Final Week

This week’s topic is central to one of the main issues I have been discussing in my posts all semester. This issue is how advertisement and promotion are the main drivers of revenue for many of the “over valued” sites/businesses online. Such examples are Google and Facebook. Yes, these sites have developed niche services that do earn them revenue and are vast resources of collective information that will eventually be useful, but they will admit that their only major source of revenue currently is derived from ads. Therefore, I am very interested in reading the article on “Why advertising is failing on the internet” and “Advertisers Face Hurdles on Social Networking Site”. Also, I have always been intrigued by the site Second Life. Recently, I had watched a True Life episode on MTV about a musician who was afraid to perform in public and alternatively held concerts on Second Life to avoid her stage fright issues. However, she had almost 1,000 second life users attend her virtual concert, many more than what she would have received for a non-virtual concert.

Here are the selections I intend to cover throughout this final week.

Secret of Googlenomics: Data-Fueled Recipe Brews Profitability
Camtasia: Advertising in Video Games
Chapter 4: "Promotion within Your Community," in Now Is Gone, pp. 89-115
Why advertising is failing on the internet
Article: "Advertisers Face Hurdles on Social Networking Site
Podcast: Marketing and Second Life Part 1
Podcast: Marketing and Second Life Part 2