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Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
JP, Chas' model drawn on the easel at the June 2006 SHM assumed $500 / year per unique UPC code. (see my post - item #14 http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=11808482 )
$500 x 30,000 upc codes = $15,000,000 / year
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DD From Mobile Markeing Magazine
http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk/2007/01/what_you_may_ha.html
January 01, 2007
What You (may have) Missed - Part 14
First of all, a very Happy New Year to all our readers. Here’s hoping 2007 will be as good for you as 2006. Unless of course, 2006 was a stinker, in which case we can only hope that 2007 is somewhat better.
“Manic” is a good work to describe the year just passed. There was so much happening on the mobile front, it was hard at times to keep up. Even in December, when people are generally winding down, there was no shortage of news, so here’s our 2-minute guide to what was going on in the last month of 2006.
For some reason, there seemed to be an awful lot of counting going on, and an awful lot of milestones being reached. For mobile games company Greystripe, the news was of 1.4 million downloads from its GameJump mobile games portal since its launch in August. Payment solutions company Valista revealed that it was processing more than 1 million transactions per day through its Valista Plus solutions suite. Newbay Software announced that its PIXOTA mobile imaging client had helped Orange achieve over 1 million uploads on its Orange Photography service in its first five months of operation. Finally, Refresh Mobile shared the news that its Mobizines service had achieved 200,000 downloads since its launch in February 2006.
On the agency front, TXT 4 was busy with a campaign to create a mobile Internet site for the Scottish Tourist Board to help visitors coming to Edinburgh for the New Year celebrations to find out what was happening where. Incentivated saw the safe taxi text service it provides for the Mayor of London relaunched as ‘Cabwise’ for the festive season, complete with a TV and online ad campaign. And Ymogen embarked on a project with BBC Innovation, Nokia and the University of Brighton to explore how people might use mobile devices in the future to capture and share multimedia stories. There was also a new kid on the agency block as Filmnight Digital announced the launch of its Saffron Digital mobile services agency. Saffron will offer managed platform and content services to operators, media owners and content owners.
It was a good month for Airwide Solutions, selected by South African mobile operator Cell C to upgrade its messaging network, and for First Hop, whose Wireless Broker messaging system was chosen by Dutch operator KPN to replace its existing system. A great month too for NeoMedia and it’s qode ‘direct-to-mobile-web’ technology. First, it saw the roll-out of its first European campaign for the ethical water brand, ONE Water. Then it revealed that London ad agency Euro RSCG London had bought a licence to use and co-market the technology. Finally, it announced that UK newspaper group News Group Newspapers was planning to use qode in its 'News of the World' Sunday tabloid to take its readers directly to clips of Premier League football matches on the mobile Internet.
Finally, mini DIY mobile magazine service Tocmags had a good month that turned into a bad month. First, it announced that 1 million Tocmags had been downloaded in just a month since the service launched. Then, it had to apologise after an instructional video demonstrating how to ‘Make the Perfect Joint’ was downloaded 5,000 times in three days. Oh well, they say there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
Stay tuned for more mobile marketing news throughout 2007.
David Murphy
Editor
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Industry DD: Will Mobile Ads Take Off In '07, Or Be Put On Hold?
January 01, 2007
By STEVE MCCLELLAN
http://www.adweek.com/aw/magazine/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003526234
With more than 200 million U.S. consumers walking around with mobile phones, it's only a matter of time before marketers find a way to fully utilize them as an ad medium. And last week's news that Verizon Wireless is joining the ranks of carriers that accept ads on its network suggests that the stage is set for big moves this year. But those in the know say 2007 will be marked by further experimentation in the U.S. rather than the explosion of mobile advertising.
Estimates for mobile advertising in the U.S. in recent years vary. Ovum Research said advertisers spent an estimated $150 million on the medium in the U.S. in 2006, up from just $45 million in 2005. But data group eMarketer, which claims a percentage of spending credited to the Web properly belongs under mobile, puts the 2006 number at $420 million, and predicted it would leap to $900 million in 2007.
Still, experts in the field say that while momentum will increase, spending is unlikely to grow at such a rapid pace, at least over the next 12 months. Many point to the cell phone industry itself as the biggest obstacle, largely barring ads from handsets for fear of consumer backlash. Such fears stem from research that shows most phone customers don't want to be exposed to ads, even in exchange for free wireless applications. That in turn has stifled the ad industry's ability to fully test the effectiveness of mobile advertising.
