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May 6, 2008

Scoble Sellout Part Three? - Twitter Adverts

Mike Butcher

79 comments »

Here’s the third update to our January and April posts: Uber-blogger Robert Scoble, who in 2006 argued that having advertisements on blogs destroys trust, appears to be no longer content with… adding advertisements to his blog. Now he’s experimenting with Twittering adverts for perennial sponsor Seagate. He later twittered “I am just having a little fun getting a conversation about microblog advertising going”. That may be so but it will be interesting to see how the community reacts a) to Scoble’s move and b) the long-rumoured possibility of ads in Twitter feeds.

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Robert Scoble
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 3:10 am and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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Comments

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  1. Anthony

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:21 am

    Mike, you obviously have no sense of humor and I think you missed the point!

  2. Steven Finch

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:23 am

    Very interesting post. I like Scoble and im not too sure about him placing ads in his twitter account stream. Bit boring really.

  3. Joe

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:23 am

    I would have to agree.

  4. Mike Butcher

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:25 am

    Anthony - Actually you appear to have missed my irony. No matter. It’s still significant because - given that he has nearly 23,000 followers - Scoble’s move may be an interesting test case.

  5. Danny Sullivan

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:26 am

    Forgot Scoble. The question is why Twitter isn’t selling these directly themselves. Push one or two sponsored twits per day to everyone. Leave them off by default for those who get twits by text message. Allow anyone to opt-out. Funds the service, and if that makes it more stable, I for one wouldn’t complain.

  6. brent

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:27 am

    u gotta admit though that his normal pic does work perfectly with an endorsement message…. almost as if those hard-drives really do rock… hmmm
    i might just have to go get one now….. he looks like he’s rocking out with seagate.

  7. Kat Armstrong

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:33 am

    I disagree, Anthony. It had nothing to do with a sense of humor. Scoble tried it out, to guage the reaction he would get… covering it with a laugh. Can’t blame the man for trying. However, I think it’s tacky.

  8. 9ice

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:38 am

    Ha. The thing about money. :)

  9. Jonathan

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:44 am

    I’m currently running a poll (link here) to see how many people would be willing to pay £12 a year to use Twitter. Just over half of those that have done it say they would. This is a really interesting area to look at as people start to build their own networks and charge people to advertise through them. Next steps . . . Facebook profile pictures . . . Not sure how it could be controlled either. . .

  10. Mikael

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:46 am

    there is nothing wrong with bloggers promoting things. as long as the audience know they things being promoted are because they paid for it to be done. I hate it when there is a grey line ie Techcrunch were users often say ” is techcrunch covering that company because the company paid for it , or because techcrunch is friends with the founder/vc etc ).

  11. Dario Salvelli

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:48 am

    Do u know what is the Twitter business model (if the have someone)? Is the traffic users, i think. I don’t linke ads in a twit such as Pownce do and i don’t believe again in buzz marketing. Scoble say that Segate paid him for a short message advertising (that not only the 23k follower read, of course). Is this the future? Maybe people prefer forum and blogs review.

  12. Rachel

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:53 am

    It’s not so much will Twitter gets ads, but when. Look at the jp service. They have to cover costs somehow. I’m hoping they when they do, they go the way of Flickr, offering a subscription service with no ads

  13. Ara Pehlivanian

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:28 am

    Hah! Awesome! I say, “good on ya Scoble!” The guy spends that much energy online, he may as well make a buck or two doing it.

    And, ummm, is the pot calling the kettle black? Last time I checked, TechCrunch was a bit top-heavy with ads ;-)

  14. David Oxley

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:33 am

    @Dario, I think Twitter makes quite a bit of money, and all of it’s income, from the SMS updates … they get a cut of each message sent I believe.

  15. Sheryl Sisk Schelin

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:49 am

    @Ara Pehlivanian — I think the point is that Scoble previously came out with what was interpreted as a very anti-advertising hard line stance, and now is apparently into it.

  16. Loren Feldman

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:52 am

    Scoble Is Scared 

  17. Jim McNelis

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:03 am

    aside from this “test” i say put ads in the twitter stream, just clearly mark them.

    if scoble starts doing this for real though, i may not follow him anymore.

  18. Tobias Bray

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:05 am

    to @Jonathan - Ask the masses if they think Twitter integrates easily into their lives and they get value from it. The Early Adopters are all onboard with a product that is how old and yet to make the leap? TwitReal – an application that tracks the total number of twitter accounts, dormant (not used for a month or more), and actives (used more than once a week). Let the facts speak for themselves.
    I see some very solid applications for Twitter, but it needs to get into the mainstream very soon or it will be just another quasi-closed network.

