The Value of Mashup Content (Not Tools)

Peter Rip asked some great questions last week about businesses based on mashups. None of the problems he pointed out are insurmountable, but all are important. Most are issues Theo and I are encountering as we build Faneuil Media.

Of the four questions Peter asked, the first is the most important: How does a mashup business add value?

To answer this question, you need to distinguish between mashup content and mashup tools.

Tools are mashups that people will want to use over and over again. Just like the web applications they’re built on, mashup tools are designed to help people find and organize information. Housingmaps.com is the classic example.

Since they serve the same role as their underlying APIs, I’m not sure how mashup tools add value.

Mashup content is different. Mashup content tells a story that’s relevant to a particular time and place. These mashups are functionally distinct from their underlying APIs – they’re built to communicate an idea, not transfer data.

Our map on NYTimes.com during the NYC transit strike is a great example. It’s a mashup that helps users understand the mood in New York that week. You can read about a woman riding a stolen two-seater bicycle from the Bronx to Wall Street. Or the bliss of crossing the Brooklyn Bridge on foot early in the morning.

In this case, the value of the mashup is clear: it’s the story.

I think the business of mashup content will be similar to the business of blogging. It’s a new medium that allows thousands of new content creators to pull together pieces of the web and express their vision of things. Many of the stories they produce will be unique, and valuable.

Comments

[HomePriceMaps]

www.HomePriceMaps.com compliments
thie HousingMaps site quite well.

while HousingMaps integrates Craigs list homes currently for sale and rent
with Google Maps, www.HomePriceMaps.com integrates how much homes SOLD for
with the google mapping technology