Page 185 - Convergent Journalism an Introduction Writing and Producing Across Media

Blogs Move Mainstream . . . and Mobile

Like many areas of media, a problem with video game advertising is
how to accurately measure ad exposure. That was expected to change
in 2005 when Nielsen Interactive Entertainment planned to introduce
an in-game ad exposure and rating measure. The device will incorporate
a watermark—an inaudible audio code—that will show how long and
how often players are exposed to product placements.

Blogs Move Mainstream . . . and Mobile

The use of Web logs, or blogs, has been a growing Internet phenomenon
during the past few years. Anyone with a point of view and access to the
Internet sites Blogger, Movable Type, or Radio can build and maintain
a blog. As the 2004 presidential election demonstrated, blogs have
become powerful opinion makers and reputation breakers.
An estimated 10 to 20 million blogs exist on the Internet, according
to blogcount.com, and the number grows daily. Advertisers have fol-
lowed the growth of the medium and have begun targeting blog sites.
Nike, for example, placed its own advertising blog—adverblog—on the
Web site Gawker.com to promote its “The Art of Speed” film series. 175
The promotion proved controversial as blogger purists reacted against
the commercialization of the art form.
Marketers targeting blogs are finding that site owners are opinion
makers with legions of followers, many of whom don’t want advertis-
ing on the site. To counter this, Blogads, a network of bloggers who
accept advertising, was formed. Advertisers, including Paramount Pic-
tures, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker magazine, Gap, and
RoadRunner Internet service, have taken advantage of this opportunity
to reach bloggers.
An online survey done by Blogads in May 2004 found that bloggers
tend to be male (79 percent), between the ages of 31 and 40 (29
percent) with incomes from $60,000 to $90,000 (22 percent). The
nonscientific survey also found that 67 percent of blog visitors have
clicked on an ad and 37 percent think TV is worthless.
The next generation of blogs, vblogs and moblogs, is also attracting
potential advertisers. Vblogs, also known as vidblogs, vlogs, or vogs,
are video blogs that allow users to post video, audio, and pictures, not
just text like normal e-mail blogs. Moblogs are mobile phone blogs that
give users real-time connections around the world to share and collect
photos and messages and comment on life’s happenings.