"The carriers need to start working in a more advertiser-friendly form," said Chad Stoller, evp, director of emerging platforms at Omnicom's Organic, which has done mobile campaigns for Jeep, Sprint/Food Network and 20th Century Fox. And that goes well beyond the issue of access to steps like "hiring real sales teams and offering up real metrics," said Stoller. "The only measurement you get is messages sent and response. We need to get key information like age, geographic, whether they use specific services, when is the highest time of usage."
That said, the phone industry has taken some key steps that at least enable a more complete testing of its potential as an ad medium. The most recent was last week's announcement from Verizon Wireless, whose network reaches nearly 57 million subscribers.
Verizon was the second major wireless company in three months to confirm it would begin accepting ads. In October, Sprint, with a network of 51 million subscribers, became the first to do so. And last week, Cingular, the largest U.S. wireless phone carrier, with almost 59 million subscribers, confirmed that it was exploring mobile advertising options. Asked to comment on word from sources that the company would unveil its plans in early 2007, a Cingular rep said only, "We don't have anything to announce at this point."
Verizon and Sprint, the second- and third-ranked wireless carriers, respectively, cover about half the U.S. cell phone universe with a combined 108 million customers. And if Cingular follows suit, then the top three carriers would potentially be exposing more than 80 percent of U.S. cell phone customers to ads.
Angela Steele, mobile marketing strategist at Starcom USA, said the carriers' moves would help stimulate activity in 2007. "It is the year we'll start to see a lot of momentum in the mobile space," she said. "Carriers are starting to become much more active, and that's one big barrier that's becoming an opportunity."
Aaron Watkins, vp, business development at Omnicom mobile agency ipsh!, said he is starting to see more "proactive planning" for mobile on the part of some clients, where previously the mentality was, "Oh, let's try mobile" if a few dollars were left over at the end of a budget cycle.
But as the barriers to entry start to come down, the hardest work for marketers really begins now, said Stoller. And simply duplicating applications used for other digital media won't cut it in the mobile space. "I think banners and text that say 'buy Pepsi' are never going to work," he said. "The whole model needs to be rethought."
Properly executed, mobile extensions can enhance broader campaigns, said Steele. She cites a recent campaign the agency did for client Kellogg, with bridal sites like TheWeddingChannel.com. The mobile extension offered a weekly text message with tips on health and style.
And Toyota last week launched a campaign for its youth-targeted Yaris that included a series of short "mobisodes" that play on advanced Sprint phones. The seven 10-second animated episodes, created by London-based Tokyo Plastic, run before clips of Prison Break that users can download from Fox's Web site. Both the network and Toyota began experimenting with mobisodes earlier this year.
Despite such innovations, Stoller said carriers first have to figure out ways to increase subscriber use of wireless data services, which are seen by many customers as too costly. "According to an IDC study, 73 percent of customers don't use mobile data services, so you're looking at low penetration," he said. To increase that penetration, and make ads feasible, "they need to start giving away the razors."
E-marketer analyst John Gauntt agrees. In order for mobile marketing to reach its full potential, he argues that carriers will need to shift "from being an overwhelmingly subscriber and transaction-based business," to one that's a mix of fee and free services. He points to the transition that AOL is making from a subscriber-based to an audience- and ad-based service. "It is naive to think that many [carriers] won't go through a related process," he said.
But a November survey by the American Advertising Federation shows just how far mobile has to go in the U.S. before coming into its own. In the typical ad budget, mobile is allocated about 5 percent of the emerging media budget, which tends to be no more than 10 percent of the total budget.
And carriers are moving at a conservative pace. To start, Verizon says it won't allow mobile video ads, because customers don't want to be exposed to them. As the new e-Marketer report observes, "With no other medium is the consumer in more control than with mobile, meaning it's extremely easy to piss them off." —with Laura Blum, Brian Morrissey and Gregory Solman
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OT Happy New Year to all that contribute to this board! I wish you and your families a healthy and prosperous 2007.
ss9173
Personalizit, Here's a big "what if":
What if NewsCorp was planning to take an equity stake in Neomedia? Then they might want to see all these changes take place. They might want their own guy in the top leadership position. Pavane already has a connection to NewsCorp through Liberty Media. NewsCorp would want some significant representation on the BOD.
Again, just speculation, but seems somewhat plausible to me.
