Edgeio is a new site that is in its closed beta phase (I heard that it will be launching this Sunday!). Currently, you have to use the well-publicized password, "LAGUNA" to use the service.
The following is from the 'About' page:
"edgeio dynamically organizes listings published from RSS enabled websites making them discoverable via the edgeio website and through an open set of web services. Our goal is to give publishers of all sizes the means to control how their content is published, discovered, and consumed. By doing so, edgeio provides everyone easy, up to date, access to content from the Internet's edge.
Anyone with an RSS enabled website can publish content through edgeio. Using tags, publishers direct edgeio to index and organize their content. No more listing fees, complicated forms to fill in, and struggling to keep content synchronized across multiple websites. Just post it, use appropriate tags, and edgeio takes care of the rest.
A blogger can publish an item for sale and have it listed on edgeio within a matter of seconds. An auto dealer with an RSS enabled website can publish their inventory in real-time to edgeio's network. Using tags indicating location, realtors can reach buyers in specific communities around the world. Podcasters and video bloggers, can use tags to describe their work making it easily discoverable in the edgeio network of websites."
This is a service that I am extremely interested in, for many reasons.
- This is a new, distributed model for posting classifieds ads. I love the grass-roots approach - very web 2.0.
- Classifieds is an application that requires trust among individuals and that is right-on with my company's vision.
- This is a very visible startup, due to the fact that Mike Arrington is a part of the team.
- My advisor, Keith Teare, is the Co-founder/CEO of the company. (He is also one of the most likeable person you'll ever meet)
There has been debates on this new approach (Jeff Jarvis has posted an article, and I especially enjoyed Keith and Craig Newmark's debate at the comment section) I love the concept and I really want this type of application to succeed. My biggest concern is how they are going to filter out spam and irrelevant postings. I would hate to see online stores and classifieds sites bulk-posting their listings, which is the reason I am not a big fan of Google Base. However, they are super smart people and I am totally confident that they will come up with ways to solve these problems.
As an experiment as well as an attempt to learn how to post an ad to Edgeio, I am trying to submit this article as a classified ad to them. I'm sure many people will be doing the same thing and it will be interesting to see how edgeio manages these junk postings...
2.24.06 6pm
I have so far failed to 'claim' my blog. I wonder if it is their bug or if I am doing something wrong. I have tried all their suggestions but they're not working for me. If someone has figured it out, I'd appreciate a tip:)
2.25.06 4am
I finally got this article listed here. However, I am not exactly sure what made it possible (I have been trying all kinds of things). I guess I need to understand how this works better...
Hi,
We've been extremely busy fixing bugs over the last few days, so if you've contacted regarding your problem claiming your blog and we've overlooked you, please accept my apologies.
In any case, if you still have the problem, please e-mail me directly (I run engineering at Edgeio) and I'd be happy to help, or alternatively e-mail support@edgeio.com.
Regards,
Vidar
Posted by: Vidar Hokstad | February 26, 2006 at 01:20 PM