/tacanderson

Image via CrunchBase

Besides the fact that Freebasing and Balloons both have drug connotations Zemanta is partnering with social database company Freebase to launch a new addicting blog feature called Balloons.

You know those annoying little mouse over preview scripts that pop-up on blog and let you look at the page before you click through but don't really tell you much? This is nothing like that. Balloons are useful pop-ups that actually let you watch video, see a map or read a wikipedia entry without having to leave the page. It's very cool and I'm really excited for this feature to get pushed out. It was released today but like many FireFox plugins we'll probably have to wait a day or two before see it.  Check out the page for a demo http://www.zemanta.com/balloons/

Here'e what Zemanta had to say in their announcement:

Zemanta launches Balloons, open multimedia overlays for bloggers

Balloons, launched today by Zemanta in co-operation with Freebase, are dynamic overlays that allow any blogger or online publisher to integrate multimedia content - including YouTube, Google Maps – and Freebase infoboxes - into their pages.

Balloons give bloggers and publishers access to the openly licensed Freebase database and content from YouTube, Google Maps and MusicBrainz, as well as millions of articles from Freebase contributors.

Whenever Balloons are added to a blog post or article, small, unobtrusive icons appear next to the key links in the page.  By clicking on these icons, readers can preview content without leaving the page and discover additional links to related items.  This allows web publishers to integrate all kinds of rich content into their posts without requiring users to leave their site.

• Zemanta - the Coolest Application for Bloggers I Have Seen (change-management-blog.com)
• Cool Firefox Add-in (polynesianmedic.com)
• Make Your Blog Posts Better (lockergnome.com)
• API Showcase: Zemanta for Freebase Acre (zemanta.com)