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Salon Media Group: Salon Offers Its Bloggers 100 Percent of Revenue From Google AdSense

^{Published on 2009-07-08 05:17:20, Last Modified on 2009-07-08 05:17:26 - Market Wire}
 

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - July 8, 2009) - Open Salon, Salon's social content site, today announced that it will provide a new source of revenue for its growing number of participants by offering Google AdSense to its members. Now, Open Salon's members can profit directly off the number of visitors they receive to their blogs. Open Salon, which was launched last year by Salon Media Group (OTCBB: [ SLNM ]), will also now feature its own integrated ads throughout the site.

Using Google AdSense, members of Open Salon will be able to sign up for an account directly within the Open Salon interface. Users will receive 100 percent of the revenue derived from the maximum-allowable three ad placements on their pages, affording them the ability to benefit from the steadily growing traffic that the site enjoys.

Salon Media Group's flagship web site, [ www.Salon.com ], frequently highlights strong posts from Open Salon bloggers on its cover, sending high rates of traffic to individual users. Until now, Open Salon users -- like many reader-bloggers on other media sites -- have been largely unable to profit off of the traffic they receive. "Our philosophy from the get-go here has always been that we're publishing partners with our members," says Kerry Lauerman, Open Salon's Director. "They are wildly generous with their talents and energy as we try to help them find the smartest, largest audience possible. And we've always understood that if we profit, they need to profit, as well."

Open Salon also offers a growth area for Salon's advertising efforts, both through expanded display advertising on quality, editorially curated content, as well as through custom marketing opportunities, allowing brands to create and join conversations around topics and themes central to their brand positioning, engaging the audience in new ways.

The user-generated content site now boasts thousands of members, and continues to grow rapidly. Challenging its participants to "make the headlines," the resulting content frequently makes the top placements in various social bookmarking sites. "The quality of content produced on Open Salon, and the enormous growth over the past year, have proven that the platform is a great success," adds Richard Gingras, the CEO of Salon Media Group. "We see this as a great opportunity for our members, as well as for the advertisers who choose to work with us."

About Salon Media Group

Salon (OTCBB: [ SLNM ]), an award-winning online news and entertainment Web site, combines original investigative stories, breaking news, provocative personal essays and highly respected criticism along with popular staff-written blogs about politics, technology and culture, as well as video and audio podcasts. The winner of multiple Webby and Online News Association awards, Salon is an Internet pioneer that made the transition to Web 2.0, with vibrant audience participation through its automated letters to the editor, along with its long-time Table Talk and Well communities. Open Salon, the newest member of Salon Media Group, was nominated for a 2008 National Magazine Award in its first year.