MySpace: Why We Block Widgets

Makes sense to me. I usually don’t care for anything MySpace does, but they’ve got a point. If people can’t follow their TOS, then they have every right (and even some obligation) to enforce it.

I agree with them. Their TOS exists for a reason. Anyone would expect people to follow theirs.

And any company thinking about making a living off another company, better have a deal - but I thought that was a given.

Its always important to read the TOS first. If you don’t agree with them, then you can simply avoid the site. In this case I side with MySpace - its up to the users to read the TOS and adhere to them.

that pr response is just myspace putting out their ‘happy face’ for the public

behind that smiley face they’re devicing someway to not allow third party widget co.s to not ride their coattails of success w/o not passing some of that buck back to myspace

Expect Myspace to sell licenses to widget makers wanting their product on myspace + be bound to a TOS.

I have no reason other than my gut to believe this. Myspace is going to want to be paid something for the wealth creation of others.

Imagine if ebay disallow all other 3rd party services and widgets to their pages. Imagine if Apple prevents other companies to piggy back on iTunes’ success?

“…or engages in commercial activity.”

any widget that produces a link to an external site could, if advertising is sold on the linked site, or commercial services are offered, technically be construed as a “commercial activity.”

almost all widgets provide some sort of branding that could technically fall into this category as well. “commercial activity” is a very broad statement, so it seems it will come down to how liberally they want to apply it.

I did find Peter’s comment interesting when he said that (besides the fact that Web 2.0 extends beyond photo sharing). To be brutally honest, MySpace owes part of their success to the companies that build widgets - it’s a two-way street. MySpace never had their own video player in the beginning, and still has horrible content-sharing capabilities. The third-party widgets like the ones from Rock You give otherwise simple profiles the flair that made the service interesting to it’s audience.

That said, their TOS seems pretty clear. I do hope for their sake they aren’t planning on banning all third-party apps, however. Though, one could argue that almost every one of their users would experience signifigant switching costs due to the network, so any strategy they adopt is unlikely to drive many people away…

Yahoo should totally have bought Userland so that it could compete with MySpace!!

Dave: “Had we done the deal, it seems Yahoo might today compete with News Corp’s MySpace.”

MySpace will not block all widgets because as Andrew says (#8) they owe their success to the kind of openness that allows people to share their portable content. But they don’t want to be a platform for someone else’s ad sales and we all understand that. I think MySapce can’t go too far with this or the social networking sites that do allow more openness will begin to eat at their market share.

Companies such as SplashCast and AdBrite have similar issues when (if) they violate terms of service by stripping content from YouTube and others to put their own branding, own links and potentially own ads onto video streams.

This whole area is interesting to watch and, like the fight over copyright, is one big game of chicken.

As usual, when the horse’s mouth actually speaks on said subject, it makes complete since compared to the article posted a few days ago.

My space is being short “sited” (its so bad…its funny..c’mon admit it) here.

Micrsoft didn’t get to be world’s overlord…errr leading OS, by blocking (most) other people’s app’s for Windows, they encouraged the developer even paid them to develop for their platform.

If I were them I would open up the platform to eveyone…and why not… ultimately if the user wants the widget…they will find a place to use it…someplace OTHER than Myspace. They should not be so confident that they own the user’s experience… The next soc networking site is a click away.. if their users want this bad enough…they will get it….one way or another.

Sounds like a card blanche for web 2.0 VCs to pour millions into widgets now! Terms are now set explicitly! The fact that ads are not allowed should not matter- after all, not a single VC funded web 2.0 company has made a cent yet, and most never will, so why burden with these mundane details?

Yeah, makes sense. I think it’s pretty devious of Revver to attempt to create a user outcry against MySpace’s perfectly reasonable non-commercial stipulation.

At no time did I read on Revver’s blog that MySpace “told them we were going to block them if they continued to sell ads on our pages”.

Very sneaky.

Revver should be cutting a deal with the to split their revenue, simple as that.

mySpace is right…this is why widgets are stupid.

JavaScript and Flash widgets pose far too many unforeseen security threats, both for the web site audience, as well as the web application running the widget.

I for one, would much rather parse data from SOAP/REST APIs and create my own widgets, rather than include some 3rd party widget w/ (possibly) malicious JavaScript or Flash ActionScript.

One last thought…..so I make a video, I post to on Revver cause I want some money for it. Then I decide to put it on my myspace profile why should I have to host it on another site that doesn’t give me anyone money for showing my video?

Seriously I am amazed at the anti-interoperability crowd here….so Revver makes some money with there advertising… instead of outright banning them MY should offer its own competing service. What next ban photos what don’t explicitly display the myspace logo?

Seriously… you all know this is just silly greediness on Myspace’s part.

’security (and privacy) threats’

Privacy in the sense that widgets allow 3rd party widget-providers to log, analyze, and profit from collecting data regarding users on your site.

