Category Archives: media

When free costs $687.50

Posted on October 14, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Bank of America made headlines this week when it announced that it was offering free equity trades for customers who put $25,000 in deposit accounts. Customers in the Northeast who put $25,000 in to such accounts get up to 30 … Continue reading →

Posted in media, newspapers, personal finance | Comments Off on When free costs $687.50

Could YouTube have come from a large company?

Posted on October 12, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

YouTube is clearly one of the leading innovators in the online video space, dramatically transforming not only the way people consume video content on the Web, but also what kind of content they consume. You don’t need to look any … Continue reading →

Posted in google, media, video, web 2, web 2.0, YouTube | 4 Comments

Getting viewers to create your content

Posted on October 12, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Few TV shows have embraced the Internet as broadly as The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. Last night was the conclusion of Colbert’s Green Screen Challenge. For the recurring segment, Colbert made a clip of him wielding a light saber … Continue reading →

Posted in media, video, web 2, web 2.0, YouTube | 29 Comments

Talking back to the media

Posted on October 10, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I wrote yesterday about the importance of newspapers engaging with their readers. Over the last two days, I’ve had the opportunity to write to two of the leading newspapers. I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I emailed Scott McCartney … Continue reading →

Posted in media, newspapers | Comments Off on Talking back to the media

Keeping online newspapers relevant

Posted on October 9, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Editor and Publisher reports on Washington Post editor Len Downie speaking at the Online News Association’s convention: Downie worried that as people’s attention spans become shorter due to the Web and more readers access news from mobile plaforms on the … Continue reading →

Posted in media, newspapers, publishing | 3 Comments

Shovelware 2.0 – the mobile Web

Posted on October 1, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

When I started in the online business in 1994, shovelware was everywhere. Content from print and other sources was put online – shoveled – indiscriminately on to the Web. Little attention was paid to what users actually needed and valued … Continue reading →

Posted in media, mobile, newspapers, publishing, wireless, wireless data | 2 Comments

Reducing the burden of newspapers

Posted on September 28, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

I feel guilty every Sunday when I get The Washington Post. The routine is the same. The first thing I do is get rid of the classifieds — six sections of newsprint whose only value to me is the exercise … Continue reading →

Posted in advertising, media, newspapers | 4 Comments

Using the Web to tell a better story

Posted on August 27, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

Today’s crash of ComAir Flight 5191 reminds me how poor a job online news sites (especially those from the mainstream media) do in using the Web. Instead of the plain graphic on the USA Today article referenced above, how about … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, email, media, newspapers | 2 Comments

EXTRA! EXTRA! Newspaper sites to start linking to Web sites

Posted on July 31, 2006 by Rakesh Agrawal

The New York Times reports today on the launch of a service by Inform.com that enables news sites to automatically link to related stories. Newspapers have long been reluctant to link to other sites for fear of losing traffic. Never … Continue reading →

Posted in media, newspapers | Comments Off on EXTRA! EXTRA! Newspaper sites to start linking to Web sites