KickApps

White-label social networking provider KickApps has announced the launch of “Custom Community Insights” today. The insights are provided on a dashboard for community managers. Senior VP of Marketing Michael Chin tells me that, “each widget can then be shared with others in the company or individual dashboards can be created for different departments or uses.” Some of the items KickApps customers can track include trending topics, influential community members, most popular media and most active discussions. I wish more forum software providers offered a similar dashboard. Check out all of our KickApps coverage.

WebCollage

Content exchange provider WebCollage has announced a partnership with LivePerson today. VP of Marketing Jed Alpert describes the partnership as, “combining the best of WebCollage’s online POS marketing with LivePerson’s real-time engagement platform.” From the release, ” Companies will now be able to reach potential customers with live sales reps at the point of research on channel partner websites and influence their product selection process.” The joint solution will be marketed to brands that distribute complex products and services  including insurance, consumer electronics and high-tech manufacturers. Check out all of our WebCollage coverage.

uTest

Last week we posted a demo presentation and some notes about uTest. This week the company announced the launch of mobile application testing. They currently have 15,000 testers from 150 countries available to complete the tests that companies setup although I am not sure what percentage are mobile testers. The company noted regarding the launch, "uTest provides real-time access to testers with a wide range of locations, languages and platforms, specifically important to mobile app developers; having many unique dimensions in a testing matrix is a reality (and a daunting task) for mobile developers."

KickApps

This week KickApps announced a new partnership with Hearst-Argyle Television which will bring the KickApps social media app to Hearst’s nation-wide network of television-station websites. The program is named "u local" and will be pushed out to 25 television websites during the first half of 2009. The first u local website went live in December 2008 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Check out all of our KickApps coverage.

Pingg

When we interviewed Pingg founder Lorien Gabel last month, we discussed the partnership Pingg has with Martha Stewart. Stewart is an investor in Pingg and this week they two companies announced the next step in integration. The release notes, "Martha Stewart and her team of expert designers have culled a special collection of diverse, stunning images from MSLO’s extensive content libraries that can now be incorporated into online invitations and e-cards."

Web developers need to submit their applications to KickApps to be included in the App Studio. It appears the applications must be in Flash to be accepted. The App Studio uses a WYSIWYG interface which should make it easy for KickApps publishers to integrate applications from the App Studio into their websites.

It would be interesting to find out if KickApps is working on opening the App Studio to work on any website regardless if KickApps powers the site. Opening up the studio would provide more usage and could provide a good way to get more visibility into KickApps.

In September KickApps launched a pretty innovative and customizable video monetization service.

KickApps

KickApps announced today that they have hired David Lapter as Chief Financial Officer and Tom Gaffney to head up the company’s expanding Customer Success division. Apparently the Customer Success division works on strategy and creative services.I’ve never heard of a Customer Success division but I like the idea! Check out all of our KickApps coverage.

Outbrain

Outbrain launched an update to their widget this week called the "Link Zapper". We run the Outbrain recommendations widget on CN (you can see it at the end of this post). The widget recommends other posts both from CN and from our whitelist of partner sites. The Link Zapper allows us to easily remove a link that might not be a good fit for the source story. It’s a very manual process and while I am hoping for some automated tools in the future, it’s a good start. Check out all of our Outbrain coverage.

ZocDoc

We’ve covered ZocDoc extensively on CN and I believe it could be the breakout star of 2009. ZocDoc provides online management for doctor, dentist and other healthcare practitioners. Forbes magazine named ZocDoc the winner of their small business contest. The announcement came this week and ZocDoc won $100,000 to further develop and expand their service.

Magnify.net

Earlier this week Magnify.net announced the launch of Thwoop.com, an online community for featured entertainment content and user-contributed videos. The concept for Thwoop.com came from children’s toy e-tailer Brand Performance and the site will be powered by Magnify.net. Check out all of our Magnify.net coverage.

What I’ve found with the social networks that KickApps powers for most of the sports teams they are working with is that it’s nearly impossible to find the actual social network on the main sports team’s website. On the new Hornets deal today, it’s listed in their rotating news area but I can’t find it elsewhere. The Seattle Seahaws installation is also missing or I can’t seem to find it. On the positive side, the NY Rangers site seems to display a widget for the social network on the homepage.

While it’s great that KickApps has signed a variety of pro sports teams to social networking deals, if the networks are nearly impossible to find, what good is that for KickApps, the sports team or the fans?

Here’s a sample of the videos on the Hornets social network – watch the hornet mascots get down and boogie! Update: it looks like the widget embeds all of the videos, not just the one with the mascots – it’s on the right if you want to watch it.

