What does the BBC do that makes it look more like a Media Titan that its U.S.-based broadcasting kin?

I didn’t plan this as part of my experiment with this blog, but it now seems like a good idea. I think it’s time to see how ad keywords actually work. It will not be a scientific experiment but one worth watching.

Here’s the process—I will buy the same simple keywords from both Google and Yahoo (Overture) and see if the ads spike traffic to this site. I will try each for a week and keep tabs on the results. I might try them at the same time…not sure yet.

A few things:

1. This is not a commercial site, so there are not any ads here, so my ROI will be $0. I will bear the out of pocket costs in the spirit of this experiment. I will spend $50 with each service.

2. I am going to use simple keywords that will be cheap (such as Podcast, Vblog…) yet will entice surfers to come to the site.

I will keep everyone posted as to my results—stay tuned!

I saw this today on one of my favorite sites, Paidcontent.org:

Denver Post has joined the small but growing ranks of newspapers and news sites launching branded RSS newsreaders. It has tied up with vendor NewsGator...

Is it too little too late? Maybe. RSS is only as good as the content that is offered to readers/subscribers for personal syndication. If all the newspaper is going to offer for RSS-ing is its traditional coverage, the syndication value is of little consequence. For a newspaper to be successful, it must couple its RSS platform with “new” content offerings, such as Podcasts (I think my beloved SFgate is looking at that) and Videoblogs (Detroit News’ political writer does one) that take advantage of RSS’ ability to offer targeted, consumer-controlled content regardless of platform or file type. At the same time, newspapers must RSS their classifieds to have a prayer of competing with such forces as Craigslist.

If you have followed the thoughts (and rants) on this site, you know how I feel about newspaper embracing citizen journalists as an extension of their local coverage. Newspapers who wake up to this opportunity can easily offer these supplementary blogs as RSS feeds under their own banner/brand. The window to strike on all of these new channels is limited; the AOLs & the Yahoo!s of the world are rapidly moving down this path with the assistance of companies such as Topix.Net.

Newspaper publishers: move quickly. This is a story with a short deadline whose headline says, “The future is now.”