<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Weblo Weblo Media Center Updates</title><link>http://www.weblo.com/mediacenter/</link><description>Weblo Media Center Updates ON Weblo.</description><rank></rank><language>en-us</language><pubDate>Tue, 13 May 2008 14:21:14 America/New_York</pubDate><ttl></ttl><item><title>Recent News Releases</title><link><![CDATA[<a target='_blank' class='left-link' href='http://www.weblo.com/mediacenter/media/Election_Launch_Feb11_2008.pdf'>Recent News Releases</a>]]></link><description><![CDATA[]]></description><rank>/10</rank><image><a href='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/full/'><img src='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/thumbnail/'/></a></image><category>The World Votes for U.S. President at Weblo.com - Clinton, Obama, McCain and Huckabee battle for Votes</category><source url="" /></item><item><title>Recent News Releases</title><link><![CDATA[<a target='_blank' class='left-link' href='http://www.weblo.com/mediacenter/media/Internet_Worth_News_Release_Jan29_2008_pdf.pdf'>Recent News Releases</a>]]></link><description><![CDATA[]]></description><rank>/10</rank><image><a href='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/full/'><img src='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/thumbnail/'/></a></image><category>10,000 Internet Users use Weblo.com to get Cash For Content.</category><source url="" /></item><item><title>weblo.com in the news</title><link><![CDATA[<a target='_blank' class='left-link' href='http://www.weblo.com/mediacenter/media/4797bcca1e73f.flv'>weblo.com in the news</a>]]></link><description><![CDATA[Weblo.com Ad Network For Facebook UsersWeblo has created an ad network that allows people to sell ad space on their MySpace and Facebook profiles as well as their blogs and e-mails. This takes Weblo beyond the Virtual World space and offers another way for users to make money with their online content. ]]></description><rank>/10</rank><image><a href='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/full/'><img src='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/thumbnail/'/></a></image><category>Weblo.com Ad Network For Facebook - CTV Webmania</category><source url="" /></item><item><title>weblo.com in the news</title><link><![CDATA[<a target='_blank' class='left-link' href='http://www.weblo.com/mediacenter/media/Hawaii sites fetch real cash in virtual world - The Honolulu Advertiser Dec23 2007.pdf'>weblo.com in the news</a>]]></link><description><![CDATA[Weblo is a virtual world that allows people around the world to own virtual property and cities in Hawaii. Everyone can buy virtual property in the virtual world. Someone even owns Hawaii.--Hawaii sites fetch real cash in virtual   Aloha Tower Marketplace: $8Investors put up real money for Hawai'i sites on Weblo's online parallel paradise.Advertiser library photos   Honolulu: $19.  JW Marriot Ihilani Resort & Spa: $300.  Hawaii Volcanoes National Park: $7.  In real life, a subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. owns the JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa. But someone from a small Quebec city calling himself FrÃ©dÃ©rick online also claims to own the luxury O'ahu hotel, and is offering to sell it for $300.FrÃ©dÃ©rick "owns" the Ihilani in a virtual property world that's attracted thousands of people who have invested real money acquiring assets with the expectation they can resell them for more or earn advertising revenue from Web sites featuring their property.The virtual world called Weblo is the creation of Canadian company www.Weblo.com Inc. that claims to have sold more than 25,000 pieces of real estate, including about 10,000 "cities" that initially were offered for as little as $5.Hawai'i, with its pricey real estate and notoriety as a tropical paradise, has been popular on Weblo's so-called virtual parallel universe, with people purchasing a host of assets including 'Aiea, the Hawaii Convention Center, Hilo High School and the Mormon temple in La'ie.Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is for sale by its owner at $7. Hilo's Rainbow Falls can be yours for $500.Kane'ohe resident Stuart Kiyota wanted to buy Kane'ohe, but it was taken. Instead he spent $8 for Windward Mall, Kahala Mall, Aloha Tower Marketplace and Kualoa Ranch. "It sounded like fun," said the 35-year-old sales representative for a local wholesaler. "It's kind of like Monopoly. ... I thought, 'What would I like to own?' "The "mayor" of Honolulu is Andy Jonson, a microbiologist from Montreal, Canada, who paid $19 for Hawaii's most populous city.Someone else from Canada became Hawaii's "governor" by paying Weblo $1,301 for the state.Weblo proclaims "the world is for sale — virtually" and describes itself as Monopoly on steroids. Airports and hotels are among some of Weblo's more common assets, as are landmarks.Weblo users have bought the USS Arizona Memorial, the