  19. david

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:06 am

    Scobble is now too important not to follow… just like techcrunch.

  20. Owen Byrne

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:10 am

    Since just about everything he says is an advertisement, its nice to see disclosure.

  21. Matt

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:15 am

    It was bound to happen sooner or later. Who wouldn’t follow the lure of money.

    http://www.retailalley.blogspot.com

  22. Sonny

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:21 am

    I prefer Western Digital.

  23. Alex Gordon

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:24 am

    A user posting ads has opting out built right in — if followers don’t like it they can unfollow him in two hot seconds. Assuming he doesn’t want to destroy his network, which is what Twitter is all about, afterall, he won’t do too much of it either. Moreover, spammers won’t be able to move in because they won’t be able to build a following at all (unless there are some real masochists out there — or maybe the spammers could all follow each other?). Twitter/Twitter users are so fluid there’s a lot of protection built in.

    As far as Twitter-pushed ads go, I’d be happy to see a few a day if it helps make the site more robust. I only follow 66 people right now, but that’s still enough tweets per hour that I am generally running through them pretty quickly anyway and could easily gloss over several well-marked sponsor posts, as I do on Silicon Alley Insider etc. For Twitter to continue to grow I think it needs to remain free, so ad-supported is a much better model than subscription imo.

  24. Chris

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:38 am

    ADVERTISEMENT: This comment is sponsored by Tony the Tiger. Eat some Frosted Flakes Scoble! They’re Grrrrrreat!

  25. Ray

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:58 am

    I wonder how much Seagate are paying him to sell out :)

  26. David Klein

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:04 am

    Just ANOTHER reason to not follow Scoble.

  27. TedC

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:12 am

    Opt-in, opt-in, opt-in. Ads, straight up, won’t work on twitter; not in it’s current form. As a framework for service, it’s fine, but direct ad content, unfiltered, unanalyzed, and based on blanket impressions is 100% Fail.

  28. solacetech

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:13 am

    Ah yes a little R&D for Mr. Scoble the content King…Well whatever he does I’m sure will blaze the trail for others thinking about commercialism and Twitter/Blogs…

  29. TechTalk WRLR 98.3FM

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:17 am

    Is Scoble now willing to cling to any shreds of relevancy these days?

    Prior to this twitspam tantrum, Scoble has been overloading the wires with his tripe for some time now. I guess I’m using the “nobody eats there anymore - it’s too crowded” logic, but really, does anyone actually pay any attention to Rob?

    I don’t even hear him on TWiT anymore, and if even Leo can’t tolerate his shit … well, no sense dissing on Leo but you know what I’m saying! ;)

    BTW this is one of the BIIIIG downsides to twitter imho - you get to find out way too much about your internet ‘heroes’ personalities’ … without twitter, I would never have known that scoble was simply a chubby, attention-starved monomaniac whose super-ego had been surgically removed as a child. Now I have difficulty reading even his more salient posts simply because of this artificial context that my knowledge of his faults gives.

    ::sigh:: maybe we can just shut down the internet for a while today … let me have my dreams back.

  30. Jeff C

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:29 am

    #5 Danny

    Agree. Twitter should be rolling some AdTweets in everyone’s feed, just like Facebook has sponsored mentions in the Update feed. Wouldn’t turn me off at all. I’m sure some of the ads would be more interesting than 70 percent of the Tweets I scan.

    #16 In bed Feldman

    Fast Company has seen explosive growth (the magazine). More accurate to say FastCompany.TV is still getting it’s sea legs. I wouldn’t bet against it. Just needs time and the right mix of creative talent and content.

  31. Chris

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:43 am

    The funny part is that Scoble will gain more and more readers just because of these posts on TC about him. Plus his ads are just GENIUS.

  32. Chris

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:44 am

    Oh, and my 2 cents… They should call twitter ads “Twads.”

  33. MyMesh.com

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:49 am

    Nothing wrong with adverts… :?:

  34. jj

    May 6th, 2008 at 7:01 am

    I really enjoyed your above the board reporting. What does this have to do with your main purpose: drinking kool-aid 2.0

  35. Derk

    May 6th, 2008 at 7:04 am

    Ads are needed…

  36. Jeff C

    May 6th, 2008 at 7:05 am

    Do a deal with Warner Brothers. Have Tweety Bird as the official mascot for Twitter. And when Tweety appears in your stream, offering you a fat discount on some Twirrific! product … well, that’s entertainment, and that’s how I want my ads.

    http://tiny.cc/Tweety

  37. Masseratti

    May 6th, 2008 at 7:06 am

    We have plenty of PayPerPost from Arrington
    Now we will get PayPerTwitt from Scoble?

