Comments on: Why Topix Is Different: Toward A Sustainable Model For Net Media Companies http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies Thoughts on the intersection of search, media, technology, and more. Thu, 16 May 2013 04:38:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Susie http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24708 Susie Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:14:07 +0000 http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24708 <p>Topix completely blew their reputation when the forums became unmoderated. Most of the town forums have become nothing but trash with tons of libel. It is a sad state of affairs when law abiding citizens can have their reputations destroyed or teenagers can easily be cyberbullied because a company that claims they are reporting news is profiting from the destruction of others. Even worse if someone is attacked and they want a topic reviewed in a timely manner, they have to pay 19.99 with no guarantees of removal. Topix had a chance to be a good reputable company, but instead have chosen to be seen by a large group of people as a joke and now several attorney generals are after them. Topix is beyond ridiculous.</p> Topix completely blew their reputation when the forums became unmoderated. Most of the town forums have become nothing but trash with tons of libel. It is a sad state of affairs when law abiding citizens can have their reputations destroyed or teenagers can easily be cyberbullied because a company that claims they are reporting news is profiting from the destruction of others. Even worse if someone is attacked and they want a topic reviewed in a timely manner, they have to pay 19.99 with no guarantees of removal. Topix had a chance to be a good reputable company, but instead have chosen to be seen by a large group of people as a joke and now several attorney generals are after them. Topix is beyond ridiculous.

]]> By: Kurt Johnson http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24707 Kurt Johnson Sat, 28 Aug 2004 17:49:22 +0000 http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24707 <p>Skrenta is a rip-off artist. Not only did he link to a story I wrote that was on the Internet, he picked off the copyrighted photo and placed it directly on his topix site.</p> <p>It's illegal, and I'm thinking about sueing him.</p> <p>kej<br /> </p> Skrenta is a rip-off artist. Not only did he link to a story I wrote that was on the Internet, he picked off the copyrighted photo and placed it directly on his topix site.

It’s illegal, and I’m thinking about sueing him.

kej

]]> By: Greg Linden http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24706 Greg Linden Tue, 30 Mar 2004 17:39:44 +0000 http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24706 <p>The Topix approach has been pretty typical of high tech companies since the dot com bust. VC funding is now back to the point it was at before the irrational exhuberance of the late 1990's; VCs now mostly fund established businesses that need help with marketing or other spending to fund a major expansion. So, yes, startups now need to survive much longer on their seed capital and existing revenue stream. </p> <p>But, in many ways, this is just a return to the normal state of affairs. Despite what we saw during the dot com boom, it's isn't normal for a company to get millions of VC funding for an idea drawn on a napkin.<br /> </p> The Topix approach has been pretty typical of high tech companies since the dot com bust. VC funding is now back to the point it was at before the irrational exhuberance of the late 1990′s; VCs now mostly fund established businesses that need help with marketing or other spending to fund a major expansion. So, yes, startups now need to survive much longer on their seed capital and existing revenue stream.

But, in many ways, this is just a return to the normal state of affairs. Despite what we saw during the dot com boom, it’s isn’t normal for a company to get millions of VC funding for an idea drawn on a napkin.

]]> By: Jason McCabe Calacanis http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24705 Jason McCabe Calacanis Tue, 30 Mar 2004 16:34:04 +0000 http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24705 <p>I think the problem with this approach is that you are always going to be OK to good as a niche resource but never great. For example, since it is not edited by human their search page will never be as good as your page John, or our <a href="http://google.weblogsinc.com," rel="nofollow">http://google.weblogsinc.com,</a> <a href="http://socialsoftware.weblogsinc.com," rel="nofollow">http://socialsoftware.weblogsinc.com,</a> etc.</p> <p>So, over time you have a lot of topics, but none are category leaders... in fact they are all the #7, 8 or 9 place to go for information.</p> <p>Google News will have this feature in a couple of months I'm told.</p> <p>That being said, these guys sound very, very cool and perhaps this is a starting point.</p> <p>Ironically, they seem to be playing favorites and being a little heavy handed. NONE of our sites are listed and I heard from a blogger they demanded we link to them in order to be listed. With a program like that you are going to fail.</p> <p>Is this true Topix's guys? Do you hold out links to people who link back to you?!?!</p> I think the problem with this approach is that you are always going to be OK to good as a niche resource but never great. For example, since it is not edited by human their search page will never be as good as your page John, or our http://google.weblogsinc.com, http://socialsoftware.weblogsinc.com, etc.

