Tumblr: Between A Hard Place… and Ads

Tumblr’s been in the headlines this week, as has Spotify, and it turns out the two are now partners. But it’s CEO David Karp’s turn-about regarding advertising that’s spinning heads, as his former resistance morphs into “a set of nuanced creative tools for users” a.k.a. “highlighted posts,” ak.a. heavily promoted self-promotional features that Tumblr users pay $1 for, to gain higher visibility for their work. 

Eschewing an all-out embrace of ads as ads, Karp told Ad Age in a comprehensive interview, “we could very easily throw a Google Adsense on and be profitable tomorrow -- that's so far down the list, I mean, we're selling our desks to avoid that, it's a complete last resort.” 

With 20 billion posts, 50 million blogs, 120 million users and about 4.5 billion impressions a week, "there’s gold there in them blogs for advertisers." Karp says the new features are part of a long-term monetization strategy with a blend of user and brand-focused efforts. Continue reading...