Web Ads from Left and Right Advocacy Groups Signal More to Come, Clickz.com.

While MoveOn promoted its TV spot contest last month, a conservative non-profit poised to spend big this election also ran a series of online display ads. Before Congressional hearings on the Iraq war earlier this month, the face of General David Petraeus, U.S. Commander in Iraq, appeared in ads on news sites including Politico.com, Drudge Report and RealClearPolitics. The ads quoted Newsweek and National Review, touting the general as "Man of the Year," and "Iraq's Repairman." Urging users to "Support General Petraeus," they linked to a YouTube video with the same message.

Though the group's VP for Communications Ed Patru acknowledged "Web ads can be a very effective way to reach an enormous number of readers for a fraction of what traditional advertising costs," Freedom's Watch spent far less on its recent ad efforts than it did on a similar Web and TV campaign in August 2007. "We spent $15M on TV" at that time, Patru told ClickZ News.

the Next Right
A new project from Soren Dayton, Jon Henke, and Patrick Ruffini. You can sign-up for email updates right now. From their about section:

The Next Right is the place for wired activists to build a new Republican Party and conservative movement. As a community-driven grassroots action website for the right, we'll feature in-depth political analysis, on-the-ground reports, and strategic discussion and debate.

10 Valuable Tips for Shooting Web Video, IMakeNews.com.

1. Tell a story. If you want your audience to identify with your mission, you need a compelling story that connects your work to real people. If a story moves you, it will likely move others as well - and become the foundation for deeper involvement.

2. Keep the audience in mind. Are you trying to reach urban street youth or retired veterans? Tailor your messaging for a targeted audience and consider how you want it to feel before the camera starts rolling.

3. Make a clear call to action. You have their attention, now tell your viewers how you want them to engage, whether it's donating money, visiting a website or volunteering.

Think Bloggers Matter?, Townhall.com

Conservative blogger Matt Naugle broke the story about the Ohio AG scandal. His reporting at the Right Angle Blog ultimately pushed the story into the mainstream Ohio papers. Naugle actually started covering this story back in 2007. This past weekend, it finally went national -- with some even speculating the tawdry scandal might impact the presidential election in Ohio ...

Breaking: Facebook Profile Redesign - Detailed Specs & First Impressions, Inside Facebook.

The Facebook profile redesign will have a big impact on the developer community. Developers will need to think long and hard about how to make their apps more valuable to users, specifically in the integration points that Facebook is providing. While much of the first year of the Facebook Platform has been about virality, it will be harder for purely “viral” apps that don’t provide much value to users to grow - the second year of the Facebook Platform will be about engagement.

Kicking profile boxes off the default view of the profile page will definitely make it harder for users to discover and re-engage with applications. Facebook must embark on a major user education campaign to help users understand the new tools they have to organize application content on their profile page (specifically, moving boxes between tabs and adding new app tabs) and share application content with their friends (specifically, the new feed publisher).