Blogging and YOU!

Blogging is a unique and interesting experience. It allows a person to provide their own personal opinion on a subject that they feel strongly about. This blogging experience for me was one of great interest. It gave me all the skills I would need to create my own blog about anything I want.

Starting out, to be totally honest, I didn't have the slightest idea of what I was doing. Oh sure, I knew what a blog was and how they work, but I didn't know how to make it work for me. Every blog that I had looked at had something unique to it, something that no other blog had. I felt that I had to try and replicate that, create something unique and totally different to what anyone else had done. However this is not the case, a blog does not neccessarily need to be totally different and unique to convey the points that its creator intended. I feel that the way in which my blog is set out, and worded, it is in its own way unique. Though there is nothing super special about it, it doesn't have the flare of some blogs out there, it has something that no other blog has on it. It is the thing that, in my opinion matters most, and that is actually my opinion. No other blog out there can say that they have my opinion in it. That is what makes it unique.

So why should you get a blog? To be totally honest there are a number of reasons that I could go through to explain why blogging is such a great thing. But I feel you would not care, you cannot use someone elses reasoning for creating a blog, each person who does create one creates it for their own reasons. This too is what you must think about if you want to create a blog. I can recommend it to you, and say that it is indeed a very useful tool, but that is all I can do. The rest my friends is up to you.

Happy blogging :P

Web shines bright

Global advertising is slowing down. Yet out of this darkness shines a bright light in online advertising. Figures show that spending for online advertising has jumped up over 100 million dollars. This leap of over 29% was marred, however, by the results showing that online classified advertising has slowed dramatically. Of course search and directories remain the strongest part of the online sector, these account for almost 50% of all advertising spending.

It would seem that the advertising audience is broadening, yet is this all a good thing for the advertising industry? Many reports have it that, while online advertising is surely growing at a rapid rate, the rest of the advertising industry is slowing down. Could this possibly have to do with the fact that the online advertising market is increasing? It is my personal opinion that the online advertising market is growing so fast because people are investing more time and money on it, and hence taking away the resources of the rest of the advertising industry. This is surely not a good thing, people cannot put all their eggs into one basket, in this case online advertising. Oh sure, it is a main player, and it is indeed an important part of any business' advertising, yet it should not, indeed cannot be the only way in which to advertise. If we let global advertising slow down to a halt how long will it be before the online advertising slows down too?

Article: Web a bright spot in a world of dwindling ads

Yahoo open to Microsoft takeover

After hearing about the collapse of the deal between Google and Yahoo regarding the online advertising, Yahoo has admitted that it is open to a deal with Microsoft. In May Yahoo resisted efforts by Microsoft to take it over. Yet after the collapse of the deal with Google, Yahoo's chief executive said 'the best thing for Microsoft to do would be to buy Yahoo'. This indeed makes sense seeing as at the time of the proposed takeover Yahoo was more expensive than it is at present, thus meaning that Microsoft could buy the company for a fraction of the May price.
However, it is speculated that Microsoft may not even purchase the entire Yahoo entity, but only the search engine itself. This of course just a possibility and it is not sure whether this will go ahead or not.

Now in comparison with the Google and Yahoo deal, I find this would be a very very good thing to happen. It is well known that at present Yahoo cannot compete with Google effectivley, it is just too small to even try. Yet with the possibility of a Microsoft takeover looming, it could now be possible that the combined organisation would be able to at last put up a good fight to the search engine superpower. Now it is probably this blogger's dream that Google will have some competition, and it is most likely a far off dream at that. But there is a possibility for this to happen.

Image: http://www.topnews.in/usa/files/microsoft_yahoo.jpg
Article: Yahoo open to new Microsoft bid

Google backs down

Internet search engine giant Google has backed out of its advertising agreement with Yahoo after the Department of Justice said that it would sue to halt the deal. The Justice Department argued that this deal would make the two giants 'collaborators rather than competitors'. It was also argued that this deal would have given Google too much control over the online advertising market.

