On Monday, the program was launched in a selection of the TV network's regional markets: Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Denver, and Chicago. Within the next few weeks, CBS has said, the CBS Local Ad Network will come to New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Miami, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore.

Some of the blogs currently participating in the new program are San Francisco's SFBayStyle and Boston's Red Sox Nation. Approved sites will be able to choose the content of the CBS headlines displayed (breaking news, sports, politics), as well as select from a number of options to determine, for example, whether they want video content in the widget.

Bloggers can't just embed a widget and hope for profits, CBS Television Stations Digital Media Group president Jonathan Leess told CNET News.com. "There's a screening process, obviously," he said. "We have to figure out or get some visibility into what the content is on that site, and then we screen, but we have a third party (Syndigo Networks) that administers all this for us."

CBS declined to share exact breakdowns of the revenue-distribution process. "All of it's based on certain traffic estimates from each of the sites, and (ad) placement," Leess said.

Payment is 45 days after the calendar month; payments that don't exceed $50 will roll over until they do. The contract runs one year. As far as I can tell-and I may be missing something in the fine print-members have to sign up before they are told the rev share amount.

Technorati already offers bloggers an array of widgets. They mostly are blog-content related, such as listing top searches, link counts, and tags. Now, the company seems to be considering introducing widgets that display ads.

Or so you'd gather from a survey I just received (as a consumer -- not a journalist) from Technorati.

Coincidentally, I had a long chat last night with Technorati co-founder Peter Hirschberg. He didn't breathe a word about anything widget-related.

Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine, the dynamic duo behind the web's most deadly source of advice, Ask a Ninja, have struck gold with a Federated Media payday, which includes a $300,000 upfront payment along with 60 percent of ad revenue, according to our sources. In a phone conversation today, Nichols declined comment on the monetary terms of the deal beyond confirming what's already been reported by Heather Green at BusinessWeek.

A $300,000 payment alone makes Ask a Ninja (which we profiled in December) the best-paid online video show in the business, topping the $250K Andrew Michael Baron says Rocketboom made last year.

The ad formats have varied from featured spots in the right-hand skyscraper unit to full site takeovers. Series promoted include "Grey's Anatomy" and "Gay, Straight or Taken" on Lifetime, "Wildfire" on ABC Family, "Dirt" on FX, "Beauty and the Geek" on The CW Network, and "Surreal Life: Fame Games" on VH1. Spots on the site--arranged by blog ad network Blogads--range from $800 per week to $9,000 per week for placements in the skyscraper to significantly more for full site takeovers. Blogads declined to disclose the exact figure.

Henry Copeland, founder of Blogads, said that brands are willing to advertise with Perez to tap into the blog's enormous readership. Blogads reports 15.6 million ad impressions weekly on the premium ad spot on PerezHilton.com, making it the most highly trafficked space in the entire Blogads network. "The most important factor: everyone at agencies and the clients is reading Perez," he said. "They know their target audience is reading it. And they know they have to be there if they want to hit America's 2 million trend-mavenest women in their twenties and thirties--the women who are the queen bees in their offices for entertainment news."

Clicks believed by advertisers to be fraudulent: 14.6 percent

Money paid by advertisers for bogus clicks: $800 million (2005)

Advertisers who said they were victims of click fraud: 75 percent

Advertisers who said they reduced click-based advertising or plan to: 37 percent

Revenue lost by Google, Yahoo and other Web sites, as a result: $500 million

Advertisers who request refunds because of fraud: 7 percent

Average refund: $9,507

"Pay per click is a really rudimentary advertising -- a baby step -- and it's destined to decline and be replaced by other advertising methods," Richard said.

Murphy is launching PayPerPost.com, which will automate such hookups between advertisers and bloggers and thus codify a new frontier of product placement. Advertisers pay to post details about their "opportunity," specifying, among other things, how they want bloggers to write about, say, a new shoe, if they want photos to be included, and whether they'll pay only for positive mentions. Bloggers who abide by the rules get paid; heavily trafficked blogs may command premium rates. Those seeking to subvert PayPerPost from within can't: No pornographic or "illicit" content is accepted.

Murphy's approach used to be more ad hoc. He made invitations through e-mail via the BlogStar Network, which he started in 2004. BlogStar paid nicely -- a flat fee of $5 or $10 per post. "Easy money...go buy a burger or something," advised a BlogStar invitation from 2005 soliciting posts about cable network TNT's basketball commercials featuring HBO character Ali G. That come-on also told bloggers "we definitely appreciate more positive posts."

A move towards CPA (Cost Per Action) ads could deliver a hurting to Adsense publishers. CPA ads are very attractive to advertisers because they lower their cost of acquisition for leads or sales. However, there's a big flaw inherent in this type of set up: it's not always the publishers fault that the end user doesn't convert on the advertiser's end.

In fact, a lousy landing page ensures low conversions, which means publishers will be punished for an inept marketer's miscues.

Worse yet, there's a double sting from this. Not only do you reward crappy marketers for bad landing pages by discounting the price they pay, but you also punish excellent publishers by discounting the amount you pay them for traffic on their website. No way is this the direction Google should take the whole program in. In fact, this could be so bad for publishers that it would be the beginning of the end of most webmaster's best performing revenue maker.

