RSS Round-up: What's Happening with Simple Syndication? (Part 2)

by Scott Frangos, Managing Partner - WebFadds.com, a modern web development company focused on eCommerce, Content Management Systems, and Blogs

Saddle up cow-pokes... we're roundin' up the RSS news. This is the second in a series covering the latest developments with RSS — Really Simple Syndication. In this overview, we take a look at what Microsoft is doing, a new advertising initiative, and some free and low cost resources for reading and creating RSS feeds.

RSS Advertising Continues... BlogKits partners with OverStock

BlogKits announced last week that they have entered a partnership with OverStock.com (all sorts of value priced merchandise) to deliver ads in RSS blog feeds. BlogKits.com itself is founded on the concept of providing advertising revenue to anyone that owns a blog. You join BlogKits and plug in their revenue tools. You can see a sample of the ads they provide at the top of this article.

This is an interesting alternative or addition to the revenue streams bloggers and other webmasters have been enjoying from Google's Adsense program. Will users accept ads? My take is Yes... if the editorial content offers the right stuff.

Another Microsoft Move: "MessageCast" Acquisition Leverages RSS

One thing Microsoft does well is stick its finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. Then... they buy what they need to offer people what they want. MessageCast has developed systems that work with real-time networks and RSS content feeds. They broadcast "alerts" which can be delivered via MSN messenger, e-mail, and text messeaging on mobile phones and other devices. For public users, Microsoft now has a way to deliver the content they want to read... anywhere. But what does this mean to blog owners and RSS publishers? If you go to the old home page for Message Cast (www.messagecast.net), you'll find that Microsoft has now revised the page with instructions on how to offer your own blog via MSN alerts!

So... your blog served via Microsoft alerts which reach 150 million users around the world, according to Microsoft. Hmmmm... now what about combining those OverStock ads with this broadcasting method?

Hey... How About a Blog About Syndicating?

Of course... you knew there had to be one, and I like it — see SyndicatorBlog.com. Scanning the stories there, we find that Corporate Blogs are gaining power (CEO blogs, anyone?), Google — like Microsoft — is now into "Mobile Blogging,, and that the "Syndicate" conference is happening this week (May 17-18) in New York. If you're interested in that conference, have a look at SyndicateConference.com. The SyndicatorBlog is published with WordPress — a popular blogger tool, voted "Web Application of the Year" by Arstechnica.com, a site dedicated to "the best coverage of multi-OS, PC hardware, and tech" news. Our parent site, WebFadds.com, offers a WordPress Blogger Package... take a look at why people love it.

Are You Able to Get RSS News?

Hey... are you able to grab the RSS feeds you want and organize them for reading? Here's a list of some free services that help you create a sort of personalized newspaper online by organizing the RSS feeds you want to read:

Article Author: Scott Frangos

Scott Frangos is a technical writer, web developer, author, college instructor, and marketer who lives in the Pacific Northwest with is wife and business partner, Pepper, and their three dogs (Spirit, Wisdom, and Steggman). …

Visit Scott Frangos's author page — Scott Frangos's Blog