Latest updates: 411 alternatives, the Long Tail, and AdBrite vs AdSense
d f tweney
Just a few quick updates this week, as I'm about to hop on a plane to
NYC for some editorial meetings with other PC Magazine folks. My
schedule is pretty tight, but if you're in NYC, drop me a line and
let's see if we can meet up.
Until next time,
Dylan.
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SMS: 3x the info for 1/3 the cost of 411.
411 directory assistance calls are one of the biggest ripoffs of the
mobile phone world: they cost between $1.20 and $1.75 per call, plus
airtime charges. In contrast, a service like Google SMS will cost you
at most 20-50 cents in text messaging charges -- and you can get 3
listings per request instead of just one. That's 3 times as much data
for 1/3 the cost -- hard to beat that.
For carrier by carrier details on how much you can save by avoiding
this kind of gouging, check out SMS 411: Save money on 411 info calls.
http://dylan.tweney.com/2006/08/04/sms-3x-the-info-for-13-the-cost-of-411/
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Who's wagging the long tail?
The "long tail" is digerati shorthand for the the increasing
profitability of companies' backlists--the formerly neglected niche
products that used to be kept in stock just in case one of them
suddenly turned into a breakout hit, or because they were simply
necessary to have a fully-stocked store. Now, thanks to easy
searchability, it's easier than ever for customers to find these
products, and some of them are becoming much more profitable than ever
before. Think books, music, blogs ... in each case, the traffic/sales
going to niche products overwhelms (or will soon overwhelm) that going
to the "hits."
More: http://dylan.tweney.com/2006/07/31/whos-wagging-the-long-tail/
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Google AdSense vs. AdBrite.
Just for kicks, and because AdBrite has such cute branding, I decided
to check out its advertising network. I've been using Google AdSense
for awhile (and just got my first $100 check from it last month, woo
hoo) but I'm open to alternatives, especially if they stand a chance of
making me a little dough.
So I set up a test: Using a PHP script, I've rotated AdSense and
AdBrite banners on tinywords and SMS 411 for the past few weeks. Each
time a page is served, my script randomly chooses an ad, so the
distribution is even.
More: http://dylan.tweney.com/2006/07/28/google-adsense-vs-adbrite/
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