The problem with CPA is that it shifts the entire burden of responsibility onto publisher, and it shouldn't. Publishers are responsible and should be awarded for impressions their sites generate (the old-fashioned circulation, if you wish). They share responsibility for click-throughs with "ad agencies" that create the ad; publishers' role is to position the ad unit on a page in the most effective manner. Publishers and "ad agencies" get customers in the door, but it's the job of the shopkeeper to close the deal. Publisher should not be punished for transactions that fail because of the problems on the shopkeeper's end, such as low inventory, confusing store layout or unfriendly service. Look, do you think my ad spread in Cosmopolitan should be free if it fails to move my bling even if my bling is worthless and the distribution system sucks? How many ads have you clicked only to be lead to a page that has nothing to do with the original offer?

I don't mind this as much as I minded SmartTags when Microsoft was attempting to do them (before I was an employee I argued voiciferously against them, along with many other people in the community because we didn't want anyone to be able to use our own words for doing this style of advertising). Choosing to do it on your own blog only gets rid of most of my objection. I still don't like these kinds of ads, though, cause for someone who doesn't know the Web very well you can't tell these are ads at first.

I don't notice them much. When I do see them though they really annoy me - they look far too much like hyperlinks and distract far too much from the content.

It's odd as well that they never feel relevant. Just because a post mentions the word apple doesn't mean I want to buy one (the fruit or the computer). What tends to disturb me more though is forums that use this kind of advertising that I've been seeing a lot. That's putting ads in the middle of your users words and I'd consider it outright unethical.

For the highest bidder, we will create five original, fifteen second (minimum) - one minute (maximum) post-roll commercials that will span five days of programming, Monday-Friday, March 6 through March 10, 2006. Each day that week a different commercial that we create for your company will be played at the conclusion of the Rocketboom episode.

Rocketboom reaches a minimum of 130,000 people per day and each day's video, over the course of several days, receives over 200,000 complete views. Thus, the advertisement reach for this auction is currently a minimum of one million views.

For the highest bidder, we will create five original, fifteen second (minimum) - one minute (maximum) post-roll commercials that will span five days of programming, Monday-Friday, March 6 through March 10, 2006. Each day that week a different commercial that we create for your company will be played at the conclusion of the Rocketboom episode.

Rocketboom reaches a minimum of 130,000 people per day and each day's video, over the course of several days, receives over 200,000 complete views. Thus, the advertisement reach for this auction is currently a minimum of one million views.

UPDATE: Baron clarifies writing us, "The advertiser will relinquish all control. If we get a high bidder, they will pay us right away. Then we will make the ads and play them on Rocketboom whether they like the ads or not. They will understand that by placing a bid, they give up complete control to us to do what we will."

Floating ads are ads that either stay on top as the page is scrolled, or ones that "float in" from the side of the page to the center of the page. Expanding ads are those that require user interaction to expand, either with a mouseover or a click. Interstitials are perhaps the most interesting addition to this rich media beta, because they are a format that people love to hate, and that are often more annoying than pop-ups. You have likely stumbled across an interstitial ad - they appear when you click through to read a page, and before they will show you the page, you are bypassed through to a full page ad that you must view before seeing the actual content you were wanting, often by having to click a link on the interstitial ad page.

1. That I am opposed to the use of corporate advertising on blogs.
2. That I feel the use of corporate advertising on blogs devalues the medium.
3. That I do not accept money in return for advertising space on my blog.

1000Tags is different enough from MillionDollarHomePage that I think it will have a lot of sucess, too. They call it "the first commercial tag cloud". And that’s exactly what it it. You can purchase a tag, pay by the character and font size, and hope that a lot of traffic to your site is the result.

They are selling up to 1,000 tags. Tags can be exclusive (click the Star Wars tag), but cost significantly more, and they will only sell 50 of them. The remaining tags link to a results page with what appears to be an unlimited number of results

November income for J-Walk Blog was $52.35 from Google AdSense, and $82.54 from eMusic. Total = $134.89. In November, I made 428 posts, which works out to $0.31 per post. If we deduct my $75 monthly hosting expense, my per-post income is reduced to $0.14.

So. How much does this site bring in? Last month, November, Google Adsense revenue was close to $700 (not allowed to give you actual figure), Blogads revenue was around $121, DU Network stipend was $150, Chitika was around $212, direct ads were $410 and Vibrantmedia was $140. That makes for a total of $1733.

Copeland does have some basis for that claim. "There are about 18 million people [currently] blogging," he said. Let's say that's the number of people who have set up blogs. The number of people actively blogging is, say, half of that. Of that number, how many regularly update content? How many update their blogs weekly, or even daily? The reality is there are maybe 10,000 to 100,000 really active (hourly or daily) bloggers who get significant traffic numbers.

Maybe 10,000 to 100,000 doesn't sound like very many active blogs. But consider this: There are 49,000 daily journalists in the U.S. Conceivably, there are more well-informed, active bloggers out there than active journalists. That's potentially tens of thousands of really influential people. People with an audience. An audience you can reach through their blogs.

