Welcome to our new client newsletter for CNET Networks UK commercial partners.

We’re pretty excited with the progress we’ve been making in the UK recently. Our Technology Business Media sites, ZDNet UK and silicon.com have recently announced some very impressive ABCE results (see below) demonstrating that they go from strength to strength. We’ve launched a new podcast series from the Crave team at CNET.co.uk. Also from the CNET.co.uk team, we announce the launch of the “Explains series…”, which allows Consumer Electronics and Technology companies the chance to, well, explain their product and how it fits into the market. Given how rapidly this market moves and the sometimes confusing landscape for consumers, we believe this is a win/win for all concerned.

Lastly and most importantly, we are very proud to be launching Gamespot UK back into the market. With over 2 million Unique Users from the UK already and over 50 million Page Views monthly, a local editorial and sales team supplementing the global structure, published on a next generation content and advertising platform, what’s not to be excited about?

Tom Bureau, UK Managing Director

Here at CNET Networks UK we focus on giving our customers the information they need to make better-informed buying decisions. This applies both to the readers on our web sites and to you, our clients. The audiences of silicon.com and ZDNet UK are certainly finding the information they want on our sites. Our leading business media brands recently completed an ABCE audit to gain independent verification of their traffic figures and the results are something to be proud of:

How did we achieve such impressive results? Through ongoing investment in our business media brands. Over the last two years, we've launched a number of exciting new developments. These include the redesign of silicon.com, the addition of public sector and financial services vertical channels, the quarterly ZDNet UK IT Priorities research programme, new products such as Toolkits and much more. Our commitment to bringing our readers what they want has enabled us to create active, engaged communities around the technology and business issues of the day. As online publishing and advertising continue to grow strongly, it is vital to develop a trusted and robust currency in which media space can be bought and sold. Our audit data gives you the information, transparency and assurance you need to make valid media-buying decisions - and it would seem that this is what media buyers like you are crying out for. In a recent study conducted by Benchmark Research on behalf of ABC Electronic, 94% of media buyers questioned stated that independent verification of site traffic figures is critically or very important to validate media owners' claims, and 64% stated that ABC Electronic certification is critically or very important to justify their buying decisions. We agree and will continue to bring you both the information and audiences you and your clients need to succeed.

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As part of its expanding product portfolio CNET.co.uk has developed the 'Explains Series'. Simply put, each instance of the Explains Series is a five-page microsite allowing clients to present their product, solution or technology in an integrated environment. This site will contain content and imagery provided by the client but designed, built and hosted by a CNET team and featuring aspects of the CNET.co.uk site that its audience will be familiar with. For example, the front page will contain video content (which we can create in our in-house studio). This mirrors the video content and features on both CNET.co.uk's front page and in the reviews and features sections. 'Three I can't live without' is another feature familiar to CNET.co.uk's users. This highlights how people use their favourite technologies and why they love them. Within the Explains Series clients can mirror this and showcase studies of how their particular solution enriches people's lives. In addition, the Explains Series will contain FAQs, an interactive 'Ask the Expert' feature and a page for commercial opportunities. So, what does this mean to the client? The Explains Series provides an opportunity to buy into the trusted brand of CNET.co.uk and secure a more meaningful relationship with potential customers than traditional media allows. In addition, five pages give the client space to expand on a solution, present all of the product benefits and go a step further by providing the opportunity to educate the potential customer. All of this is provided in a trusted environment with interactive and video content to keep the user interested and engaged. The Explains Series sites are integrated deeply into the site for a minimum of three months and promoted heavily through CNET-built media placements. After an 'active' period the microsite will be integrated into CNET.co.uk's archives where it can act as a reference document for users and clients alike. So far we have formed valuable and ongoing partnerships with BT, Microsoft, the MultiMedia Card Association and Samsung. Call the CNET.co.uk sales team on 020 7903 6800 to discuss how we can create this for you.

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Don't believe any editor or publisher who tells you mastering user-generated content - or UGC - isn't near the top of their to-do list. But UGC is about more than getting some of content creation's heavy lifting done for you. Anyone approaching the subject with that in their crosshairs is being dangerously short-sighted. Interactive media - especially the web and its recent progeny, blogging and the wiki - has opened up a range of possibilities for communities of readers speaking to each other. silicon.com and the other CNET Networks' publications know this better than anyone, with a history of tapping reader feedback, forums and more. Only now the stakes have been raised. For editors and advertisers alike the upside of UGC is attractive. But treat this as you would spread betting: the wins can be massive, but go into it with eyes wide open because the losses can hurt. You might want to get closer to potential buyers - but what happens when those buyers ask difficult questions, or even insult you? How free should their free speech be? For a publication, the questions are just as pertinent. We love readers communicating with and helping fellow readers in what is, for them, a trusted environment. But what happens the day they start to libel each other? Fortunately, UGC is getting more sophisticated. It's about more than shared views and feedback - ranking information and even other users is becoming important. Readers should - we plan - get more from being in a specific (media) space with a specific group of fellow users. And that should benefit us all.

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The CNET Networks UK Primary Research Service, now in its second year of successful operation, is the partnership between CNET Networks' quality audience and the research analyst power of The Bathwick Group. Our Primary Research Service provides a bespoke solution that covers a multitude of marketing and research objectives. Ranging from a simple one-off survey to an integrated 'Thought Leadership'/'Issue Ownership' driven research series, we will deliver your research project in a timely and cost effective manner. We have worked with many of the tech industry's biggest names, including IBM, BT, Microsoft and T-Mobile, investigating a wide range of research themes both in the public and private sector. All projects are defined according to your needs and how you want to work. We have a great deal of experience in producing research both to exact and detailed briefs and from a selection of project-defining keywords. We offer an end-to-end consultative service which means that you don't have to become a research expert to produce quality primary research reports. For more information please contact Matt Davies, Business Development Manager, on 020 7903 6039 or matt.davies@cnet.com

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