Marketing SVP Michael Chin walked me through how the translation works. Basically all "terms" within the KickApps platform are presented to the site owner and can be customized. You can customize the text on a term-by-term basis or download a spreadsheet with all 30,000+ terms, edit them and then upload the document. The edits can be text or HTML. I wish that Drupal, the CMS that powers CN, had a process like what KickApps has for changing terms. Remember that while this is build for languages, you can use this localization functionality to change words across the site.

Today’s announcement will allow KickApps to expand their platform and customer base internationally.

Note: KickApps is a sponsor of our sister site HTMLCenter.

KickApps Marketing SVP Michael Chin took me through a variety of examples yesterday and it’s a very impressive system. Basically you create a design for your video player. Next you select the content for the video player, either a search, premade combination or add in any RSS 2.0 feed. Next you select the type of ads you’d like to display including Google AdSense for Video, ScanScout, adap.tv or 24/7 Real Media. There’s also an option to include your own pre-roll or post-roll ads.

For example, I could take the RSS feed generated by Viddler for CN videos, insert it into the KickApps video player and then ads will be displayed as I select. I’ve been asking Viddler for this type of revenue customization for a long time. The video players that you create can be syndicated to other sites allowing you to generate revenue no matter where the player is viewed.

Chin tells me that KickApps will generate revenue by displaying their own Google AdSense for Video ads randomly. For customers that use the ad buyout option, KickApps won’t display any ads. Last month KickApps partnered with Akamai for video hosting.

Note: KickApps is a sponsor of our sister site HTMLCenter.

As this new video rollout is part of the KickApps social network solution, all of the normal KA social features are available including commenting, rating and sharing of the media. The new partnership also allows for on-demand deployment of High Definition (HD) video. The key for KickApps is to listen to their customer’s needs and meet them – this video partnership helps to keep their customers in-house for video distribution.

Pricing for this new video content delivery system will be based on usage and SVP Michael Chin tells me it will be "extremely low". Chin also notes that, "we believe we’re able to match Brightcove & Maven for the higher end market".

It’s important to consider whether hosting video content yourself (like the new solution above) or on a video hosting solution is best. There are pros and cons to both solutions – we took a look at some of the issues last month. The strategy and the goals must be considered.

KickApps recently partnered with Userplane on IM/chat and with Clearspring on widgets.

Today NY-based KickApps and AOL-subsidiary Userplane are announcing a partnership which will bring live chat, IM and presence functionality into the KickApps social networking platform. Both the Userplane Webchat and Userplane Webmessenger tools will carry advertising and publishers can also use a buyout option to remove or control the ads within the widgets.

Check out our exclusive interviews with Userplane CEO Michael Jones and KickApps CEO Alex Blum.

On a side note, KickApps is now referring to their service as the, "World’s First Social Graph Engine". I wonder if they paid a marketing firm to come up with that tagline!

Editor’s note: KickApps is a sponsor on our sister site, HTMLCenter.

KickApps reports over 24,000 publishers on their network using widgets and comScore reports 47.5 million unique widget viewers in April 2008 on the Clearspring network. This deal benefits KickApps by extending distribution to the large member base on the Clearspring network.

Widgets are finally starting to take shape as a real online marketing vehicle. Over half of the sessions at Graphing Social Patterns this week are focused around widgets. Check out KickApps CEO Alex Blum’s article on the value of widgets.

Editor’s note: KickApps is a sponsor on our sister site, HTMLCenter.

This deal provides Budget Travel with tons of new, search-engine friendly content for basically free. They will be able to get their readers to write content which will appear on the site without paying the readers who contribute. I guess the payment is the ability to read other’s travel stories. Oh yea, and don’t forget that Budget Travel can also monetize the heck out of the new content!

KickApps recently partnered with WorldNow and also launched the 3.0 version of their social media platform.

Compete shows Budget Travel having approximately 200,000-300,000 U.S. visitors per month.

Editor’s note: KickApps is a sponsor on our sister site, HTMLCenter.

Todd Randak, EVP Business Development at WorldNow said, "Our customers now have the ability to use KickApps’ innovative applications and WorldNow’s consulting services to create niche online communities and consequently, new revenue opportunities."

The key is to get TV viewers to get off the couch, go to the local channel Web site and interact. This is an important relationship that the local media needs with it’s consumers.

Check out KickApps on nextNYers and my behind the scenes interview at their NY headquarters.

Editor’s note: KickApps is a sponsor on our sister site, HTMLCenter.

