Zoundry Toolbar and Web 2.0
I'm taking a quick break to write more about our new Toolbar product and how it relates to what I've been hearing at the conference.
One of the key drivers of the Web 2.0 is the growth of user-generated content and its evolution from static pages to reusable chunks that can be widely accessed and shared. Blog posts are a great example - you can access them via RSS or HTML and you can share them via tags and social bookmarking sites.
After we introduced our Zoundry Blog Writer to make blogging easier, we got interest from people who wanted to join our service but not start a blog. They wanted to share product recommendations with friends and family, but didn't have the time or inclination to write a blog. They wanted an even easier way to create content and get it on the Web.
And thus the idea for our toolbar was born. Now you can sign up with the Zoundry service and use our browser toolbar to save, annotate, tag, and share information on products sold by merchants in our system. There's no need to publish - you can simply share a product link (encoded with your Zoundry ID) with friends via email or save the link to a group bookmarking site like del.icio.us or Yahoo! My Web 2.0. (In fact, I'm writing this post during a Yahoo presentation on their My Web 2.0 service.) When a friend or anyone else sees your bookmark at del.icio.us or Yahoo! My Web 2.0 and buys the product based on your recommendation, you earn a commission.
It's clear that Yahoo is looking at ways to grow and monetize user-generated content in My Web 2.0 and Yahoo! 360. I think most users feel it's only fair that they should get a piece of revenue that comes from their content. Our model helps people do that using affiliate links in blogs, web sites, email, IM, and bookmarks. We'll continue to work hard to expand that list and make it easier for people to make money from their digital word of mouth referrals.
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