crowdsource

How Social Web Can Save YouTube

Chris Dannen — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:42:41 -0400

Google is set to lose $470 million on YouTube in 2009, according to estimates by Credit Suisse. Even for Google, whose market cap hovers around $115 billion at its current share price, that's a hell of a write-off for one product.

Some pundits have predicted the dissolution of the video site--something would be anathema to the Web 2.0 mantra: get users now, make money later. How can Google justify keeping YouTube around? How can it take a property that loses half a billion dollars a year and make it sustainable?

The Banality of Obama's "Cutting-Edge" Web Event

Chris Dannen — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:48:39 -0400

President Obama has availed himself of almost every major medium in this month's PR blitz. 60 Minutes, Jay Leno, ESPN, CNN, primetime press conference, The New York Times. Now he's taken to the Web, keeping Americans apprised of his plans to stem the nation's leeward slide into insolvency. But as unusual as a presidential news conference might be on the Web, it achieved almost immediate banality.

Google's "Product Ideas" Campaign Isn't Crowdsourcing. It's A PR Stunt

Chris Dannen — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:38:00 -0500

Google [GOOG] has just launched a "Product Ideas" site where users can submit suggestions for innovation. The Web is abuzz: is almighty Google resorting to crowdsourcing? No, they're not. They're just looking for a little good press.

Reduce Your Risk in Hiring the Right Designer

Kare Anderson — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:26:06 -0400

A big stumbling block in hiring the graphic designer who most “gets” your business is this. You won’t know if you’ll like the design until after you put your money down. The smaller your business and budget the greater the risk it seems.

That’s how it works at two popular places, ifreelance and Elance. Buyer post requests for designs. Designers submit proposals. Buyer hires a designer, then waits to see the results.

This month, crowdSPRING, an online business launched to level that risk. It provides protections for creatives and for buyers.