Weblogs, Inc. (www.weblogsinc.com) was founded on January 1st 2004 with the mission of creating industry-leading blogs across hundreds of content niches. In nine months the firm created over 50 blogs in partnership with dozens of bloggers, and has attracted blue-chip advertisers such as HP, Bose, Palm, Microsoft and Audible. The firm raised an angel round of funding in March of 2004 from legendary Internet pioneer Mark Cuban.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Jason McCabe Calacanis
Weblogs, Inc.
310-828-8284
http://www.weblogsinc.com

I’m really disappointed that two of my favorite blogs are doing advertisements in their posts and not making it clear (see images below).

Months ago AdRants started running ads as blogs posts and as you can see in the example below the only way you would ever know that is that on the bottom of the postafter you’ve already read the postit says “AdRants Adverpost.” The post is in the same font, same space, same colors and is written like a normal post.

Today I noticed Rafat, one of my very good friends who worked with me at Silicon Alley Reporter, started doing advertisements in posts. Now, I know Rafat and he has the highest integrityas I’m sure Steve Hall has at AdRantshowever someone else would certainly question that when reading PaidContent.org today.

As you can see in Rafat’s implementation (second image down) he too is using the same font, the same blog format and placing the advertisement in same space. I started reading the post in the middle as I was scanning down the pagethe image caught me. I then worked backwards to the first sentence and was like “what is this!?!?!” Perhaps Rafat didn’t have the tech team available to make a different looking format, I’m sure there is an explanation for this. Rafat’s a great guy.

If you’re going to do advertising in a blog post fastion (which I don’t recommend), and it is going to be in the content column, you should at the very least do the following to make it clear to the reader:

1. Put Advertisement at the top and bottom of the blog post in a readable font size. Don’t put sponsored post, or adverpost. Call it what it is, an advertisement.
2. Put the blog post in a different font style, and perhaps font color.
3. Indent the post so the reader gets a clue that this is not part of the content.
4. Place the advertisement in a box with a line around it and background color (a la Google AdSense).

The magazine world does this already because they know how important trust is to the industry.

3. LABELLING, LAYOUT and DESIGN

In order to identify special advertising sections clearly and conspicuously:

(a) The words “advertising,” “advertisement,” “special advertising section” or “special advertising supplement” should appear horizontally at or near the center of the top of every page of such sections containing text, in type at least equal in size and weight to the publication’s normal editorial body typeface.

(b) The layout, design, typeface and literary style of special advertising sections or custom-publishing products should be distinctly different from the publication’s normal layout, design, typefaces and literary style.

I’d like to personally ask Rafat and Steve to rethink their advertising positions for the sake of their own reputations and the reputation of all blog publishers. You guys are some of the best content in the blogosphere, don’t sell out to the advertisers like this. Make it clear to the readers what is an advertisement just like the magazine industry does.

In response to Marc Canter’s latest crazy idea.

Marc,

Love the idea of bloggers making money, and I *like* the idea of working on new formats for doing this. This is the core of why Brian and I started Weblogs, Inc. in fact.

However, Internet advertising is not brokennot by a long shot. Online advertising is working fabulously, that’s why advertisers are pouring money into it, Google’s revenue is soaring, and so many publishers are investing in online media.

It clearly ain’t broke, and truth be told, your mad scientist mind might actually break it! Let me explain why.

Proposing that bloggers take money from advertisers to promote their products is a horrible idea, and not necessary since bloggers who reach critical masssay 250,000 pages a monthcan easily monetize that at a $2-5 CPM (or $500 to $2,500 a month). If they want to make more then that all they have to do is invest in better content and watch the page views go up along with their revenue. If they can sellout their inventorylike we have at Engadget.comthey raise their CPM to the $8-12 level like Nick Denton and I have.

If you get less then 250,000 pages guess what? You’ve either got more work to do or you need to look at your blog like the hobby or labor of love it is. If you really want to make it a business simply work hard enough and wait until you hit 250,000 pagesit will happen, trust me.

Taking money to blog about products is selling out. Only bloggers who can’t commit themselves to reaching significant page trafficor those who choose topics which will not reach significant page trafficneed to do this. I guess greedy bloggers who do have critical mass could take the low road as wellbut they would still be prostituting themselves for no reason but to make a quick buck.

Every time a new advertising medium comes up technologists like yourself try to convince publishers like me to get our journalists (aka bloggers) to sellout to advertisers. This same thing happened when webpages first showed up, as email became popular, and recently as text links became effective. For an example look at the ultimate sellouts, Vibrant Media, who sell keywords inside of contentpure evil.

All these ideas are pushed by technologists who want to be revolutionary and the evil marketers who are playing them to go down the road of sin. Just because you can come up with a technical idea of how to do something doesn’t mean you should.

