Google's first real competition : An alternative to Adsense Revenues

Google's AdSense has been available to website and blog publishers for about three years. It's been a gold mine for a lot of little people so far. And Google has not had to deal with any competition in the contextual advertising arena.

This is changing drastically over the next few months. Yahoo is now testing a very similar contextual advertising program and this will likely be available to publishers sometime in the next few weeks. The MSN AdCenter is also expected to be available within a few months.

But these big guns were beaten to the starting gate by a relatively small company called Chitika. Chitika has sprung out of nowhere to provide an innovative new format for contextual advertising.

You can see an example of what the Chitika ads look like at the right of this sentence; in the sidebar of this site.

As the highly effective Google text ads have been around for three years, many people have surely developed 'banner blindness' to them, given they've been bombarded with them on most sites for a long time now.

Enter Chitika, whose ads are visually very interesting, and completely different from both banner ads and Google text ads.

If I was one of the larger banner advertising companies, I'd be worried about the arrival of Chitika. As an example, as a small-time blog publisher, I immediately nixed my LinkShare Network and Clickbank banners. These ads produced very little revenue for me and I can see how Chitika may be much more effective.

There is a first mover advantage here. If you are one of the first few thousand websites to set up an account with Chitika, you are likely going to benefit quite a bit from the novelty of the ad presentation. This will be especially true if you are one of the first websites in your niche to try Chitika. People will naturally click more because the new ad format will pique their curiosity. Once they've clicked a few times for different products, I would expect the clickthrough rates will tumble. But this may take a few months. Chitika is just out of the starting gate now.

Another potential pitfall with Chitika is that the ads only seem to be substantially profitable for the kind of websites that deal specifically with consumer and electronic goods. For example, if you have a high-ranking website on digital cameras or baby strollers, and people come to you looking for specific product information, you can sincerely expect to rake in the money with Chitika. On more general topics, don't expect a high clickthrough and expect the revenues to be significantly lower than with Google's AdSense.

However, overall, if you are a website or blog publisher with some good traffic, I'd say jump on the Chitika bandwagon while the going is good. It's not necessary to remove your Google ads as Chitika has made it easy to customize for non-competing contextual advertising which complies with Google's AdSense user policies.

I've got a couple of tiny blogs but Chitika approved my account within an hour. It was also a very easy sign-up. They've just started a generous referral program. To check them out visit their Chitika - publisher information page.


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Did Webstat.net die today or is it just me?

I've been using Webstat.net for my web statistics counter for almost a year. Soon after I tried their free version, I subscribed for their fuller version (at only about 20 bucks a year) and was really happy with it. I thought it was far superior to Site Meter (sitemeter.com) in the kind of information it supplied about visitors and how they traversed through my blogs.

So today I logged in there was no Webstat. So much for my one year payment for web counter service. Instead I got some serious error messages on my blogs. These were 'syntax errors'. Not only till after I consulted my programmer friend, did I find out that the Webstat outage was responsible for this.

I'll miss Webstat and I feel somewhat ripped of that I only got half a year from my one year contract. My hunch is that they didn't hire a good marketer - their product was superior to many of the other web counters out there today.

Update October 25th: Good news: Looks like webstat is back online after an outage of several days.

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Is Google set to become the world's largest web hosting company?

Google's Blogger was hit by massive spam and resulting massive criticism this weekend. They've responded to this in the last couple of posts of their blog; Blogger Buzz.

They've also asked users of Blogspot to send suggestions their way as to what features they would most like to see added to Blogger. What's most exciting about this, is their suggestion of a feature which would let Bloggers use a custom domain name with their Blog*Spot blog.

This could mean we are one step closer to Google becoming the world's largest web hosting and domain name registration company. I believe this will be a big aspect of their diversification strategy in the near future.

For the scoop on this, see: Google: the world's largest web hosting company



See also the future of Google's Blogger, Google's Blog Search, and Google's Acquisitions: Who's Next?.

Apple's video ipod: Micromedia has arrived

The release of Apple's video ipod has huge implications for the future of media. The Chicago Tribune has a great overview of the many potential implications for the media industry.

