Inflated MySpace Page Views Explain 10-Cent CPMs
from the whip-page-view-inflation-now dept
Several months ago, we noted that something wasn't adding up when it came to MySpace. Ostensibly they are one of the most viewed sites on the internet, yet their ability to pull in revenues seems almost pitifully poor. This became the subject of much chatter this weekend, as The New York Times pondered the same question. According to one web designer, at issue is the MySpace's design, which produces a large number of extra page views each time a user accesses the site. With a superior interface, the user might get the same experience with a third (or less) page views. Advertisers understand that a lot of the page views are redundant, thus explaining why they're not will to pay too much for ad impressions -- giving MySpace a reported 10-cent average CPM. What isn't clear is whether the company would be better off improving the site's usability. Undoubtedly they'd improve their CPM, but it might be at the expense of their stature as a top-ten internet destination -- something that's helped fuel a lot of their hype. Some publishers have openly stated that they won't adopt more efficient design techniques, out of fear of reducing their ad impressions, and thus revenues. Ultimately, this seems like a bad strategy. Nobody likes a cab driver that takes the scenic route, just to drive up the fare. Eventually, people will gravitate to sites with superior usability. It's better to become one of those, than to foist bogus page views on the users and advertisers.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Streamling
They're still making revenue from ads. Maybe someone should wake and see the propective money-maker here.
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Myspace
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Re: Myspace
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Re: Myspace
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Myspace 10 cent CPM
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sum beach
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This may sound stupid...
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Re: This may sound stupid...
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streamline - now!
Streamlining might boost performance, making such blackouts a thing of the past and to one degree or another, balancing out CPM.
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Finally!
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Re: Finally!
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Re: You Loser
ashley666
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Re: Re: You Loser
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making pages takes up views
What is relevant is the amount of time people are spending on the site. This has to be monetized. This MySpace is good for brand building, but not for "call to action ads"
RYK
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Adam Brown
No obligation felt here, although it IS nice to find people I haven't kept in touch with just by searching name/area. Don't let your impression of the users lead you in the wrong direction, it's a great idea - like classmates.com.
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CPM?
I bet you could write a sham story about ExtrapoTech releasing a new RFD in spite of the suit from DotComDotNet over copying its WWF technology in the PIP chipset, and nobody would blink an eye.
Dave
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Re: CPM?
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Buy an Island
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Re: Buy an Island
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Re: Buy an Island
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I've been disappointed ... loving imeem.com though
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Website with diapers on
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And pedophiles. Don't forget the pedophiles...
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well said
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Hey!
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MESPACE
The way i see it is the people that over see my space have to be in class most of the day and home when the stree lights come on so with all that in mind,It was doomed from the start you can't run a co if your mom makes you turn your computer of at 8pm I don't understand how myspace is not a money cow for the CEO and his playmates .......With all the people around the world that buy into it it seems to me a 6 yearold could understand hjow to get rich with it ..
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Re: MESPACE
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Note to BlackCow
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Higher CPM
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i just signed up
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It is good for the few friends of mine that learned how to use email a year ago. They paste scripts into myspace and get to pretend they're awesome html designers or something. I've ran into people I haven't seen in over ten years there so it's not all bad. As for the adds, I'm in agreement about the annoying flashing ads but I've noticed that very few of them even load while using Mozilla.
http://www.siliconbeat.com/entries/2005/07/18/web_20_peak_myspace_sells_for_580_million.ht ml
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What the web WAS
Seriously though, the do it yourself mentality of the early days of the web made it exciting. It's no wonder teens (and others who missed out before) are excited about making their own little web spaces, no matter how tacky and unrefined they might be. And unlike the early web, your friends can actually FIND you. None of my friends could ever find my Tripod pages back in the day.
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background pages dumb
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LOL Ya'll Sound Older than ME!
Now, I'm using a very complicated online tool to (badly) build my site. It has several databases that I created and use. I don't understand how they work ... I just know how to type in the field names I want and how to click on the little tool and tell it "display this field here."
I have a few places where I use RSS feeds on my web site. All I have to do is copy and paste the RSS feed addy into a little window ... and poof! RSS feed displayed on my site ... then i get to clean it up and make it display nicely but that's about four more clicks. It's so much fun!
I use the tools badly really ... the creators of the tools make drop-dead gorgeous sites.
But back to MySpace ... and the bad designs that people create ... they really aren't a Myspace, the company, fault. If a body were so inclined, they could make almost every free blog page out there look uh like they were replicating ... mmm ... freakengine ... i'd say it was mmm I got married in 99 ... 98 was college ... (yes, I started life over at 40) oh yeah ... it was 97 & 98 & even 99 ... 99 things were "improving" some but only because the advertising departments were taking over ... well that's how they tell it.
As far as MySpace, the company goes, yes, they could stop using the infantile game ads ... but look around you ... look at just the tech news industry alone. I mean just because the marketing department and the graphic designers move in and make it look more mature ... is it really improvement?
The ads are still flash based and they still they drag the page load down and they still visually distract me so much that i have a personal mantra that goes ... "i will stay only long enough to get the info ... do not look ... do not click."
ok but, again, back to myspace -- the users -- this is the thing that really floors me as a woman ... these little flashy whirly cutesy things that people post in comments ... yeah ... why haven't their designs matured any? ... i don't understand ... i think there's this whole sub-culture that really loves these things ... i keep wondering what their homes look like ... are they full of bad hand-crafts from the 70's, and 80's? ... ok i've thought about that long enough to be scared ... never mind ... i didn't bring it up.
