Not new, but notable: Tumblr foraying into paid ads

[foxfirefey]

Tumblr annouces foray into paid ads (Adage)
Can Tumblr’s David Karp Embrace Ads Without Selling Out? (NYTimes)

Tumblr is a microblogging platform that has had a LOT of VC investor dollars put into it before it had a monetization strategy.

Comments

[matgb]

Interesting.

I like the interview and profile, made a lot of things about Tumblr make more sense.

I agree with him about ads generally though, I don't object to companies trying to sell me stuff online, I object to companies wanting to track my every click, and worry about how many people see/click/buy a product from an ad when they pay much more for TV slots that they can't possibly measure, etc.

If he can get it working, maybe a different funding model that isn't objectionable might come out of it? I mean, I much prefer our model, but how well would it scale to a site the size of Tumblr?

[foxfirefey]

If he can get it working, it would be great!

I don't think our model would necessarily scale well to a site the size of Tumblr, because Tumblr is HUGE. But, it doesn't have to--I know denise said the problem when 6A bought LJ wasn't because LJ wasn't making enough money, and at that point in time, LJ was around 2.5 million active users. So, I think a site as vibrant and active as LJ in its heyday would be able to support itself with our model, theoretically based on history, and that would be good enough for me, I think.