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April 30, 2008

Robert Scoble Sell Out Complete

Michael Arrington

73 comments »

Update to our January post: Super blogger Robert Scoble, who has argued that having advertisements on blogs destroys trust, added advertisements to his blog today along with a redesign. At least it’s clear now who scratches Scoble’s back - Seagate.

One thing I do like - the FriendFeed widget that shows his activity stream and comments from readers.

  • Sphere It

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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  1. Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger » Blog Archive I’ve redesigned «

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:18 pm

  2. Robert Scoble Sell Out Complete · Buwin Technology

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  3. Marc’s Voice » Blog Archive » final April '08 blog post

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  4. Totálně zaprodaný Robert Scoble

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  5. Advertisements on Blogs « TechTicker

    May 14th, 2008 at 4:59 am

Comments

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  1. Adam Hyman

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

    Ouch!

  2. Oh boy...

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:36 pm

    Now he can eat his words all the way to the bank…

  3. markzero

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    Well played.

  4. orangedog

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    Wikipedia is next…

  5. Oh boy...

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    BTW - much better site design for his new blog. That old site looked like something my Grandma would build… Geeks aren’t always designers. And that’s doubly so for “older” (post 20’s) geeks. Maybe he finally hired a real designer?

  6. Mitch

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:40 pm

    Nothin wrong with making money.

  7. Erik Bruchez

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    Who sees online ads anyway?

    -Erik

  8. Azhar

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    So what we can learn from this is, “Never Trust a Blogger”.

  9. Adam Jackson

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    It wouldn’t be so bad if he had not gone on record regarding ads in the past. Ads are everywhere, just get an ad blocker if it’s too much.

  10. ceejayoz

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:41 pm

    “Nothin wrong with making money.”

    I don’t think that was Arrington’s point.

  11. William Waddell

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:43 pm

    Do people still read that guy? At a $100 CPM, maybe he’ll make a $100.

  12. Matt

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:45 pm

    http://friendfeed.com/embed

    why are people acting like robert scoble somehow had this made for him…. this has been around people.

  13. Adam Hyman

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    @11. I don’t read Scoble any more. Do you?

  14. boop

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

    at leas their site doesn’t look like ads threw up all over it like techcrunch. you guys just stick shit anywhere.

  15. boop

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    at leas their site doesn’t look like ads threw up all over it like techcrunch. you guys just stick em anywhere.

  16. Ben

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:49 pm

    Hello, Federated Media - I am looking for that site that had the Cheesecake Factory Coupons on it - right, I want to will trade 10K imps on Scoble for 5K imps on TC - yes - oh, I see - yes - ok, then I will call Google directly - no, no, thank you - bye

  17. Adam Hyman

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

    I think TechCrunch’s ads are fine.

    With ads you have to put them between important text….. otherwise no one will see them!

  18. ConsumerPassion

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:51 pm

    Man, what an improvement. Nice looking blog … Scoble should be proud. And the ONE advertiser on his site is no big woop. Hats off to him and best wishes. Mother of pearl, we all say things and change our minds later.

  19. Robert Scoble

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    #18: thanks for the support. I think having ads does pollute some thinking. I still do. Anyone who takes money from someone else and says they aren’t affected by that relationship is probably lying. But, on the other hand, taking that money lets me go around the world and find interesting new companies and people to video.

  20. Ted Murphy

    April 30th, 2008 at 1:58 pm

    I like the redesign. Happy to see that Scoble is finally monetizing his blog : )

  21. ori

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:03 pm

    a

  22. Steve

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:09 pm

    I believe that at his age we would be wise enough to know that what
    goes around comes around.
    But there is a purpose and it needs a motive.

  23. Tom Blue

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:10 pm

    This is coming from a guy who gauged his readers asking $2500 a ticket to view new company demos at TC40. Some didn’t even have a place to sit.

  24. Andy Gongea

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:15 pm

    Two thumbs up for the widget - full hand down for the redesign

  25. Wart Removal

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:17 pm

    it’s his right to make some cash… surely there’s nothing wrong with a guy making money right?

