2007 Archive

AOL has released its top searches lists for 2007. What’s nice about the lists provided by AOL is that they feel much more "normal" and non-scrubbed for beautification than the lists provided by Yahoo/Google. It’s easy to tell how people use AOL – they type in what they are looking for in the search box as it’s one of the easiest things to find within the AOL program. Interesting that for general search – Google didn’t make the list – unless they scrubbed that out?

Here are some of the categories of interest:

General Search:

1. Weather
2. White Pages
3. Games
4. Dictionary
5. Music
6. CNN
7. Maps
8. American Idol
9. ESPN
10. WWE

News:

1. Chris Benoit
2. Phentermine
3. Pet Food Recall
4. Global Warming
5. Virginia Tech
6. Iraq
7. Juanita Bynum
8. Iran
9. Immigration
10. Don Imus

Gadgets:

1. iPhone
2. iPod
3. Wii
4. Computers
5. Cell Phones
6. Tracfone
7. XM Radio
8. GPS
9. PSP
10. Xbox

Shopping Brands:

1. Pottery Barn
2. Victoria’s Secret
3. Coach
4. Lane Bryant
5. Harley Davidson
6. Nike
7. Land’s End
8. Crocs
9. Banana Republic
10. Talbots

Earlier this week Google (GOOG) released the fastest rising search terms in the US. I have received the fastest rising search terms Globally from Google and there are some interesting conclusions to point out. The full chart is below with links where CN has coverage. We often forget in U.S. tech coverage that there’s a world beyond our coasts.

Some takeaways:

• The iPhone, Webkinz and YouTube are rising domestically and internationally
• Facebook is growing faster overseas which makes sense given their strategy
• eBuddy continues to be the leader in Web IM chat worldwide, while Meebo gets the most coverage stateside
• Everyone was interested in the Club Penguin deal – more in the U.S. but the World wondered whether it was worth $700 million
• MySpace big in U.S., Badoo, DailyMotion and Hi5 growing quicker overseas
• Kids worldwide like the Webkinz
• Only Americans care for Optimus Prime and deceased Playboy models

Update: Corsin sent over a twitter, aim, skype, irc, and text sms that Matthew Ingram wrote about the same topic yesterday. His article is here. I guess I am not alone with my views or he is not alone with his views.

When have we gone too far? When Justin.tv launched, I started to ask myself this question and again looked at my 2007 prediction that we will spend more time offline than in 2006. First we had chats such ad MUDs where people used virtual worlds to chat with other people. I remember using it in college to talk with other buddies about girls we liked. There might have been something before this but this is the first I remember.

I also can think back to the days of calling into a BBS. Oh how much money I spent on several BBSs over short periods of time.

Then we moved to the world of IRC where chatting was a 24×7 process. Bots, fighting, takeovers, etc. and we learned more and more about people. Multiple networks showed up and now even include the Dateline NBC show on online fraud. Of course there was also AOL chat with thousands of rooms. I remember speaking with many people who would not go to sleep just to not lose their nicknames.

Then we moved to instant messaging. First one I remember hitting it big was ICQ. I had a very low number that seemed to get me some street cred when I gave it out. It was a good app as it brought people together in new ways. You could communicate with people directly without the channel crap. It was more secure.

Then AIM came along and owned the market for a time. And so and and so on. And don't forget the first webcam channels. Those were classic.

Then Geocities came around (and now MySpace) that let us have our own little space online. Today sites such as MySpace, YouTube and blogs allow us to create our own world where people can peek into our lives.

Cell phones now do pictures and video and get us the best shots of news events. YouTube made us all movie directors and brought us as close to live as we have ever been.

Now we have twitter. Pete calls twitter the ultimate cat blog application. If you use it for your personal life, I find many times there is just too much information. I don't care that you are walking your dog, or that you are putting up a new Boys II Men poster on your bedroom wall. If used effectively, twitter can be a good networking and group tool. But knowing that Jason just came back from a 30 minute walk is not necessary and just shows fan boy necessity.

Now I see UStream.tv has gone full steam ahead. What does it do? It let's you stream yourself using a webcam and a laptop and a wireless/wifi internet connection. So let me ask my question again… when have we gone too far? You can watch video blogger Robert Scoble walk around Web 2.0 Expo. I hope he remembers that he is live. Will people be reluctant to speak to him since every single word is being captured for all eternity? I know on my interviews, many of the interviewees ask to do a retake at least once during the interview. And will the Ron Popeil's of the world flood this new medium with every ginsu knife and rotisserie? How will spammers use this new medium or is it spammer-proof?

Why is there a need to be connected at every minute of every day. Michael Arrington took a day off and felt bad about it. Are we setting a new standard that you must be completely live 24×7 365 to be successful? Remember, we are the ones that moved (and accepted) the work day from 9-5 to 24×7. We started it, we have accepted it.

Maybe I am right and all of these live shows are just a fad and people will remember that not everything needs to be televised. Or maybe I am wrong and this is the new TV. Forget watching friends that is scripted… just watch xyz person and their live friends show every minute of every day. As hard as it is, sometimes it's nice to get out in the fresh air (or the NYC nor'easter we have here). There's my rant/thoughts/ramblings for today :) Feel free to bash.

I am always impressed when I read Jeremiah Owyang's blog but today's post is clearly a contender for Post of the Year. His post is titled, "The Many Forms of Web Marketing for the 2007 Web Strategist" and is about 8-10 printed pages in length. The post goes into great detail about corporate web strategy and while it is a must read for anyone in corporateland, it is just as much a must read for all of us. I am frankly shocked that this post did not make it to the Digg home page.

