It is the dawn of 2009, and just before we make the final step and shift into a brand new year, we thought it important to recount the many great things that happened in 2008. The final conclusion: 2008 has been an incredibly productive year at Kontera and we believe for our publishers, advertisers and users as well. We’re confident that 2009 will be even better stronger for all parties involved.

In order to keep this post concise, we had to narrow it down to 8 top products and services launched by Kontera that were focused on existing and prospective publisher base, so without further ado , here are the chronologically ordered top Kontera launches of 2008:

1. KnowledgeBase- Launched January 21- The KnowledgeBase surrounds a wide range of information about Kontera optimization, publisher payments, and technical issues. The KnowledgeBase was another move in our push to give Kontera publishers greater independence through accessibility to information. The knowledgebase proves very helpful and accommodates an impressive amount of publishers daily.
2. Publisher Center- Launched January 31- the Publisher Center offers Kontera partners a range of high end capabilities and control over ContentLink ads on their sites and their accounts. What’s even more exciting is the fact that the Publisher Center is continuously undergoing upgrades and updates since its initial launch. It will continue to improve in order to give Kontera publishers a greater control and more possibilities over their In-Text ads.
3. The Kontera Hybrid- Launched March 25- Kontera’s newest advertising solution, a completely customizable, In-Text media layer that simultaneously displays relevant content alongside advertisements. The Hybrid layer enhances a webpage by presenting links to related content, videos, and images alongside advertisements in one cohesive unit. The Kontera Hybrid is currently only available to select publishers.
4. Invite a Friend Program – Launched March 31- Through this program, publishers can send their friends an invite to join Kontera. For each friend who becomes an active member, you receive a $25 bonus award. The Invite a Friend program has been very successful in expanding the Kontera family and it will continue with us well into 2009.
5. New Plugins for WordPress, Joomla and Drupal – Launched throughout May – These plugins are an important milestone in our efforts to simplify ContentLink implementation for use on various platforms. The plugins allow the setup of ContentLink ads, without the complications of modifying your site’s code. Have a look at our WordPress plugin video tutorial.
6. Blogger Widget- Launched June 10- Much like the plugins mentioned above but even simpler, the Blogger widget allows you to implement ContentLink on Blogger blogs with just one click. Login to your Kontera account, click on the “Kontera It” button and the Kontera tag will be automatically added to your pages. Monetizing your blog has never been easier.
7. Kontera on Pluck-On-Demand partnership- Launched November 20- Through the partnership with Pluck, Kontera ContentLink ads are automatically generated within the Pluck-on- Demand content widget creating an additional revenue stream for publishers. Publishers get the whole package: free and relevant content populated with targeted ads.
8. Holiday ’09 Cash Bonus – Launched December 18- Our latest promotion, recently advertised and still going strong. If you are not yet a publisher, there’s no better time to join. Sign up with Kontera by Jan 15, 2009 and as soon as you reach $75 in earnings, we’ll round your balance up to $100. That’s an extra $25 on us!

Happy 2009!

We are excited to present our new blog face, refreshed and uplifted.

The Kontera blog has been up and running since June 22, 2007.  It hasn’t always been easy… but with much care and fun, we have proudly made it to POST 99!

And on this festive blog occasion, we’d like to remind you of posts that have gained more attention, and other posts that we really like… and you may have missed:

• Why Google Adsense and Kontera ContentLinks are a Perfect Combination

• 5 Things Kontera’s Top Earners Have In Common

• 3 Reasons Why Your SEO Efforts and ContentLink Optimization Go Hand in Hand

• The Comprehensive Kontera Guide for Payment Info

• Creating In-Text Relevance

• Video Tutorial- Setting Up the Kontera WordPress Plugin
  

Kontera is compliant with the Interactive Advertising Bureau revised Universal Advertising Package and Rich Media Creative Guidelines. We’ve recently received the IAB seals:

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), represents over 375 leading interactive companies that actively engage in and support the sale of interactive advertising. You can read more about IAB and its mission here.

Kontera also meets the IAB guidelines for the most common current in-stream ad formats.

LinkedIn members, we gladly introduce to you, Microsoft related content ads- powered by Kontera.

What does that mean, exactly?

Our relevancy engine is built to determine the true context of any webpage and to match it with the most relevant ads. This technology will now be utilized to serve contextually relevant information from Microsoft in ad units appearing on “LinkedIn Answers”.
LinkedIn users will be able to follow a related Microsoft ad in order to expand their search for answers on technology related questions.

How does it work?

Kontera’s engine analyzes LinkedIn answers page in real-time while matching it with related topics from Microsoft TechNet. Following, these topics are displayed on an ad unit, enabling users to find additional answers and information.

To see Kontera’s Microsoft implementation on LinkedIn, login to your LinkedIn account and click on the “Answers” tab. Within “Answers”, click on the ‘Technology’ link and then on the ‘Information Technology’ link.

Visit our website and find out more about the Kontera -Microsoft-LinkedIn collaboration and about Kontera’s Contextual Advertising Technology

We are very proud to announce the launch of our latest innovation – the Kontera Hybrid. The Kontera Hybrid utilizes the company’s technology, which is powered by over a dozen In-Text technology patents pending, to deliver contextually relevant content and advertising in a single unit.

What is the Kontera Hybrid?
Kontera Hybrid is a publisher tool designed to increase user involvement, engaging users where they are the most active – within the content. The Kontera Hybrid is a completely customizable, In-Text media layer that simultaneously displays relevant content alongside advertisements. The Hybrid layer enhances a webpage by presenting links to related content, videos, and images alongside advertisements in one cohesive unit. The Hybrid layer is launched upon a user mouse-over on a highlighted keyword within a webpage, thus increasing user engagement and site interaction.

How does the Kontera Hybrid Work?
Kontera´s patent-pending technology and proprietary algorithms thoroughly analyze each webpage to determine its topic, extract relevant Keywords, and determine which other pages within the website are thematically related to it. This real-time analysis determines which Keywords within a page’s content will be highlighted and, upon user mouse-over, will launch the Hybrid layer. The system also simultaneously selects and adds links to related content to be featured within the Hybrid’s layer.

The Kontera Hybrid enables publishers to select the source of the articles displayed within the layer, either by re-directing users to other sections within the website or by providing links to related articles from other online sources. In other words, the Kontera Hybrid helps you direct traffic where you want it to go.

The Kontera Hybrid’s advanced capabilities and multi-faceted layer encourage greater user engagement rates with publishers’ ads and content, resulting in a 20% increase in page views among publishers benefitting from the Hybrid.

Publisher Benefits of the Kontera Hybrid:
• Enhanced user engagement
• Related articles and videos
• Increased page views per user
• A means to move traffic within your site/network
• Additional premium advertising inventory

When and where can I see the Kontera Hybrid in action?
The Kontera Hybrid was launched on Monday, March 17, 2008. To see the Hybrid in action please visit Men’s Fitness at www.mensfitness.com/fitness/ab_exercises/136

The Hybrid is currently available to select publishers, to be considered for the Hybrid, please email us at publishers@kontera.com

To learn more please visit our website Kontera Hybrid