  26. Matt

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:18 pm

    One ad isn’t bad, and I think Scoble should get paid for his hard work. It is a lot better than the 10+ ads on the right hand side of this page. It is almost like the right side of this page is sadly blinking for attention. Please look at me, please.

  27. Jesus H Christ

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:19 pm

    word on the street is, he has a thing for under aged girls. you didn’t hear it from me

  28. Jack

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:21 pm

    Mike - how do you hang out with fellow bloggers after making postings like this?

  29. Robert Scoble

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:21 pm

    Jesus: I also like kissing guys. There’s photos of that out there too.

  30. Robert Scoble

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:22 pm

    Jack: we’re driving to the movie theater together tonight. Maybe Jesus will start saying I like Mike. :-)

  31. Lars Fischer

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:25 pm

    I never click on the ads.

  32. Sol Young

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:26 pm

    Mike, did you read Scoble’s article before linking to it and saying “Robert Scoble, who has argued that having advertisements on blogs destroys trust”?

    Scoble wasn’t arguing that… At its worst, his entry reads:

    Cause there isn’t a business model on my blog. It’s why I’m turning down free stuff now, why I don’t have ads here, etc.

    It’s a little screwy that he’s using doubleclick - no doubt - but his argument wasn’t of the form that he’d avoid using ads because of trust. His argument was that being in it only for the money is a mistake.

    Sol Young
    http://solyoung.com
    http://twitter.com/sol

  33. me

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    The concept of “selling out” is only meaningful for teenagers angry that their favorite bands are getting popular. The rest of the adult population should get over it, it’s called taking care of your shit at that age.

  34. ConsumerPassion

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    #28

    It’s not personal, it’s business. Go to the mattresses. Maunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday … leave the gun, take the Mike and Ikes tonight.

  35. EH

    April 30th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    Is it even possible for someone to sell-out on purpose? The historical sense of sellout that I’m familiar with says that selling out is done contrary to the sellout’s existing goals. “Sellout’s” antonym would be “par for the course,” which makes much more sense here. That he’s a late bloomer to the blog ads makes no difference.

  36. BR

    April 30th, 2008 at 3:40 pm

    The cycle from preacher to convert to alleged hypocrite to acceptance has accelerated like everything else. Bottom line: if you can monetize, then as long as you disclose your conflicts, good for you!

  37. ajadoniz

    April 30th, 2008 at 3:40 pm

    LEAVE SCOBLE ALONE! (quick, someone make a video)

  38. Jared

    April 30th, 2008 at 3:50 pm

    http://www.penny-arcade.com/ has the best advertising model I’ve seen on a regularly updated website (it is blog-ish). They only advertise games that they personally think are worthwhile, and there have been some high-profile instances where they flatly turned down money from large game companies because they found the games mediocre and couldn’t in good conscience recommend them to their fans.

    I guess the point is that as a blogger, ads are not a bad thing if you are clear up front that the products or services being advertised are truly recommended by you. This model is great for advertisers as well, since the bond of trust formed (and the personal recommendation from someone who, being regularly watched, is in a sense a celebrity) should theoretically lead to higher click-through.

  39. Big Bob

    April 30th, 2008 at 4:12 pm

    Sell out? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

    If you think taking ads is a bad thing, why are you reading TechCrunch?

  40. Tim

    April 30th, 2008 at 4:22 pm

    Ads? Are you all surfing with Internet Explorer 5 or something?

  41. Devin

    April 30th, 2008 at 4:44 pm

    People who get pissed about others selling out are the one that don’t have to worry about money. I mean I know Scoble puts in more hours than most people do at their jobs - what is he supposed to do? accept donations?

  42. Ivan Pope

    April 30th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

    I worry more about people who think Twitter is a replacement for blogging. It’s obvious Robert burned out of blogging a while back - the blog is a shadow of its former self. But who can make sense or did deep in Twitter?

  43. Gary LaPointe

    April 30th, 2008 at 5:32 pm

    1) “Being in it for the money” and “Making money while you’re doing it” are really two different things. The first one gives up when not making money, the second doesn’t.

    2) Scoble has had a relationship with Seagate for a while. I think all his videos are “brought to you by Seagate”.

