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Baiting Your Blog...Would You Sell Your Words for a Profit?

 

Gone Fishing...Would you Sell Your Words to Make a Buck? There is an interesting trend emerging in the on-line world.  According to an article in the most recent issue of Business Week, entitled "Pitching Between the Lines", advertisers are exploring a new goldmine of potential targets for their ads...Web surfers and blog readers!

The focus of the article was largely about competing for a powerful new entity known as "mind share." According to Vibrant Media, a marketing company that provides a product it describes as "contextual video advertising," every word across the Internet is an opportunity to engage your customers." 

Vibrant Media business is to build branding for its customers through utilizing a specialized technology which underlines relevant text twice.  When the cursor clicks over the selected word (which has been chosen by the client as being relevant to their brand), the advertisement appears in a small window and can contain a link which produces a bubble, a written pitch, a voice-over or video.

According to Business Week, 3-10% of web users actually click on in-text ads. The web media advertising revenue has increased 27% to 19.6 billion over the past year while newspaper advertising has decreased 1.7% to 46.6. billion. With this kind of money in the pot, it is understandable that the players are influential and the stakes are high.

This does raise some interesting issues however regarding the implications of words and how they are used or misused.  It was pointed out in the Business Week article that some journalist think that "selling words" in a story may further blur the line between editorial and ad content. Apparently, in 2004 Forbes magazine on-line had a lot of negative backlash from the practise.  But today many other companies are utilizing this technology.  In fact the number of newspapers using the format offered through Vibrant Media has doubled this past year and now includes over 3,000 sites.

As Activerain  network pursues syndication for blogging content, and the impact of blogging continues to grow, this will eventually impact the real estate industry.  Real estate is the portal which opens up the door to an exponential amount of business.  Think about the things that transpire when people move.  Banks open new accounts, grocery stores and retail outlets get new customers, schools enroll new pupils...etc, etc.  Billions of dollars move around each year because of the movement fostered by the efforts of the real estate community.

So, with that in mind...Would you Sell Your Words as Advertizing Bait for a Profit?  Would it change What & How You Wrote? Just curious...

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Lola Audu, CRS, GRI e-Pro ~ Audu Real Estate

Lola Audu, is the Designated Broker & Owner of Audu Real Estate.  Our company specializes in helping people buy and sell homes in the greater Grand Rapids, West Michigan area.  We've had the privilege of helping hundreds of clients succeed in their goals of purchasing and selling property including demonstrated success in the negotiation of Short Sale Transactions. You can contact us via e-mail @ info@auduhomes.com or by phone at 616-791-0511. 

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Comments

We are selling ur words here, we just don't get paid for it.. only in our increase of google juice and possibly refferrals/....Mike
Posted by Mike Norvell Sr / Norvell Consulting Group (Morris Williams Realty) about 4 years ago
Hmm...interesting perspective Mike. In a sense, you're absolutely right.  However, I think the difference here is using words to create targeted advertisement.  The reader comes to our blogs to get some kind of information. They are not usually targeted for advertising just because of the simple act of reading...at least not yet.
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
I agree with Mike, it's just a different type of advertising, marketing ourselves.  Would I sell in-text blog ads for extra money?  I might, if I truly believed the product or service would be something that could help my clients or readers, and if I believed in the product.  Pepsi?  no.  Mason Mortgage?  yes.  McDonald's?  no.  Local mom and Pop restaurant?  maybe....
Posted by Marlene Scheffer, Realtor to Kitsap County, WA (Realty Station) about 4 years ago
Hi Marlene, thanks for sharing your thoughts.  I find your comment regarding the intention of the advertising to be helpful.  Had not thought about that angle yet.
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
Most interesting post - real food for thought!
Posted by Bill's Blog - Florida Realty Professional - AHWD (Charles Rutenberg Realty) about 4 years ago

I've seen this.  However, it requires a pop-up and if there is one thing more annoying than a pop-up on a web page, it hasn't yet been invented. 

I believe that the consumer is as disgusted by the constant marketing of everything all the time as am I.

