Ad revenues are expected to grow over the next few months, as SellaBand is working on deals with media agencies for countries outside their main three markets— the Netherlands, the US and the UK.
MyFootballClub, which launched in May, recently announced that they have agreed to buy a controlling stake in Ebbsfleet United FC, with the option to buy the the remaining share in the future. In less than three months, MyFootballClub signed up 50,000 people willing to pay a £35 membership fee to buy and manage a soccer team with a crowd of other dedicated fans.
MyFootballClub members will vote on player selection, transfers and all other major decisions. When it got down to picking a team to buy, MyFootball-Club was approached by nine football club owners and also sought contact with several others. One of the reasons for picking Ebbsfleet United is that it stands a good chance to reach the national football league.
Described as eBay for loans, the peer-to-peer money exchanges work as follows: borrowers list loan details and a personal profile, and lenders bid on the loan. Lowest interest rates win. Lenders bid in increments and minimize their risk by bidding on numerous loans.
A study by Online Banking Report predicts that by 2011 person-to-person lending in the US could surpass 100,000 loans a year, worth at least $1 billion. Unlike eBay Inc., which can connect buyers and sellers from around the world, peer-to-peer lending is generally bound by local financial regulations. Which means there’s ample room for national or regional versions.
Now, let’s go back to Crowd Mining. When co-creating, cofunding, co-buying, co-designing, co-managing anything with crowds, the emphasis in 2008 will move from just getting the masses in, to mining those crowds for the rough and polished diamonds. How to do that? Shower them with love, respect and heaps of money, of course.
Google is developing Android-the first complete, open and free mobile platform.
Netflix Inc., the DVD rental site, is offering a grand prize of $1 million to the individual who can substantially improve the accuracy of predictions about how much someone is going to love a movie based on their movie preferences.
So far, more than 27,000 contestants from 161 countries have submitted their guesses.
The Open Handset Alliance’s most prominent member, Google Inc., is developing Android: the first complete, open and free mobile platform. To support the quest for apps that surprise and delight mobile users, to be created by developers around the world, Google has launched the Android Developer Challenge, which will provide $10 million in awards for innovative applications. The first part of the challenge (submissions are accepted from 2 January through 3 March), will reward 50 entries with $25,000 to fund further development. Those selected will then be eligible for even greater recognition via 10 $275,000 awards and 10 $100,000 awards.