Have you guys been on MySpace lately? When you create an account you just get spam messages from everyone and his dog selling affiliate products. You then get comments with massive links that you can’t delete, also for affiliate products. MySpace’s days are over. Time for someone else to take over.

I find it pretty hilarious that News Corp COO’s states

“If you look at virtually any Web 2.0 application, whether its YouTube, whether it’s Flickr, whether it’s Photobucket or any of the next-generation Web applications, almost all of them are really driven off the back of MySpace.”

It’s not only totally US-centric but also MySpace-centric! In a sense, MySpace exists THANKS to all those services, and what users post. The main added-value (that is also debatable) is the linking with friends (or semi-anonymous attention-starved individuals).

Does MySpace really things there is nothing AFTER MySpace? They should give a call to their Friendset buddies…

If a service comes up that can easily port content from a MySpace users’ page (which a smart developer could do) and offers just a slightly better design (which your little cousin could do), I bet many would be happy to move from a service that is becoming increasingly arrogant.

When you come to think you’re at the center of the world, it’s time to check if you’re not orbiting around something…

C’mon Mikey, I think in no way is myspace ‘looking for excuses’ to block widgets. From their response it sounds pretty cut and dry - follow the TOS and you’ll be cool.

I do agree however that they should just release their own API if they are not discouraging the creation of third party widgets.

For now, MySpace is saying they have no plans to charge widget providers for distribution rights on their site. But it is clear that if they can find an excuse to ban them, they will.

hmm…might be on to something mikey ole boy!

Does anyone else get the feeling that MySpace, with their massive audience of eyeballs, is simply waiting around for someone else to figure out how to monetize all that traffice in a more efficient way then just indirect ads? I think it’s just a matter of time until we see a MySpace Widgets Team that helps shepherd ideas into paying products. For example, they could allow Payloadz style embedding and take a cut of every P2P transaction between users…

Nothing to see but a reactionary tard trying to make a story where there is none. Move along..

@24 - Thanks for stopping by. I’m sure we all feel much better knowing that our interest in new and interesting developments with increasingly popular (and by extension, increasingly powerful) companies is a waste of time.

wouldn’t it be smarter to just partner up with these sites rather than block them? obviously myspace doesn’t give a hoot about their community, because there many thousands of people enjoying ask a ninja, ze frank, and lonelygirl15 who happen to use their site.

are they a destination site where people can express themselves? obviously not.

@ Benjamin

“When you come to think you’re at the center of the world, it’s time to check if you’re not orbiting around something…”

Woo hoo! I’ll second that!

i disagree with myspace for the most part. They’re destroying the ecosystem they helped build. but anyways, if you REALLY want your widget/video on your myspace page…..

Use photobucket. just create a swf the same size as the widget/video that you’re trying to embed. Write AS to load that swf. Upload it to photobucket and embed that into your myspace page. That was easy. I have a Stickam widget on my page that i embedded a few weeks ago.

shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

While I don’t disagree with the action taken by Myspace, I wonder just how in violation of their TOS a widget has to be to get banned. I mean, YouTube is still having issues with copyrighted material, and Slide still enables the distribution of porn, but both of these widgets still seem to function on Myspace. Does the potential uproar of Myspace users play a part in their decision making, so only small scale widgets are going down because there will be less trouble?

MySpace owes ALL of their success to the companies that build widgets.

Honestly?

I hope all the myspace resource and widget sites start focusing on zooped.com. I have an beta account with zooped.com, They took everything thats great about myspace and corrected everything that’s wrong with it.

I think they’d be missing a huge opportunity if they decide not to implement some pay-for-inclusion system for widgets. They could make money based upon “certification” and usage (perhaps CPM). They could even offer a more expensive option that allows in-widget advertising, assuming this doesn’t conflict with their agreements with Google and other advertisers.

I think this is ideal for all parties. MySpace gets to leverage the popularity of its service to create an additional revenue stream. End users get increased security (in theory at least) because MySpace is certifying the widgets it allows. And if you’re a widget company, this forces you to come up with a viable business model sooner than later. If MySpace did implement a system where, for a premium, widget companies could display ads within their widgets, those companies able to successfully arbitrage the price they pay MySpace and the price they can get advertisers to pay to display ads in their widgets will have a viable business model. Those that can’t would go out of business eventually anyway.

yeah really it seems like 90% of TC users agree with Myspace on this one.

- They have a right to ask “Please dont put ads on MY site” ..

- Kind of like, “Please don’t put your garage sale sign on my front lawn”

-rb

I don’t think I’ve ever read a TOS in my life. I just click “accept” automatically. Guess I’d better start or keep handing over my paycheck to the legal guys…

Photobucket.com is genius. They don’t use javascript which can easily be blocked by myspace. Instead they use plain and simple HTML. If companies want to “ride the back of myspace” then they will have to come up with a fun application for myspace users that only involves HTML. Personally I don’t blame myspace for blocking widgets. They are making everyone these widget companies money and probably not getting a dime of it.

It makes sense but to be honest who ever reads the TOS’s?

