TechCrunch40 Session 6: Revenue Models & Analytics
We're live blogging each session, adding to the summary of each company direct from the floor of TechCrunch 40. Click Refresh to view. — Spottt (Adbrite) — Spottt (Adbrite) helps like-minded sites promote each other for free.
Context & Ripple Effects
TechCrunch is running its first TechCrunch40 conference in San Francisco, live-blogging each of the day's themed sessions direct from the floor — this Revenue Models & Analytics block follows the Session 5 productivity and web apps showcase and precedes the evening entertainment session. The format itself is part of the story: after building demand with an August Capital party that sold 300 tickets in 45 minutes in June, TechCrunch has turned launch coverage into a stage where forty companies debut in a single day.
The notable demo here is Spottt from AdBrite, presented as a free service that lets like-minded sites promote each other — an established ad network stepping outside paid placements to launch a barter-style traffic product on a launch-conference stage.
First-order effects
- AdBrite immediately gains a second product line alongside its paid-ad business, using the TechCrunch40 floor to position Spottt as a zero-cost acquisition channel for small publishers.
Second-order effects
- Spottt's free cross-promotion model competes for the same site real estate that paid ad units occupy, so publishers choosing it are trading sellable inventory for reciprocal traffic — pressure on AdBrite to show how the free product feeds its paid network.
Third-order effects
- If exchange-based distribution proves sticky, web promotion splits into paid placement and reciprocal-promotion channels, and launch conferences like TechCrunch40 harden into a standard go-to-market venue where ad platforms test new revenue models in public.
The trend: Ad networks are extending beyond paid placements into exchange-based distribution products, using launch events rather than quiet betas to introduce them.