E-Media Tidbits

Congoo.com Need just the occasional article from paid news or content services? Congoo offers an option.

(UPDATE MARCH 13: Congoo isn't working so well for Peter Zollman.)

The news search and premium content service Congoo.com has just launched in beta. Apparently, the name is derived from the words "content" and "glue." As a long-term fan of Google News alerts and Yahoo News alerts (which I don't find quite as valuable), I'm intrigued by Congoo's business model and premise.

The site offers custom "news briefings," but the twist is that it includes material from more than 300 sources of premium and subscription sites.

"Millions of information-seekers want access to premium content but do not require a full subscription," Congoo's about page explains. "These users just need access to view a few articles from many different subscription sources monthly. Congoo's technology unlocks hundreds of these ...sources ...so you get access when you need it."

That sounds like me. From time to time, I hit a subscription wall on a paid site -- but exactly as Congoo says, I only want one or two articles. Not worth a one-year or even monthly subscription (usually). But this is interesting, and they say users will have access to a limited number of "paid" articles for free from various sites each month. I'll try it.

Says Congoo: "Millions of professionals are now using Congoo to keep their finger" -- ugh, can someone teach them grammar, please? -- "on the pulse of their industry. Don't limit your view to the free Web; use Congoo's patented technology to unlock these valuable resources!"

Grammatical issues aside, I somehow doubt that "millions" of people are already using Congoo. But no matter -- I've set up my "news briefing" and will see over the weeks and months whether they deliver information I'm not getting elsewhere. More important from Congoo's perspective, I'll see whether Congoo convinces me to spend money.