Jeff Jarvis rights in his blog, about what he is missing from RSS tools today and what they must incorporate to grow.
Blog Entry
1. Unique users. If content creators cannot report unique users they cannot get advertising. Period. So RSS readers must set unique-user cookies. Period.
2. Traffic. RSS readers must allow content creators to count displays -- versus just downloads -- of RSS items.
3. Advertising. If content creators cannot put advertising on feeds, they will not give full content and will give only headlines to link back to their sites where they have the ads. But partial feeds are a pain, right? So there's the carrot/stick: Give them ads, they will give you content. That's the way the world works.
4. Brand. I'm adding this one. As a reader, I find it frustrating that I can't see the brand of a feed unless I scroll up on FeedDemon and read the one line atop the the screen. Brand matters to the content creator, of course, but it also can matter to the reader: You want to know what you're reading.
5. Navigation. I'm adding this one, too. But I know I'm not alone here: Like many RSS fans, I use the feeds to alert me that something is new and if it is of the slightest interest, I prefer to read the post on the web page with full functionality. It's a pain to get to that web page now. The easy solution to Nos. 4 & 5 is to include a brand element that is also clickable to the creator's web page.
....
Feeding me -- sending me any kind of content anytime anywhere on any device -- is the promise of this medium in an ever-connected world and RSS will be at the core of that. This is just the beginning.
Companies like NewsGator, FeedBurner and Pheedo appear to do different bits of this world. NewsGator enables one to read the same RSS feeds both on mobile and the PC, NewsGator & FeedBurner let content provider track and Pheedo is trying to handle the RSS Advertising.
We are still missing context and personalization to make the whole experience more effective.
Sunday, 4 July 2004
RSS Investment Rises to 3
RSS looks like becoming hot in the venture world. Recently I heard about Newsgator got its first investment with Mobius Venture Capital.
And I tried to dig in a bit more, and found another 2 companies.
- FeedBurner
- RSS Ad network
I knew both of these companies before hand, but surprisingly missed the news about when did they get their investment.
PaidContent contains stories about the investment in RSS and other interesting articles for business models surrounding RSS.
RSS Analytics Firm FeedBurner, startup based in Chicago, has raised a seven figure amount in a first round of venture funding. The funding was done by Portage Ventures, a Chicago based venture firm, and Ed Chandler, the managing director from Portage, has joined FeedBurner's board.
RSS Ad Network: Pheedo, a new San Francisco-based startup focused on developing solutions for advertising within RSS feeds, has received seed funding from Fastlane Ventures. The financing will be used for technology development, and key hires in business development and sales.The company claims it has already signed up big customers. Competitor in the field: RSSAds.
And I tried to dig in a bit more, and found another 2 companies.
- FeedBurner
- RSS Ad network
I knew both of these companies before hand, but surprisingly missed the news about when did they get their investment.
PaidContent contains stories about the investment in RSS and other interesting articles for business models surrounding RSS.
RSS Analytics Firm FeedBurner, startup based in Chicago, has raised a seven figure amount in a first round of venture funding. The funding was done by Portage Ventures, a Chicago based venture firm, and Ed Chandler, the managing director from Portage, has joined FeedBurner's board.
RSS Ad Network: Pheedo, a new San Francisco-based startup focused on developing solutions for advertising within RSS feeds, has received seed funding from Fastlane Ventures. The financing will be used for technology development, and key hires in business development and sales.The company claims it has already signed up big customers. Competitor in the field: RSSAds.
Opera - Browser or Server?
This is bound to be controversial in some cases, but there is'nt much choice for pure browsers for limited mobile handsets. Opera has made an entry into the mobile server market by releasing "Opera Mobile Accelerator", a proxy based server solution that optimizes the data transfer and content for the mobile phones.
After having redefined the mobile Internet experience on handsets with innovations like Small-Screen Rendering, Content Magic and Tags, Opera Software today introduced the latest tool for empowering users to get the most out of their handsets: Opera Mobile Accelerator, a new proxy-based solution that increases rendering speed on mobile devices up to 250%. Opera Mobile Accelerator also reduces the amount of transferred data traffic - thereby drastically reducing users' telecom bill.
Opera Mobile Accelerator entails that all requested Internet traffic passes through an Opera server, where the Web pages are compressed, stripping out all unnecessary elements before they are downloaded to the handset.
"For Opera, extreme speed has always been treated as essential for a good Internet experience," says Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "Opera Mobile Accelerator is an optional service that further improves the browsing experience on handsets, reduces strain on operators' stretched data networks, while also saving users money on their monthly bills."
Operators that want to offer subscribers fast and cheap Web browsing, while simultaneously reducing the impact of Web browsing on their data network, can license the Mobile Accelerator directly from Opera
Another interesting part of their business model is, they are selling it directly to consumers on a subscription fees model. The other players in this market sell platform directly to carriers.
* 3 months subscription. Price: EUR 12
* 6 months subscription. Price: EUR 20
* 12 months subscription. Price: EUR 30
Complete article is at http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2004/06/09/
After having redefined the mobile Internet experience on handsets with innovations like Small-Screen Rendering, Content Magic and Tags, Opera Software today introduced the latest tool for empowering users to get the most out of their handsets: Opera Mobile Accelerator, a new proxy-based solution that increases rendering speed on mobile devices up to 250%. Opera Mobile Accelerator also reduces the amount of transferred data traffic - thereby drastically reducing users' telecom bill.
