Archive for April 3rd, 2007
We’ve written about this a couple times before — Ajax improves the user experience by dynamically serving content without page loads, yet it decreases page views and ad impressions in the process. Many publishers are pushing for better ways to measure traffic and ad value. Now Nielsen//NetRatings is planning to publish a new “total time spent” metric with its June report, and the IAB plans to release its insight on the impact of Ajax in the next several weeks. Stay tuned, this issue is just heating up.
Adds Ed in comments: “We’ve decided here that the replacement for ‘pageview’ when determining ad delivery and metrics is ‘ontological state-change.’”
April 3rd, 2007
In 2003, I wrote a series called “Things Viewers Never, Ever Say” (part one and part two). It was simply a list of quotes meant to point out the silly things that newsrooms do in the course of a newscast that have little meaning to the viewer. Newsrooms have developed their own series of tricks and rules over the years, and it seems like nobody thinks of what the viewer is actually thinking anymore. In a major surprise, the thing took off. It was forwarded around (stripped of my name, of course) and spawned two sequels based on reader input. It was even quoted in a book although it did not help sales. It has been four years, and it’s time for a new list. Plus, I’m taking back the word “viewsers,” since it seems to be catching on as a combination of web viewers/users — seven years after we first suggested it here at LR. So here are the “Things Web Viewsers Never, Ever Say,” after the jump… (and “more jumps!” is also something they never say.)
Read the full post April 3rd, 2007
The first original web show produced by Michael Eisner’s company has debuted on MySpace — the site’s first step into original video content. Watch the first episode (the second and third are here) and tell us what you think…
(Yes, Eisner is an investor in video site Veoh.)
Adds Tail in comments: “As an indie filmmaker, I love the fact that PQ is reaching an audience, especially since I’m creating my own series for a summer launch. However, I’m not sure this ‘90 seconds’ or less thing is the right way to approach an online series. I see the merits of being fast-moving and daily, but I think 3-5 minute episodes with some sort of interaction with viewers is the ideal way to go.”
April 3rd, 2007
An article in the Wall Street Journal praises Scripps for diversifying its media holdings (less than a third of its revenue comes from newspapers now) and making a concerted efforted to grow revenue online. “Scripps’s proven track record of shifting resources into promising businesses should translate into success in its next frontier online,” writes WSJ’s Shira Ovide. The media company just hired Yahoo exec Deanna Brown to head up interactive strategy in food, health, gaming, and other verticals. (WSJ sub. req.)
April 3rd, 2007
San Antonio, TX
Read the full post April 3rd, 2007
Virginia Beach, VA
Read the full post April 3rd, 2007
Virginia Beach, VA
Read the full post April 3rd, 2007
Madison, WI
Read the full post April 3rd, 2007
Madison, WI
Read the full post April 3rd, 2007
Detroit
Read the full post April 3rd, 2007
We’re going to be in Vegas at RTNDA@NAB again this year, and we’d love it if you would come by our little discussion group. (No book reading required ahead of time.) On Tuesday, April 17, from 2-3:15 pm, Stephen Warley, Cory Bergman and I will be holding a session called “Redesign Your Web Content with the Lost Remote Guys.” We chose to focus on “redesigning content” because that’s where the focus really needs to be right now. Too many stations are obsessed with site design and tool design; it’s the content that matters most, and it’s the quality of it that’s the most lacking. We’ll show some terrific examples of online content that goes beyond the “brand extension” of traditional news sites. And we’ll focus on how redesigning content translates into key audience numbers and higher sales. Plus, Cory and I usually wind up arguing, so it’s good for that entertainment value alone.
Cory adds: And save time Tuesday from 4-6 p.m. for our annual Lost Remote meet-up. It’ll be at the same place as last year — that bar in the Las Vegas Hilton in the walkway between the convention rooms and the hotel floor. Love to see you there!
April 3rd, 2007
In a message posted on the site, the Drudge Report says it set a traffic record last month with 425 million home page views, up from 287 million last March. “Many thanks for your continued support… The lovers and the haters… and the ones that still find the internet tops for news and information,” the message reads, likely written by founder Matt Drudge. The Drudge Report launched 12 years ago, produces very little original content which isn’t always accurate, rakes in hundreds of thousands of ad dollars a month (just a $1 average CPM for 425M pageviews is $425,000) and has never undergone a redesign. But it does a great job aggregating interesting stories and keeping them fresh.
Adds anonymous: “His traffic is at the lowest in 5 years, check Alexa. He just keeps upping the auto refresh rate. That’s called ad fraud. He also hotlinks all his images without permission or attribution. That’s called copyright infringement and bandwidth theft.”
Adds Corey: “Let’s not start using Alexa as a legitimate and accurate source, shall we?”
Adds Charles: “It’s a interesting aggretator, but it rarely even has any hard news. It’s degraded into tabloid, entertainment and ‘back-of-the-book’ stories, but that’s about it.”
April 3rd, 2007
A man shot a woman near the back entrance of CNN.com’s newsroom at the CNN Center Complex in Atlanta. It’s likely the second victim is the gunman, and the two were seen arguing before shots were fired. The woman — who was pregnant — has died. CNN.com writer Brad Lendon witnessed the shooting. “(He) looked around, his head turning in my direction,” Lendon said. “I don’t know if he saw me, but at that moment the gravity of what I’d witnessed hit me. I turned away and tried to find the safest way I could out of the CNN.com newsroom.” Other staffers in the CNN.com newsroom also fled the area.
April 3rd, 2007
LonelyPlanet already has a travel website and a television arm, and now the travel media company has launched LonelyPlanet.tv, a social site that combines user-submitted travel videos with mapping. Users who upload their clips are entered to win $5,000 plus a snazzy HD video set up. The new site will also feature some original clips produced by LonelyPlanet, and I would imagine that some of the user clips will ultimately end up in LonelyPlanet’s TV programming (Discovery, Current). Release after the grab…
Scott in comments reminds us that Travelistic is based on a similar premise.
Read the full post April 3rd, 2007