So, over time you have a lot of topics, but none are category leaders… in fact they are all the #7, 8 or 9 place to go for information.

Google News will have this feature in a couple of months I’m told.

That being said, these guys sound very, very cool and perhaps this is a starting point.

Ironically, they seem to be playing favorites and being a little heavy handed. NONE of our sites are listed and I heard from a blogger they demanded we link to them in order to be listed. With a program like that you are going to fail.

Is this true Topix’s guys? Do you hold out links to people who link back to you?!?!

]]> By: Joe Rothstein http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24704 Joe Rothstein Tue, 30 Mar 2004 15:21:12 +0000 http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24704 <p>Take a look at IPDgroup.com. We've been doing the Topix thing since 1995. We're already profitable and self sustaining. </p> <p>We current have three flavors.</p> <p>www.einnews.com<br /> This focuses on geo-political news from every country and region. The user can access by geography or topic. Subscription rates: $19.95 a month basic, $29.95 de luxe.</p> <p>www.inboxrobot.com<br /> Thousands of subjects, such as individual companies, individual government agencies, etc.<br /> Plus, create your own newsletter with your own keywords function. $19.95 a month.</p> <p>www.uspoliticstoday.com<br /> A specific subject niche-market search derivitive which currently is free. We plan to turn it into paid subscription site soon. </p> <p>More derivities to come. With our basic infrastructure we can cost effectively build unlimited niche focused sites as next generation search/media publications.</p> <p>Our paid subscribers include most of the world's major press, most of the Fortune 500, a great many governments, NGOs, global trade companies and universities.</p> <p>We believe our products are conveniently bite-sized for users and that they will continue to thrive even with heavy-hitter competition. </p> Take a look at IPDgroup.com. We’ve been doing the Topix thing since 1995. We’re already profitable and self sustaining.

We current have three flavors.

http://www.einnews.com
This focuses on geo-political news from every country and region. The user can access by geography or topic. Subscription rates: $19.95 a month basic, $29.95 de luxe.

http://www.inboxrobot.com
Thousands of subjects, such as individual companies, individual government agencies, etc.
Plus, create your own newsletter with your own keywords function. $19.95 a month.

http://www.uspoliticstoday.com
A specific subject niche-market search derivitive which currently is free. We plan to turn it into paid subscription site soon.

More derivities to come. With our basic infrastructure we can cost effectively build unlimited niche focused sites as next generation search/media publications.

Our paid subscribers include most of the world’s major press, most of the Fortune 500, a great many governments, NGOs, global trade companies and universities.

We believe our products are conveniently bite-sized for users and that they will continue to thrive even with heavy-hitter competition.

]]> By: Susan Mernit http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24703 Susan Mernit Tue, 30 Mar 2004 07:03:23 +0000 http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24703 <p>Nice post, John. I've been a Topix fan since they launched--sometimes the sources are a little thin, but it's a good product that keeps getting better.</p> Nice post, John. I’ve been a Topix fan since they launched–sometimes the sources are a little thin, but it’s a good product that keeps getting better.

]]> By: TagThisPhrase http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24702 TagThisPhrase Mon, 29 Mar 2004 23:30:57 +0000 http://battellemedia.com/archives/2004/03/why_topix_is_different_toward_a_sustainable_model_for_net_media_companies.php#comment-24702 <p>Call me a skeptic, but the whole semantic web thing seems to come down to phrase tagging on steroids. We have basically two sources of semantic tags: the author/publisher (this is not spam!), or deductions based on parsing the page itself. The latter comes down to generating phrases or word sets and finding pages which match.</p> Call me a skeptic, but the whole semantic web thing seems to come down to phrase tagging on steroids. We have basically two sources of semantic tags: the author/publisher (this is not spam!), or deductions based on parsing the page itself. The latter comes down to generating phrases or word sets and finding pages which match.

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