Search-Powered Web Apps

We are super excited to announce a new update to our Wordpress Plugin. The same plugin that brought sweet search functionality and stats information to your wordpress blog is now even better.  You might not notice much, as the core of this update revolves around backend functionality. So what does that mean to you???

• Our search form override functionality is now compatible with just about any wordpress theme out there.  (if you find one that doesn’t work, let us know, and we’ll try to add it)
• The plugin enables new widget functionality which results in faster widget loading for your readers.

If you are using Wordpress 2.7 or higher, you should see auto upgrade notices for version 1.1 showing up in your admin console within the next 24 hours. You can just auto upgrade from your plugins screen. Or, you can always manually install/upgrade the plugin from the Lijit Wordpress Plugin page. For handy install tips and instructions, you can always reference our Lijit Help pages for guidance.

As always, if you have any suggestions or feedback, don’t hesitate to drop us a line at support@lijit.com.

At Lijit, we continually try new things to improve the end-to-end search experience for our publishers. Knowing that revenue is a key driver for some publishers,  we took a hard look at how we displayed ads in search results, and experimented with a few ideas to see if we could increase ad performance.  On April 30, we launched a new ad layout in our search results and asked a few of our publishers if they would try it out. With a couple weeks of data collected, the participating publishers saw an increase in the ratio of clicks to searches ranging from 10% to 300%.

What did we do, you may ask.  We increased the number of ads at the top of the page from 1 ad to four.  We also eliminated the yellow background of the top ad unit, and modified the text colors of the ad. If you would like to have your search results pages displayed with the new layout, please click here to let us know.

While we were under the hood, our developers made some modifications to the way the ads and search results load, resulting in a quicker overall load time for each search results page.  These changes that relate to speed are already in place for all publishers, regardless of the ad layout.  Because they are your search results pages, if you prefer to keep the existing layout, don’t do anything.  You’ll still see the faster load times.

While we expect these changes to bring about ad performance improvements, we will continue try new things to make it even better in the future.

You might remember, back in January, that we announced comment integration if you were using a third-party commenting system like Disqus, Intense Debate, or JS-Kit. Then, in early March, we looped Wordpress comments into the mix. But, if you were a blogger using Typepad, you might have felt a little left out.

No more, ye Typepad users! With last night’s release, you too can now experience the magic of having comments show up in your search results.

(Let’s take a moment to fully celebrate this…)

With that out of the way, there is one thing you have to do if you want to see those comments displayed within your search results. But it’s not hard, it’s totally worth it, and we have the utmost faith that you can do this.

You have to enable your comment feeds within your Typepad dashboard, which is easily done by following the four steps outlined above. After logging in to your Typepad account:

Step #1–> Click on the ‘Weblogs’ tab along the top.

Step #2–> Choose the ‘Configure’ tab.

Step #3–> From there, go to ‘Feeds’.

Step #4–> And finally, check the box to enable comment feeds on indivual posts and pages.

When you’re done with that, be sure to save your changes at the bottom of the page, sit back and enjoy the enhanced functionality of Lijit that we keep striving to bring you! If you have questions or need help with doing this, please leave us a comment and we’re happy to help.

This blog post comes to you courtesy of our amazing Director of Ad Serving, Dave. He loves writing these posts almost as much as he loves me bugging him to write these posts. But not as much as he loves fly-fishing.

This week, Lijit has released the latest version of our ad platform. The two key features for this release are the introduction of commissions that will be paid to publishers for advertiser referrals, and the launch of our closed beta program for ad placement on the content pages of our publishers.

Publisher Commissions

Publishers will earn commissions in two ways for referring advertisers who create keyword search ad campaigns. Direct referrals are made by publishers who send the link found on the “Sell Your Ad Inventory” tab to an advertiser who builds a campaign. Indirect referrals are made when an advertiser clicks on the “Advertise Here” link found on the Lijit Search Results and creates a campaign. In each case, Lijit will pay the referring publisher a commission for each valid click. The amount that publishers earn for clicks on their search results page is unaffected by the commission structure.

