SocialTimes.com

Posted: 13 Oct 2008 09:37 AM CDT

While widgets are not all social, social applications are frequently associated with widgets. I tend to differentiate between the two in that widgets are simply compartmentalized content which can be distributed anywhere on the web. They also don’t necessarily have social features. Monetizing widgets is just as challenging as monetizing social applications though, and based on their close association with applications I decided to have a panel at Social Ad Summit discussing the topic.

The panel includes Kevin Barenblat of ContextOptional, Hooman Radfar of Clearspring, Sam Wick of Userplane, Ben Pashman of Gigya, and Heidi Henson of RockYou. Check out the video below to see the full panel.

MySpace Ads Officially Launch

Posted: 13 Oct 2008 08:24 AM CDT

-MySpace Logo- Last month we broke the news that MySpace was launching the MySpace advertising platform. Well tonight, three weeks after we first broke the news, they are officially announcing it. We have more details on the service this time around which MySpace has provided us with:

The service is officially launching tomorrow morning
HyperTargeting is 99% accurate as it is cross referenced with U.S. Post Office database
Range for MyAds is $25.00-10,000.00
1100 interest categories to target individuals by
Since beta opened up, there has been over 3,000 new advertisers register

Now that MySpace has officially opened up the service, it will be interesting to hear advertiser feedback. Facebook has been offering a similar service with demographic and keyword targeting which makes advertising on the site highly targeted. The most significant challenge on Facebook has been attracting more significant click-thru rates.

I would write a more thorough overview of the service but I already did that a month ago. Check out the previous article for all the juicy details.