IZEA (formerly PayPerPost) has soft launched their new social network for “posties” Social Spark.
Social Spark brings the PayPerPost scheme into a candy colored social network. There’s little need to describe all the features as there’s nothing really innovative: think MySpace or Facebook but in bright colors. The key difference is the focus on shilling; center stage is offers for paid posting, including most popular offers and most recent. Each offer includes which members of PayPerPost/ SocialSpark recently visited it and posties can leave props for each offer.
One thing that did surprise me is that SocialSpark is also offering “sponsorship opportunities.” These would appear to be as they suggest, simple place a box on your site and get paid sponsorships that would be entirely legitimate and without moral qualms to most people.
The key difference to PayPerPost before it is that offers taken up in SocialSpark must include link=nofollow links, start with a disclosure, and should be neutral in tone: still shilling, but less evil.
The service is currently in closed alpha testing and running behind schedule (it was originally scheduled for a January launch) so perhaps this explains the complete lack of offers available on the site. Most of the paid opportunities come from IZEA itself and not third party advertisers.
SocialSpark isn’t my thing (nor Michael’s), but others may disagree. Screen shots as follows:
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OW MY EYEZ
Looks FABULOUS to me!! SocialSpark is da bomb!!
You guys seriously need to get new hobbies and stop with all the bashing of Izea. You all are probably just jealous you guys didn’t come up with the concept first. -_-”
If you could take off your hatred-tinted glasses for a moment and really take a look at what they’ve done with Social Spark, you’d probably be impressed. Most of the stuff that you used to cry about has been answered, and yet you still find reasons to hate it.
They’re quietly rolling out a very strong and powerful platform that has a lot of potential for bloggers who want to make some money with their site(s). To me it’s just a more transparent bridge between advertisers and bloggers, with a good analytics system and a competing measurement method to Google’s Pagerank, which IZEA calls “Realrank”.
It’s not a “social network” in any way resembling Facebook or MySpace… where the hell did you come up with that one anyway? If it resembles anything, currently out there on the social side of things, I would say it was the community features that MyBlogLog offers.
What a half-assed post. Next time at least look at more than a screenshot before you write.
I am very excited about the upcoming launch of SocialSpark. The project has proven to be a larger undertaking than we originally anticipated, but the results are truly ground breaking.
We have specifically addressed the concerns that you and others have voiced in the past, which you mention above.
1) All sponsored posts require human and machine readable disclosure inside each individual post. This is fully auditable and exceeds all standards set by WOMMA or the FTC.
2) All sponsored posts carry the “no-follow” tag so as not to influence search engine results.
3) All sponsored posts are neutral in tone, meaning the blogger can say whatever they want and get paid.
As a blog who regularly does “thank our sponsors” posts I am sure we can all agree on the power of sponsored content.
The real power of SocialSpark lies in the open network of bloggers and advertisers. Advertisers are able to target blogs based on conversational topics and make cash sponsorship offers to the bloggers who publish them. Bloggers can make money by either placing display advertisements on their blog or by writing sponsored content. The sponsorships offered through the SocialSpark marketplace allow advertisers to build buzz, generate traffic and maximize social media exposure.
If you are interested in getting an Alpha Key to the system you can sign up at http://www.socialspark.com
Enough Rounded Corners?
The interface looks really bubbly and user friendly. Looks like a great site to me.
While you are it please check out my site for ways to earn money online http://www.mikesmoneyclub.blogspot.com
I have seen this news on M a r r y M i l l i o n a i r e . C o m. it is just an online celeb dating site,but many hot girls and guys were interested in it.
Michael, I once got very stung for plugging my site when it was irrelevant to the content. Though making money is a relevant aspect (I suppose).
Ted,
there are a lot of people on facebook and youtube who have thousands of subscribers. Is there any way that you could offer financial incentives to them? Or would they have to build up an audience from scratch on social spark? Perhaps you could create a social spark facebook add on which allowed people on facebook to earn money? Just a way out thought kind of. Had a few, see… that time of the evening.
Not bad looking, like the web 2.0 gel look, although in time it will probably be dated. I am still a little confused as to the difference between this and the pay per post site though.
Looks like a purty site (though… holy rounded corners batman), but the whole concept of “pay per post” still *feels* wrong. Maybe we’re just blogging purists though, and this is one of the future fates of the medium.
