14 DAY TRIAL // Technorati, once the center of blogging life, has fallen into irrelevance lately after years of no new, compelling features and a very vague overarching strategy. With several ventures that never really took off and never got any real backing, the site is now taking another curious step, by moving into original content, asking bloggers to come and write for it.
“Technorati is entering into the next phase of our evolution: original content. Beginning in October, Technorati will feature original content on the site written by bloggers just like you! This is an amazing opportunity to give your writing vast exposure, become known as an expert in your field/s of interest, and to join a vibrant writer community. Get in on the ground floor by signing up via the Technorati Contact Page,” an email discovered by The Next Web reads. “You will receive information and writing instructions as we get closer to launch date. We very much look forward to working with you!”
There isn't that much information other than the email at the moment and the company has not made public any of its plans regarding this new initiative. Based on the information that is available, though, a number of sites has been put forward as possible inspiration or comparison, including the likes of About.com, Mahalo, AssociatedContent, and even Google Knol, but, for the moment, it's just pure speculation.
The blogging aggregator and ranking system has seen better days and, for a while, when blogging really started taking off, the site offered a very useful service that became very popular. Its blog search engine was among the first of its kind, way before Google started offering something similar, and, despite the fact that “real time” seems like a very recent development, Technorati was offering a real-time search several years back. However, the lack of evolution and a misguided strategy have left the site behind and its business model turned out to be less than profitable.