Content Page Ad Placement

To provide publishers with additional ways to monetize their sites, we are building upon our existing ad platform to offer publishers the ability to place ads on the content pages of their sites. Publishers will have the ability to choose between placing text ads or image ads on their sites, and what size they want their ads to be.

Publishers will be compensated on a CPM (cost per thousand impressions) basis, meaning that the publisher’s account will be credited based on page views, rather than clicks. Before opening this up to everyone, Lijit is going to run a closed beta program, so that we can gather real feedback from real publishers that we will use to optimize the publisher experience. If you would like to participate in the beta program, please click here.

Please keep an eye out for more information about Lijit’s program for content page ad placement and how you can participate.

We are excited about our newest offering for blog publishers: the ability to create and maintain your own Content Network. Many of our users were requesting some way to build topical communities that would promote their content and help to drive traffic to individual sites. We listened and now you can organize groups of bloggers that write about a common area of interest.

There are three Content Networks currently up and running: The Security Bloggers Network, The Venture Capital Bloggers Network, and The Cycling Bloggers Network. With the release of the Conent Networks, Lijit provides all the tools for you to easily create one of your own. Lijit will host the main site, aggregate all the RSS feeds from the individual bloggers, and allow your readers to search through the entire network of experts. Additionally, we give you the ability to monetize your network through display and search advertising.

The real beauty of the Content Network lies in the simple fact that by collecting similar content in one place, readers have an amazing way of searching across a number of different bloggers writing about the same thing. When you visit the Security Bloggers Network, you can do a search that will bring back results from all of the 200+ bloggers who are a part of that network. No one knows the industry better than those blogging about it and now, readers can benefit from all that expertise in one place.

You can read more and find out how to start your own Content Network here. We love hearing feedback and are proud to be able to empower bloggers to do even more!

After our release last night, we’re proud to introduce a super-cool integration that allows you to see blog comments in your search results. If you’re using JS-Kit, Intense Debate, or Disqus, you’ll now see something different when doing a Lijit search.

For example, if you do a search on Guy Kawasaki’s blog for Twitter, this is what you’ll get…

Underneath the search result, you’ll see how many comments the post received and when you click on the link, you’ll get a preview of the first couple of comments. There is also a “View more comments” link that will show you all the comments on the post.

Why is comment integration important?

–People that write and read blogs are always interested in what others have to say.  One of the most valuable pieces of any blog is the comments section because it’s an excellent indicator of reader engagement and shows the conversation taking place around a topic. Lijit understands that and with this integration, give you the ability to judge a search result by checking out the comments before you click on the result.

–The integration of comments into search results is an important step forward in the integration of widgets and the content that BOTH publishers and readers find valuable. Lijit is proud to offer a unique search experience that is not available anywhere else.

–Lijit was founded on the notion of trust.  We recognize the critical importance of your social network in establishing and conveying trust.  This is yet another example of how Lijit uncovers more valuable information for publishers, readers and commenters alike.

We are proud of this new feature and want to know what you think. Leave us a comment with your feedback and enjoy the enhanced search functionality!

I’m Dave Ferro, the Director of Ad Serving here at Lijit Networks, and today’s guest author for the Lijit blog. Today, Lijit is releasing the latest version of its ad network. The theme of this release is to offer greater value and control for our publishers. In our first release, we provided publishers with the ability to opt-in to our ad network and earn money from the largely overlooked ad inventory of search results pages. It was a solid first step in our product evolution, and now we are taking a second step toward our goal of providing publishers with a transparent, flexible, and manageable search ad offering.

Publishers can now set their own pricing for search ads that advertisers target for their search results pages. Publishers who choose to do so can also sell their own search ad inventory through a link that they can email to advertisers. Because many publishers will prefer the leave the business of selling ad space to us, we will fill all available inventories with ads that we sell directly to advertisers. As always, we will fill the remaining unsold inventory with ads from third party networks like Google AdSense and Yahoo!.

