So, it looks like Yahoo has purchased MyBlogLog — finally!
But wher would it fit in? After all, its Flickr and del.icio.us products stand on their own, and in some ways, duplicate to what Yahoo! already has to offer. Can we expect MBL to languish like these other products as well?
Perhaps.
Perhaps not.
My opinion is that MBL is different than those other services, in that there is nothing quite like it on the market today, particularly one which has a critical mass as MBL does, and with as much early-adopter buy in as MBL does.
If Yahoo were smart (and I really don’t think its a case of smarts, but a lack of coherent leadership), they would take MBL and make this acquisition the cornerstone in their own evolution.
Why?
Well consider this.
MBL is a social network for blogs. Its the superstantial layer that can connect disparate and discrete thinkers, writers, and opinion makers across the blogosphere in a way that no other technology can. It allows blogs to form communities of other blogs in a sophisticated way, and allows blog owners to see exactly which other bloggers are visiting them. With the addition of MySpace, this superstantial layer is only set to expand *again*.
While search will always be a part of Yahoo!, Yahoo!’s own heritage lies in communities, through its early acquisition of Geocities which transformed into Yahoo Groups.
If “Web2.0″ is all about providing tools to people so that they’re better able to interact, share, and discuss information, then what better way to do this than have Yahoo! use MBL to extend its reach organically through the blogosphere.
Yahoo! ought to use MBL’s purchase to evangelize blogging in all its forms. And rather than provide a branded site where people come to write their thoughts — encourage people to blog on their own, and provide the glue that holds them together.
Where does Yahoo! stand to benefit in all of this?
1. It gets to give Google a kick in the pants with respect to its own efforts in Blogger.com; it now has a foot-in-the-door in a platform agnostic fashion, and can create a network that is potentially much larger than any network on its own
2. By being that extra layer that unites blogs, where blog owners log in, check their stats, interact with other bloggers, message other bloggers, and connect with other bloggers, they are racking up a huge number of pageviews that are crying out to be monetized (in a tasteful fashion)
3. Having all those bloggers at their finger tips means a potential “built-in” audience of opinion makers; everyone’s got to be able to be themselves, but it provides a way to contact thousands of important bloggers easily. And this could be used for all kinds of things. Selling more Yahoo! stuff (discounts on the Yahoo advertising network). Cross promoting their own stuff (discounts at Flickr). The sky’s the limit if done respectfully.
And all of that’s just the start.
MyBlogLog means more than just “stats revenue”, or a “stats package” — it could be the lynchpin of a community based strategy for years to come.
Now Yahoo! only has to recognize and act upon it.
January 9th, 2007 at 12:31 pm | Permalink
great analysis!
January 9th, 2007 at 12:54 pm | Permalink
Thanks Marcel! :)
January 9th, 2007 at 3:48 pm | Permalink
[...] Digg it | Track with co.mments | | Cosmos | Annotate this page Click here for copyright permissions! Copyright 2006 MathewIngram [...]
January 9th, 2007 at 6:55 pm | Permalink
I think it really comes down to buy communities.
We have money, let’s buy a user base even if we don’t know what to do with them.
People questioned Google - Youtube and then the stock increase paid for the deal by itself.
January 9th, 2007 at 11:12 pm | Permalink
[...] Update: Tony, from Deep Jive Interests, lays out a well articulated (and optimistic!) view of the acquisition and describes it’s value to a decentralized social network: MBL is a social network for blogs. Its the superstantial layer that can connect disparate and discrete thinkers, writers, and opinion makers across the blogosphere in a way that no other technology can [...]
January 10th, 2007 at 7:47 am | Permalink
Yahoo is puzzling the virtual identity “dot”
http://ulik.typepad.com/leafar/2006/11/why_yahoo_kicks.html
January 10th, 2007 at 7:50 am | Permalink
I left a similar comment somewhere.. that maybe google would have to make a transition, as it is losing out both in search as well as classified, each by google and Craigslist.
They should consolidate their web 2.0 acquisitions, and then some more acquisitions to start something new.. Don’t have to Yahoo! as we know it..
Yahoo has the resource to do to social web, what it did to Portals.
The other Tony
January 11th, 2007 at 12:41 am | Permalink
I just signed up for it. Thanks for telling me about it.
January 11th, 2007 at 9:15 pm | Permalink
I am unable to put a comment on darrens blog(looks like getting caught in spam), so i thought i can give you a word of thanks here.
I had been all your posts, loved your way of writing.You talk like boosting the bloggers and say “DO it man”.Guess I will be learning from your blogs more.I want to do good.Just collecting suggestions.
The tip for “guest blogging” worked for me.I had been invited by my blogger friend for that.I loved the concept fro cross blogging.Hope to learn more from you.
Thx a lot.
Regards
Ashish
January 11th, 2007 at 9:46 pm | Permalink
Hey Ashish,
Darren likes to leave the comments moderated, so I have to go through them by hand every few hours to get them sorted out. Keep an eye out for yours … I’m sure it’ll pop up soon.
I’m glad you like the articles though … thought since it is 2007 and the beginning of a new year, it’d be nice to get back to the basics and give everyone a proverbial kick in the boot to get things going.
Good luck with your own progress, and let me know how it goes! :)
cheers
tony.
January 11th, 2007 at 10:07 pm | Permalink
@Tony: Thx a lot for the prompt reply.I liked all the article of your’s infact.Dynamic thats what I like.I dont find many bloggers writing dynamically.Just news doesnt work.You got to make the believe.I try to do the same and do have some success.I will try my best.I will tell you if something different happens
Thx again
Regards
Ashish
January 12th, 2007 at 2:23 pm | Permalink
[...] Here’s How Yahoo! Could Capitalize on MyBlogLog [...]
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:49 pm | Permalink
[...] Mybloglog ist das soziale Netzwerk für Blogger schlechthin. Nebenbei könnte es im long term (5+ Jahre) das größte Netzwerk im Netz werden. Vorausgesetzt, Yahoo! weiß, was es mit Mybloglog hat. Der Meinung ist man auch anderenorts . [...]
September 15th, 2007 at 12:53 pm | Permalink
[...] As I wrote about a few months ago, these kinds of features made MyBlogLog a big deal, and I saw the kind of potential it might have in a large network. For a variety of reasons it really hasn’t made quite the leap I thought it could have, but I wonder how these kinds of features would play out amongst a very different set of users — the ones that Viacom is targeting. [...]
December 10th, 2007 at 1:45 am | Permalink
[...] How have they been integrated or made Yahoo better? The short answer is that they haven’t. Maybe Yahoo has a master plan that I haven’t been able to figure out - but I’m not betting on it. Tony Hung has some thoughts about what the company should do with it over at Deep Jive Interests. [...]
December 10th, 2007 at 1:45 am | Permalink
[...] How have they been integrated or made Yahoo better? The short answer is that they haven’t. Maybe Yahoo has a master plan that I haven’t been able to figure out - but I’m not betting on it. Tony Hung has some thoughts about what the company should do with it over at Deep Jive Interests. [...]