Opera Mobile Accelerator entails that all requested Internet traffic passes through an Opera server, where the Web pages are compressed, stripping out all unnecessary elements before they are downloaded to the handset.
"For Opera, extreme speed has always been treated as essential for a good Internet experience," says Jon S. von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera Software. "Opera Mobile Accelerator is an optional service that further improves the browsing experience on handsets, reduces strain on operators' stretched data networks, while also saving users money on their monthly bills."
Operators that want to offer subscribers fast and cheap Web browsing, while simultaneously reducing the impact of Web browsing on their data network, can license the Mobile Accelerator directly from Opera
Another interesting part of their business model is, they are selling it directly to consumers on a subscription fees model. The other players in this market sell platform directly to carriers.
* 3 months subscription. Price: EUR 12
* 6 months subscription. Price: EUR 20
* 12 months subscription. Price: EUR 30
Complete article is at http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2004/06/09/
Saturday, 3 July 2004
PGtGM
Gmail has created a lot of flurry in the email space even though its still in the beta stage. A number of tools are appearing for GMail. And today I saw PGtGM (Pop Goes the GMail). The name looks a bit cryptic but for those people who want to still use both GMail and POP, it will let you use your outlook express for GMail mails!
Pop Goes the Gmail is a program that sits between the http://gmail.com web server and your email client, converting messages from web format into POP3 format that a program such as Outlook Express or Thunderbird can understand.
Screenshots are at this page. http://jaybe.org/screens.htm
Pop Goes the Gmail is a program that sits between the http://gmail.com web server and your email client, converting messages from web format into POP3 format that a program such as Outlook Express or Thunderbird can understand.
Screenshots are at this page. http://jaybe.org/screens.htm
Skype PC-2-Phone
Skype launches PC2Phone. The Skype worldwide prices are at this link
https://secure.skype.com/store/help.pricelist.html
https://secure.skype.com/store/help.pricelist.html
Friday, 2 July 2004
Handango inHand
Handango now ships a java client(InHand) for mobiles.
Hanango InHand
Each application has several details you can view on the device, including name, short description, price and screenshot. From within each product description, you can choose to try or buy the application. Product delivery and purchasing are completed directly via the phone so access to a desktop computer is not necessary.
WirelessDevNet carries an article on that http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/news/2004/jun/30/news3.html
Hanango InHand
Each application has several details you can view on the device, including name, short description, price and screenshot. From within each product description, you can choose to try or buy the application. Product delivery and purchasing are completed directly via the phone so access to a desktop computer is not necessary.
WirelessDevNet carries an article on that http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/news/2004/jun/30/news3.html
Billion Dollar Companies
Paul Allen managing partner of Infobase Ventures writes about subscription based business models for creating billion dollar companies. Here's an entry from his blog:
I have concluded that the best and fastest way to build another billion dollar company (assuming, of course, that MyFamily.com gets a billion dollar market cap someday) is to create a subscription product that one million people will eventually pay $10-20 per month to use. A million customers paying $15 per month would generate $180 million in revenue. If the company had a profit margin of 25% and a P/E ratio of 20, the company's market cap would be $900 million.
Netflix just passed 2 million subscribers and is worth $1.86 billion.
XM Satellite Radio reached 1 million subscribers last October, less than two years after its launch. They are projecting 2.8 million by the end of this year. Market cap: $5.2 billion.
RealNetworks reached 1 million subscribers to its content service by April 2003. Market cap: $1.1 billion.
Classmates.com had 1.6 million subscribers two years ago. (It's privately held).
American Greetings, I believe, got a million subscribers (to its $11.95 per year greeting cards subscription) in less than one year.
There are many more examples of successful subscription services. The question is, is it possible to create new ones that have the potential to generate a million subscribers, or have all the good ideas already been taken?
Complete Story
In wireless sector, except for the carriers, there aren't that strong subscription model based businesses. Can these win over in that market?
I have concluded that the best and fastest way to build another billion dollar company (assuming, of course, that MyFamily.com gets a billion dollar market cap someday) is to create a subscription product that one million people will eventually pay $10-20 per month to use. A million customers paying $15 per month would generate $180 million in revenue. If the company had a profit margin of 25% and a P/E ratio of 20, the company's market cap would be $900 million.
Netflix just passed 2 million subscribers and is worth $1.86 billion.
XM Satellite Radio reached 1 million subscribers last October, less than two years after its launch. They are projecting 2.8 million by the end of this year. Market cap: $5.2 billion.
RealNetworks reached 1 million subscribers to its content service by April 2003. Market cap: $1.1 billion.
Classmates.com had 1.6 million subscribers two years ago. (It's privately held).
American Greetings, I believe, got a million subscribers (to its $11.95 per year greeting cards subscription) in less than one year.
There are many more examples of successful subscription services. The question is, is it possible to create new ones that have the potential to generate a million subscribers, or have all the good ideas already been taken?
Complete Story
In wireless sector, except for the carriers, there aren't that strong subscription model based businesses. Can these win over in that market?
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