Updated: Edelman In Deal with Technorati
Steve has provided answers to my questions in the comments section – so here goes a quick update:
Rubel reports that Edelman has a deal to "fast-track the development of localized versions of their offering in German, Korean, Italian, French and Chinese." I’m not sure what this means so a couple of questions for Steve & Co.:
- Is Edelman paying or funding software development at Technorati? What specifically does fast-track mean? Or to use Peter’s words "support"? Is this a case of simply paying to lock-up Technorati for a period of time? Or as Stowe alludes to, is this about getting Technorati some needed cash for global expansion? Edelman is paying to accelerate Technorati’s deployment in Europe – as such the probably deserve the short exclusive they are getting.
- What does "exclusive" mean? Does this mean the only way to get access to pre-beta Technorati in those countries is via Edelman? The success of so many Web2.0 properties – Technorati included – has been predicated on getting not particularly robust products into the market allowing people to participate. Isn’t this going to turn a public tool into a proprietary one for a period of time – is it about, at least initially, supporting the growth of the blogosphere for Edelman clients? Why not open it to everyone? Reading between the lines of Steve’s remarks it seems unlikely that Technorati could have done this as quick without Edelman’s support – so, fair game on the exclusive. Ultimately we benefit from a faster time to market on Technorati services.
- Doesn’t this call into question Technorati’s independence and neutrality. I’m sure its just a coincidence but Steve’s favorite blogs are featured on Technorati’s home page this morning. In fairness to Steve, this is a rolling banner. Fair response from Steve. This will be an issue for Technorati going forward.
It is great that Edelman is lending its weight to such an important initiative. I’m a big fan of Richard and Steve. But fortunately they aren’t the only ones so this does seem to run counter to the notion of "participatory" and open.
While a propriety lock-in to Technorati’s international versions is a terrific coup for Edelman – and I am sure is a very profitable commercial relationship for Technorati – doesn’t it leave bloggers and other companies as deeply engaged in the blogosphere out in the cold? Steve’s comments point to this accelerating the availability of services – Edelman’s price is cold cash. Our price is that they get a bit of an exclusive for something we have to wait less for. Seems fair in the context of the commercial realities of the blogosphere.
More reading at PR Squared.
Ten Blogs | PR & Marketing
I’m frequently asked what blogs I follow regularly. The simple answer would be to direct people to my blogroll – but I haven’t updated that in ages. Another item for the “to-do on a rainy day” list. So, I’m going to start a short series of posts with my top ten blogs in different categories.
My blog reader is a bit like the New York Times Sunday edition – very diverse. I enjoy the serendipity of stumbling across all kinds of relevant content. So I’m going to start with the practical – the marketing and PR blogs I scan daily.
I keep my hundreds of feeds in different folders – these are pulled from my “Read Today” folder and are the ones I spend time on most.
- Micro Persuasion: I look at Steve’s blog mainly for breaking Web2.0 and PR news. I’d say I read it less as a blog and more as a source of news. I also like what Jeremy as to say over at PopPR and also Johnnie Moore.
- Richard Edelman – 6 A.M: Great views and opinions. I like Richard’s perspective on the industry. His postings aren’t that frequent but I also enjoy reading Harold Burson.
- KDPaine’s PR Measurement Blog: Katie is the pioneer of so much of what we see today in measurement. If you are into accountable communications and marketing, you should start here.
- Keith O’Brien: I like his writing in PRWeek and like the blog.
- Holmes Blog: I breathed a sigh of relief when PRWeek launched in the US – it just seemed so wrong that all the US PR Industry had was a facsimile newsletter. Saying that, Paul’s writing on PR issues and trends is unmatched – the .pdf Holmes Report is a must to subscribe to.
- Armadgeddon: AR is the least appreciated element of the communications and marketing mix – yet the analysts are as, if not more, influential than the media. The dialogue is good and the observations relevant – if not a tad AR-biased. Some of the posts on transparency and the relationship between Analysts and paying companies are off the mark in my mind.
- James Governor: Not a marketing or PR blog but James’ observations on AR and marketing are very thoughtful.
- The 463: A tech policy blog. We need more of them. Also read Tim Dyson’s blog – leader of Next Fifteen, the mother ship for brands like Bite and Outcast.
- The Long Tail & Gladwell: Again, not strictly marketing blogs but that is the lens through which I look at them.
- Marketing Headhunter: Lots of good thoughts from Harry.
OK – so there is more than ten… Ooops, forgot one for all PR and media types. Read Jay Rosen whenever he posts.
Good Reads
- Boeing drives towards greater transparency using blogs…
Boeing’s early results suggest that the rewards outweigh the risks. The company’s two public blogs give Boeing a direct link to the public, something the 91-year-old company has never had before. And executives are starting to use internal blogs to get conversations going and allow employees to raise issues anonymously. “I’ve always been a big believer in open and honest dialogue that gets the issues on the table,” says James F. Albaugh, the chief executive of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). He championed using blogs at the defense unit’s meeting of 1,000 executives in February. “I was a little concerned and I had no idea how it would turn out, but I’m sold on it.” – BusinessWeek
- Richard Edelman on the future of PR. You can listen if you like. Or, read the transcript.
- You can listen to Nicholas Carr here
Share Your Feeds
I’m often asked for what RSS feeds I subscribe to – this normally results in me sharing my OPML file. It’s really easy to export it from NetNewsWire. Steve has a good overview of this in a post this morning so I’ll let you read that.
Like Steve, I agree there is going to be lots happening in the coming year in relation to sharing RSS feeds – including this effort. Putting together an OPML file of feeds for their respective communities is one thing that every marketer should be doing.
I’ll get mine loaded in the next few days.
China Sees 60m Bloggers
According to cnet:
China is the world’s second-largest Internet market after the United States with more than 110 million users. A survey by Chinese search engine Baidu.com put the current number of blog, or Web log, sites at 36.82 million which are kept by 16 million people, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.
The number of Chinese bloggers is expected to hit 60 million by the end of this year, Xinhua said, quoting a report on China’s media industry by the prestigious Tsinghua University.
