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New Media News Every Morning

Yahoo! done with social networking attempt

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In case you missed this news going towards weekend, let me inform you that Yahoo! is done with its social networking play, announcing that it is shutting down Mash.

“Thank you for trying out Mash Beta service, We hope you had fun with it. Please note that we will shut down Mash on September 29, 2008. As a result, your current profile on Mash will no longer be available,” Matt Warburton, community manager, wrote in an email to members.

Mash launched a year ago with hopes of competing against Facebook. Obviously, Yahoo! failed on this one. We’ll not be sad on this one. It stinks anyway.

Originally posted on September 1, 2008 @ 9:05 am

Will Yahoo Buzz Bring YOUR Site Traffic?

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Since it’s launch in February, Yahoo! Buzz has really not created much, well, buzz.  Part of the problem was that only about 100 content creators were invited to submit stories, text and video.

Today, the doors are now open to everyone.  You can submit stories here.

Unlike Digg or the recently shuttered Thoof, there is editorial discretion, meaning you will likely have to get passed a human before gaming the system.  This will likely keep some Web site owners today. However, the lure of potentially being featured on Yahoo’s homepage, is the Golden Ticket that will keep bloggers rolling the dice.

If you’re not familiar with Yahoo! Buzz, here’s the scoop in their own words:

The best of the best – chosen by people like you.

* The buzz can be about anything – a great story on a major news site, an extraordinary bit from an obscure site, an intriguing video, or a fantastic blog that shouldn’t be missed.
* Instead of editors, people like you determine the top-rated stories.

How it works.

* First, we determine the most popular topics that people are searching for on Yahoo!.
* Then, we showcase the most popular stories within those topics, based on activities like voting and emailing stories to friends.
* Stories with most Buzz may be published on the Yahoo! home page – you can impact what millions will see on Yahoo!.

If you experience the Buzz Effect, we’d love to hear about it.

Originally posted on August 19, 2008 @ 10:12 am

Yahoo’s Fire Eagle Goes Public

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Yahoo’s new geo-location platform, that gives developers the ability to include positional data in their applications sans headache, is now open to the public.  Dubbed Fire Eagle, the project was announced back in November ’07 and has already been adopted by Six Apart and LightPole.

What makes Fire Eagle neat is that users can syndicate their positional data to any partner service.  All you have to do is update from a supported device or Web site. Talk about taking stalking to a whole new level!

For example: send a geo-tagged photo to my favorite photo site and Fire Eagle will automatically update my current location on my blog and social network profiles.

Thankfully, users can disable the tracking anytime they like.

Playing hooky from work?  Fear not.  The system allows you to lie about your location as well.

Since existing Yahoo IDs can be used, many expect Fire Eagle to be well-embraced by developers. Take your location to the Web, painlessly.

Originally posted on August 13, 2008 @ 9:29 am

Google Will Accept Third-Party Ads on Its Content Network

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Break in case of a Microsoft/Yahoo deal!

In order to cover their bases, Google has announced  that they are opening their massive content network to all ad buyers.  Basically, third-party ads will be accepted.

The move should please both advertisers and publishers alike, allowing them to better understand the value of their inventory and increase everyone’s revenue.

From Google:

“Today, we’re announcing that Google is accepting third-party advertising tags on the Google content network in North America. This will empower advertisers to work with approved third parties to serve and track display ads, including rich media ads, across the Google content network through AdWords, giving them more options, flexibility and control over their campaigns.”

Sounds like good news for everyone, except Microsoft and Yahoo.

Originally posted on May 19, 2008 @ 11:16 am

MyBlogLog Adds ‘Friender’ Search

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Straight from my inbox…

Feature Alert! Find others you may know who are already kickin’ it on MyBlogLog.  Friender searches your friend lists across the web to suggest new contacts.

http://mybloglog.com/user/friender

– The MyBlogLog crew

The system was able to find services where I used the same name as my Yahoo ID. (del.icio.us, FriendFeed, Pownce, tumblr and YouTube). My username for everything happens to be unique, but be aware that the system can pull profiles that are not really yours.

If you happen not to have any friends on these services (you loner!), you can use the MyBlogLog invite that automatically appears.

Originally posted on May 15, 2008 @ 2:33 pm