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RSS Industry & Opportunities:
An Overview for the “Beyond Blogs” Conference
Brought to you by
Steve Semelsberger
Sr. Director, Business Development
[email protected]
Pluck Introduction
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Launched in 2003
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Consumer Web 2.0 services (RSS Readers, FeedFinder, Shadows, Easyjournal, etc.)
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Empower publishers to embrace and monetize open content models
Suites of products & services for online publishers
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Content syndication, aggregation and generation
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Editorial controls, community management, and site integration
Founded & run by seasoned industry executives
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ex-Spyglass, iChat, Question.com, Motive, Netscape, MTV, Excite, Ask Jeeves
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Funded by Austin Ventures and Mayfield Ventures ($10M)
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Numerous awards, more than 50 partners, including:
RSS is Early but Shows Breakout Potential
12% of US Internet users are aware of RSS, 4% have knowingly used.
27% of users consume RSS via portal start pages without realizing it.
- Ipsos 10/05
Browsers- built-in RSS reading
Portals- find & subscribe to RSS feeds
Integrated into OS;
also part of Office 12
RSS Aggregator Example (IE Plug-In)
Convenience is Driving RSS Usage
Bloggers
Publishers
ecommerce
Marketers
Digerati
Information
Junkies
Tech-savvy
Youth
Early Tech
Adopters
Content Consumers
Content
Sources
Market Overview & Adoption Timing
Mainstream
Marketers
Specialty
Marketers
Mainstream
Online
Consumers
Specialty
Markets
Enterprise
Users
Technology
Laggards
Enterprise
IT
RSS ADOPTION CURVE
We are here…
TIME
Early Adopter RSS Marketing Sampler
Press Room
Product Info
Product Recalls
Shop Amex
Rental Queue
iTunes Lists
Cat Chat
Product Support
Tech. Calendar
Expanding Use of RSS-based Delivery
Applications
Content Types
News syndication
Summaries
Blog posts
Full-text
Transactional info
Enclosures
Customer support
Podcast/MediaRSS (audio, video)
Broadcasts
Structured content (lists)
Product information
Secured content
Press releases
Multi-format (RSS X.X, Atom)
Promotions (deals / coupons)
Account information
Notifications/Alerts
Enterprise data
RSS is growing up fast; along with
complexity for content creators
To Aggregate or Solely be Aggregated?
Editorial Filtering & Mashing Options
User Generated Content Continuum
User Participation Requirements
High
Low
Integrated
Blogging
Community
User
Submissions
(reviews & photos)
Comments
&
Ratings
User
Profiles
(activities on site)
Engagement & Editorial Value
High
Comments & Ratings
User Submissions
Dynamic User Profiles
Community Blogging
Community Publishing Segments
EXPERTISE
Authority figure writing on their
area of expertise
Professional
Aficionado
TOPIC FOCUS
Examples: Golf pro, elected
official, High School Principal
Individual chronicling a broadlyrelevant topic, complementary to
existing news content
Examples: Entertainment writer,
bar/dining scenester, local
sports fanatic
Scribe
Interested individual chronicling
a hyper-local group or topic
Observer
Examples: Booster club mom,
volunteer coordinator, local
musician, military spouse
Journaler/Diarist
Individual chronicling everyday
life
Examples: Students, Parents
Interested individual portending
opinion and commentary on a
topic of local, national or
international relevance
Examples: Political junkies,
activists, concerned parent
Content Relevancy Patterns by Segments
CONTENT RELEVANCE
Events, controversy, major stories
Publisher
Professionals,
Aficionados
Journalers,
Observers,
Scribes
TIME
Community Management
Search, Review Community
Blog Entry Review
Case Study
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300K registered users, ~1M Uvs/mo.
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Community blogging went live in Sept.
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Initially launched around major events - music
festival and sports
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Two sites - Statesman.com & Austin360.com
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Four tiers of bloggers: staff, official, featured
and community
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One month later: hundreds of bloggers,
creating 1000s of new pages, increasing time
on site, enhancing editorial
Business case based on:
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Increased registrations
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New ad/sponsorship inventory
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Increased page views
Next: my.statesman.com
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Open news personalization/aggregation service
based on RSS
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Launching late Q4/early Q1
User Generated Content Summary
Easy-to-Use
Publishing
Environment
RSS/XML
Content Models
Intelligent
Content
Integration
Powerful
Community
Management
RSS Powers the “New News” Experience
Traditional Online News
Traditional Story-Based
CMS
Paper Adapted to Web
“Islands” of Content
Limited Reader
Participation
Blogs in a Separate
World
Online News 2.0
Select/Render External Sources
Select/Render Internal Sources
News Personalization
Source Discovery
Internal Syndication
External Syndication
Integrated Blogging
Feedback and Contributions
Integrated Blog Streams
Niche/Specialty Content
Full Editorial Control of
Aggregated Headlines
Personalized News from
Publisher and External
Sources
Content from Sister and
Partner Properties
Community and User
Content
Citizen Journalism
Thank You
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