Based on accounts from several reliable sources, the operations of online publication Inquirer.net will be folding back and joining the Philippine Daily Inquirer publication anytime now.
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For the longest time, The Inquirer.net has been regarded by everyone as the number 1 Philippine website, previously boasting some 44 million pageviews a month (recent figures pegs it at 28M). Since other sites don’t really publicize their numbers, a lot of people are relying on Alexa stats and this website that ranks them accordingly.
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I started getting direct advertisers on this blog about two years ago. The other blogs just followed suit. It was an exciting prospect because the growing interest in blog advertising was something that popped out of nowhere. One of the best ways to prepare yourself for direct advertisers is to come up with an ad rate card.
About 13 months ago, I shared a sample of my rate card here. You can still download a copy of the file here. It’s an old one and I’ve actually updated that one into a new PDF file (which needs another round of updates because of the redesign). Essentially, there are 3 basic parts that you should include in your rate card and we’ll tackle each one of them.
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A question was sent to me yesterday asking how rates are quantified in online advertising, including variables which may affect it. I believe this type questions are better addressed by internet marketers.
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Joey Alarilla wrote a piece on “The truth about INQ7.net…” which explains what has happened to the site Inq7.net and what will happen to the new Inquirer.net.
That, after some months of speculations (and denials), a praise release, and an obvious re-alignment of articles (with the occasional incidents of infinite domain redirections). Nice to really hear it from the horse’s mouth this time.
It almost completely answered the what but none of the why. So, now that it has been put on record, we can safely say that the Inquirer group took the better half of the deal. Here’s what I think why:
- The Inquirer team has always been on the driver’s seat while GMA7 has been at the back-seat all these 5 or 6 years of partnership.
- GMA 7′s Php100 million investment for the joint project ended up producing the No. 1 site in the country.
- All existing advertisers at Inq7.net were all moved to Inquirer.net. I don’t see the same ads displaying on GMANews.tv. Not sure how the sales team and the ad revenues were split though but I suppose it would have been cut into half as well.
- All organic search engine results with the domain inq7.net on it re-directs to Inquirer.net. See sample search results here.
- Inquirer.net still (somewhat) inherits the Inq7.net brand.
In the end, Inquirer.net only lost the Inq7.net brand domain but all the other perks are still intact esp. the most critical one — advertising.
So, the challenge is on for the best Philippine news sites — the more players and content providers there are, the better for us the reading public. May the one with best original and relevant content wins.
That’s our tag line for our blog parteeh which will be tomorrow. I never really got to explain that one until yesterday while I was having coffee with the editorial team of GMA 7 (News & Public Affairs). As they’ve graciously invited me to drop by their station and introduce me to the team involved in their blog network and the new GMANews.tv portal, I decided to stay for a while (if you can call 5 hours a coffee break) and discuss my ideas and plans for a solid blogging community in the Philippines as well as get their side of the story on the recent break-up on the Inq7.net project. I don’t know if I did promise them I won’t tackle the issue anymore here on my blog as it’s already done and been dealt with although I said it would be nice if the online reading public would know the whole meat of the story.
Ok, going back to the party. This event is a landmark for me to show to the rest of the local IT industry that there IS a community and it’s not just virtual but a real one you can meet and greet. The event tomorrow will be the proof of that — organized by bloggers for bloggers. As of last count, we have over 100+ attendees (though only around 80 are bloggers as we have to give slots to sponsors, speakers, etc.)
The overwhelming support that we have from the sponsors and donors who selfishly sent in their contributions is unbelievable. What I am most proud of is the amount of effort the members of the Steering Committee put into this project. If it were not for them, this event wouldn’t even be possible. Some of them are even the first ones who pledged money for the party. Huge, huge props to the team.
So, well see y’all there tomorrow!
P.S.
I’m hoping to win that iPod Video too! *hahaha*
Now that we’re witnessing the final phase of the transition from Inq7.net to GMANews.tv and Inquirer.net, both will be facing some setbacks as they move along and away from each other. I’m sure a new layout will unfold over at Inq7.net which will divide the real estate space equally between the two media entities.
