Techvibes Technology News

Comparisons: TinyMassive vs. WidgetBucks

Posted by Greg Andrews on Fri, November 21, 2008 3:38 PM · Filed under Seattle , Vancouver , Success Stories , Start-up · No Comments

Vancouver's TinyMassive and Seattle-based WidgetBucks both offer flash ad-widgets that display products from partner sites. Both algorithmically suggest products based on your site's content. Theoretically, presenting an actual product for sale that looks slightly less than an ad will increase click-throughs.

Network: Both ad networks are "walled" and require approval to join. WidgetBucks major partners include Amazon, eBay, Target, Walmart, Best Buy, and Yahoo Shopping. TinyMassive's only major partner seems to be Amazon.com, with a few other smaller partners. But hey, what _doesn't_ Amazon carry?

Attractiveness/Customizability: WidgetBucks' widgets come in 15 different skins ranging from minimalist to tacky, and available in 6 common ad sizes. TinyMassive has 5 sizes, but only 1 skin. It is, however, nice and minimalist and should integrate well with most sites, unless you have a dark background. TinyMassive's widgets have user voting controls to increase engagement.

Money: Both say that their CPC rates depend on "your site's traffic and content". Amusingly, both sites promise the same potential of over $6 eCPM. Your milage may vary greatly, of course. TinyMassive offers CPC + 10% commission on items sold, minimum balance: $10. WidgetBucks has no comission, works on CPC and/or CPM, and requires a minimum balance of $50 for payout. Interestingly, WidgetBucks does CPC for only the US, Canada and UK. Any other country seems to be judged as too spammy and runs on CPM. Both send payments 45 days after the end of the month.

For the moment, TinyMassive seems to offer a better deal, whereas WidgetBucks rates have been lowered over time. The effectiveness of these widgets depends on the audience of your site, and how product-oriented your content is. Any good publisher will try test different ad networks, but I think the magical "$6 CPM" is a dream on either of these networks. Better returns than AdSense... maybe.

[read more]
 
Company:
TinyMassive
Website:
http://www.tinymassive.com/
Location:
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

TinyMassive.com is a unique comparison shopping engine (CSE) in the making. Created by merchants, TinyMassive has developed patent pending tools... [more]

 
 
Company:
WidgetBucks
Website:
http://www.widgetbucks.com
Location:
Seattle, Washington, United States

WidgetBucks features pay-per-click shopping widgets that help our customers make money fast. They instantly display the most popular products based... [more]

 

2008 BC Export Award winners announced

Posted by Rob Lewis on Fri, November 21, 2008 3:15 PM · Filed under Vancouver , Victoria , Awards · No Comments

Ida Chong, Minister of Technology, Trade and Economic Development and Craig Williams, Vice President BC Division, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME), announced the winners of the 2008 BC Export Awards today and named Day4 Energy, Inc. as Exporter of the Year.

“British Columbia’s ability to export its goods and services is, and always will be, key to our economic success and I congratulate all of this year’s BC Export Awards winners and nominees,” said Ida Chong, Minister of Technology, Trade and Economic Development. “Our leading-edge exporters have helped create a strong and diverse economy. The Province looks forward to working with them as we seek to expand our international trading relationships.”

The winners of the 2008 Awards are:

 
Company:
Next Level Games
Website:
http://www.nextlevelgames.com
Location:
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Next Level Games is a full-service videogame developer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in October 2002, Next Level Games has... [more]

 
 
Company:
Day4 Energy Inc.
Website:
http://www.day4energy.com
Location:
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Day4 Energy Inc. is a Vancouver-based solar energy company formed in 2001 to revolutionize solar power use in industrial, commercial, utility, and... [more]

 

Centre for Digital Media hosts Poker Night

Posted by Rob Lewis on Fri, November 21, 2008 12:52 PM · Filed under Vancouver , Events · No Comments

Just like Fruit Cake, this event has it all. It's a Fundraiser. It's an Industry Mixer. And, it's a Poker Tourney.

