Techmeme tonight went commercial, introducing its first sponsored links.
Down the right-hand side, you’ll see three links to blog posts from Techmeme’s first set of sponsors. I like the approach. Rather than have sponsored buttons, Techmeme is scanning its sponsor’s blog and linking to their latest blog post. It is charging $4,500, $3,500 and $3,000 for those three spots from top to bottom for a total of $11k per month. Not a bad start for a site with so few of the overheads of traditional media sites (ie; journalists).
I like the way Gabe has kept the integrity of the site, by linking to blog posts rather than to corporate websites or other such commsspeak.
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Phil Sim 
[…] Others are writing Cynthia from IP Democracy shares the ad details: “These slots don’t come all that cheaply, either, but that’s the way it should be. Gabe is selling the first, second, and third slots for $4,500, $3,500, and $3,000 per month respectively.” Techblog: “This is a brilliant move on the part of Techmeme creator Gabe Rivera, as it opens the door to an entirely different kind of advertising model. Companies have the ability to provide a much deeper level of information using sponsored posts, and get immediate feedback. Blog-savvy businesses should be falling all over themselves to get into this space.” Not even fellow Web pooh point oh squasher Squash will bash the idea: “I like the way Gabe has kept the integrity of the site, by linking to blog posts rather than to corporate websites or other such commsspeak.” Podtech owner John Furrier sees other ways Gabe could monetize Techmeme, and while he doesn’t share any of them publically (tease alert!), he opines: “It will be a matter of time before someone develops something similar so Techmeme needs to keep thinking of new ways to create a better user experience.” Nik likes it: “I think the solution that you see now is both very elegant and effective. It is non-intrusive for the reader and brings a good audience and credibility to the sponsor.” Jeff Jarvis gives it the nod too: “I talked with Gabe about this at a conference months ago; he has put a lot of careful thought into the idea. I like it. It’s relevant; it’s human and not automated; it’s appropriate to the form. And it pays.” TechCrunch labels this an invention: “Tonight Gabe Rivera, the founder of TechMeme, just invented something else – advertisements delivered via RSS. NOT advertisements embedded withing RSS feeds, but actually using RSS as the delivery mechanism.” Mark Evans asks some good questions: “So how many corporate blogs fall into this category? Does this limit the number of potential TechMeme sponsors? Another issue is how much these sponsorships cost and their ROI. How many technology companies with high-quality blogs are willing to advertise on TechMeme.” And what does one of the advertisers, Wink, who desperately needs to change their default WordPress theme (at least change the colors, folks), say? “Wink and Techmeme work well together. Use Techmeme to find the latest technews and buzz, then use Wink to rate, save, and search the sites you find interesting.” […]
[…] The ads integrate well with Techmeme’s overall feel, and they are a great way of appealing to blog-centric companies, although my friend Mark Evans wonders just how many of those there might be for such a program. Jeff Jarvis likes it too — and he’s a hard man to please. Cynthia Brumfield at IPDemocracy is a fan as well, and points out that this type of ad has the potential for a lot more engagement with readers than traditional ads (Squash likes it too). […]
[…] Leo en Squash sobre el novedoso modelo de sponsorizacion que ha lanzado Techmeme (antes tech.memeorandum.com). Se trata de una caja en la parte derecha, con 3 posts de sus patrocinadores. Me parece una buena y original idea, ya que no solo huye del patrocinio mas tradicional que tienen otros sitios(Techcrunch, GigaOM etc..) basado en logo/enlace si no que además en parte cede el control al patrocinador, ya que este está sirviendo noticias de su blog/sitio en RSS, y puede decidir que comunicar en ese espacio patrocinado.Lo normal sería incluso tener un feed para dicho patrocinio. Además estoy convencido que atraerá a mas gente por el mero hecho de ser un enlace a un post que por ser un anuncio puro y duro. […]
Oh that’s clever.
You say it nicely — not a bad start, especially when overhead is so low.
Now a question for squash: will rates go up next month(s)?
Hello!,
Good day!,