Micropublishing has already been hailed as the next big wave in publishing. AOL's recent $25 million purchase of a network of blogs with annual revenues of $1 million is an early sign that micropublishing via blogs is beginning to show great potential for profit.

People will always continue to seek out the big media for their regular fill of world news but they will increasingly 'feed' on niche newsblogs that cater to their very personalized interests.

But with the video ipod, can we also envision thousands of niche blog 'videocasts' (soon to replace 'podcasts') that people can buy at iTunes for an average price of $2?

Micromedia has truly arrived.

Making a Living with Blogging

I started blogging about ten months ago and got quickly hooked. Very shortly thereafter, I started wondering if it might be possible to make a full-time living from blogging. Within months I had five blogs set up. I've been posting to each of them about once every five days on average. I'm now making a whopping six dollars per day!

This is dismal to be sure, but I haven't lost hope. I'm quite encouraged that my blogging income could realistically go up to $900 per month before the end of the year. And if that's possible, I'm quite sure it would be possible to go up to $300 per day before the end of next year.

I'm lucky that I have the time to devote to this now as I'm home with my baby. I've got another few months to make it work before I have to give it up and get a real job. In the meantime my husband is out there earning our daily bread.

The best resource I've found for people who want to try to make a living from blogging is ProBlogger.net by Darren Rowse. If you are serious about trying to generate revenue from your blog, you've got to read his posts on a regular basis to stay up to date and to learn as many revenue optimization techniques as possible.

Darren Rowse has a very entertaining writing style. He's also up-front about his own path to riches with blogging. His earnings have been growing exponentially. Recently he wrote that it looks like he will make over $30,000 this month. Rowse generates this income from a stable of about 20 blogs. I think the blog that makes him the most money is a very product specific blog about digital cameras. I think out of his twenty blogs, probably the top three generate eighty percent of his income.

My husband is dismayed at my blogging habit. He sees that I spend many hours a day at the computer and that I'm generating pennies per hour for my efforts. As I've been at this for many months now, he does not share my optimism that this will ever be a profitable endeavor.

Darren Rowse has had some entertaining posts about his wife's views of his blogging. At first she was very skeptical and was pushing him to get out and get a real job. But now he says she would kill him if he ever quit blogging ;-)

I'm curious about Rowse's wife - who is known only as 'V'. Apparently, she still drags herself out of bed each morning to commute to some job from which she returns at 6:30pm.

I'm curious as to what kind of job this must be. She must feel very passionate about it. If her husband is now making an annual projected income of over $360,000 you would think we would be hearing about her quitting her job to pursue her real passion.

Does anyone have the scoop on what "V" does for a living?

Leading Nanotechnology Companies: Tomorrow's Computer

One of the most exciting nanotechnology companies out there today is D-Wave Systems. D-Wave is a private company employing about 25 people. They've attracted about $18 million in venture capital financing so far.

D-Wave is building a quantum computer.

This computer will have the potential for calculating speed that would surpass the combined processing power of all of today's computers (and supercomputers). D-Wave has amassed over 150 patents in the area of quantum computing. They hope to have their product ready for commercial use in less than three years.

D-Wave's mission is to "commercialize superconducting quantum computational systems".

The applications for such a technology could run in the billions of dollars. The quantum computer would be used in scheduling and logistics, cryptanalysis, bioinformatics, life and physical sciences, quantitative finance and electronic design automation. See MIT's Technology Review recent article about D-Wave.

D-Wave is located in beautiful Vancouver, Canada. They are currently seeking a VP of Business Development. The lucky winning candidate should try to get a good options package;-)

Google's Blogger Blogspot Outage Tonight

Google left millions of people out in the cold tonight. Yes, this is worse than a power outage in the middle of winter. Why are we still hanging in with Blogger? (Because good news is on the way.)

The outages seem to have been more frequent recently. I hope they have key senior people working on this and that it's a top priority. I do think they get it, and that this will not happen again like this. In fact, I think Google is planning incredibly great things for Blogger and Blogspot users. That's why I'm still hanging in with Blogger.

As other big guns get into the contextual advertising business, I think Google may be planning something very cool in their revenue diversification strategy -- and get ready, it's all about --- blogs.