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Banks, Here are a few links:
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=15853007&txt2find=fritz
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=15860003
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=15847153
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=15853440
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jonesieatl, It looks to me that Neom and Cornell have divested of their interest in iPoint Media. I haven't followed this as close as Success622 and some others here on this board...perhaps they can comment further.
See these links for background on Neomedia's interest in iPoint Media:
http://www.neom.com/press_releases/2004/20040913.jsp
http://www.neom.com/press_releases/2004/20041026.jsp
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:mX6RcwaS3v0J:www.neom.com/news/nm/MMM_032706.pdf+ipoint+neomedia...
http://www.ipoint-media.com/about.shtml
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=11652611&txt2find=ipoint
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DD Mobile Marketing Magazine Quotes of the Year
http://www.mobilemarketingmagazine.co.uk/2006/12/quotes_of_the_y.html
December 29, 2006
Quotes of the Year
This time last year, we’d only been around a couple of months, but even so, there was no shortage of choice quotes to choose from. This time round, with a full 12 months to go at, well, we’re spoilt for choice, so enjoy with us the pick of the quotes from the mobile marketing world in 2006, and click on any of the links to see the article they are taken from.
“Consumers do perhaps need to know about the technology, but I am not sure that the point of consumer differentiation is going to be whether they get their Mobile TV through DAB, DVB-H, Unicast, UMTS or even wi-fi. If you can provide a useful content experience, a good channel line up and a service that looks and feels like TV, that is the point where customers will buy it and you will get mass-market take-up. How it’s delivered is a nice discussion for the technology providers to have, but not a point of consumer focus.”
Peter Mercier, Director of Business Development for MobiTV Europe, pleads for more sizzle and less tecchie steak from those promoting Mobile TV.(Jan)
“The biggest problem is that there is not a consistent Vice President of Mobile Marketing in Big Brand USA. Sometimes it’s the interactive agency, sometimes it’s tied in with the traditional media budget. We are always talking to different people, and that the most significant challenge we face.”
Nick Desai, Chairman and Founder of US agency Juice Wireless on the problem of getting mobile on the corporate radar. But that was a year ago. Has anything changed? (Jan)
“It’s been bloody difficulty, to be honest. Trying to evangelise among people in ad agencies is always difficult, because they are always sceptical of new channels because they do not know how to create and conceive into that channel."
‘Mobile Evangelist’ Jim Brooks offers a UK perspective on the same thing. But, at the risk of repeating ourselves, that was nine months ago. (March)
“Sponge has the most battle-hardened platform in the mobile marketing industry. It has run more than 21,000 messaging applications, with 600 campaigns running simultaneously at present – from voting to reverse auctions to m-coupons and many, many more. Now, as part of NeoMedia, those applications will be able to be accessed on the Mobile Internet via our PaperClick code-reader, GoWindow and CodeWindow.”
Martin Copus, COO of NeoMedia, explains the reasoning behind the company’s acquisition of UK mobile agency, Sponge.(Feb)
“This agreement with Sponge is another significant step by company management to target corporate resources on the introduction of our patented qode suite of products in European markets and in North America and China. We decided it is in the best interest of our shareholders to continue to fine-tune our focus, trim our cash burn rate, and reverse substantial dilution."
9 months later, Charles T. Jensen, NeoMedia President and CEO explains the about-turn.(Nov)
“We recognised that NeoMedia were being pulled in lots of different directions, and felt this was a good opportunity for us to focus on our core business, which is doing exceptionally well. Business is very strong, we have doubled in size this year, and we now have a $6 million war-chest which we can use to grow the business in a number of different ways."
Sponge CEO Alex Meisl’s take on the affair. (Nov)
“No matter what the outcome, I can’t help thinking that whatever emerges with the advent of BlueCasting, the issue here has to be consumer choice. Communications must be targeted, permission based and above all engaging to combat consumer aversion. A mature, long-term approach that focuses on creating a dialogue with a customer - not a monologue - is essential. Otherwise, we risk wrecking the potential of this exciting, new medium.”
Lawrence Weber, Head of Digital Projects at brand response agency LIDA, cautions against the misuse of Bluecasting.(Feb)
“We do not include sites that are written and maintained by individuals.”
Google's response to Mobile Marketing Magazine’s request to be included in the roster of sites from which it takes its mobile marketing news alerts. Mobile Marketing Magazine is published by Freelance.com a private Limited Company. (March)
“To make the most of mobile’s personality, marketers need to celebrate the things that mobile does differently, while remembering that great mobile marketing concepts can also work in harmony with, and enhance, other channels. They minimise duplication and add value at a very personal level. All of this is achieved through well thought-out concept design and, most importantly, by understanding what is of real value to the end user.”