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I know this is an old news but recent chit chats with people in the know suggested that Gerry Kaimo could have gotten some cash settlement with PLDT for the domain pldt.com.
The story went public over at Inq7.net last April 2006 entitled Not a money settlement, PLDT says on domain name case:
Sources said that a non-disclosure agreement between the two parties was among the conditions of the settlement.
The settlement ends one of the longest-running domain and trade name disputes in the Philippines between the country’s biggest telecommunications company and an individual.
Kaimo is the registered owner of the domain name “pldt.com.” His original website now contains the message, “in line with some admin changes, this site will be moved to www.kaimo.com.”
PLDT had filed a 1.35-million-peso lawsuit against Kaimo, arguing that he was violating the company’s intellectual property rights over the PLDT trade name.
I think the NDA gave it all away. What is there to hide in the first place with the settlement? My personal impression about the issue was that it was the first true test of consumerism advocacy in the country. What could have prompted both parties to agree on a settlement?
It’s just speculation but some people close to him say that Kaimo always had this *smile* when asked about the settlement and how much he got from it. Ahhh, the sign of a contented and rich man? Only the good Lord and Gerry knows. 
This was in the news yesterday — Philippine Daily Inquirer, GMA Network launch ‘new INQ7.net’. I previous wrote about an impending split-up by a tip from multiple sources. Now, this comes as a total surprise for me.
Starting January 2007, INQ7.net will become a news portal or “doorway” to the Philippine Daily Inquirer and GMA Network news websites, top executives of both media giants announced in a brief event held at the GMA Network headquarters in Quezon City.
What I don’t really get from this deal is that there’s almost nothing new. It says Inq7.net will serve as portal for both Inquirer.net and GMANews.tv website.
Here’s what I think the story is all about, and please allow me to venture another guess:
GMA 7 Network and the Philippine Daily Inquirer did in fact split up. GMA Network will deliver its own content and will now host the streaming videos (which Inq7.net is now doing). The Philippine Daily Inquirer will run Inquirer.net, which they used to do before the tie-up years ago. The statement that Inq7.net will serve as a portal may mean that all content headlines will appear on Inq7′s website but the links will either forward it to Inquirer.net or GMANews.tv whoever owns that article or news.
The idea of sharing the brand (Inq7.net) and the real estate seems logical to me IF the two would have to go separate ways.
But again, this is just another theory (after I read the article 3 times). We’ll see come January 2007.
I blogged about the rumored break-up of Inq7.net from media partner GMA 7 almost 2 months ago. You can read more about it here.
So, I noticed earlier today that some of the sections of Inq7.net are now resolving to inquirer.net already. See sample screenshot below:
You can actually see this now if you go to the section via the left navigation tabs. The screenshot here shows the Technology section as http://technology.inquirer.net
I might have overlooked this but I’m pretty sure this domain transfer was very recent. Again, I might be wrong still it’s a bit sneaky to inject the new domain there, eh?
This clue adds up to the whispers about the breakup. It could happen anytime soon.
I’ve been linked by Inq7.net many many times in the past and not one of them caused any of my servers to go down. The best traffic I got from them on a single day is around 12,000 uniques (from Infotech section) and I thought they couldn’t give me any trouble like the dreaded Slashdot, Digg, Fark or Boing-boing.
Not until today when I got two stories from them in the last 12 hours. One was about the pictures re-posted by Bryanboy on his blog and another about the long-standing Jollibee scandal on Youtube. I’m sure everyone here knows about those two already.
The direct referrals were ok, but then a barage of Google searches for related Jollibee keywords were coming my way too.
All’s fine now. Just fixed Apache.
An article on Inq7.net today points out to a booming internet cafe industry in Davao City. The business is so competitive that one only has to pay as low as 4 to 8 pesos an hour to surf the net.
Now, doesn’t Php4/hour spell the death of this lucrative business? Here in Makati, the cheapest I’ve ever seen is the one at the corner of Arnaiz Ave (Pasay Road) and Evangelista Street operated by Pempe Networks. They offer as low as Php8 per hour for prepaid members. Regular rate in the area is Php25/hour.