Have you ever seen any advertising when you go to Google's ultra-clean main search page? I never have. Not for any of their products. But now they have a very high-profile link for starting your own blog with blogger.. Millions of people will see this multiple times a day. It's the worlds most extremely valuable advertising real estate. There is something very big cookin' and about to happen with Google's Blogger.

To read more see is Google about to become the world's largest web hosting company?

See also the future of Google's Blogger, Google's Blog Search, and Google's Acquisitions: Who's Next?.





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Technorati Tags:
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Introduction to Nanotechnology

A good definition of nanotechnology:

"Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation of atoms and molecules at the level of the nanometer (one billionth of a meter). It is at this scale that quantum physics takes over from classical physics and the properties of elements change character in novel and unpredictable ways. " (nanotechnology as defined by the ETC Group)


If you are looking for a great introduction to nanotechnology, I would highly recommend you see the 80 page report called "The Big Down: Atomtech - Technologies Converging at the Nano-scale" This report is available for free in PDF format. I enjoyed the first few pages so much that I actually printed out the whole report on my printer for more leisurely reading.

What is so great about The Big Down as an introduction to nanotechnology is that the report really grasps the big picture. It not only leads you through what the nanotechnology industry and research look like today, but it provides a very entertaining (and sometimes frightening) read of what the huge implications will be on our society and economy.

If you want a quicker overview they also provide a shorter introduction to nanotechnology; A Tiny Primer on Nano-scale Technologies

The ETC Group is a non-profit research group worth watching.

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The Goo cartoon above was borrowed from their website.

Nanotechnology Research and Funding: Two Different Approaches

There are two fundamentally different approaches to research in nanotechnology. One is the 'top-down' approach. Here scientists use existing materials to create smaller and smaller devices at the nano scale. These devices become extremely tiny but they retain their original properties - they do not morph into something new.

The second approach is the 'bottom-up' approach where the scientific work actually begins at the molecular level, atom by atom, and from this base (involving chemical or biological assembly) the structures and devices thus assembled have fundamentally new properties.

This distinction is important because it seems the majority of nanotechnology applied research worldwide and especially in the United States is currently utilizing the top-down miniaturization approach. Most of the worldwide private funding in this area has until recently come from companies with interests in and around the electronics/computer and semiconductor industries. The top-down approach is what the semiconductor industry has been using to pack more and more computing power onto smaller computer chips for the past three decades. However the international group representing the world's semiconductor industry has said they are reaching a 'brick-wall' in terms of improving on chip capabilities. Many think this 'top-down' approach will completely stall by 2015 as the practical limits of chip miniaturization are reached and quantum effects become paramount.

If in the meantime the 'bottom-up' approach makes significant breakthroughs in the next few years than the world's many multi-billion dollar silicon fabrication facilities may become completely redundant. And yet this would likely only be a small shock in terms of the larger picture and profound impacts on the rest of our economy and society.

The US has been very successful in semiconductor technology based on silicon and germanium and have to a large extent continued in this vein until very recently, focusing on the top-down approach (conventional silicon processing) in much of their R&D efforts.

Europe however, having missed out on much of the semiconductor growth bonanza of the late 20th century, have had no alternative but to take a path initially which focused on investigating alternative new methods and non-standard (and non-silicon) materials and in the research of 'bottom-up' (chemical or biological assembly) fabrication techniques.

In Japan, the focus also seems to be on a molecular bottom-up approach and in the search to explore nanostructures for their potential to replace today's computer chips and build novel nano devices. Most of this public funding is being provided by MITI but some of Japan's largest companies are investing very heavily in what would have earlier been regarded as basic science suited only for government labs. It was probably true just a few years ago that three of Japan's leading companies (NTT. NEC and Fujitu) had more advanced materials fabrication systems in their laboratories than existed in the whole of Europe. Aside from the early corporate involvement, the Japanese government has also been very generous in their spending on capital infrastructure, both at the national labs and at the universities.

The final outcome of the 'bottom-up' versus 'top down' competition may well be a hybrid solution combining both approaches to fabrication techniques. But it seems very likely at this point that the atom-by-atom building approach will be the greater leapfrog technology and quantum technologies research and development will be the underlying building block for many of the key developments in nano technologies.

