Just got word from my Japaneese publisher that Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS

is scheduled to be released in Japan in print end of July.

It's great to finally go international:)

Japan is getting the short 2007 edition of the book ... and yes, the longer US 2007 edition is still being written, unfortunatelly.

I can't believe how many times I've postoped it already. Actually, I'm quite ashamed of it.

But, I do believe it will be worth the wait.

I also wanted to thank Geoff Livingston for putting Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS

on his list of 25+ Great New Media Books

.

Geoff, thanks for the extra motivation to help me finish the 2007 edition:)

While the original plan for the RSS Diary blog was leaving on hiatus until the 2007 edition of the RSS Marketing e-book

is done, the FeedBurner acquisition by Google is a story just to important to pass up ... especially all the implications it might bring into the world of RSS Advertising, and RSS Marketing as a whole as well.

So, yes. FeedBurner, a leading RSS metrics and RSS advertising company was just acquired by Google. Finally confirmed after weeks of speculation. I won't go into the details of the acquisition, as you can read more about it at the FeedBurner blog

and just by following the news at Google News

.

Here, we'll take a look at the implications this brings to the world of RSS Marketing. Just my predictions of course:)

1. RSS Metrics Will Finally Become Integrated With Web Metrics

In my book, all marketing/communications channels should be judged using the same metrics, such as conversions, cost-per-order, cost-per-subscriber, sales etc.

Although you could already do all of this with RSS, it required some tinkering.

But, as FeedBurner gets assimilated into Google Analytics, tracking the key marketing metrics should become a breeze, giving everyone access to crucial internet optimization data.

2. RSS Metrics Moving Closer to the Mainstream

With RSS Metrics being integrated directly into Google Analytics (which I'm sure will happen very soon), marketers might finally start actually measuring their RSS feeds.

Means better RSS Marketing, finally.

3. RSS Advertising Going CPC

Although FeedBurner is cautions to provide any details about how their CPM pricing model might change with the integration of their ad services into Google, I'm quite certain that RSS advertising will move the way of cost-per-click.

Means less revenues for RSS feed publishers, but better ROI for you, the advertiser.

4. RSS Advertising Moving Closer to the Mainstream

RSS Advertising will finally reach the mainstream, utilizing Google's massive advertiser database.

Prices will go up, and RSS content monetization will again start becoming the talk at industry events.

On the plus side, it also means Google will be able to attract more RSS feed publishers, meaning more RSS ad inventory for you. Your RSS advertising reach potential is about to explode, finally enabling you to reach the masses using RSS Advertising.

5. Trouble for Other RSS Advertising Companies

I love Pheedo

, another leading RSS Metrics and RSS Advertising company, but the FeedBurner acquisition makes me wonder what's in store for them as Google starts pushing RSS advertising to their massive database of advertisers, especially as part of an integrated online advertising service.

It's certainly not the end of other RSS Advertising companies, but they might all soon see themselves transforming from RSS ad networks to RSS media planning & buying consultants.

Which would be a shame, especially considering the advancements in RSS Advertising developed by Pheedo

.

6. Better Targeting for Google AdWords Advertisers (We Wish!)

Advertiser demand seems to be growing quicker than the inventory offered by Google.

The obvious choice for Google (in addition of course to increasing ad inventory through additional reach, media expansion through the content network, and expansion to new ad channels, like RSS and banner inventories) is to offer better targeting, for a premium price.

As a marketer, I clearly want to place my ads in front of the most relevant prospects. Keyword targeting is OK, but adding behavioral on top of that introduces another filtering element to my media planning, enabling me to really pin-point the users I want to see my ads.

• How about displaying search ads only to people who have already visited my website, but haven't made a purchase? Google AdWords and Google Analytics integration could offer exactly this.
  
  
• How about displaying search ads only to people that respond to marketing content banners on other websites? Integrating Google AdWords with one of the latest Google acquisitions, DoubleClick, can get us exactly this.
  
  
• Of course, I might also want to target my ads to people who are subscribed to X e-mail newsletter. What do you know, Google already has that information through their Gmail service.
  
  
• And then, how about displaying search ads only to people who are subscribing to other RSS feeds about RSS marketing? Integrating Google AdWords with FeedBurner would make this possible.
  
  
• Now just take these concepts, put them all together, and expand them to banner advertising, feed advertising and any other online ad channel Google develops/acquires in the future.

This may either be science fiction or Google's actual long-term masterplan. As more advertising budgets rush to the internet, available quality ad inventory will continue shrinking.

By introducing such targeting, integrating the metric and capabilities of all of their properties, Google could come as close as possible to total ad targeting, the holy grail of marketing we are all striving towards.

Things will get much more interesting ... and soon.

If I were an ad agency, I'd start developing a targeting department, focusing on targeted media buying.

Just got a notice from Amazon (thank you) that they soft-launched RSS feeds for tags.

But first, how do their tags actually work?

• You can tag any product you like, including your previous purchases, with a keyword that best describes the product.
• Easily search and access products tagged by others, using the keywords you're interested in.
• Tags are also used as a way for Amazon to provide you with personalized recommendations.

