This December the term ‘Blog’ will celebrate its tenth birthday. It was this month back in 1997 where Jorn Barger started this site ‘Robot Wisdom Weblog’ that served as a daily log of interesting web links published in chronological order.

Two years later in 1999 online journal author Peter Merholz took Jorn Barger’s word “weblog” and split it into the phrase “We blog.” Blog soon became shorthand for weblog, and blogging was born.

‘Short’ Blog Time Line

1999: Blogger was founded as one of the first internet communities providing free blogs.

2002: The launch of Technorati, one of the first blog search engines, making it possible for people to track blog conversations on a continuous basis.

2004: The launch of Flickr, a photo-sharing community that helps popularize photo blogging.

2005: Garrett M. Graff becomes the first blogger to receive credentials for the daily White House briefing.

2006: Research report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project estimate that 12 million U.S. adults publish their own blogs.

2007: Technorati reports it is tracking more than 112 million blogs worldwide.

Happy Birthday ‘Blog’!

I am sure we are all familiar with the term “If it’s too good to be true…it probably is.” in the world of the internet this is usually the case. I am sure that you have all seen ads or e-mails that claim to get you thousands of hits a day. The internet seems to be full of these companies that are promising large amounts of traffic at a fraction of the cost of normal PPC, but is it really worth it?

What these companies do really depends on the method they use to get traffic. Some use browser tool bars, some use spyware programs, some use instant messenger, and some even use viruses. Have you ever seen a “free toolbar” or some other “free tool” that you install on your computer? That’s them and they are everywhere. Of course not all of these tools are bad but how are you supposed to know which ones are and are not spyware, its simply not possible in most cases. Because of this fact these programs spread across the internet and get hundreds of thousands of users.

The problem is that these users may not actually be visiting your site at all. Once again it falls to the method of choice for the traffic company but it could be pop-up ads, pop-under ads, or even bot traffic. What this means is that if you sign up for a traffic program, your page may now have become spam. Your website would be popping up on thousands of desktops world wide to people who could not care less about your products. With bot traffic, it’s even worse in that the user may not even know they went to a website at all. Their computer automatically visits the site for them, with out them ever knowing.

You can see why these paid traffic companies are often a bad idea, and why you should avoid them. The traffic is so cheap that many only need one sale to cover the cost, but so is its quality.

If you really want quality traffic that converts, the only way is to stick to what works. Stick to reputable companies with proven track records and always research a company before you enter into a contract with them. A simple internet search could save you hundreds of dollars and your reputation. It may take more time and cost a little more, but it’s better than the alternatives.

Microsoft has won the battle with Google and Yahoo to invest in Facebook. The two companies announced on October 24^th that Microsoft will invest $240 million for a 1.6% equity stake in Facebook, a price that values the social networking site at $15 billion. Last year, Microsoft started supplying banner ads for Facebook in the United States through 2011. The new deal secures Microsoft as Facebook’s primary advertising partner and expands its reach to Facebook’s international users, while splitting the revenue.

Marketers are expected to spend about $1.2 billion worldwide on social-networking this year and this number could grow to $3.6 billion by 2011. With 50 million active users, Facebook remains second behind MySpace with over 110 million active users, but Facebook’s audience has been growing at a far more rapid clip during the past year. This is in part due to Facebook’s technology, which has enabled it to distinguish itself from rival social networks like MySpace. In May of this year, it began inviting other companies and outside developers to create tools for the site and share in advertising revenues. Thousands of applications have been developed since, which enable users to personalize pages in various ways. It is also believed that the company is building an operating system that exists on the web instead of on hard drives or personal computers.

Social Networking sites allow internet users to connect with friends and share information such as photos, videos and music. Microsoft plans to tap information on Facebook’s users and will have the ability to offer more targeted ads. Social networking provides the advertising world with something beyond basic demographics. It shows how people interact. Facebook is favored by some over MySpace because it is based on who you really are and who your friends really are. Myspace is not based on authentic identities. Marketers want to reach the real you and not the “fantasy you” that lives onMySpace and uses a photo of a model.