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The above image is "Quantum Solar System Model' by Mark Sellers.

List of Quantum Computing Research Centers

In the United States:

Stanford-Berkley-IBM-MIT NMR Quantum Computing Project

This is a collaboration between researchers at Stanford University, U.C. Berkeley, MIT, and IBM. The project involves the experimental and theoretical study of quantum-mechanical systems, and how they can be utilized to process and store information.

http://feynman.media.mit.edu/quanta/nmrqc-darpa/index.html

The SouthWest Quantum Information and Technology Network

This is a proposal to form a network of universities, national labs and industry. Members include University of New Mexico - Information Physics, University of New Mexico - Deutsch Group, University of California San Diego, University Of California at Berkley - Whaley Group, University of California - Santa Barbara - Center for Spintronics and Quantum Computation, University of Calgary - Quantum Computing Research Group, University of Arizona - Laser Cooling and Trapping Group, Stanford University - James S Harris Group, NIST - Ion Storage Group, LANL - Quantum Information, IBM Research Almaden - Quantum Information, Caltech Quantum Optics and Caltech Institute For Quantum Information.

http://www.squint.org/squint/index.html

QUIC - Quantum Information and Computation

QUIC is a collaboration of 5 groups at 3 universities, undertaking experimental, theoretical and modeling investigations into quantum computing. Members are University of Southern California - Information Sciences Institute, MIT - Mechanical Engineering Group, Caltech Quantum Optics and Caltech Institute For Quantum Information

http://www.theory.caltech.edu/~quic/index.html

Quantum Information and Technology Roadmapping Project

http://qist.lanl.gov/

Caltech Institute for Quantum Information

http://www.iqi.caltech.edu/

Caltech Quantum Optics

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~qoptics/

Continuous Quantum Computation Group at Columbia University and MIT

http://quantum.cs.columbia.edu/

Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory

http://www-ebit.lbl.gov/

Harvard University

http://www.physics.harvard.edu/

IBM Research Almaden Quantum Information

http://www.almaden.ibm.com/st/projects/quantum/intro/

IBM Research Yorktown Quantum Information and Information Physics

http://www.research.ibm.com/quantuminfo/

Los Almos National Laboratories - Quantum Computation/Cryptography

http://qso.lanl.gov/qc/

Los Almos National Laboratories - Quantum Information

There are twenty six people working on this team

http://p23.lanl.gov/Quantum/

MagiQ Technologies Inc.

http://www.magiqtech.com/

MIT Mechanical Engineering Group

http://www-me.mit.edu/Research/SysInfConResearch.htm

MIT Physics and Media Group

http://www.media.mit.edu/physics/

NIST Physics Laboratory Quantum Information

http://qubit.nist.gov/

NIST Ion Storage Group

http://www.bldrdoc.gov/timefreq/ion/

North Carolina State University - Nanoscale Quantum Engineering Group

http://www.ece.ncsu.edu/nano/

Stanford Mesoscopic Quantum Optics

http://feynman.stanford.edu/

Stanford University - Quantum Computation

http://snow.stanford.edu/qc.html

University of Arizona - Laser Cooling and Trapping Group

http://w3.arizona.edu/~lascool/

University of California Santa Barbara - Center for Quantum Computation

http://www.iquest.ucsb.edu/sites/qcc/

University of California Berkeley - Quantum Information Processing

http://www.cchem.berkeley.edu/~kbwgrp/QIP.html

University of California San Diego

http://physics.ucsd.edu/~ljssst/ljs.html

University of New Mexico - Information Physics

http://info.phys.unm.edu/

U of Southern California Information Sciences Institute - Quantum Information http://www.isi.edu/acal/quantum/quantum_intro.html

European Community:

Quantum Information Processing & Communications (QIPC) EU funded projects in QIPC are summarized here: http://www.cordis.lu/ist/fetqipc.htm#summaries

A web site summing up the activities of the European Quantum Science community http://www.quantum.at/euroquantum.org/

