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AskJeeves is working with peer-to-peer software company BitTorrent to place sponsored links on a new search engine that BitTorrent is about to launch...BitTorrent developed a peer-to-peer technology that, like Kazaa... enabled file-sharing... that the music and film industries have insisted are illegal to download for free.
Good grief, what's next? AJ sponsored ads on your friendly neighborhood crack site?
BitTorrent is a very efficient distribution mechanism for largish files to large numbers of recipients. Many sites offering videos or other voluminous content use it to reduce their server load. In most cases, this has nothing at all to do with piracy.
Other than the typical file sharing networks, BitTorrent doesn't include any kind of search mechanism. Consequently, it makes sense to establish a seperate search engine, so that people can actually find all that perfectly legal content out there that is prepared for download through BitTorrent. In my eyes, this is a brilliant move by AskJeeves. They're way ahead of the pack here.
Btw: The lack of a builtin search makes BitTorrent somewhat tedious for illegal use. This is so because you always need to publish your feeds in some other ways, which makes it harder to maintain anonymity.
So what can happen is that someone could search for a software crack or an illegal download and your PPC ad can show up courtesy of Ask Jeeves. Is that the context you want your ads shown in?
What is the big deal about BitTorrent showing AJ/Google PPC Ads?
The larger issue here is that many businesses spend a lot of time and money cultivating their brand name. I doubt many would want to have their brand name associated with internet piracy, copyright infringement, and software cracks.
It's quite hard to keep an illegal BitTorrent feed alive, because it needs a web page where the download is initiated. And those web pages tend to get shut down rather quickly. This is very different to the usual file sharing networks, where each source is hidden behind an anonymous IP address, which may change from one moment to the next. BitTorrent isn't as much about "sharing" as it is about "distributing". And by deliberate design, no attempt at all is made to keep the distributor anonymous.
So what can happen is that someone could search for a software crack or an illegal download and your PPC ad can show up courtesy of Ask Jeeves. Is that the context you want your ads shown in?
How is this different to when someone does the same search on Google? All big search engines have special image and other media searches nowadays. In the future those will also point to BitTorrent feeds, and nothing will have changed except for the efficiency of the downloads.
What is the big deal about BitTorrent showing AJ/Google PPC Ads?
BitTorrent does and will not show ads. A web search engine will show ads.
I doubt many would want to have their brand name associated with internet piracy, copyright infringement, and software cracks.
This includes Bram Cohen, the developer of BitTorrent. You are accusing him of supporting piracy without any basis other than ill researched mass media reporting.
-- off topic --
> It's quite hard to keep an illegal BitTorrent feed alive
What are you talking about dude? One of my client's kids burns all kinds of TV shows and movies and music from BitTorrent.
He has a library of over *1100* movies and TV shows - I missed the finale of the "Apprentice" and he had it for me the next day - no "Tivo" where I live. He's also made copies of Episode III for his friends.
Saying that BitTorrent is used mainly for legit file trading is not true at all. I'd be shocked if .001% of the bandwidth is devoted to legal file trading.
All this aside - I'd be more than happy to be able to subscribe to NBC.com or whatever so as to download quality copies of their broadcast TV shows - but that's not happening yet - the model needs to change.
Similarly, the relationship with BitTorrent will rely on AdWords, giving Google a share of the revenue, while allowing BitTorrent users to search the Internet using Ask Jeeves' search algorithms.
I'm not happy about this at all! Will these ads come under search or content?
There are lots of legal torrents sites. There are many legal personal sites that use bit torrent to distribute their files without worrying of bandwidth usage.
Plus, you can use Google to search for cracks or serial numbers and adsense ads still show.
Oh! wait! lets ban all FTP programs! you can download loads of illegal mp3 and pirated software with them!
Bit torrent is an incredible idea and there are a lot of legal projects around it.
C'mon...
Enrique
Check this: [google.com...]
This includes Bram Cohen, the developer of BitTorrent. You are accusing him of supporting piracy without any basis other than ill researched mass media reporting.
Is he some kind of positive guy?
I think these guys were also under influence of mass media reporting: [elitetorrents.org...]
Dont tell me none of you have not used a software like BitTorrent before?
On the other hand, Bittorrent does have plenty of very legit uses. Its a goddsend to anyone who needs to distribute large files and doesn't want to pay their yearly income for their month's bandwidth bill.
The curious part is,
It seems clear to me (after checking several ads that I run on adwords search network) that bittorrent is part of the google search network (not content) via its relationship with ask jeeves.
Therefore advertisers can not opt out.
For all those bit torrent supporters, it is certainly ask jeeves preogitive and your preogitive to support bit torrent with your ad dollars and to associate your brand with them.
It is also Googles preogitive to not allow advertisers to opt of of search partners or the sites that they allow their search partners, such as ask jeeves, to show ads on.
But it would be nice if those of us who would rather not show ads on a particular search partner could opt out of that partner without being forced out of the entire search network.
Regards,
Google already indexes thousands of bittorrent pages already. And whose complaining about that?
Bittorrent itself is NOT illegal and plenty of legitimate sites use bittorrent as an alternate way of offering large files to a huge number of users. Bittorrent will actually become more and more popular as more webmasters become familiar with the technology and offer it to their users.
Instead of having 10,000 users hitting your server for requests for a 100mb file, it's a lot easier to just seed the file and allow your users to share it among themselves using their OWN (mostly under-used) bandwidth.
When I want to hear uneducated talk about new technology, i'll go to the mainstream press. But I expect people on these forums to be a little less ignorant.
If you want 100% control over where your ad is shown than cut the middle man out and directly advertise on websites. Problem solved.
Lets say I'm a software developer and I want to use Adwords to promote my program.
9 times out of 10 if you search the name of some software on Google you won't get a direct link to download it in the first 100 results. On Bittorrent's search that is a different matter.
I'm taking a wild guess here, and maybe I shouldn't, but if someone searches for "Photoshop" on Bittorrent search, and they click an ad, they are probably coming back in a few seconds or a few minutes to click on the Bittorrent link.
This isn't a question if Bittorrent is good or evil, its a question of your advertising dollars being spent effectively.
I know what I'm talking about, unless you consider Wired & Slashdot the mainstream press too.
...about new technology...
Excuse me, what new technology?