It may also require a java app.  That could make it difficult for Google to handle. 

We'll see. 

Posted by Lenn Harley, Real Estate Broker, Virginia & Maryland (Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate) about 4 years ago
Thanks for stopping by to read and comment Bill & Barbara Jo...the article made me think too.
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
Hi Lenn, I haven't run across it I don't think.  But I know that some blogs which utilize pop ups for links create some issues with my brower.  I was struck by the fact that the simple act of reading an article is now a marketing target...will it be books next?
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago

Lola,

Interesting and thought provoking topic.  Will everything I read now be one giant advertisement?  I hope not.  When I write my blog posts, I want to get higher search engine rankings but not at the expense of my reading audience.  I don't want every other sentence of my posts to be a keyword search term.  The world of information keeps changing.

Posted by Harold Watts' Palm Springs Real Estate Blog (Scott Lyle Realtors) about 4 years ago

That was indeed an interesting article.  Lola, there is so much that is changing and being added to the marketing of real estate and websites & blogs that I am interested as heck to see what the next year is going to bring.

Would I do it?  Right now, no.  Somehow it would feel depersonalized.   

Posted by Kris Wales - Macomb County MI real estate blog & homes for sale search site (Keller Williams Realty - Lakeside Market Center) about 4 years ago
Lola, it is interesting that you write about this last night. I received an email in relation to something like this, except from one of the companys that sales the internet verbage trying to lock me in for $2000 for a year for 3 phrases that would bring people to my webpage.
Posted by Danny Thornton (R & D Management) about 4 years ago

Hi Lola, I for one am already overwhelmed by the amount of advertising I am hit with on a daily basis.  I have seen the little pop ups Lenn talks about, and they don't seem affected by a pop up blocker either.

Posted by Allison Werner (To Be Announced) about 4 years ago
Sure is some interesting food for thought. I really don't know what I'd do but like Lenn...I hate pop-ups....
Posted by Monika McGillicuddy Southern NH & the Seacoast Area (Prudential Verani Realty/Hampstead) about 4 years ago
Harold, it's a very interesting concept.  From a journalistic standpoint, it's a little disturbing to think that a news article could potentially be slanted to promote a product vs. to tell an accurate story.  But, I can also appreciate Marlene's comment about the fact that this could serve as a resource which was helpful too.  In a way Mike's comment is especially relevant if you think about what the links on a blog post do.
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
Hi Kris, Appreciate your thoughts.  I think what would "depersonalize" blog writing for me would be the thought of choosing words to satisfy an advertising program.  This is not necessarily what is happening right now...however, the temptation would be greater if my words were tied to the dollar in such a direct fashion.  JMHO.
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago

Interesting Danny.  It sounds like they were trying to get you to purchase a Search Engine Optimization Package.  Now, here's the question.  If you were being Paid to use the same keywords so they could be linked to a product commercial...would you? :)

Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
Allison... The fact that they don't seem to be affected by a popup blocker is annoying.  That would be one suggestion that the Antivirus software people could work on for the next release. :)
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
Monika, Thanks for stopping by to read and comment.  It will be interesting to observe how this develops online. 
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago

Lola,

Sounds like the bubbles they had on MTV videos years ago that gave you facts about the bands while the video was playing. Now, it's coming to our blogs. Personally, I don't care for all the advertising these days and I'm sure it'd require some sort of pop-up. I'll have to be sure I have a really good filter in place.

As usual, a great thought provoking post, Lola. Thanks

Posted by Andrew Trevino Wilkes-Barre Homes For Sale (TradeMark Realtors Group) about 4 years ago

Very intersting post Lola and a great read for sure. Makes you think about the things you write and post everywhere. Enjoyed reading it and thanks for sharing.