The good part is that Amazon now added RSS capabilities to their tags, available through most tag pages.

• Subscribe to RSS feeds for the tags you're interested in, and get latest product releases that match these tags.
• Use the RSS feeds to display Amazon products on your website, using the appropriate tags, to earn affiliate commissions.
• Share RSS feeds for tags with your friends, as a recommendations vehicle.

More information here.

An excellent RSS e-commerce application from Amazon!

In part 3 of the RSS interview with Greg Reinacker

of NewsGator

find out how Enterprise RSS makes information management easier within a corporation.

• What will happen in the RSS space in 2007, for marketers and business?
  
  
• Will RSS become integrated into every enterprise application? How will that change how information is used?
  
  
• Will RSS improve information management within an organization?
  
  
• What challenges do RSS management present to IT departments in larger organizations?
  
  
• Will centralized RSS tools help solve the internal information management crisis?
  
  
• What is Attention XML and how will it help you get more of the content you need and less of the content that is not relevant specifically to you?
  
  
• Are smart RSS Readers only for corporations, or can consumers also take advantage?
  
  
• What are NewsGator's plans for 2007?

Click here to listen to the interview [MP3; 13 min.]

In part 2 of the RSS interview with Greg Reinacker

of NewsGator

find out how online media can take advantage of RSS beyond publishing RSS content.

• Why should online publishers care about branded RSS Readers?
  
  
• Does it still make sense to provide a branded RSS Reader, especially with the wide adoption RSS is getting through Internet Explorer 7?
  
  
• What kind of value can publishers bring to RSS Readers?
  
  
• How can online media enhance the user experience through third-party content via RSS?
  
  
• Is visitor ownership still a possibility, or are services like MyYahoo! owning the game? How can online media compete?
  
  
• How can small businesses compete with large portals and large media sites?
  
  
• Does syndicating your content via RSS mean that you're giving up content?
  
  
• Is RSS becoming a significant traffic driver?
  
  
• How can companies profit from pulling together relevant content on a specific topic from third-party sources?
  
  
• Is there a difference in how summary and full-text feeds drive visitors to your website? When to use which?
  
  
• Best practices for re-publishing third-party content on your website
  
  
• Can you put ads next to re-published RSS content on your site? How to do it?

Click here to listen to the interview [MP3; 14 min.]

I interviewed Greg Reinacker

of NewsGator

end of January, as part of the interview series for the 2007 edition of the RSS e-book

.

NewsGator is one of the leaders in the Enterprise RSS space, a provider of top-breed RSS Readers and also a branded RSS Reader vendor.

So, you can imagine we had alot to cover.

In part 1 of the interview, find out about how Windows Vista and Internet Explorer are changing the RSS landscape ...

• How are Vista and Internet Explorer changing the world of RSS marketing and RSS content consumption?
  
  
• How much and how quickly will they make an impact?
  
  
• Are they really the game changer every marketer expects them to be?
  
  
• What changes can we expect?
  
  
• How can marketers take advantage of the advances Vista offers for RSS?

Click here to listen to the interview [MP3; 8 min.]

Only a few more weeks until the ACCM

(Annual Catalog and Multi-Channel Merchant Conference) event in Boston, one of the best DM conferences of the year.

If you're in Boston or are coming to the conference, drop me a note.

I'll be speaking on RSS and other new internet marketing media

, together with Scott Voight of Silverpop

.

If you're at the conference, definetly reserve the Monday 3 PM slot to come hear us. The last presentation we did together with Scott in London was a huge hit, and we promise not to dissapoint:)

What works best in RSS marketing? How are RSS subscribers different than e-mail subscribers? RSS publishing best practices if you want to sell?

These and other practical questions are all revealed in the 2nd part of the RSS interview with Bryan Eisenberg. Without doubt, this is one of the best and most practical RSS marketing interviews we've done so far.

In part 1 of the Bryan Eisenberg RSS interview

we focused on how the GrokDotCom.com

is going beyond traditional RSS Radars

by employing intelligent content aggregation tools, instead of relying just on contextual filtering, and what kind of results they are achieving.

In part 2 of the interview we move beyond RSS Radars to their overall RSS marketing strategy.

In this interview find out about ...

1. How RSS subscribers are different from e-mail subscribers and why?

2. How to sell products through content-rich RSS feeds?

3. Do RSS subscribers mind seeing product promotions in your feeds?

4. When to publish your latest RSS content to get the most links from other websites and most readership?

5. What's the right RSS publishing frequency for promotional content?

6. Why branding your RSS feed is important and how to do it?

Click here to listen to the MP3 file [8:33 minutes; 2 MB]

I have to apologise to Amazon for missing on two of their RSS content delivery options, which I previously missed.

Sorry guys, and thank you for the heads up.

1. Product Discussions

Most Amazon.com product discussions are now available also as RSS feeds. An excellent way of keeping track of the conversations surrounding your favorite products, and certainly something more websites should implement ... especially those that provide content that people are pashionate about.

The first one that comes to mind is TV.com and their community show reviews

.

2. Customer Reviews by Author

Like a product reviewer? Subscribe to their Amazon.com reviews RSS feed.