OK America… You have made your bed, now lay in it.

More Rats

Back in the late part of last year, there was a man who started a service that many bloggers said would revolutionize how blogs would be recognized across the Internet.  This service was known as BlogRush and had millions of subscribers.

Today, BlogRush made this announcement…

After careful consideration, we have decided to shutdown the BlogRush service. If you have the widget code on your blog you will need to remove it.

When BlogRush launched in late-2007 it spread like wildfire all over the Web. Thousands of bloggers were talking about it and the service exploded to become one of the fastest growing free services in the history of the Web. During the first year of the service it successfully served 3.4 Billion blog post headlines and the BlogRush widget could be found on blogs all over the world; even up until the moment we closed down the service.

BlogRush didn’t grow without its fair share of problems — from security issues to abusive users trying to ‘game’ the system to much lower click-rates than expected. We also had some problems with trying to fairly control the quality of the network, and in the process made many mistakes in deciding what blogs should stay or go. All of these issues, ultimately, limited the service’s full potential.

Our team worked very hard to try and build a service that would truly help bloggers of all sizes get free traffic to their blogs. This was our primary focus. Not once did we ever try to monetize the service with ads or anything else. BlogRush never made a single penny in revenue. We wanted to be able to help our users FIRST and then worry about monetizing the service later. Unfortunately, the service didn’t work out like we had hoped. (It happens.)

I

I had given BlogRush a try, several times and I never found any use for it.  Having said that, I am sorry it did not go on to become the dream of it’s creator.  As in his own words…

Last but not least I want to say that I hope the failure of this service doesn’t in any way discourage other entrepreneurs from coming up with crazy ideas at 4AM (like I did with this one) and from "going for it" to just try and see if something will work. Without trying there can be no success. And as we all know, ideas are worthless without action. The Web wouldn’t be what it is today without entrepreneurs trying all sorts of crazy ideas.

On behalf of the entire BlogRush team, we wish the best of luck to everyone with their own blogs, ideas, and crazy ventures.
Sincerely,
John Reese

 

Try something new John… I commend you for trying.

Every 7 Seconds… a child is dying from hunger related causes.

An almost equal tragedy is that we’ve become so desensitised to the suffering of others that we often let statistics like that float past us without a second thought.

Can I beg you not to just click past this post? Please take the time to read it through and let it touch your heart.

I’ve seen the desperation in the eyes of those who can’t afford to feed their families. My visit to Haiti in April this year with Compassion Australia was cut short due to rioting and looting brought about by the global food crisis. People in developing countries do not have enough food and even when food is available the cost is beyond the reach of the majority of the population.

The effects of the global food crisis have been further exacerbated by the global financial crisis.

Throughout November, Compassion staff and supporters are joining together in a practical and focused way to support families who are hungry and in desperate need of food because of the global food crisis. FAST for FOOD will help us focus on the need and provide practical ways to make a difference. Will you join us in making life more livable for those who are desperately in need?

By: Rodney Olsen  Please READ ON