2007 Predictions

Alright, so Pete over at Mashable tagged me (I’m it!) to post some thoughts on what’s upcoming for 2007. I have tried to provide some different thoughts/ideas than Pete has already posted. First, I am honored to be one of the people that Pete tagged. I appreciate it and really have enjoyed the last few months more than I ever expected. And I, for one, am really looking forward to 2007. My thoughts here are general technology thoughts for 2007 and are not listed in any specific order. I think #5 might be the one to watch. Pete suggests tagging your pages with “mypredictions2007” to be watched across the blogosphere.

1. Web 2.0 will die

Ok, now before you click the X to close this site, let me explain. At some point, Web 2.0 ideas and thoughts will become the norm and we will no longer need to call sites and trends Web 2.0. And one day after that point (I am guessing mid-July), someone will begin the next “hot” term. And no, it won’t be Web 3.0 even though the NY Times believes it is.

2. YouTube will become a hated property

That’s right, you heard it here first. A site will be started called boycottyoutube.com to talk about how “You” created the content which allowed a few people to become ultra-rich and then the site immediately became a commercialized site. Mark Cuban has a good piece about this. Pete wrote a piece about Chevy as a new sponsor on YouTube.

3. There will be expansion and contraction in the Web space

I think we will see a heavy contraction in the Internet next year. Acquisitions and mergers will be sky-high as the number of good quality is too high. At the same time, those founders of those sites that are acquired begin new sites. Thereby expanding the market again.

4. The 2008 U.S. Presidential campaigns will be broadcast

We are already seeing this with Scoble and RocketBoom working with John Edwards. Wasn’t Edwards a VP candidate in 2004? I think the candidates will use blogs, video and sites like YouTube to promote themselves over and over. And over. We will be bombarded with messaging in the second half of 2007 from the candidates and then we will see 2x more media from individuals who want to see their candidate win.

5. U.S. Presidential candidates will use Payperpost to win election

6. A new analytics and reporting core set of metrics will be agreed to

I can hope can’t I? Interaction Metrics will be the way of the future. Let the Page View die already. It did us well. I still would love to get a team together to create the next evolution of metrics. And yes, if we use them, the agencies will too. But if we are afraid, we will still be same-ole-same-ole in 2008.

7. Microsoft and Yahoo! will partner to beat Google

Yahoo! has the net… Microsoft has the apps… Yahoosoft will be able to compete (and win) with (against) Google.

8. Yahoo! will buy AOL

Just makes sense. I still have my first AOL email address from 1993.

9. Online time per user will drop by 10%

People will want to actually meet IRL with friends not just text, sms, aim, skype, facebook, myspace, youtube, etc. with each other. Sites like Meetup.com and Upcoming.org will grow exponentially.

10. Pricing for mobile devices will become manageable

In the U.S., data prices on mobile phones is still astronomical. In most of the world, prices for calls are high. I see a leveling as new players creatively disrupt the marketplace.

11. People will require payment for content

I am still always a bit taken when people are so willing to provide content to sites for free. Sure you get the hosting and so forth but I think there will be a collective response at some point in 2007 that individuals want some form of compensation for their hard work.

12. Large corporations will start to see true benefits to using the Web effectively

No, not just a fancy Flash home page. But using IM to communicate. Creating Wikis for employees to share information on how to solve problems. Allowing employees to be flexible in their schedules and projects so that they can build more productive tools.

13. Professionals will see the benefit of blogging

Lawyers, doctors, accountants, individual practitioners will see the benefits of blogging - the biggest benefit being that they can get closer to the customer and perhaps win over larger corporations.

14. The beginnings of full tv online

The ability to order TV channels from anywhere on an ala-carte manner. Order whatever you like, pay per channel and watch what you want. The major broadcasting stations will realize they need to do this to survive. Pay extra for no ads.

15. Misc

ABC News will fire Amanda Congdon - she will do a trip across America back to CT. Loren Feldman will replace her on ABC News but will be required to wear a tight tshirt.

Lastly, here are my tags - you are it!

• Stephanie Quilao
• Loren Feldman
• Jeremiah Owyang
• Hiten Shah
• Neil Patel