Blogs will play an important role in the future of advertising, entrepreneurs said Tuesday, but for now the bulk of ad dollars from these web journals still appears to be flowing to search engine Google.

Venture capitalists and Internet executives gathered at the ThinkEquity technology and investor conference in Half Moon Bay, California, are looking for ways to make money on the trend of consumer-created content such as blogs. Blog web traffic was up 31 percent through the first seven months of 2005, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, and hasn't shown any signs of slowing.

Much of the money to be made now seems to be flowing into the coffers of Google. The company's context-based advertising scheme makes it easy for bloggers to quickly record advertising revenue.

How does Chitika's Publisher Referral Program work?
When the publisher you refer applies for eMiniMalls through your referral link, is approved, and then displays Chitika's eMiniMalls on their website, you are eligible to receive Publisher referral commissions. You will earn 10% of the CPC revenue that your referrals earns for up to 12 months from their approval date.

Well, here's the deal people : You have crossed the line. It is not viral marketing on my blog when you pay for advertisment to other bloggers. When you do that, you have an ad campaign in place. Asking me to do it for free is in labor-talk, "explotation".

I am going to go one step further. To expect me give my labor for free when you have deliberately passed on paying for advertisement on my site is tacky, rude and, quite frankly, insulting.

And what is most upsetting about all of this? These people are supposed to be the champions of the new labor movement.

Sorry honey, but I am not your blogmonkey.

On a per month basis, 69% of our bloggers (those who previously indicated they participate in advertising programs) earn less than $20 per month from all income sources: advertising & sponsorship. It's rather a pity that so many bloggers, of whom we have identified as being experienced, are not seeing any return for their efforts.

You can see from the graph that there is a real hurdle between $50 a month and anything above. From general experience, I know that blogs tend to go through several earnings ranges. You can be stuck on one range for a long time then jump up to the next without really experiencing a gradual incline in that direction.

How does Chitika determine what product to show in the eMiniMall?
At first, eMiniMalls will display products that are extremely targeted to your website's content. Then, over time, the content and behavior-based Feedback Loop intelligently learns what products are working best for a particular website and will prioritize those products for display.

The potential pitfall of this approach, of course, is how well context can be inferred by examining keywords. This was gruesomely demonstrated in the early phases of an implementation with the New York Post when an advertisement for luggage appear in next to a story about a murder where body parts were stashed in a suitcase. Google states that it has since made improvements to AdSense designed to prevent such inappropriate placements.

''No more driving to the corner to buy flowers and hand-deliver them," he wrote on his Web page. ''Nope. Now I go online to places like Dot Flowers.com and 1-800-Flowers. I like Dot a little better just because of the personal touch."

Dot Flowers's ad agency paid Cutler $5 this spring to promote the florist and put a link to its website on his blog, or online journal, short for web log. Cutler, who does not disclose the payment on his blog, is one of more than 2,000 bloggers whom marketer USWeb enlisted to hawk products and services. That helped the nascent florist double its sales in the first three months and shoot up near the top of Google's search list, according to USWeb.

While Marqui remains open about paying bloggers, not all companies are so forthcoming. Though laws exist to protect consumers from deceptive practices and false advertising in other media outlets, there is no formal oversight in the blogosphere.

For now, self-regulation rules. ''We try to be as ethical as possible," said Ed Shull, chief executive at USWeb, the ad agency that pays bloggers to post about Dot Flowers and other companies.

''In our opinion, paying bloggers is no different than Tiger Woods getting money to wear the Nike logo."

In a conceptual mash-up, the ad, entitled simply "Pie Fight" and created by Stun Creative, combines characters from the old TV show "Gilligan's Island" with the concept of the popular "Catfight" ad for Miller Lite beer. "Pie Fight" depicts original TV characters Mary Ann and Ginger fighting about what makes a good coconut cream pie; they ultimately throw pies at each other, wrestle, and get rinsed off with a bucket of water.

But not all of the DailyKos readers, variably referred to as "Kossacks" or "Kos Kids," were amused. Many of Kos' female readers expressed offense and even outrage that the ad, which they say objectifies women, would be hosted on a progressive site like DailyKos.

This is a site about electoral issues, the netroots, and Iraq. Period. If you have an issue you want to tackle, whether it's environmental, Darfur, women's rights, tax reform, education, or whatever, you can 1) write a diary about it, or 2) start your own blog on the topic.

I am not the end-all, be-all of liberal blogging. I cannot be everything to everyone.

But because the price of entry is so low, you can never have ownership consolidation in weblogging. It will always be a distributed medium and therefore very difficult to control. If professional bloggers emerged who came to be unduly beholden to their advertisers and started not covering certain stories or spinning them for the sake of their sponsors, other non-professional bloggers would just step into the breach. If corporate media bought up a few big bloggers, they would still have to compete against literally millions of independents, and if any of the independents was providing what the audience wanted better, the traffic would shift to them. In the world of weblogging, any form of censorship actually creates opportunities for those immune to it.