When MSN Search made a fake blog site with fake people talking about their real search product, they justifiably got lambasted for it. But the PR folks at Yahoo are running circles around them, getting real bloggers to flack for a product that isn't launched yet.
The insider coverage of 360.yahoo.com from Forrester analyst turned blogger Charlene Li is soft to the point of straining credibility. We hear this was a "detailed walkthrough" but we don't hear whether it was working code, and the "screen shots" seem to be one stage above lorem ipsum. Why is everything dated December 2003? Is that how long ago the comps were developed and is the story really that the "final" comps were completed over a year ago and this is still not done? Is Frank Gonzaga a real blogger and beta tester, or is this MSN Found, Yahoo style?
I don't doubt the product is on its way (who'd have thought MSN Spaces would beat Yahoo in the blog race for 3rd place among the portals), and I'm looking forward to test driving the service, but a big co. like Yahoo ought to either pull the "influencers" in early to shape the product development, or make it clear to them they are there for the free lunch and the help with PR. "Cool of Yahoo to let us blog it!" Uh, yeah, don't you think that was why you were invited?
You called it. Yahoo! seems to be making a full court press on bloggers. Just take a peak at all the blog buzz regarding Yahoo 360 {http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=&url=%22yahoo+360%22}. Pretty easy PR for them. Even the Flickr purchase was a fairly low cost of entry (for Yahoo!) into the good graces of the "blog people." I'm as guilty of being overly enthusiastic as anyone else, but even I draw the line on extolling the virtues of a product that I haven't used or seen in action.
Posted by: Carrick Mundell | March 26, 2005 at 08:27 AM