Mission Houses Museum and Aloha Stadium. Even obscure property is on the site, such as a Koloa, Kaua'i, bed-and-breakfast that hasn't been in business for more than a year."I found the site and just thought that the entire concept was really cool, and if you're any good at marketing and the Internet, you can actually make money," said the "owner" of Maui's Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa in an e-mail. "I'm also enjoying the social aspects of the site as well."Some observers chalk up Weblo to a largely frivolous novelty like buying deeds to pieces of the moon mixed with Web sites for posting original or borrowed content like MySpace and YouTube.Weblo's business model, however, also emphasizes its tie to advertising shared with members.Weblo.com Inc. was established in September 2006 by Rocky Mirza, an Internet entrepreneur who obtained backing from former MySpace chairman Richard Rosenblatt and $5.6 million in venture capital financing.The company claims 72,000 members and initially sold cities for as little as $5, though the minimum price today is $25. Real estate smaller than a city or town — anything with a street address qualifies — can be bought for $2 from the company. Other property on Weblo includes copies of Internet domain names and celebrity fan sites.For instance, someone on Weblo has claimed www.MichelleWie.com, which has no real link to the official Web site of the Hawaii golf pro but does include videos of Wie via YouTube and is available for $95. Michelle Wie as a celebrity likeness asset on Weblo can be bought for $200 from someone in Washington state.For each asset, owners are given a stock Web page on Weblo to develop with everything from photos and descriptions of the property to personal blogs and video. In some ways, the Web pages are similar to those on MySpace and Facebook, allowing members to form social networking groups.]]></description><rank>/10</rank><image><a href='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/full/'><img src='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/thumbnail/'/></a></image><category>Hawaii Sites Fetch Real Cash in Virtual World - The Honolulu Advertiser</category><source url="" /></item><item><title>weblo.com in the news</title><link><![CDATA[<a target='_blank' class='left-link' href='http://www.weblo.com/mediacenter/media/NPR_radio_dec12_2007.pdf'>weblo.com in the news</a>]]></link><description><![CDATA[Weblo.com Launches an Ad Network for MySpace and Facebook UsersAn interview with Virtual World Weblo.com CEO Rocky Mirza. Weblo has created an advertising network that allows people to sell ad space on their MySpace and Facebook profiles as well as their blogs and e-mail. This move takes Weblo out of the sole Virtual World space and offers another way for users to make money with their online content.]]></description><rank>/10</rank><image><a href='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/full/'><img src='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/thumbnail/'/></a></image><category>Weblo.com Launches an Ad Network for MySpace and Facebook Users - NPR National Public Radio</category><source url="" /></item><item><title>weblo.com in the news</title><link><![CDATA[<a target='_blank' class='left-link' href='http://www.weblo.com/mediacenter/media/News.fr_Facebook_Dec10_2007.pdf'>weblo.com in the news</a>]]></link><description><![CDATA[L'initiative vient non pas des administrateurs, mais des membres du réseau social. Environ 1 500 utilisateurs ont ainsi placé de la publicité sur leur profil Facebook, en dépit des règles du site. Ces membres utilisent le service de Weblo, une société canadienne spécialisée dans la vente d'espace sur les blogs et réseaux sociaux. Plus un utilisateur est "populaire", plus il aura de chances de voir son profil monétisé. Les revenus générés sont partagés entre Weblo et la personne qui a autorisé le placement de publicité. Soucieux de redorer son blason auprès de ses utilisateurs après le fiasco de Beacon, les responsables ferment les yeux pour l'instant, explique le "New York Times". ]]></description><rank>/10</rank><image><a href='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/full/'><img src='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/thumbnail/'/></a></image><category>La publicite entre discretement sur Facebook - News.fr</category><source url="" /></item><item><title>weblo.com in the news</title><link><![CDATA[<a target='_blank' class='left-link' href='http://www.weblo.com/mediacenter/media/NA24_Norway_facebook_Dec10_2007.pdf'>weblo.com in the news</a>]]></link><description><![CDATA[Har du mange venner på Facebook, kan du tjene penger på å selge reklameplass. Annonsene blir lagt til ved hjelp av det Montreal-baserte Weblo, et annonsesamarbeid mellom flere firma, som har spesialisert seg på å selge annonser til bloggere og sosiale nettverk. Besøkende på Weblo’s webside kan forsikre seg om at de kan «tjene penger på deres egen popularitet». Weblo beregner nemlig folks reklameverdi basert på hvor mange venner de har i den virtuelle verden – og dermed på hvor stort publikum reklamen når ut til. Reklamer forbudtFacebook tillater ikke at brukerne selger annonser på deres profilsider, men Weblo’s direktør Rocky Mirza mener at kunder på Facebook, MySpace og YouTube bør kunne få selge plass på sine egne sider. I følge ham ville Facebook vært uten innhold, hadde det ikke vært for kundenes aktiviteter. Weblo begynte annonsesalget i oktober, og bare den siste måneden har antallet profiler med reklame steget fra 200 til 1500. Hvor lenge kan det vare?Med salg av annonser på sosiale nettverksteder, har Weblo vært med på å reise spørsmålet om hvem som skaper aktiviteten, og dermed grunnlaget for en eventuell reklameomsetning. Det blir spennende å se hvor lenge Facebook tillater brukerne å fortsette med å selge annonser. ]]></description><rank>/10</rank><image><a href='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/full/'><img src='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/thumbnail/'/></a></image><category>Norway NA24.no - Facebook-brukere bryter, loven</category><source url="" /></item><item><title>weblo.com in the news</title><link><![CDATA[<a target='_blank' class='left-link' href='http://www.weblo.com/mediacenter/media/Italy_Punto_Informatico_Dec10_2007.pdf'>weblo.com in the news</a>]]></link><description><![CDATA[Roma - Facebook non saprà ancora come tirar su i miliardi ma i suoi utenti sì: hanno iniziato a inserire spot e banner nei propri profili, e i profitti non vanno certo al portalone.A garantire il compenso, segnala il New York Times, è Weblo, network pubblicitario canadese che inocula bannerini nelle pagine personali degli utenti. La retribuzione? Analogamente ad altri servizi che fanno leva sul desiderio di profitti di molti netizen, è proporzionata alla popolarità degli utenti e alla vastità dell'audience che il gestore di ogni profilo è in grado di garantire agli inserzionisti.A guadagnare, finora, sono 1500 utenti di Facebook: da ottobre ad oggi la popolarità del servizio è cresciuta a ritmi serrati. Coloro che gestiscono blog, profili personali su portali di social networking, profili sui servizi di video sharing sono invitati a calcolare il proprio InterNET Worth, il valore della propria attività in rete. Per la stima vengono buttate nel calderone numerose variabili, dal numero di impression alle diramazioni della rete sociale che ruota intorno al profilo, dalla frequenza con cui si aggiornano i contenuti alla popolarità calcolata da Alexa. Decretato il valore della propria attività online, è possibile fare richiesta per entrare a far parte del network di Weblo. Verrà generata automaticamente una stringa di codice da inserire nel proprio profilo per iniziare a mitragliare spot forniti dagli inserzionisti e cominciare a dividere i guadagni con Weblo.Ma nonostante il numero crescente dei netizen capaci di convertire in denaro le proprie relazioni sociali, nonostante le retribuzioni di Weblo possano spingere nuovi utenti a prendere parte alla conversazione dei social network, l'incaricato di gestire la privacy di Facebook, Chris Kelly, ha opposto il veto della piattaforma. Facebook non vuole che il profilo degli utenti sia troppo carico e stipato, tanto più che chi realizza widget può già ottenere dei profitti pubblicitari, ma solo negli spazi dedicati.Ma se la questione ruota intorno all'affollamento della pagine personali, Rocky Mirza, a capo di Weblo, ha rassicurato Facebook: la pubblicità di Weblo si colloca con discrezione in una sezione della pagina e "ovviamente Facebook, fornendo l'infrastruttura continuerà a posizionare annunci pubblicitari sul lato sinistro delle pagine".Se invece la rivendicazione di Facebook dovesse fondarsi sul desiderio di far fruttare in esclusiva la partecipazione degli utenti, Mirza oppone un'altra argomentazione: come Facebook rivendica il diritto a essere retribuito per il servizio offerto agli utenti, anche gli utenti dovrebbero ottenere dei riconoscimenti per aver animato Facebook, una infrastruttura ancora alla ricerca di un modello di business.]]></description><rank>/10</rank><image><a href='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/full/'><img src='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/thumbnail/'/></a></image><category>Italy - Punto Informatico - Quel profilo è mio e ci guadagno io</category><source url="" /></item><item><title>weblo.com in the news</title><link><![CDATA[<a target='_blank' class='left-link' href='http://www.weblo.com/mediacenter/media/Dobadob_Facebook_Dec8_2007.pdf'>weblo.com in the news</a>]]></link><description><![CDATA[It seems like Facebook is having a few problems with its members selling ads. According to the NY Times. Using a new ad network service, users can get ads for blogs, social networking profiles, emails and online video profiles.