 

Posted by Marey Hoeppner..... Your Success Is Our Goal! about 4 years ago
Lola, The internet is just about everything else in life. If you give an inch they will take a mile. We must certainly begin to sift through the debris to find the pearls. Thinking is great. Thanks for the help. Deb
Posted by Deb Brooks, Lake Conroe Real Estate, 936-661-2624 about 4 years ago
Andrew, Thanks for your comment.  I don't recall if those "bubbles" on MTV were selling the band's products.  Were they more informational?  I think this is different in the sense that it is a very well executed "pay per click" program which utilizes the audience that reads a particular article as a target base for the advertisement.
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
Something to thing about. But having to hear a voice or pop-up video if I clicked the underlined word would really annoy me. Peaceful, quiet blogging is what makes it enjoyable for me.
Posted by Lisa Hill (Daytona Beach Real Estate) (Florida Property Experts) about 4 years ago
Hi Marey, Thanks for stopping by to read and comment on my post. 
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
Appreciate your comment Debra!  Advertizers are looking for new ways to reach an audience just about as earnestly as many of us are trying to avoid being the target. :) 
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
Lisa, Can you imagine reading an article in an office and you click on double underlined word to open up a complete video with audio...could be a little disconcerting, I agree.  Particularly because the first association would, for most people, be thinking they were opening up a regular link.
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
Oh my....I really find this disturbing! Depending on the type of article I was reading it would be really annoying to have a pop up interrupt my train of thought. Or....If I wrote something and, for example, used the word squeeze...is the Charmin guy going to pop up....yup disturbing!!
Posted by Joan Mirantz GRI CBR SRES- Concord New Hampshire Realtor (Homequest Real Estate) about 4 years ago
LOL Joan about the Charmin guy!  First of all, I think that the choice would be entirely yours to participate or not and my understanding is that the reader would have to click the link to get the ad. Sounds like this is something you wouldn't consider.  Just trying to get a read on people's thoughts.  Thanks for contributing to the discussion.
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
Lola- Good read on what companies are thinking as the next wave in advertising. I think that we should all be free to sell what we want to on our blogs and sites and let the consumer decide for themselves whether they want to click or not. Katerina
Posted by Nestor & Katerina Gasset Realtors® Wellington Florida Homes For Sale (International Properties and Investments, Inc.) about 4 years ago
Katerina, Thanks for sharing your opinion.  That's what this forum is all about.  If this service provides Value, it can be a winner, otherwise consumers will be turned off and move to other means of getting information which are not perceived to be intrusive.
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
I agree with Lenn - if anything, pop-ups would make me less likely to buy a product.
Posted by Brian Schulman - Your Lancaster County, PA Real Estate Expert (Coldwell Banker Select Professionals, Lancaster PA) about 4 years ago

Holy yellow shirt Lola! Your new photo looks great.

I think that there is line of spam and not spam. If this trend is to increase, I think consumers will look for other websites and blogs with better content and less commercials. In my opinion, this is really building off of marketing such as Google Adsense. Incorporating advertising into the text is taking it up a notch.

This is an interesting post Lola. I flagged it. (apparently that is a good thing on ActiveRain.)  

Posted by Ryan Martin - Bellingham Commercial RE Broker (Windermere Real Estate / Whatcom Inc.) about 4 years ago
Brian, Thanks for sharing your opinion.  I don't know if it would necessarily have that effect with me...but just thinking about the idea tends to give me an inclination of annoyance...I guess it might depend on the product and how it was tied to the text.
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago
Ryan, Thanks on both counts....the picture and the flagging. I think your perspective on Google Adsense is interesting.  Perhaps, that is just the beginning.  As we get more used to and accepting of dealing with the hassle of trying to get information while being Sold To", perhaps, there may or may not be enormous objection to dealing with making it more aggressively a part of the message/text.  Hadn't thought about that perspective. Hm... 
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago

Lola,

We really should draw a line somewhere between content and advertising. If ads will appear from article words, it just blurs the article's message and confuses the reader. If this trend continues, soon we won't know fact from fiction. Good concept to bring up for discussion.

Posted by Esko Kiuru about 4 years ago
Esko...that's exactly the problem.  The implications for all professions could be enormous.  Thanks for adding your insights to this discussion.
Posted by Lola Audu~Audu Real Estate~Grand Rapids, MI Real Estate about 4 years ago

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