Stephen Lee, Director of Marketing at Finnish mobile software company, Max Rumpus, offers advice on how best to use the mobile channel. (March)
“The problem for publishers of mobile games content is that while the top 10 games sell well, if you’re not in that top 10, you’re pretty much out in the wasteland. The adoption rate for mobile gaming is low. So what we set out to do was to provide a way for early adopter users to educate or handhold their peers and friends to begin using these services.”
Brian Flanagan, Director of Product Development at Cascada Mobile, explains the idea behind the company’s TAG peer-to-peer referral technology. (April)
“Text is where it’s at.”
Sponge CEO Alex Meisl reminds delegates at this year’s Mobile Marketing Summit that despite the arrival of WAP, 3G et al, there’s life yet in SMS. (June)
“We want England fans to be match-fit and ready to give our boys all the support they can muster. The post-match kebab has become a ritual in towns up and down the country, so offering fans a taste of home while they are on foreign soil might help.”
Virgin Mobile’s Steve Rogan explaining how Virgin’s offer of free kebabs to England supporters would help the team bring home the World Cup. Any bright ideas for 2010 Steve? (June)
"Our research indicates that over half the adult population of the UK are receptive to receiving advertising messages on their phones, as long as it is relevant to them, comes from a qualified source and contains good offers or incentives. Pitch is the first credible mobile advertising channel where brands can target actively opted-in and fully-profiled customers across all mobile networks."
Pitch Executive Chairman David Warburton on the launch of the company’s advertising-funded mobile content service. (June)
“But isn’t it all a bit intrusive?”
Anonymous digital agency chief demonstrates to MMM Editor David Murphy just how much of a grip he has on the whole mobile marketing thing. (July)
“Direct marketers are already embracing location-based services, ticketing and WAP, so no one should imagine that these crusty old envelope stuffers are simply miles behind…According to Bellweather, digital and DM are the only two ad budgets holding steady or increasing these days - so they ought to make perfect bedfellows.”
Nick Fuller, Chair of the Direct Marketing Association’s Mobile Marketing Council, explains the strong links between mobile and direct marketing. (Aug)
“Content is the moving feast which we are constantly addressing and updating. We are building up a picture of what real paying Mobile TV consumers watch, and resourcing that accordingly. After all, you can paint your car any colour you like, but it will only go as fast as the engine allows. We believe we have the best engine. It plays faster and full screen on more handsets than any 3G TV service currently available.”
ROK TV Marketing Director Bruce Renny basks in the results of an independent survey of Mobile TV services conducted by Strategy Analytics, which put ROK in second place, behind Vodafone, but ahead of both 3 and Orange. (Aug)
“Because brands face an audience that is fragmenting, many Asian companies are going one step further, and building entire marketing campaigns with mobile gaming as the centrepiece, in an effort to get their message across to a technically aware audience. This model is achieving great success in Asia, but one crucial component in its success is pricing. The lower prices the consumer pays for games is fuelling the phenomenal growth of mobile gaming in Asia, but some companies are going one step further and giving the games away for free.”
Sean Cronin, CEO of Selatra, explains how companies can use games to their advantage as part of a mobile marketing campaign. (Oct)
“If it is true, I feel hugely sorry for them. Flytxt were the reason I got into this business in 2000 after seeing a presentation from them, and for a long time, they and 12snap had the market to themselves, but in recent years, they seem to have lost their way.”
Incentivated MD Jonathan Bass reacts to the news of the sale of Flytxt’s agency business. (Oct)
“We are confident that Neon is the right mobile marketing solution for us”
And Flytxt bounces back with a significant new business win as EMI Music UK CRM Manager, Shai Eilon explains why it opted for the company’s Neon mobile marketing platform. (Nov)
“We unreservedly apologise for this oversight, and we’re doing everything in our powers to ensure it doesn’t happen again. From the outset of this project, we realised illicit content is a serious problem with user-generated material. We have conducted a review of our censorship process and ramped-up the resources we devote to ensuring Tocmag is a clean service.”
