Big Indian based blog network Instablogs is coping it in every direction like many in the blog industry at the moment, but the test of any network is how they react to it.
Instablogs Ankit Maheshwari posts on his own blog the wise steps the company has made in response to the downturn, including details of the problems they faced and the changes they’ve taken. I won’t rehash all the points (the short version is cut and change,) you can read the full post here.
The interesting takeaway is the confirmation of what many have been talking about privately, and I’ve been saying publicly for a couple of months: these so-called analyst charts showing growth in online advertising in the first quarter are mostly complete bollocks. The ad market, particularly around blogging has taken a big hit since October/ November last year.
CPM rates Most of the Ad networks saw CPM dropped to 30-40% of their pre-recession prices. And a few networks who refused to lower their CPM, saw their unsold inventories going up to 60% in many cases.
The only note of difference I’d make: some of the non-premium ad networks have managed to maintain CPM rates and increase inventory; there’s still advertisers, but they’re looking for better value.
(via TDH @ The Blog Herald )
