If you look at top websites -- like Wikipedia and craigslist -- a common theme is user participation. It certainly can be a powerful thing.

Well, this is what Glassdoor.com is trying to do. Actually, this week the company announced a $6.5 million venture capital round (the total amount raised since its founding is $9.5 million). The investors include: Sutter Hill Ventures and Benchmark Capital.

So far, Glassdoor.com has attracted 115,000 contributions from its user base (the site launched in June). Basically, they have provided information about their employers, such as on salaries, culture and so on. There are even ratings of company CEOs.

All in all, it's a neat idea. After all, making the decision on a new job is critical -- but often fraught with uncertainty. So why now allow the community to help out?

According to the Glassdoor blog:

"Now more than ever, people want to know what it's really like inside a company and more and more employees are sharing details about their jobs and work environments. With increased resources, employees and employers can improve upon the decisions they make for their career and for their company. In this environment, in particular, we think this investment sends a strong signal about the value of the information available on Glassdoor.com to people around the globe."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Streetsmart Guide to Short Selling: Techniques the Pros Use to Profit in Any Market. He is also the founder of BizEquity, a valuation website.

Glassdoor.com gets a $6.5 million payday originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading YouTube was costly -- has it become RubeTube?

YouTube was costly -- has it become RubeTube? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The United States of Google originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 09:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

From personal experience, I see how this scenario is accurate. More often than not, a Wikipedia page is just simpler and easier to navigate since it does not require a long loading time (this might not be a major issue for some internet users though) due to a large quantity of media-related content. The pages also always seem to have better information about what albums are available and what reviews have said about those albums. MySpace pages may not feature these aspects (although some do), but more often than not it just feels hard to navigate a page because of the layout and the ads that are on the site.

Continue reading Wikipedia beating MySpace in attracting music listeners

Wikipedia beating MySpace in attracting music listeners originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Is Wikia a large future threat to Google? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Started in 2001, Wikipedia has grown into a massive knowledge base, with more than 75,000 contributors and nine million articles.

No doubt Wikipedia is a great resource to learn about the bigger companies - such as Starbucks Corporation (Nasdaq: SBUX), Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG), and Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT). But there are also many smaller businesses on the site.

So, should you jump in too?

"Wikipedia is one of the most frequented databases on the Web," said Dan Nichols, director of marketing communications at RightNow Technologies (Nasdaq: RNOW). "We posted an entry on RightNow to make sure we were accurately represented on the site and to increase awareness."

Keep in mind that a Wikipedia page can help improve your website's search engine rank - and perhaps drive some traffic. What's more, a Wikipedia page can lend some credibility to your business.

However, you need to consider some things:

Continue reading Entrepreneur's Journal: Does your business need a Wikipedia page?

Entrepreneur's Journal: Does your business need a Wikipedia page? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Dec 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Late Thursday, Google mentioned yet another web service (although, this one could be a big one): Google Knol (which stands for a unit of knowledge).

Basically, this is a knowledge base - where experts write up articles and users have a chance to benefit from the wisdom. The system is currently under an invitation-only status.

With huge amounts of content across the web, it's often hard to find the quality stuff. Even if you go to places like Wikipedia, it's not easy to get a sense of the accuracy. Often, I use these sources as a starting point - not something that's definitive.

As expected, Google wants knols for all topics, which is certainly ambitious and will likely encounter problems along the way. But, it's certainly a worthy goal - and, in the end, could result in a valuable property.

More importantly, Google will share revenues with the experts (through advertising). This will certainly be a big differentiator, as other wikis, such as Wikinvest and Wikipedia, rely on authors who do it for fun.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

Google's Knol project: A Wikipedia killer? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wikipedia to pay illustrators: significant? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Using Wikipedia as a source for a business book? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With the continued success of Wikipedia, there's some talk about whether there are opportunities to create popular niche wikis.

That's what Wikinvest is trying to do. And as the name implies, the site is focused primarily on individual investors.

In fact, this week the firm received $2.5 million in venture funding (the lead investor is DCM).

Basically, it's a bet on the "wisdom of the crowds." And, it's a model that has worked with discussion boards, such as with Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO).

Yet, there are risks.

Continue reading Wikinvest: Investing gets wiki-fied

Wikinvest: Investing gets wiki-fied originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Oct 2007 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Truth-telling: Wikipedia edits now being traced originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Google universal search may bring more copyright lawsuits originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 May 2007 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Online video soldiers: not many originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

BloggingStocks writer John Ogg recently reported on Time Warner's decision to discontinue the print publication of Life, which has had some of the most famous magazine covers in history, including the shot of Marylin Monroe pictured here.

