We did an incredible joint interview on RSS metrics last
week with Dick Costolo of Feedburner and Stuart Watson of Syndicate IQ, two
of the handful of companies that are leading the
RSS metrics way.
Feedburner is bringing RSS metrics and some other
specific RSS tools to the
masses, while Syndicate
IQ is more focused on the
enterprise level.
Naturally, both of these companies have different
approaches to RSS metrics and one of our goals was
to discover what approach is best suited for what
situation.
The interview got so huge and we covered so many
interesting topics that we're braking it down in
to several parts, with the first one covering the
comparison between RSS metrics based on unique
RSS feed URLs and RSS metrics conducted through
''static'' RSS feeds.
RSS Metrics Focus: Interview With Dick Costolo
and Stuart Watson, Part 1 - Different RSS Metrics
Approaches
There are many burning questions about the pros
and cons of each approach, and Dick and Stuart give
in-depth answers and ideas to help us come up with
the best solutions for our own company.
More specific topics covered:
a] How does using unique URL feeds work for
RSS metrics?
b] How does Feefurber specifically track
RSS usage?
c] What are the advantages and disadvantages
of each approach?
d] What happens when a unique URL feed is
syndicated more widely, instead of being used by
just one person?
e] Why are these two companies taking completely
different directions to RSS metrics?
f] Are RSS feeds in themselves highly targeted
channels, or do we really need dynamic content targeting?
g] What is the future of RSS targeting and
personalization?
For instance, using unique URL feeds make possible connecting
RSS feed usage on an individual level with existing
user registration data, which makes possible
more targeted advertising, content targeting and
customer profile building. Furthemore, unique URLs
make targeting and personalization possible.
But then, there are some problems here as well,
for instance what happens when a unique URL feed
is syndicated to more than just one person. Is that
a problem or not? And what, in this case, happens
to feed targeting and personalization?
On the other hand, Dick has a different view of
targeting and personalization, believing mostly that RSS
feeds are in nature highly targeted. Dick's reasoning
is that if you want to easily target RSS content
without facing difficulties you should just create
separate feeds for each of the targets.
And certainly, one difference between the two approaches,
at least in terms of these two companies, is that
Feedburner is a mass market solution, while Syndicate
IQ is more focused on media publishers and enterprise
RSS marketing.
The Interview
Interview title: RSS Metrics Focus: Interview
With Dick Costolo and Stuart Watson, Part 1 - Different
RSS Metrics Approaches