His summary begins with, "This document catalogs the many tools and tactics available for corporate web strategy in 2007. Even if your strategy or resource limitations restrict you from entering all spaces, awareness of the changes in our digital landscape are critical."

Great job Jeremiah!

Conference after conference, chat after chat, two topics seem to emerge in almost all of them. Those two topics are: mashups and wikis. And it's not just at conferences and in discussions, but it's also online. Yesterday I attended a session about mastering the mashup and the day before I listened to several CEOs discuss wiki products. I also met with WetPaint (interview posted tonight) who also make a wiki product.

While last year was all about the blog, in my opinion this year will be about the mashup and the wiki. So I see four options for an outcome:

• Wiki dominates
• Mashup dominates
• Both Wiki and Mashup dominate
• Neither dominates, its all about something else

Mashups

Why are mashups hot now? Mashups are like the frozen food aisle in the supermarket. You purchase a half-created meal, add fresh meat, some spices, your own sauce and you have a great meal. And mashups are the same thing. You take someone else's great product, slap your own "added-value" to it, and now you have created something even better than the original in many cases.

Seth from Meebo discussed that the companies who have been mashed from will want to see value this year, be it a subscription type fee or some ad revenue split. I agree with Seth and I think as more mashups become wildly popular, the mashed from companies will want more and more. It will be interesting to see how Google handles this with so many mashed up services generating from Google content and services.

I think we will see many productivity bashed mashups this year versus ones created for fun. While they most likely won't be called mashups, there will also be a trend for b2b mashups. I can see great value for intranets to use the mashup model with their suppliers and so forth.

Wikis

We know Wikis are hot. I know back in the day, a Wiki could have saved us from hundreds of hours of custom development for intranet content systems. Wiki products are the top talked about product category currently.

I think before Wikis can come out of the tech closet and really hit mainstream (like blogs are), we will need to see more user-friendly wiki products. Companies like Wetpaint are now creating more friendly wiki products. I think we can all admit that the MediaWiki software is not the easiest to use with all of its {}*&%$$ codes. WetPaint already has over 200,000+ sites created.

I would bet we will see other companies forming around the friendly-wiki. And while WetPaint is an ASP model, I am guessing the next big one will be a server install model which will work perfectly for an inhouse intranet.

Your Thoughts!

So which do you think will dominate? Will both dominate? Am I offbase and neither will and some other item will? Share your thoughts because I want to know!

Patricia will be attending DEMO 2007 on Thursday, but in advance of her posts, here are some of the companies that have announced launches at DEMO.

Magnify.net

Using Magnify.net, sites can search for videos based on unique interests and subject matter. Providing filtering and organization that works seamlessly with the major video hosts like YouTube, Google, and Revver, sites engages their visitors to discover, share, rate and rank videos. The result is peer-filtered content that is engaging and organized around a sites subject matter.

Jaman

Film fans can watch feature films via Jaman's player directly from their Mac or PC, or enjoy the viewing experience using a home theater system. Jaman incorporates community features including in-movie conversations, reviews, groups and "friending" providing a way for thousands of movie-goers to socialize on Jaman.

Attendio

Attendio keeps people "in the know" about the local events that match their interests. Attendio and its user community continually add relevant local events, reviews, and recommendations to their website and users calendars.

Bling Software

Bling Software enables companies to build and deliver the most visually stunning and data-rich applications ever available on the mobile handset. For the first time, consumers can enjoy dynamic mobile applications from Bling Software's early customers including Jay-Z, Barry Bonds, Ninja Mobile, The Onion, Amp'd Mobile and GoTV Networks.

Nexo

Nexo.com is the first web community to bring together the ease-of- use, security, personalization, and communications features that groups need to express themselves and manage a variety of online interactions. Nexo believes that every individual is part of at least one, if not several groups. Nexo makes it possible for these individuals to easily bring their groups online, empowering each individual to collaborate and communicate more openly and frequently with their already established communities," said Craig Jorasch, CEO of Nexo Systems, Inc.

Deloitte has released their predictions for 2007. They include: expanding social networks which will create a greater need for security and copyright protection technologies, while user-generated content from blogs, amateur filmmakers and others will both complement and threaten traditional media outlets. 

There are 3 reports, technology, telecommunications and media. I will only focus on technology and media. Nothing shocking in the reports but well worth the read — they provide PDFs of the report for offline reading. Here is an overview of the reports:

Technology

Social Networking Evolves — Social networks will continue to expand, creating a need for identification improvements, the ability to remove copyrighted material quickly, and making downloads as instantaneous as possible.

Tech Goes Green — Portable power needs will explode, with solutions including power-scavenging technologies that draw energy from around them — from body heat, ambient light, vibrations or movement — to provide supplementary battery charge.

Biometrics on the Cusp — With security continuing to be a concern, the use of biometric data (iris, fingerprint and palm geometry) for access control is on the rise.

Digital Storage Expansion Driven by Laws — Digital storage needs will be impacted by companies' legal obligations to keep years and petabytes worth of data, with costs passed onto the user.

Read the full technology predictions

Media

Consumer as Media Mogul — User-generated content is increasing. Blogs, amateur filmmakers and others are creating content that complements — or perhaps threatens — traditional media outlets. Smart media companies will serve up user-generated content as a powerful promotional vehicle and use it as an effective medium for scouting talent.

It's a New Media World After All — New media metrics are taking over, with old media metrics becoming a thing of the past. Development of comparable statistics will emerge, enabling companies, their customers and their investors to more accurately gauge performance.

DVD vs. VOD: No Clear Winner in Sight — Simultaneous availability of movies on DVD and VOD will make them closer competitors.

Read the full media predictions