2009 was the year that the realtime web proved its value to end consumers. Millions of people became massively engaged with a new way to consume and share information on the web. Now, 2010 is all about monetizing that explosion of attention and activity. In other words, 2010 is all about monetizing the realtime web.
Several new monetization models are emerging. From various implementations of “sponsored tweets” to innovative “flash commerce” approaches driven by the likes of Groupon, to OneRiot’s own RiotWise network.
RiotWise delivers text and content ads through a range of IAB-standard banners and feeds. We are currently serving over one billion ads per month across the realtime web – on social networks, social media sharing sites, realtime chat clients, news and entertainment websites, leading Twitter apps, and search engines. RiotWise ad copy links to fresh articles from paying publishers, or to product purchase pages from e-commerce partners. RiotWise delivers quality impressions for major brands. The ads work because they are “realtime relevant.” In other words, the ad copy (and the content behind any underlying link) is relevant to the audience right now. This realtime relevance is enabled by a combination of our realtime indexing infrastructure and our trending topics engine (you can read more about that here and here).
Although each of the models mentioned above takes a different approach to monetizing the realtime web, they are grounded by one common premise. The model should be clear to users. It should add value to users. It should not confuse users. If users are confused, they will not engage. And that doesn’t help anyone.
That is why we applaud Dick Costolo’s post on the Twitter blog this morning which, essentially, bans paid-tweets that have not come from Twitter’s own “Promoted Tweets” program. While several “paid tweet” companies have emerged with business models that are sensitive to Twitter users and the wider realtime web ecosystem, several more are not. This ends up confusing users, leading to a poor experience. Although Dick’s comments are obviously focused on the Twitter ecosystem, the end result harms everyone in the wider space.
We’ve designed RiotWise to deliver the right ad for right now, across the realtime web. The ads are content ads (i.e. not Tweets) and help developers of realtime web apps monetize with ads that make sense to their users. If you are developing a Twitter application and want to monetize, our ads make perfect sense as a complement to Promoted Tweets. (Remember to review Twitter’s T&Cs about display rules, and talk to us about best practices for optimal performance.) If you are a developer working on the wider realtime web – monetizing a social network, media sharing site, stream reader, news or entertainment site, search engine, etc – you should also use RiotWise to deliver ads that will resonate with your users right now.
We’ve designed RiotWise to deliver the right ad for right now, across the realtime web. The ads are content ads (i.e. not Tweets) and help developers of realtime web apps monetize with ads that make sense to their users.
For a deeper dive into the RiotWise system, you can read our previous post about what we’ve learned by monetizing the realtime web over the last 6 months. If you’re a developer interested in monetizing your app with RiotWise, you can learn more at the OneRiot Developer Network. And if you are a Marketer looking to reach millions of community influencers on the realtime web, you can sign up for our program here.
2010 is about monetizing the realtime web. But doing so in a way that makes sense to users, supports developers, and helps advertisers reach this fast-growing audience with the right message at the right time. That’s what RiotWise is delivering – right now.