FeedBlitz, the popular RSS-to-Email service like FeedBurner Email, is asking blog publishers with more that 5000 active email subscribers to upgrade to a premium plan.
Until the large blog publishers switch to a premium version (cost of which depends upon the number of subscribers), FeedBlitz will insert third-party ads in your email newsletters.
Lists with an active circulation of 5,000 or more must be on a FeedBlitz premium service (Pro, Turbo or Newsletter Edition).
If you're running a large list you're doing so for an organization that can afford to pay, so these changes are to encourage you to do just that. After all, the larger lists cost us more to manage, and if you're doing this professionally then it is not unreasonable for FeedBlitz to to be compensated for the work we do on your (or your organization's) behalf, especially since it's affordable to do so.
FeedBlitz vs FeedBurner Email
FeedBurner Email does seem to have an edge over FeedBlitz at the moment - the Google owned service is completely free without advertising and allows publishers to brand their email newsletters with custom logos.
Feedburner publishers also get the option to customize the look-n-feel of their newsletters. And the most interesting feature of FeedBurner Email is that it lets you decide the time when your newsletters should go out to the world.
Will DI switch from FeedBlitz to FeedBurner ? Am actually very pleased with FeedBlitz service but still thinking due to some of the reasons stated above.
Related: Always Offer the E-Mail Option
Find this article at: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/08/feedblitz-rss-by-email-newsletter-no.html
web: http://www.labnol.org/ email: amit@labnol.org
Reader Comments
I didn't much care for the tone, or the attitude of the notice (or even the wording of the ToS Change) from Feedblitz.
I am not a large subscriber, but I was about to be. Their attitude is nothing more than "because we can, and we can make you pay, one way or the other!"
Wanna bet?
Where was that Feedburner link, again?
Written on 17/8/07 9:56 PM
I need to clarify a couple of errors in the original post.
1) Using FeedBlitz, any publisher, including those on the free service, can select their desired time zone for publication. US Eastern takes the longest because it has the most lists and is the default selection, but if you want to publish at another time simply edit your settings and change it. We've had this facility since October 2006. Mailing starts at 1:30am local time, according to the time zone selected.
2) Publishers can choose a fixed fee premium upgrade (starting at $4.95 / month), or the “newsletter edition” subscriber-based pricing - the choice is up to the publisher depending on the feature set. All graphic upgrades get complete control over the email's layout, not just a single logo and a typeface / color change. That’s critical for those who care about their brand.
FeedBlitz also offers open and click-through and open tracking, non-RSS email blasts, automatically generated table of contents and older post recaps, search and audio versions, tag filtering, article ranking, self-service subscriber import and export, subscriber service centers, real-time reports and more. All controllable options, all on the free service.
Upgraders can also use segmentation and subscriber data capture, manual, weekly, monthly or intra-day delivery, depending on the upgrade selected. They can deliver via Skype, Twitter and AIM as well as email.
FeedBlitz's flat fee upgrades deliver these values starting at $4.95 / month, or under 0.1c per subcriber at the 5k level. It's a great feature set for the price. And in the context of the change – detecting and preventing potential abuse – makes total sense.
Written on 17/8/07 11:41 PM
Hi Amit,
I use Feedblitz for VCCircle.com email newsletter service. What I like best about Feedblitz is they have an on-demand mailing service for which I pay $9.95 a month. I pay another $4.95 a month for the daily custom newsletter. My total outgo is $14.90 a month, and I have a list of 3,600 plus subscribers.
I find it decent as of now. On-demand mailing is a breeze.
I have a suggestion to Phil Hollows, the owner of Feedblitz.
Can you look at serving ads on our newsletter like the way Feedburner is doing? Of course, at a revenue share that is fair on both the publisher and the newsletter company. Right now a small publisher will find it difficult to monetise his newsletter unless they procure sponsorships from outside.
Feedburner has cracked it while Feedblitz hasn't.
Feedburner is a cool service, but doesn't have the on-demand mailing service as far as I know. You need to fix a time in advance.
Written on 18/8/07 8:24 AM
I thought Feedburner owned Feedblitz?
Written on 18/8/07 1:34 PM
Doesn't it require in FeedBlitz RSS by email service to confirm after subscribing like it requires in feedburner?
Because I am getting some feeds in my mail whom I a have not subscribed to.
Written on 19/8/07 12:36 AM