    3) And people can change their minds about things.

  44. Ryan Hupfer

    April 30th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

    He just really likes that picture of himself…that’s all I’m sayin’.

    I wonder what/who he was pointing to?

  45. acedanger

    April 30th, 2008 at 5:36 pm

    one of the funniest tweets I’ve seen in a while http://twitter.com/TechCrunch/statuses/800803580

  46. Greg Gerber

    April 30th, 2008 at 5:40 pm

    I find it strange that he uses DoubleClick to manage the ONE static ad on the site! haha

  47. jhofker

    April 30th, 2008 at 5:42 pm

    Maybe it’s just how I read what Michael says, but I read that in an incredibly tongue-in-cheek manner. (As in, he’s joking, folks)

    Or, maybe everyone completely gets the joke and is continuing the joke by adding to it and playing along! I’ve been had!

  48. lawrence

    April 30th, 2008 at 6:25 pm

    @Scoble

    you should have tooken that photo w/o a shirt

  49. Duncan Riley

    April 30th, 2008 at 6:55 pm

    the incorporation of the segate logo into the masthead is a classy touch.

  50. yongfook

    April 30th, 2008 at 7:12 pm

    I would suspect that Scoble isn’t actually earning direct revenue from this and it is more likely part of an overall advertising package that was offered to Seagate as part of their sponsorship deal with Fast Company TV.

  51. Webhosting Reality

    April 30th, 2008 at 7:25 pm

    It destroys trust if you’re selling body organs from less-developed countries. But if you’re promoting legitimate products that are useful for other people, advertising is in fact an economy booster.

  52. David

    April 30th, 2008 at 8:00 pm

    Hey Duncan - does Scoble have some nasty photos of Seagate executives or what?

  53. rambn

    April 30th, 2008 at 8:07 pm

    selling out is underrated

  54. insider

    April 30th, 2008 at 8:46 pm

    Seagate is leaving scoble

  55. Mauro

    April 30th, 2008 at 8:49 pm

    Seems that somebody has modified the default wp theme (Kubrick). Lazy designers…

  56. Scabr

    April 30th, 2008 at 9:12 pm

    Robert Scoble…Brilliant blogger!

  57. ron

    April 30th, 2008 at 9:36 pm


  58. ron

    April 30th, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    http://www.quantcast.com/scobl.....1&do=n

  59. vinay

    April 30th, 2008 at 11:00 pm

    A forum for each blog story would be better than this comments section. Currently this “comments” system is useless to visitors other than author. Arrington, hint me if you know any blog host that has forum (thread +replies) feature below each blog post. Thanks..

  60. Frank Church

    May 1st, 2008 at 2:10 am

    @Vinay, There are a ton of them (eg Engadget). Please go somewhere that you actually understand the culture and conventions.

  61. seeb

    May 1st, 2008 at 3:57 am

    Doesnt he remind you of that fat kid whos the enemy in Disney’s Incredibles ?

    http://filmi.punt.nl/upload/in.....ndrome.gif

  62. solacetech

    May 1st, 2008 at 6:47 am

    Friend Feed Widget????

  63. Steven C

    May 1st, 2008 at 7:05 am

    I never even noticed that her DID NOT have ads

  64. Jeremy Toeman

    May 1st, 2008 at 7:17 am

    Let’s see… blogging is his.. JOB and all. Shouldn’t he be allowed to do whatever he wants with the site, or more importantly, whoever’s paying for it? Scoble’s a great guy (whether or not you like his blog) and I think it’s appalling for a *profitable blog* to attack, even lightly, another blog for trying to make a profit.

  65. Dave

    May 1st, 2008 at 10:14 am

    A friend of mine and I had a brief discussion on Robert a few days ago. A question came up: what do you think Robert pulls down per year. Any rough ideas? 5 figures? 6 figures? 7?!?!

  66. Nick Braak

    May 1st, 2008 at 2:50 pm

    He should have sold out to S. A. P. (pause) tripods, Altoona PA

  67. madame l

    May 2nd, 2008 at 2:00 am

    those lobster sandwiches don’t come cheap. *cough pimp cough*

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