It’s been confirmed that Slide has let go a substantial portion of its sales force earlier this week. The media-sharing service that gained a great deal of popularity as a social networking application provider has shifted its strategy for generating revenue, focusing on premium advertising. The result is that Slide has had to let go of most of its ad sales force.
As VentureBeat notes, slide is reportedly making about $20 million per year based on ads, and has raised over $600 million in venture capital. Constantly competing with similar services such as RockYou, Slide was really able to make a name for itself once social networks began opening their platforms, enabling Slide’s widgets to become better integrated and eventually evolve into full-on applications.
Having created some of Facebook’s top applications including Super Poke, Slide has established itself as a company able to weather the woes of a constantly changing attitude towards widgets, applications, and integrated media-sharing services. What Slide has not been able to weather, however, is the changing market when it comes to advertising and its subsequent budget.
The economy has had an affect on most web-based startups, trickling down from decreased venture capital spending to the deterrence of copycat sites and other projects with large cost requirements. Between these two factors, there has been a rather noticeable shift in the way in which advertisers approach social media marketing, with many looking for deeper engagement with lower costs. Essentially relying on users to do the talking (passive or otherwise), online marketing campaigns have turned to applications as an alternative solution.
That leaves Slide in an interesting situation, as it’s counted on advertising for its revenue until now, though the company is in a good position for shifting gears and focusing on app-related advertising. With options such as brand-sponsored apps, the need for a large sales force is diminished. As we’ve seen with companies such as Buddy Media the ability to provide a web-based portal for analytics, metrics and overall management can also help curb costs on the customer service end. The result is a more direct manner in which brands can utilize the apps powered by and distributed through third parties, lowering costs for them and ultimately cutting overhead for Slide.
In the same way as pilots are often available as free [promotional] downloads on iTunes, you can now download the pilot script of Showtime’s new “Nurse Jackie” starring Edit Falco. The free download is available through August 31.
It’s a different way of looking at things – and to a degree, it might also be grabbing a slightly different audience.Or maybe not. After all, if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can install the Kindle App and access the pilot script as well.
According to Ad Age, Showtime is also giving you scheduling information and displaying banner ads on Amazon’s site.
Working with its media shop, Omnicom Group’s OMD, Showtime will use banner ads throughout Amazon.com and on the Kindle storefront to promote the free download, which will be available until Aug. 31. Along with cover art and a title page, the script comes with show scheduling information and a call to action urging readers to visit Sho.com to watch the premiere of “Nurse Jackie.”
It’s an interesting take on mobile. Oh, and in case you thought they were just focusing on the Kindle, you can download a 30-minute edited version of the show, plus behind-the-scenes action, on iTunes.
Even in this Recession, we are helping Web 2.0 companies monetize with advertising revenue. We invite you to come celebrate the good times at The Advertising 2.0 Party.
Previously:
Launch Party 2.0 at Web 2.0 Expo on April 1 at Club Six (500 guests, plus TechCrunch, BusinessWeek, Lalawag, LA Weekly, SF Weekly) — we’ve barely recovered since..
Marissa is the CEO and Co-founder of AD-Village. Ithelps website publishers make more revenue from online advertising by recommending top ads in a simple ad recommendations interface.
At Web 2.0 Expo last week, Bubblicious Reporter Jolie O’Dell spoke with Topix CEO Chris Tolles. Topix is a leading Internet news community that connects people on a local level to the news and events in their towns and cities, and it provides a place for people to discuss the news that matters most to them. With newspaper advertising shrinking and becoming less effective, local businesses are turning to other sources, such as Topix, to connect with customers.
Topix is becoming a great avenue for businesses that are dependent on local customers, such as restaurants, salons and spas, car dealerships, attorneys, doctors and other neighborhood-type businesses. However, many of these small business owners aren’t well versed in SEO practices or search advertising, but need to advertise online to drive customers into their stores, restaurants and local offices.
At Web 2.0 Expo last week, Tolles talked about Topix’s newly released services that are helping these types of businesses connect to a local audience in a local context. Check out our interview with Tolles:
In addition to Topix, the Bubblicious team talked with a few other companies offering social computing applications and services. If you missed our highlight reel or other interviews, check them out: ooVoo and MindTouch. Stay tuned all week for the full interviews with each company. Tomorrow’s video interview is with chi.mp.
Twitter has released ads into the wild. However, they’re “house ads” for Twitter gizmos and gadgets.
Everyone has wondered – a lot – how Twitter will find a viable business plan. This looks to be a grand experiment. Does it bother you? Personally, I rarely access my Twtter.com page, preferring to use third-party apps, but this ad blends nicely into the background and doesn’t really bother me at all.
It’s been confirmed that Slide has let go a substantial portion of its sales force earlier this week. The media-sharing service that gained a great deal of popularity as a social networking application provider has shifted its strategy for generating revenue, focusing on premium advertising. The result is that Slide has had to let go of most of its ad sales force.
Actually, this is sort of brilliant.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=8e6ec906-4f9c-439c-91fc-917db29327ee)
Everyone has wondered – a lot – how Twitter will find a viable business plan. This looks to be a grand experiment. Does it bother you? Personally, I rarely access my Twtter.com page, preferring to use third-party apps, but this ad blends nicely into the background and doesn’t really bother me at all.