Austria

The Physics of Quantum Information - European Research Network

This is a proposed research network that will bring together all relevant European activities in the field of the physics of quantum information. Eight research institutions will be involved (Vienna - Quantum Experiments and the Foundations of Physics, Max-Planck-Institut Quantenoptik, Institute for Scientific Interchange, Innsbruck - Experimental Quantum Optics an Spectroscopy Group, Innsbruck - Centre for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, GAP Optique, ENS - LKB - Electrodynamique quantique and CQC Oxford. Research will focus on quantum communication, cryptography and computing.

http://www.uibk.ac.at/c/c7/c704/qinet/index.html

Innsbruck - Centre for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information

http://bozon.uibk.ac.at/qo/

Innsbruck - Experimental Quantum Optics and Spectroscopy Group

http://heart-c704.uibk.ac.at/

Vienna - Quantum Experiments and the Foundations of Physics

http://www.quantum.univie.ac.at/

France: Quantronics Group at the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in Saclay

http://www-drecam.cea.fr/drecam/spec/Pres/Quantro/Qsite/index.htm

ENS - LKB - Cavity Quantum Electrodynamics http://www.lkb.ens.fr/recherche/qedcav/english/englishframes.html

Germany: Institute for Physical High Technology - Quantrum Electronics Division

IPHT is a non-university research facility and an important part of Thuringia research scene with an emphasis on application-oriented and innovative solutions in high technology physical systems. Quantum Electronics is one of four divisions.

http://www.ipht-jena.de/english/institute.html

Max-Planck - Institut fur Quantenoptik

http://www.mpq.mpg.de/mpq/mpq.html

Technical University of Brunswick - Quantum Information

http://www.imaph.tu-bs.de/qi/

Entanglement in Quantum Information Processing and Communication (EQUIP)

An EU-funded research consortium devoted to the quantum-theoretical foundations of information processing in the 21st century. A project within the IST-FET ProActive Initiative Quantum Information Processing and Communication

Italy: University of Padova Quantum Communications

http://www.dei.unipd.it/ricerca/cesp/research/quantum.html

Institute for Scientific Interchange

http://www.isi.it/index.html

University of Camerino - Quantum Computing

http://camcat.unicam.it/~quele/

Poland: Quantum Computer Science Group of Theoretical and Applied Informatics of Polish Academy of Science

http://www.iitis.gliwice.pl/zksi/index-en.html

Spain: Barcelona Quantum Information Group

http://sophia.ecm.ub.es/qi-bcn/

Quantum Information Science at the University of Vigo

http://www.com.uvigo.es/~dsantos/qis.html

Sweden: KTH, Royal Institute of Technology - Quantum Electronics and Optics Group

http://www.ele.kth.se/QEO/

Chalmers University of Technology - Applied Quantum Physics Theory Group

http://fy.chalmers.se/~tfstomas/AQPhome/index.html

Switzerland: University of Geneva - GAP Optique

http://www.gapoptic.unige.ch/

United Kingdom: UK QCN- UK Quantum Computing Network

This is an umbrella organization which will bring together eleven institutions industrial, government and academic (Bangor, Bristol, BT, Cambridge, DRA Malvern, Edinburgh, Hewlett-Packard Labs, Imperial College, Oxford, Southhampton and York). The network will encompass Quantum algorithms and quantum algorithmic complexity, Error-correcting codes and fault tolerant computation, Entanglement and non-locality, Quantum teleportation and distributed computing, Quantum communication and channel capacities, Quantum cryptography, Foundational aspects of quantum computing and Experimental realizations of quantum computers and feasibility studies.

http://www.maths.bris.ac.uk/QCN/

Quantum Information Processing Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration

http://www.qipirc.org/

Quantum Information Processing & Communications - Network of Excellence
QUIPROCONE is proposed by a consortium of major European Research Groups in QIPC. Each group has expertise in one or more aspects of QIPC.

http://www.quiprocone.org/quipmain.htm

Bangor University - Quantum Optics and Information Group http://www.informatics.bangor.ac.uk/~nemoto/group/group.html

