The Future of the Web – Q&A by Open Amplify
By Peter Corbett on October 14th, 2009
Posted in
blog
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OPENAMPLIFY.
I answered these questions many months ago and it looks like there still true today.
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In this monthly column, “The Future of the Web,” OpenAmplify speaks to thought leaders, business luminaries, educators and more. Each feature in our series will highlight the thoughts, ideas and hurdles which accompany this future.
This month’s column features Peter Corbett, CEO of iStrategyLabs.
Q. What trends and issues will 2009 see as we make the transition towards Web 3.0?
I don’t think most people will be transitioning to Web 3.0 – which is best defined as a phase of ‘intelligent data’. The bulk of businesses and individual users are rapidly adopting web 2.0 technologies and philosophies. Those on the forefront of web 3.0 technology development and deployment will struggle with finding funding for their nascent innovations as the credit crises and subsequent evisceration of the venture capital space has made funding new initiatives more challenging.
Q. What trends and issues will dominate the online advertising space in 2009?
The macro trend that will effect online advertising is a shift from brand oriented, CPM based online media, to a more metrics driven buying methodology focused on cost per acquisition (CPA). We saw this same shift in 2000 when the internet bubble bust and marketers pull their budgets back, but ad inventory continued to grow.
Q. How will web end user expectations evolve in 2009?
The bar continues to be set higher and higher everyday on the web. Web users expect glossy, simple to use interfaces and will continue to demand good design from the places they go to seek information on the web.
Q. Will privacy be a larger or smaller issue for online companies in 2009, and why?
Perhaps. To a certain extent however web users are accustomed to a certain lack of privacy and a I believe our expectations for privacy will continue to erode overtime.
Q. What are some of the major trends and challenges for social media networks in 2009?
The major trend for social networks in 2009 is the opening up of their data to extend user’s social graphs throughout the web. You can see this already with the launch of Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect. The challenge social networks face is balancing privacy concerns with accessibility to user data by 3rd parties.
Q. What role will online communities play in 2009, and will their importance increase?
Online communities will continue to grow from now until the end of time. Their importance will continue to increase as adoption of these tool proliferates well beyond the mass adoption phase, and as the younger generations grow up increasing wired to their social networks by default. Online communities will become more prominent over the next 4 years as the Obama administration’s technology policy and outreach empowers them to act in the physical world.
Q. Who are going to be the big winners on the Web in 2009 and why?
The big winners in 2009 will be those who can figure out how to do things smarter, better, faster, and cheaper than their competition. This recessionary period is a great time for smaller businesses that are positioned to pickup business at the expense of larger, slow, more expensive competitors.
Q. Who are going to be the big losers on the Web in 2009 and why?
The big losers are going to be the dinosaurs – those with legacy models that have survived this long even through they’re not the most innovative providers in the market. They’re being crushed under the weight of the credit crisis, and their market shares are being eroded by smaller, nimble competition.
Q. 2008 saw an explosion in user generated content. In 2009, how will publishers, web site owners and advertisers look to harness UCG’s popularity?
I think 2009 will be less about harnessing UGC and more about connecting one to one with customer communities. Site owners that can facilitate deep, meaningful interactions between brands and their customers will win.
Q. How will online ad targeting change in 2009? Will we see one approach start to dominate over the others?
Ad targeting using the social graph is the most powerful advertising innovation in history and marketers will continue to focus on leveraging that data to target their messages. Using Facebook as a targeting platform will begin to dominate, especially once Facebook is able to serve advertising outside of their site to reach their audience as they travel the web.