  38. Raskin

    May 6th, 2008 at 7:14 am

    Am I the only one who thinks Loren Feldman’s videos, while refreshing in their “no silicon valley BS, NYC attitude”, are also kinda scary in that “just woke up from Cinco do Mayo and this guy is in bed next to me talking about Robert Scoble” kind of way.

    It is this no-shirt, leaning head on arm shot … no!

  39. Jay

    May 6th, 2008 at 7:21 am

    Wow, Loren must have a tough commute to the office. He couldn’t even make it to the kitchen.

  40. Adam

    May 6th, 2008 at 7:52 am

    I don’t get why everyone is all paranoid over advertising… So what? You’ve got to make money somehow and if it’s 1) a product you use and 2) a product you like, why not get paid to say you like it!

  41. Jay (Twitter @qthrul)

    May 6th, 2008 at 8:05 am

    It was effective.

    I was forced to consider what brand of HD’s I have in my place right now. After a quick count, I have a bunch of old IBM, Western Digital, and a single Seagate. Upon reflection, the majority are legacy SCSI, Ultra SCSI, and the sole IDE is the Seagate. All of them are terribly low density.

    I need bigger better drives. Then again, how exactly does a drive “rock”?

    Synopsis: Scoble Ad technique is effective but slightly odd.

    This odd was similar to the first time I noticed advertising in urinals.

  42. Ed

    May 6th, 2008 at 8:08 am

    Geez, so much about Scoble. I think he has sucked and continues to suck, regardless of where he is or doing.

  43. Wart Removal

    May 6th, 2008 at 8:13 am

    I hope this post is tongue in cheek, especially because this site (and every other site with readers) had ads all over it.

    NOT having ads on his site set Scoble apart from the rest of the blogs, so what if he said F it and decided to make some cash?

  44. Pete Mauro

    May 6th, 2008 at 8:19 am

    @16 - Ewwwwww. If I had the choice of naked video comments from Loren Feldman or sponsored tweets I’d take the ads any day.

  45. Jerome

    May 6th, 2008 at 8:33 am

    Have Scoble and Philip Seymour Hoffman ever been seen in the same room at the same time? The guy looks shifty if you ask me - I wouldn’t trust him to recommend anything.

  46. Abraham Estrada

    May 6th, 2008 at 8:35 am

    That’s why I remove him from my list, He was cool, but now he is lame

  47. AW

    May 6th, 2008 at 8:37 am

    Please don’t make fun of Loren Feldman, he might readjust the camera so we can see more of him. :(

  48. jro

    May 6th, 2008 at 8:42 am

    Scoble has blogged about the death of newspapers, how they aren’t adjusting to today’s world, and will soon become extinct. But he’s following in the footsteps of their business model.

    Long ago, newspapers were about news delivery. The best newspapers got the best people who could deliver that news. Then, they started to take in advertising dollars. Society moves along to the point where my Sunday newspaper is 70% advertisements. Very little news delivered, indeed.

    Talk about not repeating the mistakes of the past. This just goes to show how inexpensive it is (seagate is likely paying thousands, instead of millions) to get an A-list blogger to flip-flop on their “principles”.

    I don’t blame Scoble taking ad dollars, it probably makes short-term sense for him. But standing out and espousing the virtues of not being tainted by advertising shows he was phony. Hope the dollars were sufficient, Robert; you won’t ever have enough to buy your credibility back, that’s for sure.

  49. meas

    May 6th, 2008 at 8:44 am

    @everyone

    tell me scooble in the main pic isnt EXACTLY the same as this

    http://www.kidzworld.com/img/u.....;149_w.jpg

  50. dave

    May 6th, 2008 at 8:53 am

    scoble was pretty good in boogie nights, and capote was decent, but after that, i’m not sure…

  51. John / SocialNext

    May 6th, 2008 at 9:10 am

    I’m using Comcast Cable Internet to write this comment! It’s fast and reliable!

    Now to sit back and wait for a featured TechCrunch post!

  52. brent

    May 6th, 2008 at 9:35 am

    hey now… the majority of people still using twitter have ads of some sort on their blogs… if not ads then affiliate links, etc… same thing… who cares?
    this is funny, why are some of you actually trying to analyze this? Mike doesnt seem like he is…. he’s just observant… just like a lot of people who twitter regularly are…
    case in point - seth godin, twitter advocate, however we know he himself doesn’t actualy use the service… that’s why it’s funny shit.

