Comments on: Flipboard Kicks Off Its First Advertising Program With Condé Nast

By: tbarkow

tbarkow — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:29:38 +0000

I don’t see this ending well. Conde is playing bizdev for Flipboard, helping them build the roster of high-profile advertisers that Flipboard needs to be viewed as a premium advertising environment.

But because it’s potentially competitive AND a revenue share, Flipboard won’t be viewed by Conde’s sales staff as anything but a secondary value-add, which places Flipboard in a bind. Eventually, Flipboard will have to end-around CN and other publishing partners to woo advertisers directly and sell them their entire audience, which is primarily based on Facebook/Twitter sharing.

I just can’t see this as anything but a short-term experiment for CN, and a way for Flipboard to validate itself with large advertisers. Like most biz dev deals, this one will probably fizzle quickly.

By: wdatt

wdatt — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:05:12 +0000

I really don’t mind an occasional ad for a free service, especially if they’re as attractive and tasteful as some of the examples shown. Flipboard seems to be about curating news articles and creating a tasteful and attractive overall package, so I think that as long as they keep that ethos with their ads they’ll be fine. Even though too much advertising is admittedly annoying, the sign of a healthy network is that advertising takes place there and that brands are embracing the opportunities that exist on it. Facebook for example has gone into overdrive so much and is so dominant that there are even many services that help people buy Facebook fans as mentioned at http://www.buyfacebookfansreviews.com and that is a sign that they are dominant. Flipboard needs to make money to continue to offer their services and I think that some really nice looking and attractive ads will be embraced by most people. Also, keeping the ads relevant should be a priority: when you’re browsing tech articles show technical ads and not ads for women’s clothing or something ridiculous like that. One downside to this is that if Flipboard starts to make money, all of the content providers are going to want to get their cut and complain and this might cause them more problems, but I guess they’ll cross that bridge when they come to it.

By: Chas

Chas — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 07:37:36 +0000

“In a lot of ways, it will be regarded simply as additional content.”- Mike McCue. And I am sure a Panda will view it the same way, but, not so sure about the readership. This reminds me of the print ads that try to disguise themselves as stories, except for the disclaimer in fine print at the bottom. Nothing wrong with ads to pay the bills, I just don’t care for the camouflage.