Blogger Pays Bloggers
Last week, Blogger announced that they were going to start sharing the wealth (well sort of). Previously, Blogger had forced advertising on all free blogs, in the form of an ugly banner ad. Recently, they've decided to start running Google Adwords on the blogs, with one kicker - the blog operator gets their share:
You may have noticed that we recently removed our ads from Blogger powered blogs. We were making money from those ads but you weren't getting any of it. Now, we're inviting you to set up your own Bloggerized AdSense account so that you make the money. What's the catch? We're going to take some of the action. Based on what we have learned from AdSense so far, this will work out very nicely for both of us. Please note that this program is optional and that it is not required for you to have a Blogger powered blog—all bloggers are invited.
Peter Caputa touched on this briefly in a post of his own. As Peter sees it, "This is the future. services that let people have their own identity online and let people have their own personally branded media outlet, which, if they are good at it, can earn them $, maybe even a living." I definitely have to agree.
I have wondered about something related to this, the notion of personal sponsorship. This always reminds me of the scene in Happy Gilmour when happy becomes a welcome sponsor for Subway. Translate that into our terms and that looks something like this: As People's Media grows in popularity, authority, and credibility, traditional media and its outlets will be forever changed. Smart businesses will heed the advice of marketing gurus like Seth Godin and join forces with their most loyal and vocal customers.
Google BlogSense, and AdSense in general, always bothered me since I did not have control over which companies were represented. Sure the ads "fit" my content, but that fails to account for my preferences. In general, arranging sponsorship is a lengthy process. Ad networks like BlogAds, etc. are starting to change this somewhat in that sponsors are getting to choose their outlet. It seems to fit that the reverse could be true as well. I should be able to toggle which companies/brands most interest me and welcome conversations from those companies.
Does this exist? If not, it should.