[aleish]

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Predictions for 2007

Social networks and social bookmarking seem to be the next staging ground for spammers. We are already beginning to see the cracks in the ever popular Digg. The collective voice while powerful can be manipulated, bringing into question the usefulness of user generated content. As a result there is a strong indication that web credibility will continue to be an issue in 2007.

Transparency will likely continue to be an issue in 2007, with lack of legislation and no accountability for online journalistic integrity. Readers should not believe everything that they read. Traditional media will continue to struggle, creativity will prevail. Newspapers and traditional media will need to adapt in order to survive in 2007. We will likely see interesting new advertising models emerge in 2007, with video ads and sponsored podcasts taking hold as big media attempt to amortize these new communication mediums.

The world of online advertising saw some significant changes in 2006. Google tightened its grip on publishers in 2006. Enforcing strict new rules for displaying ads. While ad relevancy was critical in 2005, website quality became part of the formula in 2006. Google's change of heart and fall from grace with publishers encouraged new advertising models in 2006 with two new services PayPerPost and ReviewMe emerging. The new pay-per-post models match bloggers and advertisers. Bloggers, or online writers, are paid to review and write about advertiser projects, and like all new mediums, the road was not free of bumps and there were some transparency issues. Both services now require that bloggers or writers disclose that they are being paid for their comments. This new model will likely be a winner in 2007.

As the web becomes more cluttered it is obvious that personalized content will continue to grow, but filtering will play an even more important role. RSS feeds and user selected content will become more mainstream with more and more users opting to choose the content they receive. Companies hoping to stay competitive online and increase communication with potential customers will start to really understand the benefits behind RSS.

Venture Capital money returned to the web in 2006, and the 2.0 bubble continued to grow. While there will continue to be mergers and acquisitions with 2.0 companies in 2007, the activity will likely slow. The courts will likely become crowded in 2007. With big players like Google housing content on YouTube that is in clear violation of western copyright laws, victims will attempt to parlay the copyright infringements into cash in 2007.

[The Stealthy One]

Moved to correct section.

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Thanks for sharing that! Some interesting stuff...