From Reuters UK:

A group representing global newspaper publishers has launched a lobbying campaign to challenge search engines like Google that aggregate news content…The Paris-based World Association of Newspapers, whose members include dozens of national newspaper trade bodies, said it is exploring ways to “challenge the exploitation of content by search engines without fair compensation to copyright owners.” Web sites like Google and its specialised Google News service automatically pull in headlines, photos and short excerpts of articles from thousands of news sources, linking back to the publishers’ own site. Google News does not currently carry advertising.

I guess free traffic isn’t good enough compensation?

This one comes directly from Google via their Adsense blog:

How can you ensure that your ads are relevant to a specific post? With section targeting, you can target an ad unit to a specific section of the page, as well as block out irrelevant sections such as the navigational links.

Click the link above to above to see all of what Google has to say about this, including example images of optimal placement.

I’m assembling a list of known premium domain developers. This includes companies with premium domain name portfolios which may be 90-100% pay per click parking pages, but have at least declared intent to develop their portfolio. Here is the list I’ve assembled so far:

Future Media Architects
Chena Ventures Inc
Internet Real Estate Group
eCorp Inc
DigiMedia.com, LP

If you are aware of any other companies developing premium domain names which are not included in this list, please let me know!

Out of curiousity I put DNJournals list of reported domain name sales over $10,000 from 2005 in a spreadsheet. I found out that the total sale value of these 622 domain was $25,987,717.00. Of course, this is just reported sales and doesn’t include anything under $10,000. In reality I suspect its just a small snapshot of 2005’s actual domain market.

The top 5 reported sales for 2005, as shown in the above chart:
Fish.com, $1,020,000
Bills.com, $964,500
Earth.com, $800,000
Website.com, $750,000
Property.com, $750,000
Refinance.com, $706,850

the bottom 5:
CuteGreetings.com, $10,000
Choreography.com, $10,000
Cheap-Tickets.com, $10,000
CDZ.com, $10,000
Capes.com, $10,000
Billiger.com, $10,000

See any patterns?

I’ll be honest, I’m posting this story for for both search engine traffic and because I know people will read it. This is a few days old, but I didn’t notice any other blogs or media pick up on it (unlike when Playboy announced their digital edition.) Yahoo carries a PRNewswire release of Penthouse’s press release:

The digital magazine has the same high-quality photography and layouts that the print edition has, but in an easy-to-use electronic format. Penthouse readers from Dubai to Dallas can buy a digital subscription, or pick up a single issue by going to: http://www.penthouse.com/digital . The subscription or single copy will then be delivered instantly via the internet through a download to a PC, laptop or Mac. Additionally, digital subscribers will automatically receive their copy every month and it can be read online or offline. If you’re overseas or live in a rural area, the digital format is highly convenient and reliable.

I know I’ve said it before, why try to emulate old media when the internet can do so much more? The Dupont Registry uses software that runs a flipbook animation everytime you change the page. Other than that, its nothing more than a webpage stripped of all its function. May I’m wrong and consumers really like this idea, but my gut says they don’t.

eBay’s multi-billion dollar purchase of Skype is looking dumber and dumber. MySpace has partnered with theglobe.com and released a voice over IP (VoIP) product that its users can use to call other MySpace users. How can you, as a web publisher profit from the VoIP, and a market that has grown by millions overnight?

Don’t you just love those in-browser pop-ups? You might be seeing more of them. According to Jensense, they are on the way.

Google AdSense is moving beyond the traditional text and graphical advertising to rich media, including interstitials, expanding ads and floating ads. AdSense began contacting publishers last week to be involved in the rich media limited beta test. The campaigns will likely be site targeted, rather than contextual, but details on the actual implementation of these new ads are still under wraps.

I’m just speculating here, but this could also simply be a move by Google to capture a portion of the advertising marketing which until now its been completely left out of. In other words, these new options may only be available for big publishers — at least to begin with. But I could be wrong. What could be more effective than an ad that is not only very visible but also highly targetted? (and ultimately pays great for publishers.) On the other hand, as we saw with pop-ups and pop-unders, mass-use of these ad formats this could ultimately dillute their effectiveness.

I attribute 90% of my online success to listening to the advice, beliefs, and attitudes of those who have already achieved success. A Sitepoint user posted a screenshot of his Commision Junction earnings from the past two months — $81,322.78. While screenshots are easy to fake, I am inclined to believe these are real. Whenever I’ve read his posts over the past year or so, I’ve seen him give out good advice again and again.
Not to mention that affiliate marketing is expected to hit $6.5 billion of revenue in 2006 $40,000 a month is quite far from being unbelievable.

So, what good advice has he posted today?

Market research is hands down one of the most important and overlooked processes by webmasters these days. Large and small alike. Why do you think the big boys are so darn popular so quickly? They do their research, and they continue to do so, nonstop. Every weekend, I dedicate hours and hours to market research on every single site I own, and all of the new ones I’ll be launching, just so I can keep myself well versed with everything in case a problem arises, or changes need to be made.

Not enough information in all the SEO websites and blogs you read? Well now there is a print magazine for you too — Search Marketing Standard. This certainly has some promise, and may be a good way for search marketing firms to reach out to a broader audience.

The good news is that you can subscribe for free. The bad news is that the debut issue doesn’t come out until June (by then I’ll have completely forgotten the magazine even exists.)

Think I can get a mention somewhere in their first issue?

Ken Doctor, on his blog Content Bridges, makes a a very insightful post lamenting the decline of newspapers. He believes that investigative journalism will take a back seat when newspaper publisher Knight Ridder is sold.

Done well in five parts, “Tainted Trials, Stolen Justice,” began Sunday and unfolds through today. Fredric Tulsky, the project’s lead reporter, lays out a three-year Mercury News investigation into the fabric of the Santa Clara County criminal justice system…. Guess where that $400,000 is in the how-to-cut-costs presentations to bidders by Knight Ridder and its banker representatives. Guess where that $400,000 is on the spreadsheets of most of the private equity bidders.

While this may be true for newspapers, I believe bloggers will fill in the gaps. Yet there is one problem — bloggers don’t yet have the same credibility that newspapers have. Or do they?