It seems apparent that those who have fueled the insane valuations have seemingly ignored this obvious risk (read Fortune’s and the NY Times’ take). Real value comes from widgets that are fun, entertaining, viral but at their core provide a utility that fosters longevity. This type of utility based widget in our view forms the basis of a new rich media programmable ad unit and a more meaningful proposition for advertisers.

1) “Hit Based Gimmicky Widgets” (Super Poke, etc.)
- Low utility/value and short longevity; characterized by gimmicks and games
- General appeal, currently over-hyped
- Viral, low quality users that are fickle and not loyal—constantly chasing the next fad
- Attempted behavioral targeting here will deliver spotty results at best

Companies like Slide are now attempting to add ad networks to monetize the massive user base they’ve created. The assumption is that their widget network will be valuable to advertisers because of the behavioral information they’re able to garner. This represents a new twist on an old behavioral approach utilized by Tacoda, Revenue Science and others. I’m dubious that this will be as effective as the existing approaches and even the existing approaches require more development to realize the promise they initially presented. The other issue with the approach is it only speaks to call to action and does nothing for brand advertisers.

Vs..

2) “Utilitarian Widget” as an extension of a more robust Social Media experience that delivers quality profile data to be used to deliver relevance for both call to action and brand advertising
- High utility/value with longevity and user loyalty; niche and focused appeal
- Characterized by relevant, useful and compelling content, media and activity, (and yes, still fun)
- Viral with a high quality, loyal audience—loyalty based on utility and relevance
- Business model based on a programmed, viral ad unit and an individualized brand engagement

In this scenario, the widget is a viral ad unit. Online advertising changes dramatically and becomes a tremendous vehicle for brand marketing. Unlike the banner ad, the “WidgeAD(TM)” (as we call it) is defined by its programmability. It has utility in a person’s life by providing compelling, useful and relevant content—this takes the form of content (videos, photos, text, music, etc.) and/or interactive components (fun games, communication, commerce, etc.).

This is where the game changes for Madison Ave and publishers – brand messaging takes a completely different form, moving away from poor quality banner ad messaging and the hit-and-miss approach of tracking, to actual brand engagement. The end result is a loyal audience that views the widget and its application as adding value to their lives (usually based on an interest and/or utility that they care about). This engagement then gives brands and publishers the opportunity to establish highly individualized relationships with their audiences.

This column was provided by Alex Blum, KickApps CEO. KickApps is a hosted, white-label platform that puts social media and online video functionality directly into the hands of every web publisher who aspires to be a media mogul and turns every web designer and developer into a social media rockstar. Check out the KickApps Web site for more information and our KickApps coverage.

CafeMom

This NY-based startup is targeted at moms and would be an excellent complement for AOL’s branded Web sites. CafeMom is currently serving 100 million pageviews and an average of 200 pages per user per month. This would make a great place for Platform-A and could be an extension for the Bebo "engagement marketing" platform. (our coverage)

Dogster/Catster

A niche social network for barking and meowing, Dogster and Catster could fit into the AOL branded sites as well. An acquisition of Dogster and Catster by AOL would give both sites new distribution opportunities along with a new advertising partner. (our coverage)

TripAdvisor

I am guessing that a decent percentage of TripAdvisor users are already AOL customers, either as dial-up, broadband or Web site visitors. TripAdvisor is currently owned by Expedia but I think the match would be better with AOL — could replace the AOL Travel site. The TripAdvisor network serves pages to 60 million unique visitors a month and includes 8 web sites including my favorite, SeatGuru. (our coverage)

SimplyHired

It seems in the time since I started CN there’s been chatter here and there about SimplyHired being acquired by someone. It’s a better acquisition target than going after a job site as SimplyHired would give AOL the best of both worlds: all the job listings from the major job boards plus the ability to enhance listings to generate even more revenue. The publisher job board option would give AOL a potential "in" to publishers to push Platform A and other potential partnerships. (our coverage)

Which services do you think would be a good fit for AOL?

Editor’s note: KickApps is a sponsor on our sister site, HTMLCenter.

The reported stats include: a quarter of a billion monthly page views, 8+ million unique visitors per month, 10+ page views per visit on average, 14,000+ KickApps enterprise deployments and clients reporting up to eight-times return on investment after only two months.

One of the services that CEO Alex Blum discussed with me on my last visit to their offices was a message board product they acquired named Yuku. Today they are announcing the full launch of the Yuku service. Blum was very excited about the opportunities to innovate in the message board space after seeing a stagnant market for years. I’d agree with him, we’ve seen a bit of innovation with tools like Tangler but the market is still dominated by mostly Web 1.0 boards Vbulletin and phpBB.