Oxford - Center for Quantum Computing

http://www.qubit.org/

University of Cambridge - Centre for Quantum Computing

http://cam.qubit.org./

University of Hertfordshire - Theoretical Quantum Physics Group

http://strc.herts.ac.uk/tp/

China: Key Laboratory of Quantum Information

http://lqcc.ustc.edu.cn/en/

Japan: ERATO Quantum Computation and Information

http://www.qci.jst.go.jp/index.html.en

Frontier Research System, RIKEN - Digital Materials Lab

http://www.qci.jst.go.jp/index.html.en

Frontier Research System, RIKEN - Macroscopic Quantum Coherence Lab http://www.riken.go.jp/engn/r-world/research/lab/frontier/quantum/coherence/index.html

Russian Fed: Russian Academy of Sciences - Quantum Computer Physics Lab

http://qc.ipt.ac.ru/english/news.html

Singapore: Quantum Lah

http://www.physics.nus.edu.sg/~quantum/

Australia: ARC Special Research Centre for Quantum Computer Technology

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/postgrad_book/quantum.html

Macquarie University, Sydney - Quantum Optics and Informatics

http://www.physics.mq.edu.au/~barry/theory/quaptics.html

Quantum Technology Lab - University of Queensland

http://www.quantinfo.org

The University of Queensland - Quantum Information Group

http://www.qinfo.org/

New Zealand: Quantum Error Correction Project

http://homepage.mac.com/dglynn/quantum_files/Personal3.html

Canadian Quantum Research Activities Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo

http://www.iqc.ca/

Quantum Information Processing Program - At CIAR

http://www.ciar.ca/

Quantum Materials Program - at CIAR

http://www.ciar.ca/ Quantum Works

http://http://www.quantumworks.ca//

U of Waterloo Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
http://www.perimeterinstitute.com/

Centre for Applied Cryptographic Research (CACR)
http://www.cacr.math.uwaterloo.ca/

Quantum Computation at NRC Institute for Microstructural Sciences http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/randd/areas/nanotechnology_e.html

Quantum Information and Quantum Control (QIQC)
http://qubit.chem.utoronto.ca/QIQC-Toronto.html

University of Calgary - Quantum Computing Research Group
http://www.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/Research/quantum/

Universite McGill - Labo de Crypto et Info Quantique
http://crypto.cs.mcgill.ca/index.html.fr

National Research Council of Canada (NRC)
Quantum Theory Group at the Institute for Microstructural Sciences
http://www.sao.nrc.ca/ims/qt/qt-e.html

University of Montreal - Laboratory for Theoretical and Quantum Computing
http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/labs/theorique/index.html.en

McMaster University, Prof. Brian King
http://physun.mcmaster.ca/%7Ekingb/King_B_h.html

University of Toronto, Aephraim Steinberg
http://helios.physics.utoronto.ca/people/faculty/aephraim.html

University of Toronto, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and Department of Physics Research areas: Quantum Cryptography, Quantum Information Theory, Quantum Computing http://www.comm.utoronto.ca/~hklo/

University of British Columbia
Quantum Structures and Information Cluster
http://www.physics.ubc.ca/CRC/quantum.html

UBC (Vancouver UEL) Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory (AMPEL) http://www.science.ubc.ca/~ampel/

TRIUMF - ISAC facility

http://www.triumf.ca/isac/isac_home.html

Universite de Sherbrooke

http://www.dmi.usherb.ca/~dmayers/Article/Informatique Quantique.htm

D-Wave Systems Inc.

An international leader in the development of quantum computers http://www.dwavesys.com

SFU (Burnaby) Pacific Centre for Advanced Materials and Microstructures https://www.sfu.ca/physics/PCAMM/PCAMM.htm

Compound Semiconductor Laboratory (CSDL)
http://www.css.sfu.ca/sites/csdl/

BCIT (Burnaby) Technology Centre
http://www.tc.bcit.ca/

Genome BC (Vancouver)
http://www.bcgsc.bc.ca/

Genome Sciences Centre (Vancouver)
http://www.bccrc.ca/gsc/?h

UVic (Victoria) Genome BC Proteomics Centre
http://www.proteincentre.com/

U of A in partnership with NRC (Edmonton) National Institute for Nanotechnology
http://www.nint.ca/

U of Saskatoon Canadian Light Source, Inc
http://www.cls.usask.ca/