Tocmag founder Brad Ells apologises after a Tocmag explaining how to roll a joint achieved 5,000 downloads to UK mobiles in three days. (Dec)
"qode is brilliant, in allowing readers to bypass Web addresses or search engines and go straight to the Mobile Internet…Effectively, qode is the same thing as the interactive red button on the television, but in a newspaper. NGN is keen to develop mobile as a digital distribution method. This is all part of News Group changing from a newspaper company to a media company."
News Group Newspapers Group Managing Director Mike Anderson welcomes the use of NeoMedia’s qode ‘smart codes’ to take readers of its News of the World Sunday newspaper directly to football clips on the mobile Internet. (Dec)
Stay tuned for more news, views and opitions throughout 2007. Happy New Year!
David Murphy
Editor
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iPoint DD: iPoint Media chairman Efraim Sagi buys 2.79 pct
http://www.hemscott.com/news/latest-news/item.do?newsId=38287486350707
LONDON (AFX) - iPoint-media plc, a provider of 3G/IP video interactive application platforms, said Efraim Sagi Investments Ltd, a company which is wholly owned by non-executive chairman Efraim Sagi, has purchased 2,550,954 ordinary shares in the company at 7.9 pence each, equivalent to 2.79 pct.
This represents his entire interest in the capital of the company.
The company also said Cornell Capital Partners, LP and NeoMedia Technologies Inc have disposed of 7,573,975 and 12,875,609 shares, respectively.
Both Cornell and Neomedia no longer have a notifiable interest in the company. iPoint also said Equital Ltd, j.o.e.l. Jerusalem Oil Exploration Ltd and Clal Finance Batucha Investment Management Ltd have each acquired and now hold 4,336,621 shares, representing 4.74 pct.
In addition, Bicurie Hasade Darom Agricultural Produce Marketing (2002) Ltd has acquired and now holds 3,188,692 shares, representing 3.49 pct. newsdesk@afxnews.com slm
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Czjak, William (the father) resigned, not his son, Chas, who is interim CEO.
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This is totally speculation...but signs appear to be pointing toward a new owner / financing agreement that wants their own leadership in place with sufficient representation on the BOD.
There seems to be a lot of restructuring being done prior to year end for the new "arrangement" to be in place during early 2007.
Again, just speculation.
ss9173
OT jonesieatl, one reply had to be deleted as it quoted Chas and I wasn't sure that poster had permission. If he shows me evidence per my PM to him, I will reinstate his reply.
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in4it, See below my thoughts on your questions:
1) I don't believe Word Registry has started to any significant degree yet.
2) The level of outstanding shares will be reduced accordingly as we sell off all of the acquisitions (except Gavitec IMO).
3) Management won't be able to get the pps up high enough to save the acquisitions IMO. They have to quickly do what is necessary to stay solvent.
Hope that helps.
ss9173
Jonesieatl, IMO Neom is working to further develop the NewsCorp account. I believe we could be in discussions with them, but I don't believe an additional deal with them has been finalized yet. This may help explain the departing of Jensen and Copus considering all other circumstances. Hope that helps.
ss9173
Movieguy, Thanks for your post.
I also certainly understand and empathize with RonMexico's thoughts. Neom has made a lot of ill-fated decisions that have brought us to where we are today. But we are still hanging on for dear life.
The good news is that the qode technology appears to be finally ready for prime time, and the market appears to be finally ready for qode. I believe we now have a great sales and marketing team with Roger Pavane heading up the U.S. and Gavitec's Dr. Christian Steinborn heading up Europe and Asia.
We are getting our house in better financial order with the selling of Mobot, Sponge, and Micropaint. I would expect we will spin off Triton and 12snap as well. All the signs point to us keeping Gavitec, which is the one acquisition that had the best synergy with qode to begin with.
I also remember well the financial example that Chas drew up on the easel with Word Registry...implying sales in the billion + range would be a conservative estimate.
All the potential is still there...the market is ready...we just need to capitalize on the opportunity. If we do, 2007 will be a much better year for all concerned.
It's a big "if" and there is huge risk. I could sell now for the tax loss, but I prefer to give Neom another quarter or so to demonstrate that they "have their act together", and hopefully the pps will materialize into a positive ROI.
How many other shareholders have similar sentiments? How many will sell by tomorrow? How many will wait it out and re-evaluate on a quarter by quarter basis?
ss9173
JP, Well said. I am looking forward to better times ahead with our streamlined, energized and focused new leadership.
ss9173
Don Dodge (of Microsoft) Blog post as referenced in today's PP blog:
http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/2006/12/2007_prediction.html
2007 Predictions for the web and software
It is that time of year again. Time for predictions for 2007. First out of the gate is Richard MacManus of Read/Write Web with a must read opus that covers just about everything.
