Pillow fights(?) between two blog ad aggregators

Jun 1, 2007 14:41

Where big ad money lies, fight for market share belies.

That seems to hold true for the fledgling blog advertising scene in Malaysia, which saw the birth of two blog ad aggregators -- Nuffnang.com in February and Advertlets.com in March 2007.

Media reports about the burgeoning online advertising space in the US must have triggered many an imagination between the two blog ad aggregators.

I mean, who could stand still when you hear that advertising agencies are expected to spend about US$445 billion (RM1.56 trillion) this year, and about US$495 billion (RM1.73 trillion) in 2009?

For the same period, Internet ad spend was said to have grown from 7-8.7 percent, while newspaper ad spend will drop from 28.3 to 27 percent. That's big money drifting from print to online, if all that's said does come true.

Interestingly, a recent article in Star In-Tech (May 29, 2007) has drawn the pillow fight between Nuffnang and Advertlets to the public space. Everyone, from aggregated bloggers to tech writers and media independents (who hold the ad spend budgets), has now noticed that the latter is the aggressor with the usual self-serving vendor-speak (read this blog), while the former keeps maintaining its "elegant silence" even as it expands its market presence to Singapore, via Nuffnang Singapore.

Let's let time decide who the ultimate winner is in the race, or should the market be able to sustain two or more players the way the advertising industry has been able to support several giant media independents--Mindshare (M-Group), Carat, ZenithOptimedia, etc. Time will tell, and bloggers and advertisers will decide.

However, disquiet has erupted among bloggers in Malaysia in that In-Tech writer Christy Lee SW, who contributed the story Blogging and Big Bucks, is now being vilified for her observation on the two blog ad aggregators, and the blog ad potentials in general.

What makes it interesting is that there are bloggers taking sides in support of the aggregator of their choice.

On the day the Christy article went to print, blogger Joyce Wong, who maintains a blog at www.xanga.com/kinkybluefairy and was quoted by Star In-Tech, immediately published a transcript of her Webchat with Josh Lim, Advertlets founder who claimed the writer had made factual errors in her story while his model has attracted the number of participating bloggers that rivaled Nuffnang's.

Joyce, a blogger aggregated by Advertlets, echoed by saying that the Star In-Tech had been emotional by making "Nuffnang sound damn cun" ("cun" being a Malay colloquial for "sexy"). Read the particular entry here.

The next day, blogger Icy Queen Goddess who is aggregated on Nuffnang, responded indirectly with a counter punch (read her blog here).

She gave an explanation on why she chose Nuffnang and not "the other one":

Is it just me or has anyone ever realised that there has NEVER been a time when Nuffnang ever allowed itself to get into a full-blown mud-slinging debate with Advertlets?

But over and over again, Advertlets will wage war against all and sundry regarding "how much better Advertlets is against Nuffnang"...

... including, can you believe this, the very same reporter (note: Star In-Tech's Christy) who wrote an article about them in a national newspaper.

I read the article when it came out and I honestly felt that she (the reporter) wrote a very balanced and fair article to both parties involved.

*Shakes head*

So like I said, I'd support Advertlets, but honestly, I'm afraid.

With Nuffnang, I can safely say that if anything goes wrong or if I need any help, I have full confidence that Timothy and his team will just go "oh, sorry about that. We'll fix it".

With Advertlets, from its past performance, if anything goes wrong, I'd probably expect a "well, *insert random excuse* because *insert random reason* and why it's not our fault and how you misunderstood based on *insert totally irrelevant fact* and besides *insert veiled dig at you*".

"Lie Detector"

Incidentally, this blogger was interviewed by Star In-Tech for the same feature story. I mentioned that, above all else, CPM (cost per thousand) will continue to be the business compass for advertisers and their media planners to measure and justify the effectiveness of any ad spend.

I was of the opinion that online advertising is beyond mere banner ads (which was adequately reported in Star In-Tech, though). Among the reasons that online advertising had not caught on like the wave sweeping the US could partly be due to the fact that, unlike traditional media, there are no reliable ways to measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns in blogs or to even verify if a blog has as much traffic as it claims.

"Businesses confidently advertise in traditional media because there are reliable statistics that calculate the cost and effectiveness of it, which blogs currently do not have," I emphasized.

On the other hand, I was hopeful that the situation would improve when the Audit Bureau of Circulations Malaysia launches an audit process for Web sites at the end of the year, which it announced during its "Lie Detector" campaign on March 8. (Read Lemak Lemang, March 11, 2007.)

The bottom line is that before a blog gathers credibility as a cost-effective advertising medium, blog aggregators have a great part to contribute toward this new haven. Building trust among bloggers and the advertising fraternity is the key path.

As I blog this, Nuffnang dropped me an IM saying that Malaysian ace blogger Kenny Sia is staying put with Nuffnang Malaysia, while celebrity blogger XiaXue has joined Nuffnang Singapore.

Perhaps, Nuffnag prefers business-building to pillow fights when it comes to blog ad aggregation as a sustainable business model in the New Media.

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