--It seems like Facebook is having a few problems with its members selling ads. According to the NY Times. Using a service from Weblo users can make a little bit of money from the time they put into building their personal account. For some reason Facebook does not like that, apparantly it allows peoples “profile pages to be cluttered”, oooh we wouldn’t want that now would we. At the moment mine is choc full of addons. I have a clear out and delete everything every few months, but like the tide they all come back, completely useless but for some reason strangely addictive.Antony Mayfield in Brighton has more to say on the issue and has pointed me to Bubblegeneration, which gives a good commentary on Facebook.One of my personal favourite Facebook posts is from TamarIn the past I have used Facebook more than written about it, but that’s going to change. Coming away from SMX London I got a different feel for where Facebook could head. I don’t think it’s a Google killer, but I think it has Google worried. What I aminterested in is how Facebook will introduce new websites to people and how it will monetize the process. Basically placing its tanks on the Googleplex lawn.]]></description><rank>/10</rank><image><a href='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/full/'><img src='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/thumbnail/'/></a></image><category>Facebook Wakes To Find Its Members Making Money, GASP! - Dobadob.com</category><source url="" /></item><item><title>weblo.com in the news</title><link><![CDATA[<a target='_blank' class='left-link' href='http://www.weblo.com/mediacenter/media/NewYorkTimes_dec.7_2007.pdf'>weblo.com in the news</a>]]></link><description><![CDATA[The Weblo Ad Network lets users get ads for blogs, profiles, videos and emails with their advertising network. Facebook users are placing advertisements on their own profile pages. They are posting them with the help of Weblo.com an advertising network for people’s blogs and social networking profile pages. Facebook Members Sell their Own AdsMore than 1,500 Facebook users have started placing advertisements on their own profile pages–despite the social networking site’s rule against such ads.They are posting them with the help of a Montreal-based company called Weblo, an advertising network that sells ads onto people’s blogs and social networking profile pages. Visitors to Weblo’s site will see that they can “earn money from your popularity online.” Weblo estimates people’s advertising value based on variables like how many friends they have in their social networks, and, thus, how many people will likely see ads on their pages.Facebook does not allow users to sell ads on their profile pages. Chris Kelly, Facebook’s chief privacy officer, told me on Nov. 6 that is because Facebook does not want people’s profile pages to become cluttered. “We don’t want a free-for-all,” he said.But Weblo’s chief executive Rocky Mirza says that people should be able to sell space on their pages on Facebook (and a variety of other sites like MySpace and YouTube) because they are the content creators on those sites. Facebook would have no content if not for its users, he said, which makes it different from media organizations, for example, that have content because they pay reporters.Weblo started the service in October. In the past month the number of people using it on Facebook has grown from 200 to 1500. “Obviously Facebook is providing the infrastructure, so they can place ads on the left side,” Mr. Mirza said. “But users should be getting paid for the time they spend on the Internet and the friends they draw to their pages.”Facebook does allow people and companies that design widgets for use on the site to sell ads in the widget interface page, called the “canvas page.” But those widget companies cannot sell ads on the profile pages, either.Weblo shares ad revenues with the people who let it place ads on their pages. It will be interesting to see how long Facebook allows them to carry on. Facebook clearly would not want to alienate even more users now, after its Beacon debacle over the past month. Weblo gets to the heart of a question of ownership that will will generate more debate as more people spend more of their time looking at content created by other ordinary people. When users post reviews of restaurants on a media site, for example, should they get to share in the ad revenues generated? Facebook has also yet to respond to my inquiry about Weblo, but I will update you when they do.People can also sign up to run weblo ads on their pages by using a Weblo widget on the site called Internet Worth. ]]></description><rank>/10</rank><image><a href='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/full/'><img src='http://www.weblo.com/asset_images/thumbnail/'/></a></image><category>The New York Times - Facebook Members Sell Their Own Ads</category><source url="" /></item></channel></rss>