My prediction for the top 5 hot areas for 2007 should be no surprise to regular readers of my blog.
Online Video / TV - YouTube burst onto the scene in a big way last year paving the way for consumer generated video. BrightCove is my pick for the commercial side of Internet TV/Video.
Browser based applications - JotSpot, SocialText, WikiCalc, Zoho, ThinkFree, and others released first versions of Office like productivity applications. Expect to see these apps get better and the competition to heat up.
Mobile web - The press calls cell phones the third screen (TV, Computer, Phone). They have it backwards, the cell phone is the first screen for the younger generation. Mobile applications are hot, going far beyond ring tones. Location Based Services will be hot in 2007. Mobile search is a multi billion dollar opportunity. Companies to watch; uLocate, ScanBuy, EnPocket, Innovectra.
RSS, Blogs, Wikis - These are already hot for the tech crowd but they will go mainstream in 2007. Blogs and Wikis will move beyond simple applications to becoming a platform for applications. Companies to watch; Blogtronix, Telligent.
Vertical Search - I have written extensively about the three monster markets for search; Mobile Search, Local Search, and Classified Ad Search. Other areas that will be hotter in 2007; People Search, Product Search, Video Search.
Those are my top 5 picks for hot markets in 2007. Richard MacManus has about 50 picks which I will attempt to summarize here. But, don't be lazy... read all of Richard's post here. It is worth the time.
RSS will go mainstream
Structured data will be a big trend
Widgets will continue rising in 2007
Web Office will continue to ramp up
The consumerization of the enterprise will infiltrate corporate IT
Rich Internet Apps will be a major force
Google in particular will continue to push the boundaries of browser-based apps
Semantic Web products will come of age
Expect more big things from Amazon
Expect some shakeups in the online advertising market
Online ad models will improve / evolve
Search 2.0 and the rise of the vertical search engines
Microsoft’s Windows Live services will gain real momentum
Google may come out with some form of GoogleOS
Open Source Desktops will continue to gain momentum
Browser competition between IE7 and FireFox (plus Flock, Opera and Maxthon)
Expect Safari compatibility to rise sharply in 2007
Internet-based TV will ramp up in 2007
Peer-to-Peer will gain momentum again
SecondLife - an important platform for marketing, promotion, social networking
Virtual Money: Paypal showed the way, SecondLife LindeX, Microsoft points etc.
The online real estate market will grow rapidly in ‘07
The search for disruptive business models will continue!
Social networks will probably also become more open
International Web will finally start to get its due in mainstream media
One Laptop Per Child may increase the adoption of thin-client like computers
Broadband continues to grow
VoIP space will really hot up
Mobile Web may be the big story of 2007
Mobile will be a bigger development and advertising platform in ‘07
Webphone market - for example Apple’s rumored iPhone and a GooglePhone
OK, what do you think will be hot in 2007?
Subscribe - To get an automatic feed of all future posts subscribe here, or to receive them via email go here and enter your email address in the box in the right column.
Posted by DonDodge on December 20, 2006 | Permalink
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Yes, vertical search will be hot in 2007. However, vertical search engines must do be better job of returning relevant search results. Without this improvement - vertical search will me marginalized.
Posted by: Jeff Tokarz | December 20, 2006 at 01:09 PM
A far better, more robust, and truly disruptive online ad model; offering true pinpoint targeting; will arise in 2007:
Match Engine Marketing (MEM)/paid match...
... with which, for the first time in history (as can be seen in the white paper posted at MatchTo.com and pending patent #11/250,908), advertisers of all sizes and advertising expertise will be able to quickly and easily reach their most desired customers by selecting and bidding on these customers actual traits and characteristics (keytraits); instead of settling for trying to indirectly and problematically reach them merely through the words they enter into little search boxes...or worse, by surreptitiously following them around as they travel from website to website..
The only real question left as 2006 comes to a close is this:
Will it be MSN, Yahoo, AOL, Ask/IAC, NewsCorp, Google...or a qualified, forward-thinking VC, company, or other entity which will be the benefactor of bringing this next multi-billion dollar/year PPC ad platform to the national and international marketplaces?
Web 2.0?
Welcome to PPC 2.0.
