Real Estate Blog Articles Are Now Appearing On MySpace

Shortly after posting the article before this one (Should MLS Brokers Be Allowed To Blog About Other MLS Broker's Listings?) I noticed a good amount of traffic coming in from a source I had not seen before: MySpace.
Had someone hijacked the article?
Was someone reproducing a feed on their MySpace page?

It was MySpace News Beta – Real Estate.

The usual suspects, along with some Trump and a couple of mainstreamers make up the front page Top 15.  I was honored to be in the bunch, but it left me wondering, who selects what is newsworthy for MySpace, and how long have they been at it?

Rain City Guide
Real Estate Tomato
The Trump Blog
BloodhoundBlog
Blueroof Blog
The Real Estalker
Sellsius Real Estate Blog
The Real Estate Bloggers
The Housing Bubble
CNBC
RealEstateJournal.com
CondoDomain
Real Estate Undressed
Zillow Blog
Real Estate Marketing Blog

The ‘news’ is presented in a Digg-like fashion, offering the chance to ‘vote’ an article’s value.  But, unlike Digg, it seems you don’t even have to have a membership to give your opinion.  I see gaming of the system.

Also, unlike Digg, MySpace creates a link that is not a direct URL to the original article.
(Example: http://news.myspace.com/business/realestate/item/6586871) So, using the link’s location in a post such as this one, sends the traffic back through the MySpace servers.

I poked around some, trying to see if there was much of a buzz on the topic, but mostly came up short.  Have I missed something?

Tags: MySpace+News, Real+Estate+Blogging

Comments

[Michael Price]

Wow, another way to aggregate content without doing any work. I notice they have a way to remove a blog from their "news" site. Why? Because they are framing other sites. That's pretty much just as bad as deep linking to content in my book. It will be interesting to see if ads start showing up in the MySpace frame. Expect some fecal matter to hit the rotating blades of the oscillating device if it does. Don't want anyone framing your hard work? Go here to grab some frame busting java script code. http://grizzlyweb.com/webmaster/javascripts/framesbuster.asp

[Douglas Trudeau]

Looked at it. Not overly impressed. Thanks for the warning.

[WizardMan]

Well to be totally honest, that's the most BETA product I've seen in years.
Someone submitted my BLOG? I don't mind but I don't think I'm gaining much from it. And like you said with no backlinks what's the point?

Plus their newsfeed is nothing spectacluar.
Industry leaders like MySpace should be bringing new ideas, new ground breaking feeds and options to people out there not something that looks like a second rate rss new feeder.

Thanks for pointing this out :-)

[Mark Vane]

Fellow blogger, Found a cool new tool for our blogs... www.widgetmate.com It helps get latest news for our keywords directly on to our blog.

[Shaun McLane]

Myspace should just stay focused on its "12 year olds saying they're 15 year olds," they seem to be so good at that.

I'm not a fan of frames at all, and the fact that it doesn't give a backlink makes it seem pointless. So yes, it might drive some traffic to your site, but is it the type of traffic you're looking for?

[Mike Elliott]

Not really sure about a social networking site's potential for the real estate market, even one as big as MySpace. Thus far, it's been a good tool for teenagers looking to meet up, college students and employees with Internet access looking to waste time, and musicians looking for free distribution, and that's about it.

[Teresa Boardman]

There is great potential to being linked into myspace. The tomato is not really a real estate blog but because it is national it got on the list. I don't see a downside at all to having more traffic.

[Rhonda Porter]

I have never "worked" the myspace scene. I do have a myspace page but it was only created to keep an eye on our three teens. I've since added a blidget to my page...but I'm not sure how much traffic, if any, I receive from myspace.

In Seattle, a local news station has created a similar format (www.citizenrain.com) where they pick up feeds from local blogs which has been a great source for traffic.

[Dr. Knox Grandison]

MySpace is the fastest way for any website to increase Alexa ranking and traffic.
My blog for motivated sellers and pre foreclosures http://eBayRealty.BlogSpot.com went from 16million to 8million in Alexa ranking in 3 days. This can be done by posting comments and having signature back links to your blog on MySpace. I hope this helps and good luck.: )