Any Techno-epidemiologists out there who know what the trigger was that made Orkut so big in Brazil?
Was there a 'Typhoid Mary' somewhere in Porto Alegre, a massively connected maven that managed to create a tipping point for an entire community to adopt it?
Porto Alegre (6985 members)
New York (1762 members)
Google has recently introduced banner ads for their adsense program, so perhaps all the talk about how text ads perform better is not true.
You could argue that banner ads are a different thing, that they are richer media and thus brand advertising. But the difference is that Google's image ads do not pay publishers on an impressions basis, but for clicks, just like current contextual text ads.
Adwords works. People click on text ads which are relevant to a search because they are actively looking for something. But perhaps when ads are served alongside static content, the conversion rate is lower, and perhaps people are starting to ignore them now that the novelty has worn off. So maybe in your face image ads are back, for good reason.
The problem for Google is that image ads are not only 'in your face', they are very much in the face of a website. With the renewed confidence that content publishers now have, my guess is that CPM impressions based advertising will be back. If publishers have leverage they will want the guaranteed revenue that being paid for traffic gives them.
Google got rid of all CPM advertising making a big bet on the best of both worlds CPC model that sits in between an advertiser and publishers needs. If CPM is back is that bad news for Google?
Google's ad plans provoke grumbling
"Just because kids like him, doesn't mean that he's good for them. How many parents plop their kids in front of the tube and then have their brain sucked right out of their skull by this big purple beast. Next thing you know, the kids love Barney more than their own parents. Barney doesn't teach kids how to deal with reality. Dad wrecks the car and Mom loses her job and Barney solves all of this by singing a happy song."
eBay item 5904745417 (Ends Jun-26-04 21:41:41 PDT) - Barney ActiMates Complete TV & PC Pack Annoying Box via Who Would Buy That which is still my favorite website.
Chatango is an instant message application that allows people to post links on Craigslist, Ebay etc. and have people chat anonymously with sellers with no signup. If you have trouble using IM with people behind corporate firewalls, Chatango will work. Signup, grab your username before anyone else does and send someone buried behind a firewall a link in an email.
Its a new product, rough around the edges, but looks like there is quick, free alternative to the enterprise dodads like Liveperson.
Disclaimer: I helped Alec, the guy who did this, with some product design.