There are two key reasons why getting the writer/journalist/blogger/etc involved in advertising is bad:

1. It creates the appearance of impropriety, and in the view of the public the appearance of impropriety is impropriety. If readers see CNBC report on parent company GE they look at it skepticallyand they should. What your proposing will result in readers always assuming the blogger is in on the takea horrible thing. Writers shouldn’t have to work through all these conflicts of interest, and it is the job of the publisher to remove as many of these as possible. Consolidation of media due to deregulation was the worst thing to happen to journalism to date, and ironically blogs have become popular as a response to that consolidation! You want to make a quick buck and sell out our one strengththat we’re not in on the take!

2. It gives the marketers a direct line of communicationand leverageover the writer/journalist/blogger. This is horrible, and it’s the reason why magazines sit ad sales and editorial on different floors! When marketers get their hands into the editorial talent pool they immediately try to put pressure on the writers. If your plan works and the bloggers start making money don’t you realize that these marketers will inevitably use the $10-25,000 a year they give to writers over their head? I don’t blame the marketers, it’s their job after all, but that is why publishers don’t let them talk to the writers! Now, if you think markers will keep paying bloggers who trash their products you’re wrong. They won’t, instead they will give the money to the bloggers who suck up to them. Now you’ve created a world where writers who prostitute themselves get reward and those that don’t can’t make a living. Great job Marc!

The most powerful thing that we bloggers have is our independence and our integrity. You’re concepts are going to destroy that.

You say “Money breeds corruption – so we gotta vet out this shit – upfront.”

We do vet this out alreadyadvertising is clearly labeled. We have a term for it, it’s called Church and State (or “the Chinese Wall“), and we publishers have been very successful in keeping a hard line between the advertisers and marketers for decades. Your quest for optimizing things in the short term is going to destroy things in the long term.

There is no rush here, bloggers who get little traffic don’t need to make money. In fact, I’m kind of sick of this meme that is spreading that all bloggers should be able to make a living from it. Guess what? Not everyone can build a magazine, newsletter or blog into a business, and that Darwinism is part of what makes the United States the greatest producer of media in the world!

You think Nick and I are making a profit on every blog we do? Wrong. We’re investing in these blogs and we expect that we will have to loose money for six, or 12 or 18 months before we can make them into real businessesthis is how brand building works. There are no short cuts. Boingboing.net is making money right now because Mark, Xeni, Cory and David spent years building up their audience without making money. Again, it takes years to build a successful media business.

Publishers and bloggers who reach critical mass have the *ability* to make money. What you’re providing is a short cut that could seriously damage the blogosphere. If you want to sell your integrity on the corner for quick money that is your business. However, I can tell you that any blogger who does this will be looked at as nothing better then a $10 whore turning tricks on the West Side Highway moments after they do it.

Marc, you’re a mad scientist and I love your energy and ideas. However leave this one on the cutting room floor before you turn into Dr. Frankenstein!

best regards,

Jason
co-founder, Weblogs, Inc.

… because it will be that much more painful for Boston fans when we crush all their hopes and dreams tonight.

What fun is it just sweeping them? I like the fact that every year they get closer, but we find a new and more painful way to keep the curse alive.

Let’s go Yankees
thumb, thumb-THUMP|THUMP|THUMP

New York Magazine contacted me a week or two ago to try and bait me into some front page battle with the idea that I was upset that Nick Denton was getting a bunch of press. I told them that press didn’t matter to meheck, I got more press in the dot com era then any one person should get in a lifetime! Besides I told them, what really mattered was not the press, but who was #1 in our categories. At this point in my life I’ll take the love from the readers over the love from the press. They killed the story it seemsI guess I’m getting soft and didn’t say anything agressive enough for them to run with it. Oh well.

Anyway, more press today for my boy Nick. Big ups to to Nick for finally realizing his dream of becoming a pornographerat least according to New Yorker. What next? A porno based on NY’s media elite??!?!

I’m here.

Dang it’s cold! I was walking the dog in shorts yesterday in Santa Monica. I don’t know if I can do the New York winter any more.

Anyway, I’m speaking at the Crains event on Wednesday and doing some meeting on Monday and Tuesday, but I’m fairly open if anyone out there needs to meet with me.

NOTE: I am not getting paid for this in any way, shape or form.

The first 100 people to link to this blog post from their blog will get a free version of X1.COMvalue=$74.95!!!

I wrote about how much I love X1 yesterday and how it blows Google Desktop software out of the water. X1 has really changed my life much in the way Firefox did.

My main man Bill Gross from idealab checked out the post and I suggested to him that we give some copies away because too few people know how great this software is.

So, I’m sitting on like $7,500 worth of software here. If you link to this post and put the URL in the comments I’ll email you the serial number (note: I can see your email when you put in your comment so you don’t have to add it to the post and worry about spam).

Let the games begin!!!

NOTE: I am not getting paid for this in any way, shape or form.