Now it is understandable that this would not have been a good thing, one company controlling pretty much all online advertising would never be good. However, is it right for the Justice Department to step in and try to stop this deal? Would this deal have not had some good advantages for the many users of these search engines?

OK, it is probably for the best that the Justice Department did step in and take action, it did prevent Google from having a major portion of the online advertising. Yet it can be argued that one of the main points that the Justice Department made, the fact that the two companies would be 'collaborators rather than competitors', is wrong in some cases. Google is light-years ahead of Yahoo in every way, shape and form. One could really not call them competitors because Yahoo is no real competition for Google.

Image: http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u46168/google-yahoo.jpg
Article: Google withdraws from Yahoo deal

Web TV versus Net Publishers

An online TV channel being launched by AdConion, an Internet advertising network. Competing for online video advertising revenue with Fairfax Digital and Ninemsn. According to many reports, and indeed the chief executive of AdConion, the advertising and the content will be matched to the user. This project will allow AdConion to compete with big name video sites such as YouTube for online video advertising revenues. The chief executive of AdConion hopes to make it the biggest digital TV network in the world by 2010.

Now this all sounds very good, it seems that one will be able to watch what they are interested in without actually being on that sort of website. However, does this mean that, if I am inclined to watch sports more than anything else, the only things that I will be see is sports shows? Does this mean that if I wanted to watch a comedy I would have to go elsewhere to find my fix? In theory of course this idea sounds very good, however when put into practice it is this blogger's opinion that this will not be as good as it sounds.

Article: Web TV group takes on net publishers

Online Blitz!

Ever woken up, gone to the store and found that they had run out of newspapers or your favourite magazine? Found that your family takes the bits they wanted to read from the paper, leaving you with the scraps? Well in recent times this is no longer a problem. So long as you have a computer, access to the Internet and a brain, you can access all your favourite newspapers/magazines, and many more, online.

However many people have found that, though the possibility of being able to access newspapers online is a good thing, they do not all provide the same selection of articles that the printed version does. Seldom is it found that all the articles in the print version are placed on the online one. It has also been found that, while you do not have to actually pay for the paper, the reading experience of the online source is not what you would get with the printed version.

So in light of all this, why are online newspapers and magazines becoming so popular? One important factor in this battle is most probably the possibility to read back over past issues. Cause we all know that the printed version does not stay in the house too long. Basically if you miss an issue, or need to get an article for an assignment at school, uni or even need it for work, you can with the online version.

So which one is going to win this battle? To be honest it seems that both will be here to stay for a while, people still like going to get the newspaper from the store. Until no one wants the printed version of these materials they will be here to stay, both of them.

Reference: 'Online--The Future of Newspapers? Germany's Dailies on the World Wide Web'

What blog suits you?

There are a wide range of different types of blogs out there on the Internet. So how can you choose which blog is the one that will suit your needs?

Firstly one must take a look at the different types to determine what each one is for:

There are personal blogs, which includes topics about personal issues and also subjects from an individuals point of view.

Business blogs are used to share expertise, communicate to consumers and to inform about updates to the company

Schools blogs are used by teachers and students who want to write about anything to do with their schooling experience, be it their classes or the assignments.

Non-profit blogs are used by foundations and charities to raise awareness and money for their foundation/charity

Politics blogs are used by political figures to connect with their supporters

An example of a politics blog is the one created for Barack Obama's campaign

Military blogs are used by both people in the military as well as their families to report on what they have seen in their duties or to just support each other

Here is an example of a place where you can create a Military blog, a site called Milblogging.com

Private blogs are used to share different forms of information with an organisation or loved ones

Sporting blogs are used by sports personalities and teams to express their passion for the sport in which they are involved

How-to, tips and reviews blogs are mainly used to share information about many different things from cooking to games, music and many more

So of all these blogs how could you determine which one is the blog for you? To be honest, it is quite simple. It all depends on what you want your blog to be about. For instance if you wanted it to be about why you like the music you like, then you would probably create a How-to, tips and reviews blog because that is the blog that best suits it.