Booble Is One Year Old
Well January 20 is Booble.com's Birthday, they've made it through a whole year unscathed. They managed to pop up out of nowhere, parody Google.com, and not get sued or crushed by Google's strangely humourless reaction to the sex-search-engine.
What follows is the Transcript of an interview with Bob Smart, who founded Booble.com. The article ariginally appeared in Klixxx webmaster magazine. If you aren't aware of the history of the Google - Booble conflict, I suggest you pop on over there and check out the whole thing.
iSN: So what happened? Booble completely overhauls its look and keeps mum, with no press release or announcement:
BOB: We recently made an agreement with the fine folks at Google, the terms of which cannot be disclosed. For this reason, there was no press release.
iSN: So can we say Booble won, Google lost? Or vice versa?
BOB: I can tell you two things.... First, the parody was getting kind of old. I think we got all the mileage we could out of it. Second, the audience has responded very well to the new design. Perhaps they were looking for something more than a parody. Anyway, we are quite satisfied with the outcome. Now, we can concentrate on making Booble great, and marketing it.
iSN: There was no pressure involved with the change?
BOB: We (through our attorney) had a good exchange of views. While we believe, and believed, that our parody was protected free speech, we also appreciated that Google didn't want us making fun of them. If anything, I think we had pressure going from our side.
iSN: So can we say Booble and Google are friends, now?
BOB: I really can't comment on the agreement, as I said. Friends would be putting it strongly, but we have an agreement and open lines of communication.
iSN: So how much bigger and better has Booble gotten since the days of Google's cease and desist writs?
BOB: We got a big spike when we launched. I think people were tickled by the parody... clearly the press was. After that, frankly, traffic settled way down, and since then we've steadily grown an audience interested in something more than the parody.
iSN: What were you expecting from Booble, initially?
BOB: Booble started as a bit of a lark, mainly an "in joke" for the staff and our friends, but it took off when the press, got wind of it. When Booble actually started to make money, we assigned someone to it full time. This webmaster handles the database, product development, and marketing of the site. That being said, the site is only modestly profitable. Really nothing, compared to our mainstream business.
iSN: So... what now?
BOB: We'd like to see Booble evolve into a truly useful resource, with a lot more traffic, and therefore revenue.
iSN: All talk of lawsuits, infringement, writs, and so on, have been dropped?
BOB: I really can't say anything about the terms of the agreement. We are happy to go forward with our website and business without the distraction of fighting.
iSN: Now that Booble's look is more serious and businesslike, does that mean your approach will be changing? Will you turn to a Booble-bot or spider for indexing, rather than wait for webmasters to submit?
BOB: No spiders. Everything is listed and indexed by hand. We offer free listings to webmasters, and since our site is highly rated by search engines, there are SEO benefits to sites we list.
iSN: I want to thank you for your time and answers, and for keeping the boobs in Booble.
BOB: Sure.
###
What follows is the Transcript of an interview with Bob Smart, who founded Booble.com. The article ariginally appeared in Klixxx webmaster magazine. If you aren't aware of the history of the Google - Booble conflict, I suggest you pop on over there and check out the whole thing.
iSN: So what happened? Booble completely overhauls its look and keeps mum, with no press release or announcement:
BOB: We recently made an agreement with the fine folks at Google, the terms of which cannot be disclosed. For this reason, there was no press release.
iSN: So can we say Booble won, Google lost? Or vice versa?
BOB: I can tell you two things.... First, the parody was getting kind of old. I think we got all the mileage we could out of it. Second, the audience has responded very well to the new design. Perhaps they were looking for something more than a parody. Anyway, we are quite satisfied with the outcome. Now, we can concentrate on making Booble great, and marketing it.
iSN: There was no pressure involved with the change?
BOB: We (through our attorney) had a good exchange of views. While we believe, and believed, that our parody was protected free speech, we also appreciated that Google didn't want us making fun of them. If anything, I think we had pressure going from our side.
iSN: So can we say Booble and Google are friends, now?
BOB: I really can't comment on the agreement, as I said. Friends would be putting it strongly, but we have an agreement and open lines of communication.
iSN: So how much bigger and better has Booble gotten since the days of Google's cease and desist writs?
BOB: We got a big spike when we launched. I think people were tickled by the parody... clearly the press was. After that, frankly, traffic settled way down, and since then we've steadily grown an audience interested in something more than the parody.
iSN: What were you expecting from Booble, initially?
BOB: Booble started as a bit of a lark, mainly an "in joke" for the staff and our friends, but it took off when the press, got wind of it. When Booble actually started to make money, we assigned someone to it full time. This webmaster handles the database, product development, and marketing of the site. That being said, the site is only modestly profitable. Really nothing, compared to our mainstream business.
iSN: So... what now?
BOB: We'd like to see Booble evolve into a truly useful resource, with a lot more traffic, and therefore revenue.
iSN: All talk of lawsuits, infringement, writs, and so on, have been dropped?
BOB: I really can't say anything about the terms of the agreement. We are happy to go forward with our website and business without the distraction of fighting.
iSN: Now that Booble's look is more serious and businesslike, does that mean your approach will be changing? Will you turn to a Booble-bot or spider for indexing, rather than wait for webmasters to submit?
BOB: No spiders. Everything is listed and indexed by hand. We offer free listings to webmasters, and since our site is highly rated by search engines, there are SEO benefits to sites we list.
iSN: I want to thank you for your time and answers, and for keeping the boobs in Booble.
BOB: Sure.
###
posted by MediaGuy at
10:18 AM
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