We have also placed a link in the search results pages of our publishers that will bring an advertiser to the ad creation workflow. For publishers who have opted-in, the links will bring the advertiser to a workflow specifically for their publications. If a publisher has yet to opt-in to the Lijit ad network, the advertiser will be taken to the generic campaign workflow.

We are also making it easier for advertisers to target their ads to match the intent stream of the reader. Advertisers now have the ability to search for individual publishers who have opted into the ad network, and to review statistics and pricing information before creating a campaign for a specific publisher’s search results pages. For those advertisers who target individual publishers, they will pay the price set by the publisher. Advertisers also now have the ability to upload lists of keywords and keyword phrases to target their campaigns.

In the coming weeks and months, we will release features and offerings to improve our ad network for both publishers and advertisers. Continuing to add value for our publisher and advertiser partners by providing flexibility, transparency, and control are the fundamental principles behind our decision tree. I look forward to future guest posts where I can announce what we will have rolled out in our next releases.

You can find out more details on our Advertising Network page.

After last night’s release, you’ll see a new tab along the top of your profile page.

What’s that, you ask? How can Lijit possibly give me even more cool stuff? Well, we’ve managed to do it by partnering with two fantastic companies, JS-Kit and ShareThis. These two widget companies offer complementary services, so that if you need a commenting system, a way to display polls, or a way to let your readers share your posts with others, you can find it all on this new page. Consider it one-stop shopping for all your blogging needs.

We’re excited about this opportunity to co-promote some other widgets and give our users more tools to make their blogs even better.

There were also a few tweaks made last night to insure better relevancy and faster display of the search results we bring back, two things that we’re continually working on improving. If you have any feedback, we’d love to hear it.

If you’re looking to spice things up this season, why not coordinate the color of your search results with your widget? After last night’s release, we’ve made that possible. Now, if you are choosing to have your search results pop up over your blog, you can match the color of that box with your widget’s look.

If you didn’t already know, on the ’search wijit’ page within your Lijit account, you can choose how you want your search results to display. If you’ve chosen the ‘on my blog’ option from the drop-down menu, you’ll notice a new box previewing what your search results will look like…

If that’s not enough lovely eye candy, check out the customization options we’ve made available. You can choose your color palette and pick what color you want every aspect of your search box to be…

At this time, these options only exist for the slim, rectangular widget style, but we encourage you to have some fun and play around with different colors. Enjoy the more unified look of your search results and please let us know if you have any feedback around what we’ve done.

Because of publishers like you, Lijit continues to grow in new and exciting directions.  We’d like to tell you about our newest one right now:  During 2008, Lijit has been developing features that allow advertisers to present your readers with highly targeted ad placements in search results.  But that’s not all – we’ve also developed features that allow YOU to share in the revenue from these ad placements!

The beta release of the Lijit Ad Network will be open to advertisers and publishers like you starting October 8^th, 2008.  In this release, publishers will be able to opt-in to the search-based ad network and begin receiving a share of the revenue for ad units displayed in your search results.  As a thank you for your patience while we’ve been developing and testing these features, your account will be pre-loaded with a credit for estimated revenues based on your search history during this period (a minimum of $5).

We’re not done yet!  In the near future those publishers who have opted in to Lijit’s Ad Network will be able to sell their search based ads directly to advertisers with whom they may already have relationships, targeting just their own publication and making even more money for themselves.  This is going to be big!

To start capturing your share of revenue from the Lijit Ad Network, log in to your Lijit account and at the top right of your profile page, click the “Start Now” button.  (If you don’t want to participate in revenue sharing, you certainly don’t have to and can continue using Lijit as you do today.  We promise to use your share of the ad revenues wisely.)

Our new publisher FAQ answers all the questions we could think of during development and alpha testing of this cool feature, but if you can think of one we haven’t covered, please email us at support@lijit.com.

We look forward to working together with you to help you monetize your search results. It’s an exciting time to be Lijit and we welcome any feedback you may have. Thanks again!