What about people who want to put vflyer’s widget of their craigslist post on their myspace page? isnt that ‘commerical activity’? I think a class action lawsuit would get myspace to clarify it’s TOS. Check out this mashable article of the same day: http://mashable.com/2007/02/26/vflyer/

So not reading TOS automatically exempts you from any legal worries. Sounds like a sure bet to me.

Just to be clear about a few things here: Revver does not sell advertising on Myspace’s pages, we sell advertising against videos that are uploaded to the Revver site or one of our affiliated sites. Where the videos are distributed is up to our users. Interestingly enough, our system is built in such a way that we also split revenue with folks — and sites — who share “Revverized” videos. We could very easily include Myspace (or any other site) in that arrangement, so that they’d earn money for every Revverized video uploaded to their site. We’ve already provided this option to Myspace and look forward to continuing the discussions about how we might work together.

Regarding our rallying our users to build an “outcry against myspace,” this wasn’t sneaky at all. We were simply responding to our community who were looking for a way to get in touch with Myspace to express their wishes. As Myspace users, they have all the right in the world to tell Myspace they want to be able to use Revver there.

We firmly believe that creators of online video should have the opportunity to earn some money from their work. Even more importantly, they should be able to choose a video hosting service with creator-friendly TOS.

One more thing - what ISN’T an ad on myspace? The whole site was built to help bands promote themselves, no?

Sad that in the middle of the Web 2.0 build out, people are still trying to create and maintain walled gardens. Human nature, I suppose….

The very openness of myspace is what contributed to its success early on. You could paste everything into your own digital whiteboard…

The more myspace tries to AOL themselves, the more their users will leave… Sure - it may work for 18 months or so - enough to earn the fat bonuses, but users do not want to be corralled and prohibited from authoring the experience they want to project online.

The smart social networks will realize this and begin to differentiate themselves by marketing the fact that they are open platforms and the profiles are truly their users’ spaces.

Amazing to see what happens to companies when they get acquired by greedy media conglomerates… it’s like a bunch of 3 year olds in a room with one toy… mine! mine! mine!

Seems MySpace is hiding behind the TOS a bit and generalizing. That sweeping statement could be applied to just about every widget.

Let’s not forget that in the value-add chain sites like myspace add very very little to the value proposition. What they is an arbitrary meeting place that people have “chosen”. The reason myspace took off was simply that it had music embedded in the page. Which, btw, was an accidental feature, since the purpose was originally for bands to play their own songs. You could farm out to India the coding of a site identical to myspace for less than a few grand. (and it would probably be better written) The hubris of Peter’s statement is laughable.

Let’s not forget that myspace is still blocking all outgoing links on _all_ widgets. TOS and security have nothing to do with with that - seems like they think outgoing traffic is a bad thing as Chernin confirms. You’d think they’d realise that the less they encourage outgoing traffic, the less reason anybody has to use the site. Couple that with the fact that their entire success is based on being the main venue and you couldn’t design a better process for sending their business the way of geocities.

Why is myspace so popular, I find myspace to be very messy, loading sucks and I have so many errors trying to do the simplest things such as accepting friend requests. I only use myspace to send out bulletins now and use Bebo to keep in contact with friends, I find bebo to be clean and fast loading with some very cool features that work very well.

Myspace is probably one of the worst sites to fall under the Web 2.0 banner. It may have kick-started social networks in a way, but there’s plenty of sites that do the same thing but better and with more class and style. The only problem is the userbase of 12-year old girls who don’t give a f— about Web 2.0, or decently-crafted websites for that matter.

For Myspace to claim that it has, essentially, propelled Web 2.0 all by itself is a crime. Especially not when most Myspace pages harken back to the middle ages of sites like Geocities and Tripod…

>One more thing - what ISN’T an ad on myspace? The whole site was built >to help bands promote themselves, no?

No, it wasn’t Micki - band profiles didnt even exist until a year after MySpace’s launch. And MySpace lets every user BLOCK bands friend requests, because they were sensitive to the fact that bands may go overboard trying to market themselves. There’s 155 million myspace profiles, and less than 1 million of them are bands.

I’m curious about this story, which came out today:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200.....ce_hacking

2 guys who seem (by the general wording of the article) to have written a Flash-based MySpace visistor analytics widget were sued in criminal court for computer trespassing ? Can anyone shed light on this strange story ?

Calvin - Very well stated. I agree 100%

Maybe it’s really because they are run by the same company that gives that asshole, O’Reilly, airtime.

Jocular, thanks for the clarification. My point is that Myspace has become a huge promotional tool for everything from bands to companies to videobloggers. Whatever the ratio, I know the vast majority of friend requests I receive are promotional in nature. Where is the line when determining the definition of “commercial activity?”

Revver is a heck of a lot more than a widget and our business model was certainly not built on the back of myspace. What’s important to us is that our users are able to share their videos as widely as possible and to promote their work on myspace.

I hope myspace and flickr don’t block my image captioning widget http://www.captionbubble.com