    I wish seagate would hook me up with a free drive or two or three…. and i don’t even have a single ad on either of my blogs….. (hint hint… that’d mean you’d automatically get 100% of the sponsorship for the site/s…i’ll take a couple 1TB sata’s pls. thx)

    I guess reading sarcasm on the internet is a lot tougher when it’s not april 1st and you’re expecting it…. :)

    as i said before… good one.

  53. Robert Scoble

    May 6th, 2008 at 11:02 am

    >Owen Byrne I’ve never taken a dollar from ANYONE other than Seagate to do my show (well, and Microsoft before that).

    Seagate didn’t ask me to do this Twitter experiment and I wasn’t paid to do that. I just wanted to start a conversation, and, based on this post, I did.

    Amazing what you can do with 140 characters.

  54. Ed

    May 6th, 2008 at 11:17 am

    Still suck.

  55. Ed

    May 6th, 2008 at 11:18 am

    And a liar too.

  56. Jeff C

    May 6th, 2008 at 11:47 am

    I think video (seesmic, Qik, Kyte, etc) will open up a whole new ad realm. Perhaps Vloggers can join golfers, with caps and shirts ablaze with logos … or Nascar racers slathered with Brands. Hey, why not try that in video comments here at TCrunch :-)

  57. EH

    May 6th, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    How about putting ads on that next Big Mac?

  58. dani

    May 6th, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    Oh come on, how many of you do really know all your disks label nowadays. Look over your desktop. Then turn to your laptop. Unless you’re into the ‘hard disk’ trends you probably have no clue or you forgot all about it. Let’s be fair, when Seagate will stop rocking at least Scoble would be the first one to let us know :P

  59. Andre

    May 6th, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    Very funny, thanks I just needed a laugh

  60. Maxine Appleby

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    thincloud twitter for Iphone has Sponsored Ads 

  61. David Berkowitz

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:18 pm

    Bad for the advertiser, bad for the publisher

  62. 23,000 what?

    May 6th, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    23,000 is still small in terms of viral reach… micro-blogging is a microcosm for micro-marketers who want to generate micro-revenue.

  63. Kyle

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:07 pm

    I actually stopped following Scoble on Twitter last week because I found him incredibly obnoxious and disagreeable. I just kept seeing tweets show up in Pidgin (what I use to follow tweets) from him to other people arguing with them about something they said. I don’t need to read that.

  64. Grendel

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:51 pm

    Anyone who follows Scoble (or TechCrunch) gets what they deserve.

  65. SimonSays

    May 6th, 2008 at 4:59 pm

    Scoble = Douchebag

  66. Gabriela Zago

    May 6th, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    Pownce has ads in the middle of the stream, and nobody complains of that.

    sent from: fav.or.it [FID403801]

  67. Rodney Rumford

    May 6th, 2008 at 6:05 pm

    So what if Scoble puts an “ad” in his messages? Seriously. This was 1 tweet out of most likely 20-30 that he does on an average day. It was most likely lost in the noise by most users.

    The real question is how will twitter find a way to monetize and possibly insert ads into tweets? Or should they?

    Only purists seem to want to keep everything ad free. The reality is that smart ad insertion into twitter feeds that are relevant and add value just might make sense as a partial revenue model for twitter.

    If i twitter that i am going to go eat sushi: why not have twitter tweet me a discount code for a free glass of saki at a local sushi joint (provided i opted in)? It just might influence my decision of where to go eat.

    Third party applications that are built off the twitter API are already inserting ads into the twitter stream. I use the twitter iPhone app from thin cloud and they insert an advertisement at the top of the tweet stream. This does not bother me a bit (sometimes it is relevant). I am already becoming somewhat blind to the ad.

    Cheers!

    http://twitter.com/rumford
    Editor: Facereviews.com

  68. Duncan Riley

    May 6th, 2008 at 7:20 pm

    I thought Seagate sold pool fences? :-)

    http://www.1938media.com

  69. kenobi

    May 7th, 2008 at 2:33 am

    At least he’s being transparent which is what all bloggers in the UK will need to do come the end of May 2008 - when it’ll be an offence to sell something or actively promote something without alerting readers to your motives / payments from an advertiser.

    Web agencies should take note, but this has massive implications for the music industry and their online brand ambassadors (also known as e-teams).

  70. Glam Girl

    May 7th, 2008 at 1:21 pm

    Scoble is such a jerk. I will not buy seagate drives ever. What does seagate see in this blowhard.

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