By J. Bennett Guess
United Church News Director
March 14, 2005
After only one week of utilizing online blogads (shown at right) to promote the UCC's Stillspeaking Initiative, more than 25,000 internet users have clicked through one of 50 purchased blogads to view the church's online 30-second "bouncer" commercial. Previous story
Meanwhile, according to the web statistics, more than 40 percent of traffic driven to the UCC's stillspeaking.com website has been generated from blog-related activity.
"I'm pleased and honored to be part of a historic blog campaign that began today," wrote David Corne, Washington editor of The Nation, at his blog.
Wrote blogger Nathan Newman, "I don't usually comment on the blogads on my site; they usually speak for themselves, but the United Church of Christ ad just added deserves a special mention, since it's part of a major buy across the blogosphere to do an endrun around the networks which refused to run the ad."
Corne and Newman are some of the major bloggers to post comments about the significance of the UCC's blogad purchase, resulting in 12 blogs asking to run the UCC's blogad without charge. In relationship to the UCC's challenge to the FCC, about 434 additional blogad-inspired persons have filed informal objections through the UCC's accessibleairwaves.org site.
A blog - short for "web log" - is basically an online journal that, typically, is updated daily with chronological postings by the site's author. Many now argue the increasing availability of affordable, easy-to-use blog technology is revolutionizing news reporting because far greater numbers are participating in gathering and sharing information.
The UCC's new blogad utilizes a series of still photos from the denomination's 30-second television commercial - rejected twice as "too controversial" by the major broadcast television networks - to entice blog visitors to "see the ad the networks didn't want you to see."
Some blogger comments:
"Of God and Blogs (Including Mine)"
www.davidcorn.com
"You should definitely check out the UCC ad"
http://unhinderedbytalent.com
"This is, as far as I know, the first time a church has bought blogads"
http://weblog.blogads.com/comments/
Bloggers visiting the UCC's accessibleairwaves site have had plenty to say in response to the Rev. Robert Chase's March 8 posting announcing the blogad buy. Read their comments at accessibleairwaves.org
