Why Open Source Business Models Are Dead-End Streets And GigaOM (Sebastian Rupley) is Wrong
I was reading GigaOM's article (linked above) and it espouses the same age-old regurgitated wisdom about viable open-source business models:
Open-Source business model can survive by focusing on service (RedHat) or as a loss-leader (Android by Google) for promoting its more profitable ventures. The article itself is a response to New York Times - Why Open Source Proves Elusive as a Business Model article which discusses the trouble of monetizing most open source businesses like MySQL purchase by Sun etc., with the notable obvious exception of RedHat.

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Google injects search savvy into display ad system

SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc. is counting on the crown jewel of its online advertising empire to burnish a diamond in the rough.

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Since introducing reports of Euros for publishers located in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain, The buzz of inquiry was building up with numerous unanswered questions about this launch. For publishers in these regions, Google adsense has addressed some of the key concerns today with a newsletters. As we got this FAQ from Google, we thought its better to share it with you in case you have somehow missed out on it or haven't seen it yet.

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On a rather unceremonious way, Google has increased the Competitive link Filter for Google Adsense to 500. They haven't gone official about it as yet. If you are into Google adsense, you must be excited by now and for those who don't know about it, Google AdSense provides the functionality to block specific ads from appearing on your pages. Although Google ads are highly targeted to the content of your page, there may be situations in which you don’t want to display particular advertisements -­ for example, you may wish to block ads leading to competitors’ sites. So now, there is a better chance and more options for you to perfect your Google adsense ads giving you a better chance to profit more from advertises.

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It is simple, really. The technique described here is so simple that you won't be able to believe your ears. I have been observing it over the years and soon realized it is a great money making technique to follow. I now present you the greatest money making technique online in 5 simple steps and I won't charge you a penny for it.

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Just now I received the email from Inside AdSense team announcing "sunsetting" (nice use) of video units features. Let's hear it in their own words:

As you may know, we frequently review our products and features to ensure their effectiveness. After reviewing our AdSense video units feature, which allows you to show YouTube content and ads on your pages, we've found that it hasn't had the impact we had hoped for. As a result, we've decided to retire this feature at the end of April so we can focus our resources on other opportunities to help publishers earn from their sites.

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Google AdSense Ad

Google AdSense is showing a very interesting and highly interactive new ad type on our site. For example, the ad shown on the left is from one of our pages (click on the image to view it) where it shows popular hobbies in India along with a Google search box which is presumably usable.Wait, there is more.

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Yesterday, for around 10 hours, Google AdSense served less relevant contextually-targeted ads instead of regular context sensitive ads, thereby lowering revenue for many sites for the day. Unfortunately Google will not be adjusting it manually to compensate you for the loss either. In the words of Arlene Lee from AdSense: Full article (238 words) »

Google Adsense has come out with a new concept as expandable ads, a new type of ad that can appear on your pages. Expandable ads are rich media ads that can expand beyond the original size of the ad unit, following a user-initiated action. This creates more real estate for the ad, allowing for more interaction from interested users. For instance, expandable ads may stream a movie trailer, show video game clips, or display various views of an item for sale. Full article (482 words) »

Are you a budding web admin or a blogger? The all important Google God is of prime importance and consideration if you wish to earn from your blog ads. They are almost the sole source of income for you when you are starting.  So better not to offend them. And anyway, many complain that Google blocked their adsense accounts because they just felt like doing it. So I know, how worrying it is at times. There can be a major issue of accidental invalid clicks. You may have just clicked on ads in your blog unknowingly. Will Google ban you for self promotion and self clicks? You must know for sure what are the rules. Full article (355 words) »