I’m no so sure if there’s still money to be made with an Php8 an hour rate much more the Php4 in Davao.
A regular PC would eat about 350 to 400 watts of electricity per hour right? That’s already around Php3 when you compute the current power rate of Php8.9 per kilowatt hour. Them you still have the air con, the lease of the place and the people to pay every fortnight.
I don’t think Php8 would even cut it. But yeah, everyone wants to compete for customers and the fastest and most effective way to attract them or retain them is by lowering your prices. But for what? At the cost of just breaking even? For how long?
So, will the bubble burst?
Network giant GMA 7 and Inquirer Publications joined in a content partnership some 7 years ago to launch the new company and news site Inq7.net. Yesterday, while I was pitching ideas for an netrepreneurship awareness campaign and awards of some sort, I was told that GMA 7 is planning to remove its interests in Inq7.net (was that a fifty-fifty split?).
So I asked my reliable source “why?” When, after 7 years in the online media and having been profitable in the last 2 years, GMA 7 wants out?
The answer to me was, “maybe they want to compete?”
I guess so.
Nonetheless, I think Inq7 will do just as fine.
Update: I just got someone from the inside confirming this story. It was already mentioned to the employees but no details. It could be due to issues on content or profit, we can only guess.
Canon has recently launched a dedicated website exclusive to Canon Digital SLR users in the Philippines. Dubbed as ClubEOS, it’s the official community for Filipino EOS users and aims to provide more information, prizes and rewards to Canon users (thats me!).
If you have a Canon DSLR camera, you can sign up here but non-SLR Canon users are also invited though they will not be eligible to the rewards program.
According to a report on Inq7.net, registered users can collect points by posting on forums or uploading photos taken with their cameras. As they collect points, they can use these for discounts when buying new parts for their cameras. Wow, Canon really knows how to take care of their customers, eh?
Ahh yes, Globe Visibility, this is what I was talking to them guys many times — give PLDT WeRoam some competiton. This was just published at Inq7.net: Globe offers wireless 3G Internet service for mobile users.
With a monthly subscription fee of 2,000 pesos, the service includes a notebook PC card integrated with a subscriber identity module (SIM) also used for mobile phones.
The SIM itself can only access Internet and data, not voice as with SIMs of mobile phones.
The service taps into available 3G cell sites of Globe, particularly to cell sites enhanced with HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) to be able to connect to the Internet. It can provide bandwidth of up to 1.4 megabits per second (Mbps).
Yup, that’s 1.4Mbps via HSDPA which may only be available within Metro Manila. Their GPRS connection only tops at 50Kbps though.
So, I guess it’s time to talk to their Visibility group and maybe get some of us some trial account. 
Apple has been selling billions of songs online for over two years now thru iTunes. Yet, it has not been able to widen its market in a Asia Pacific region mainly because of high risk of copyright issues and prevalence of peer-to-peer sharing. I was actually curious before on how it works especially when downloadable videos came out but never got to try it because of the restrictions.
So, I was surprised that where iTunes failed to reach, Mobiuslive will take the risk and make the jump. The site was first reported over at PTB by Mike, while Luis confirmed he’s the one behind the development of the site and Inq7.net did a short story just a while ago. There’s actually no contest here since Apple does not want to make a presence here in the Philippines and the rest of greater Asia for that matter. The real competition here is between Mobiuslive and Fliptunes (by Mozcom).
So, we go back to the question: Will Filipinos buy music online? It’s a question I cannot categorically answer but considering our fondness for anything free, I doubt a significant number will get used to buying their music online. Let me throw in some scenarios:
- Filipinos who do buy CD albums buy them not only because they love the music. They want to own a piece of it. Consider the CD a trophy. If you buy an MP3 copy online, there’s no trophy to be proud of that you can display in your CD rack in your room or in your car with the 12-disk CD changer.
- Buying online might seem more convenient because you don’t have to physically go out and buy the CD. But wait, with the pre-paid card model (as against credit card), you do have to personally go out and buy credits. It now boils down to which of the two have a wider distribution arm.