If a full disclosure is there, nofollow tags are utilized, and “any tone” is acceptable (caveat: imagine how much repeat buyers you’d get if you bashed the sponsor) - I guess it’s acceptable. Full transparency is the key to it all, and this seems to do exactly that.
If anyone would like to explore the system for themselves please message me through twitter (tedmurphy) and I will gladly provide you with a key.
2 & 3
seriously, have a cold shower, I wasn’t bashing the site and this isn’t a hate filled review: see my review on Buzzhead from the other day to see what a negative review looks like. This is probably the most positive post ever written about PPP on TC
@Chris,
The goal of SocialSpark is to be a monetization platform that encompasses all forms of social media. Facebook, YouTube and other platforms will be offered in the future.
“so perhaps this explains the complete lack of offers available on the site. Most of the paid opportunities come from IZEA itself and not third party advertisers
What part of closed alpha do you not understand? There isn’t any “perhaps” about it. Only a few advertisers have been allowed in, and we’re all there to test and let Ted and Izea know what we think. The few ops there are for testing purposes only so all of the bugs can be worked out in advance.
Colleen
which level of paid shill are you? Did you get paid for the comment?
Note to Matt Cutts if he reads this: check out this birds site: no disclosure on paid posts, serious SEO in text link manipulation…
@ 15. Duncan… LMAO. I am leery of anything that Ted puts his hands on.
I am going to give it a try. Met the CEO of IZEA, they hosted the After party for BarCamp Orlando, very good people. The users will drive where the product ends up going.
Wow. You’re never satisfied, are you?
@Duncan: I’ve been a long-time reader of yours pre-TC and a long-time advertiser, blogger and investor in IZEA. During that time, you’ve always struck me as a smart guy who does his homework.
I understand this was a limited private alpha review and maybe the pretty colors distracted you (as a diehard Gator, I really took issue with the Garnet & Gold influences), but you missed a bunch in your review. In particular, your focus on a postie social network really misses the mark — that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Your “nothing really innovative” comment got me thinking about some of SocialSpark’s innovations:
- 1st advertiser/brand/agency social network with direct publisher friending, blogrolls, street teams and a dashboard to manage diverse social media marketing efforts
- 1st face-based analytics: imagine goog analytics plus mybloglog (faces for visitors, not just recent readers) plus visitor demographics in one end-to-end analytics, ranking, marketing and blog monetization platform
- 1st 100% automated, in-post human disclosure, including audit tools to help publishers and advertisers verify compliance with key corporate or industry guidelines such as WOMMA’s Code of Ethics
- 1st 100% automated, in-post machine disclosure via “nofollow”, including audit tools to help publishers and advertisers verify compliance with key search engine policies such as Google’s quality guidelines
- 1st one-click blog sponsorship ad unit requiring no blog design/template editing to position the ad unit and provides 100% publisher approval to match brands to readers
- 1st clearinghouse for blog writer’s-block remedies called Sparks, providing organic post ideas such as inspiring charities, hot topics, etc.
You’re a smart guy and a good writer Duncan. I hope you’ll dig a little deeper as SocialSpark goes public. If, after digging into the public SocialSpark, you do not agree it represents a significant milestone in the evolution of social media marketing, I’ll buy you a pint of your favorite…
These days aren’t there too many social networking sites? Well..at this moment I feel its too early for me to comment anything about SocialSpark . But over a period of time I would love to see how many active users it has. And also which key services are they providing.
I used to dislike PPP about what they were doing. But I believe they are being proactive and working hard to fill the “dislike” and innovate. I am a bit impressed by their efforts.
But I won’t say I like them yet but sure appreciate their efforts. And if they keep going this way, I believe they can get the hearts of general public back.
but if i were them, i will kill PPP totally and focus on new products from scratch. As long as they are associated with PPP, ppl hesitate.
First of all, the whole concept of IZEA misses the point. There’s not that much money in the entire blogosphere so why believe that you’re going to aggregate a bunch of shitty mommy bloggers and make a business out of it? That’s like saying, “If I could get every person in the world who lives under $1 a day to buy my $0.01 per day toothpaste, I’d be a millionaire.” Well guess what, go ahead and try!
Second of all, the IZEA VC on here just makes a total fool of himself. We all know Duncan Riley is generally known as the low man on the totem pool in terms of intelligence, wit, and writing ability. I guess he’s still above Ted Murphy and VC Dan.
