docstoc

The document sharing site Docstoc, now out of beta, is announcing that it will start splitting advertising revenue with users who upload content to the service, in a new program called DocCash.

Using the Google AdSense API, Docstoc will crawl through uploaded documents, put related ads alongside them, and send the person who uploaded a document half the Google revenue when users click through to ads that run next to it.

This change to Docstoc is part of the company's new plan to help users monetize content, but CEO Jason Nazar harbors no illusion that it will make his … Read more

Docstoc has a new service for site owners that makes Web documents more readily accessible. Called Docshots, it presents any linked document in a pop-up viewer that site visitors can read without leaving the page.

If you've ever seen the pop-up thumbnail previews from Snap.com, the idea behind Docshots is the same. You simply hover your mouse over the link and the viewer pops up. Presumably the people visiting your page won't leave and forget to come back if they can read it right there. It also cuts down on any embedded Docstoc Flash viewers that can … Read more

Online document-hosting service Docstoc on Thursday is introducing a useful new tool for PCs and Macs that will automatically back up and sync documents from your hard drive to your Docstoc account.

Considering the growing trend of Netbooks with relatively little built-in storage, users with this desktop application installed with be able to offload whatever they created without having worry about running out of room.

By default, the syncing application goes for your documents folder, though you can set it to sync up with other folders on your hard drive or folders within your home network. Documents that are automatically … Read more

File host Docstoc is releasing a solution on Wednesday for sending large attachments to friends, family, and co-workers. Called OneClick (download), the small application must be installed on your machine to enable right-click contextual menus that let you simply click any file on your hard drive and send it either publicly or securely to others.

Once the file's been transferred, you'll get a link to the Docstoc-hosted document inserted into a new e-mail message that your recipient can open and read without needing to install anything.

Like Scribd's solution, which launched last week, OneClick has been designed to entice business and casual users to start simply uploading their documents instead of e-mailing them for the sake of compatibility and size.

Not everyone has Gmail or Office 2007, which offer popular file compatibility. Nor have all users implemented the small software tweak on older versions of Office that will let you read those .Docx files with ease. Instead, solutions like Scribd and Docstoc are taking office software out of the equation entirely.

It's also a pretty simple way to get users uploading more of their documents from a local machine. Instead of having to go through Docstoc's Web uploader (which is simple and easy to use), you can get them uploaded with just two clicks whenever you come across something you'd like to upload.

The small application is PC-only for now, but I'm told a Mac version will be on its way soon. To see a video of the tool in action, click the link below.

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The document sharing site Docstoc (think YouTube for contracts) is now in public beta. We've covered it before, as well as Scribd and other competitors.

I like the service's free business documents and rating system, but the most entertaining features are the leaderboards of most popular documents. Right now, the top downloads page includes business plan frameworks, a list of venture capitalists, and a nondisclosure agreement template. I'm going to watch for the top documents to change to include things like bankruptcy forms and checklists for ejecting board members. That will be our indication that the startup … Read more

We covered the Docstoc community document library from the TechCrunch40 conference, and lately have been able to try it ourselves. It's a good library of documents. The community rating and commenting system is what will really make it work, though, if enough people join in. I can't really tell if one living will is better than another, so insightful commentary would help.

Docstoc can also be used like Scribd and other document sharing services, as an embedding engine for shared books or other nonvideo media files.

If you'd like to try out Docstoc while it's in private beta, go the signup page and enter "webware" as the invitation id.

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Docstoc is a document browsing and searching tool for "professional documents." Unlike Scribd, which has been casually called a "YouTube for documents," Docstoc is going for a more business-oriented crowd. At least that's their pitch. The features are very similar, with a communal sense of document sharing and live-viewer for MS Office documents, PDF files, and other popular file types.

One thing that does set it apart is its user profiles and document request system. Each user gets their own profile, complete with as much personal information as their willing to share, along with a link to their LinkedIn profile (if they have one). Underneath that is a full listing of their documents, which can be searched along with everyone else's shared content.

The document request system is a little more interesting. It lets you request a document you're looking for by setting tags or keywords. This basically sets up an alert that will keep an eye on other Docstoc user submissions. When someone uploads a document that matches your criteria, you'll receive an alert. Whether or not it really matches what you were looking for is anyone's guess, but the idea is that there's hope instead of dead ends when it comes to tracking down files.

The service demoed at today's TechCrunch40 conference, although is still in private beta. To get access, you can sign up on their front page. There's also a 6-month old pre-beta walkthrough on YouTube, which I've embedded after the break.… Read more