- Cross-over buyers could hurt album sales. Remember that the target market are those who buy the albums. You can’t convert those who are already hooked up with the free P2P so you could end up getting less sales from the CD albums because buyers can just get the 1 or 2 songs they really like and not buy the CD instead. Not good if the band/artist is rooting for a platinum or double-platinum record.
- Since Mobiuslive allows for sharing downloaded songs with friends, it might tickle the “me too” mentality and you could end up with 1 buyer and 100 downloaders. I call it the “Wendy’s Salad Bar Phenomenon”.
- There are torrents, MP3 IRC channels, Limewire, Kazaa and a host of others peer-to-peer networks. Mobiuslive is selling them at Php20 each. Hmmm… Twenty pesos? Free? Twenty pesos? Free?
Despite these possibilites, I have to give props to Mobius and Fliptunes for taking the risk. It’s just business after all.
Okay, I should stop here lest people would ask me where I got all those mp3s in my iPod.
The other day, Erwin of Inq7.net called me up for a quick interview which was just published here. This topic was brought about during our meeting with Al (Sembrano) McCaw with regards to his intent in filing a libel case against Gail. I wanted to do a follow-up on that but I never got to publish that entry until I’ve exhausted all possible ways to have both parties agree on something.
Going forward to Erwin’s article in Inq7.net entitled “Should Filipino bloggers follow ethics in journalism?”, this topic has been discussed in many fora time and time again but in the context of the Philippine blogosphere we’re still young to even consider it.
I might partially agree with Rachel Khan when she said bloggers should at least follow certain guidelines in journalism of truth-telling, impartiality, and fairness but only if the blog is doing pure reportage. Otherwise, expect the blogger to be highly opinionated and partial because it’s personal arena and we’re all entitled to express our thoughts.
Journalists on the other hand are guided bound by the journalistic code of ethics and standards. If we say that blogging has evolved and already gone mainstream and they should be covered under the same standards is like requiring all YouTube videos go thru MTRCB ratings before they’re uploaded.
Again, I’d stress that blogging became so popular because there were no hard rules at all. We could even go back to the age-old issue on what is or what is not a real blog. At the end of the day, the whole social media (which includes blogs) evens out and self-regulates — when you practice these standards/ethics, you get the respect and credibility on what you’re doing; if you exploit it, you’ll loose readership.
Just got an email today from Al McCaw inviting me to attend and observe his interview with Inq7.net tomorrow, September 12, 2006 about this issue between him and Gail of Kutitots.com. The email was quite long and asked me to be fair and hear both sides of the story. I cannot publish the email in its entirety as requested by Al himself for reasons of privacy.
In summary he requested that as a (respected and prominent Filipino) blogger, it is my duty to report both sides of the issue and be fair between the parties involve.
As I have reported the incident here on my blog, I am inclined to attend this interview and report my observations as well. I hope my schedule permits this.
More on this tomorrow…
In the last 2 weeks, I’ve been experimenting on advertising my business with Inq7.net via Adbrite. I am running Adbrite on my blog myself so I know that clickthroughs and conversions are very low, much lower than Adsense from experience.
Still Inq7.net’s Technology channel is drawing an average 6,000 uniques and 10,000 pageviews per day, considering the ads are way below the page. For a 30-day text link from Adbrite, I only get to pay around $6.05. Pretty cheap if you ask me, though the ad rates have actually increased ($120) just a few days ago.
I think I got a nice deal there. Adbrite also has conversion tracking so we get to know how many people saw our ad and actually ordered. The ads are recurring by default so I would be good if we’re stuck with the original ad rate of $6.05.
For now, I’m just glad the first sale broke us even. If only there’s a way to use my Adbrite earnings to pay for my Adbrite ads.
Over at PTB, I speculated that the ongoing Chikka and Google Talk partnership will result to something like an advertising model for mobile phones.
I’d like to call it MobSense — Mobile Adsense. Pushing contextual ads on your mobile phones.
This was based on a comment by a Chikka executive in this Inq7.net story.
Will it work? We’re already getting sms/text ads, so why not.