While that magazine has been struggling (and going in and out of print) for decades, there is a certain degree of symbolism in its downfall: Once one of the most read magazines in the world Life, like the print media in general, has faced increased competition for internet sources.

The reason that it has gone out of print, ultimately, is that the Time Warner executives in charge of the magazine were unable to answer this question: Why should I buy a copy of Life instead of getting similar content on the internet?

Continue reading Time Warner pulls plug on Life: What does it mean?

Time Warner pulls plug on Life: What does it mean? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wikipedia is a stunning success story. It is one of the most trafficked sites on the Web and certainly has a wealth of knowledge.

But, there have been problems. For example, there was the former Wikipedian contributor who lied that he was a professor of theology (he was actually a college drop out).

Now, there's a new rival for Wikipedia: Citizendium. In fact, the founder of the site, Larry Sanger, is also the cofounder of Wikipedia.

The angle? Well, Citizendium's contributors must provide their real names as well as fact-check articles. There is also an editorial board.

I have some concerns though. Let's face it, who can remember a name like Citizendium? Besides, Wikipedia already has lots of mindshare and is well-embedded in Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO), and other search engines. In theory, Citizendium makes sense and addresses a need. But, it's hard to see it catching on.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Citizendium: Wikipedia 2.0? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With Assignment Zero, NewAssignment.net and Wired Magazine are embarking on what they call "An Experiment in Pro-Am Journalism." According to the New York Times, "The idea is to apply to journalism the same open-source model of Web-enabled collaboration that produced the operating system Linux, the Web browser Mozilla and the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.

With the site, the lines will be blurred between journalist and audience, as people collaborate to write the news. Here's a list of the stories contributors are being invited to work on. This is an interesting social experiment, and I will certainly be watching the site. With readership and profitability at traditional newspapers in decline, it's clear that the future of how we get the news will be very different from the past.

For some interesting reading on the power of mass collaboration, check out these books: Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything and The Wisdom of Crowds.

Is collaborative journalism the future? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 25 Mar 2007 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wikipedia founder to build search competitor to Google originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Mar 2007 16:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

From time to time, I go to Wikipedia to check out some words and concepts. It seems that everything is embedded in the site.

But, I always double-check things. For example, a good source for this is Answers.com, which licenses its content from well-established content sources.

As for Wikipedia, the worldwide community has the power to make contributions. It's a powerful idea - but certainly subject to risks.

Well, according to a recent report from the AP, Wikipedia is now dealing with the problem. You see, a 24-year-old Wikipedian contributor said he was a professor of theology.

However, after some investigation, it was learned that he was actually a college drop-out.

So, now Wikipedia has a new rule. That is, if someone makes a claim about his or her credentials, there must be verification.

That certainly makes sense to me - and should help with the credibility of the site.

But, despite this, I'm still going to double-check things.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Wikipedia's false promise originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 08 Mar 2007 10:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The online magazine, brandchannel.com, has released its 2006 survey on top brands. It should be no surprise that Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) got the top spot - even beating out Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), which was #2.

Then again, it helped that Google bought the super-hot brand, YouTube. Actually, this was ranked #3 on the list.

As for #4, it's another upstart: Wikipedia.

No doubt, the internet world is getting lots of mindshare. And, these top brands are fairly new companies. What's more, for companies like Wikipedia and YouTube, there was minimal advertising dollars.

In other words, it was really the loyal users that helped to build the brand. It's also notable that Wikipedia and YouTube rely on user-generated content.

You can read more about the brandchannel.com survey at Reuters.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

2006's Top Brand? Of course, it's Google originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Jan 2007 12:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) has angered the Wikipedians by offering to pay someone to correct what it says was wrong information on the site.

The company took this route - which the Wikipedia says is very, very wrong - because it says that it wasn't able to get the wrong information corrected by Wikipedia volunteers. To add insult to injury to the world's largest software company, the offending information was about open source software.

Setting aside whether Microsoft's complaint was legitimate or not, I find Wikipedia's response really odd. The Associated Press quotes founder Jimmy Wales as saying that "the proper course" for Microsoft would have been to commission a white paper, post it on an outside Web site and link it to a Wikipedia discussion forum.

"It seems like a much better, transparent, straightforward way," he told the AP.

Really? It seems like this would just cause more arguments from people wondering why Microsoft is trying to influence the Wikiepedia. Moreoever, why should someone have to go through all of that trouble to correct information that's wrong. It seems unfair.

Remember what happened to John Siegenthaler? Someone added to his Wikpedia biography that the one-time assistant attorney general was implicated in the assassinations of both John and Robert Kennedy. That bogus information was removed but it underscores the notion about not believing everything you read.

In other Microsoft news, the company signed basketball star LeBron James to promote Windows Vista.

Microsoft angers Wikipedians originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Jan 2007 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.