Join the staff and students of the Masters of Digital Media Program at the First Annual MDM Food Drive, Industry Mixer and World Series of Poker where the winner will walk away with a trophy, bracelet and most importantly, bragging rights.

This is not a cash poker game - participants are encouraged to bring food items or a cash donation for the Vancouver Food Bank. Most needed items: canned fish, meat, beans, stews/ soups; boxed pasta; sauces; canned fruits & vegetables; peanut butter; other nutritious, non-perishable food items.

Doors open at 5:00pm, pizza is served at 5:30pm, and the dealing starts at 6:00pm. If you get knocked out of the tourney and need to be entertained, there will be a poker training table, Wii games on the BIG screen, Foosball, Ping-Pong, and more. RSVP by November 27th to Dennis Chenard at dennis_chenard@gnwc.ca.

 
Company:
Centre for Digital Media @ Great Northern Way Campus
Website:
http://www.mdm.gnwc.ca
Location:
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The Masters of Digital Media (MDM) Program is a 20-month professional graduate degree offered at the Centre for Digital Media at Great Northern Way... [more]

 

Two spots left for BC startups at Seattle VC Forum

Posted by Rob Lewis on Fri, November 21, 2008 1:00 PM · Filed under Seattle , Vancouver , Victoria , Venture Capital , Events , Start-up · No Comments

The VC Forum has a pretty simple mission - connect innovative technology companies with smart sources of capital. And they're looking for BC companies to join them for their upcoming roadtrip to Seattle on December 4th.

A group of VCs from Silicon Valley, Seattle & Vancouver will join together to discuss technology deals and the latest industry trends. The VC Forum has been in existence since 2001 and has annual events in Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Raleigh/Durham, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and Vancouver.

The upcoming Seattle roadtrip includes the following events:

  • VC Luncheon - A chance to network with fellow VCs
  • Deal Exchange - VC to VC sharing of investment opportunities in 3 minute intervals
  • Deal Showcase - 10 pre-screened tech deals will have 13 minutes to present to the exclusive VC group

Eight of the ten showcase presentation spots are filled which leaves two open and event organizers are eager to fill the roster. The BC Ministry of Technology, Trade & Economic Development are picking up the $500 presenter fee, so this event shouldn't cost startups anything to attend. Interested? Contact info@vcforum.org asap.

Yellow Pages goes almost virtual

Posted by Rob Lewis on Fri, November 21, 2008 10:47 AM · Filed under Montréal , Success Stories · No Comments
Montreal headquartered Yellow Pages Group (YPG) announced yesterday a multi-year agreement with Virtual Paper Inc. to become a reseller of My Virtual Paper solutions to Yellow Pages advertisers across Canada. My Virtual Paper will allow advertisers that are not online yet to automatically convert print-ready marketing materials (flyers, brochures, catalogs, etc.) into search engine optimized web pages.
"We were impressed by My Virtual Paper and how their solution is best able to meet the needs of our advertisers with the innovative and leading edge technology they offer," said Jean-Pascal Lion, Vice-President of Marketing, Yellow Pages Group. "This agreement with My Virtual Paper is a logical complement to our overall SEO efforts to ensure our advertisers have the easy-to-use tools they need to increase their visibility, generate leads and grow their revenues."
The new advertising solution will be offered to YPG customers in the first quarter of 2009. Hopefully this is just another step towards making the printing of old-school directories obsolete.
 
Company:
Yellow Pages Group
Website:
http://www.ypg.com
Location:
Montréal, Québec, Canada

Yellow Pages Group is Canada's leading local commercial search provider. It publishes annually more than 340 Yellow Pages(TM) and residential... [more]

 
 
Company:
Virtual Paper Inc.
Website:
http://www.myvirtualpaper.com
Location:
Montréal, Québec, Canada

Virtual Paper Inc.'s patent-pending technology turns your print-ready materials into online, search engine-friendly web pages and web documents.... [more]