• GigaOm, Tuesday, July 7, 2009 12:48 PM

Slide, the social networking application maker of well-known apps like Super Poke, is doubling down its revenue efforts on higher premium advertising like brand sponsorships in the $500K range, Om Malik reports. However, the realignment means the company will slash its advertising sales force and reassign existing members to new roles.

The company announced the pending changes in a brief email sent out earlier today. Slide has raised over $58 million in several rounds of funding and is valued at $500 million.

In a previous post, Malik noted that while advertisers are pushing more dollars online, the amount of inventory online is growing even faster, causing CPM rates to fall. Meanwhile, the global recession means that mainstream advertisers are slashing budgets at a time when Web sites are looking for more ad revenue. "In this highly commoditized market, publishers including app developers such as Slide have to stand out and deliver larger brand experiences," Malik says. "It wouldn't surprise me if more follow suit."

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