Sugar, Inc. Launches Blog Platform With Retail Rev Stream
This story was written by Staci D. Kramer.
An interesting move from Sugar Inc. following its mid-summer course correction with NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) ... the blog network opened its publishing platform to its readers today with OnSugar beta promising "sweet & simple publishing." The concept: give users the tools to do what the Sugar pros do, increase engagement and add to revenue starting with retail links served up with the new blogs. CEO Brian Sugar said the move doesn't preclude a Sugar ad network but this and other recent actions suggest that Sugar is still focused on realizing its own potential as a network.
Some details:
-- ShopStyle, acquired by Sugar last September, plays a major role; Sugar said at the time of the acquisition that the company would use ShopStyle's commerce technology to integrate shopping across the network. Users also can create style looks from the images on the social shopping site. ShopStyle wound up throwing off enough revenue to be a factor in Sugar's decision to withdraw from NBCU's ad network over the summer. NBCU is still an investor.
-- Bloggers can access "hundreds of thousands" of Getty (NYSE: GYI) Images.
-- Existing blogs can be imported from Blogger, Wordpress, or Typepad.
-- Options include widgets, polls, quizzes, quotes and more.
By Staci D. Kramer