Dan
always happy to take another look. The reference though was in terms of the standard feature set: friends, profiles etc etc… nothing against the site, it’s become my nearly standard way of describing the obvious parts of a social network in a post (and my god there are so many of them that offer the same thing, we’d publish one in 50 if that). If you follow past that you’ll see I then say that where it’s different…. but cool, happy to take the feedback on board, also given it was put in a reasonable way as well. Others should take not: play the ball not the man, it makes you look better
“Social Media Marketing”
Please, stay the hell out of my social media. How you got into my social network in the first place, I have no idea. But the second you market to me, you get the golden boot
“Start your blog now: the first 14 days are free”
It look like they’re going to charge later on.
@Ted and @Dan -
Dan, your list of First’s got me thinking too.
I was thinking that if you really think that Izea was first on all those fronts, then you haven’t been in the social media market very long.
Clearly Izea is operating on the “if you build it, they will come” principle.
Maybe we will, and maybe we won’t - but one thing is for sure, you cannot just waltz into the social media space, drop a new service, and expect people to immediately love you for doing so.
If that is your thinking, perhaps you should target the 13 to 18 year olds over on MySpace or Xanga.
In the end, all that you have created is JASMS (Just Another Social Media Site).
As a developer, trust me, I understand the amount of time and energy that you have put into this project, but you will definitely need to tone down your message.
@Michael Bailey
The creation of SocialSpark was driven by user demand and feedback from our existing network of over 150,000 bloggers and 16,000 advertisers. It’s not so much “If you build it, they will come” as it is “If you listen, they will spend”. While SocialSpark incorporates a wide variety of social networking tools at its core it is a marketplace. We are operate a business designed from the ground up to generate revenue. This isn’t a social network simply slapping some ads up.
The platform does include many firsts, and is certainly the first time that all of these concepts have been brought together for the purpose of social media monetization.
Would you like to pay me for my comment Duncan, or should I send Ted an invoice? Oh, never mind, you’re so darn cute, consider it a freebie from me to you, luv!
My confusion in this product is people are comparing it to Facebook, Myspace and the likes. How is it like that? Let me explain:
Facebook and Myspace started as a free network driven by users who sign up and use the service with very little advertising involved. Once the membership grew into the millions, then they attempted to slowly slip ads into the mix. Let’s face it, the general user hates advertising no matter how you shape, form or present it.
Social spark is put together backwards with relation to other successful social projects. The whole platform is built around advertising which is supposed to bring the masses. No one has ever put together something like this.
While I think these guys are up against the great wall of China, especially with all their previous haters from PPP, but truthfully no one has ever put together something like this in the method they are doing. With that in mind, I think anyone that has doubts about it, pure opinion. Just alike, if you have complete optimism, pure opinion.
Me? I just don’t see it being that huge of a business platform. It will get a lot of press just because of who they are, but social is about being social, it’s not about money. I think the ad money in facebook and myspace is HORRIBLE and it caters only to branding style campaigns. If social spark can tap into the conversion model for small to mid companies, they might have gold.
signed, Realist
@ 29 Confused
Exactly. Where is the money?
Got it Duncan. That’s all a guy can ask…
BTW, the various innovations in SocialSpark are not an all-or-nothing package for members. If someone just wants face-based analytics for their blog to see the faces/profiles/demographics of visitors going back weeks or months, but not interested in monetizing their blogging efforts, SocialSpark provides that. Likewise, if someone just wants to share a good cause in hopes the network of bloggers will spread the word via organic posts, that is possible via Sparks with no cost/payments. Finally, if marketers just want to explore an open view of the blogosphere or particular niches, including open analytics, profiles, geographies and demographics for tons of blogs, SocialSpark makes that possible without launching any campaigns.
Thanks for the coverage Duncan and keep the feedback coming to make SocialSpark better…
Social Spark seems an assured success for the very simple reason that it gives thousands of people a very easy way to turn their hobby into money. This type of “free agent” relationship between bloggers and advertisers seems to me to represent the archetype of the emerging economy for online media.
@25 — SocialSpark is free. That would be a banner ad for TypePad.
I wonder how much TechCrunch got paid to complain about Social Spark and “mommy bloggers”? Hmmm.
Seems like a severe case of jealousy to me, judging by the wild-eyed nonsensical accusations and the rabid blobs of foam streaking across the page…
Works for me as an advertiser. There’s only ever a point in going for bloggers that retain a good and attentive audience (they’re the best traffic), so the closer I get to know where a placement will go, the easier it is to judge its quality.
I have been using it, just recently received my golden key.
I must say I think it is going to be awesome.