And this probably needs a major clean up ... but I'm going to go walk and have coffee with my husband ... and pretend there's a real world.
have fun,
pamElise
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Cabin Boys on Parade
Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe did not create the success that has many puzzled, the brains and money behind MySpace's dodgy rise to the top were Clarence B. (Uncle Bud) Coleman and his wife Joan of San Leandro Calif., and Andrew Alan Wiederhorn and his wife TIffany of Portland Oregon.
As Trent Lapinski correctly and astutely notes in his blogs on MySpace, the myth of the nerd DeWolfe and the free-spirit Anderson sitting around some seedy dot.com shack eating pizza and dreaming dreams is horsehoickey, an example of the masterful cons of the Wiederhorns and the Colemans, both disgraced human beings known up and down the coast of Oregon as, well, folks you couldn't trust as far as you could throw them. Some reading is indicated by those who talk aobut MySpace and a good starting place would be Trent Lapinski's blogs, Jason Lee Miller's webpro stories, the ongoing attempt by Wikipedia to undo the lies of those who would thwart the truth-tellers, and aslo check out my posting three weeks ago in the Catbird Forum of the Elephant Nest, and then ask yourself if you want Uncles Bud and Andy and Aunts Tiffany and Joan to be baby-sitting your thirteen-yearold who lied to get into MySpace and then, of course, had to llie to Mom and Pop also, and, gee, kids can learn to lie in MySpace, which is no place like home. al macleese, from Hallowell Maine, which is where life is as it ought to be.
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Re: Cabin Boys on Parade
In May 1 ooar here I bemoaned the fact that the mainstream had not picked up on the wave of chatter on the Internet about the outing of the mere cabin boys Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe; you will recall Trent Lapinski and I averred they were, and nobdoy has responded in the negative, so one must assume that the dead tree press is a lot deadern than some of us had feared. But we are talking up some of the slack: Trent Lapinski, the guy who wouldn't truckle to the MYSpace meanies,s has a freelance mag article comiing out in next few days, I understand and I, in my halting and fumbling way have posted a whole bunch of rants on Konspiracy Korner, Sounds of Crickets Churping, and perhaps chatters in space might like to listen intoi my ravings as I wail and gnash my teeth over the dismal sight of the hidden owners of MySpace, the disgraced West Coast bizness baddies Clarence B. (Uncle Bud) Coleman and his indefatibgable wife Joan, the San Leandro Calif. entries, and Andrew Alan Wiederhorn and his combativemate Tiffany, the Portland Ore couple known now as the Battling Wiederhorns since they are fighting and feuding with Lance Caldwell, the U>S.D.,A who put Andy away, on grounds that he was jealous of the arrogrant merchaant prince, and also dukin it out with the Multnomah Athletic Club, which gave him the boot and now Andy sez he will fight that out to get badk into where HE IS NOT WANTED, BUT, HELL, READ THE RANT ON kONSPIRACY kORNER, i NEED TO GET SOME SLEEP.... OH, CHRIS AND TOM GOT WEBBYS LAST NIGHT, THE oSCARS OF THE dIGITAL WORLD FOR TWO GUYS NBAMED CHARLEY AND MORTIMER. AL MACLEESE FROM HALLOWELL, WHERE LIFE IS LOVELIER THAN WHERE YOU ARE..
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Near PC
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MySpace doesn't have to be ugly
And by the way, MySpace doesn't have to be ugly. Any dork with a half-wit's capacity for design can look up all kinds of guides on writing their own pages.
And then there are those of us that actually put some time into their page and have something to be proud of. It is a way to stand out.
Check mine out.
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comment
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Myspace, The Easy Lay..
Sure beats taking them out and spending heaps of cash to get to know them.
I like their pics, they like mine, we chat a bit online, we have random sex. We move on. Simple. So far my tally is 7 users in my list hehe.
With that said..
Ugly people hate Myspace. 'Nuff said bub.
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okay
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MySpace Designers thoughts
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i want to close my myspace page
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OMG You lot are soooooooo bitchy!!
Seriously, you lot are moaning about a load of rubbish!
1) Myspace bad design - its desiged mostly by USERS not geeks and WE DONT MIND the lack of perfecto standard design. Its not like our lives depend upon it, and MY friends are the only people reading mine anyways!! So get over it! Geez
2) Flash Ads - Are you just stuck in the dark ages?? Download firefox and adblocker; problem solved! I cant remember the last flash ad I saw on myspace....
3) Page views - Nobody cares about page views apart from bloody marketing wank-heads so that is also irrelivant!
4) In my experience the only people who moan about myspace, are people who dont have the necessary personality to get any replies from people on there (or any other social networking site for that), or people who flamed and then got ignored by all and sundry, just for acting like little childeren throwing their toys out of their pram!
Please ..... its sad!
STOP MOANING ABOUT MYSPACE - It has clearly given you a reason to get out of bed in the morning, and something to talk about which you obviously had missed out on previously.
Somebody needs a life :) Maybe you could find some friends on myspace?? That is if you drop the bad attitude :)
My god! Honestly we are adults here are we not? hehe
BBM
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tabbed browsing's effect?
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hey
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Another Resource
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Social Networking
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Custom Social Networking
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