Posted by: Steve Morsa | December 20, 2006 at 01:13 PM
I've posted my top predictions for 2007 on my blog but here's a small taste. I think we agree on a lot of them. BTW, they're all around local search and social media as this is where my interest lies.
1) Atomization: 2007 will see the acceleration of content/functions/applications atomization (decentralization) via the adoption of multiple syndication methods like RSS, XML and APIs.
2) Verticalization: The success of generalist social networks and online video sites in 2006 means that we will see the arrival of a multitude of new specialized players in these two fields.
3) RSS: a clear business model for RSS will emerge.
4) Local will become more social / Social will become more local.
5) Traditional Media will continue to realize that they desperately need to capture eyeballs online, leading to more online acquisitions and/or investments.
6) Long distance & local calls will continue their move towards free.
7) Traditional media will create SEO job positions.
8) Video Monetization: a clear business model will emerge.
9) The proliferation of destination sites without clear business models will lead a lot of them to adopt the B2B business model.
Posted by: Sebastien Provencher | December 20, 2006 at 05:41 PM
Great post!
It'll be interesting to see where a lot of these prdictions go and how they evolve at internet speed over the year.
VERY exciting times!
Posted by: Rasheed | December 20, 2006 at 06:42 PM
Like your idea of mobile web. You should look at the great success of Opera Mini. 8m downloads above 2.5bn page views. They target 30m downloads of their free mobile browser in 2007. Its happening! They also have some pressrelase about search on mobile you should look at
Posted by: awi | December 20, 2006 at 09:21 PM
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A note on off-topic posts: As Assistant Moderator, I will allow an occassional off-topic post if it is (1) designated as OT at the beginning of the post, (2) in "good taste" and (3) has some relevance to investing.
An example of what I won't allow: The numerous posts made earlier today dealing with TS that have no connection with NEOM. These were all deleted as off-topic.
Let's keep the subject matter on NEOM.
Thank you.
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Industry DD: UK offered free newspapers via mobile phones
14 Dec 2006
http://www.thewisemarketer.com/briefs/archive.asp?action=read&bid=2144
In the UK, the Financial Times newspaper has partnered with the national Martin McColl Newsagents chain to launch a mobile voucher campaign to help drive newspaper sales. The mobile vouchering trial will take place in 50 selected stores in south-east England. Customers will be invited to participate by targeted telephone canvassing, supported by online and in-store marketing campaigns. The promotion will invite customers to try the Financial Times for free for two weeks by presenting a text message voucher in any participating Martin McColl store. Validated in real-time using the E-Pay payment and mobile phone top-up terminals already installed in each store, each voucher can only be used a set number of times. For this project, mobile promotions firm i-Movo worked with Enpocket and E-Pay to use the network of terminals installed in Martin McColl stores. According to Andrew Dellow, commercial director for E-Pay, "The ability to accept I-Movo vouchers using our terminals makes sense for our retail partners as it will increase footfall to their locations."
For additional information:
· Visit I-Movo at http://www.i-movo.com
· Visit Enpocket at http://www.enpocket.com
· Visit E-Pay at http://www.e-pay.co.uk
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MocoNews.com Coverage - NeoMedia CEO Resigns; UK Newspaper Group To USe Bacode Tech For Mobile Content
Posted by Rafat Ali Wed 13 Dec 2006 09:39 PM PST
http://www.moconews.net/entry/neomedia-ceo-resigns-uk-newspaper-group-to-use-bacode-tech-for-mobile-...
The controversial mobile content and marketing holding firm NeoMedia, which has shed off some of the companies it bought recently, has made another change: Charles Jensen, the president and CEO resigned Tuesday, and Chairman and founder Charles Fritz assumed the role of interim CEO.
In a conference call in October, Jensen conceded that while Q2 revenue was about $6.6 million, the company loses about $1 million a month.
Meanwhile, in another announcement, UK tabloid The News of the World, part of News Corp newspaper, will use NeoMedia’s barcode mobile-scanning technology Qode to bring mobile content to its readers. It will use Qode mainly to bring TV clips of English Premier League football to its readers via their phones.
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jcg0176, Don't panic. Some shareholders including myself provided some feedback to Management regarding the url error along with some suggestions that they might want to reword the PR to be more effective. Management has confirmed they are working on this. At minimum, they will fix the url link.
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NapleNews Article: NeoMedia announces resignation of its CEO
By Laura Layden (Contact)
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2006/dec/13/neomedia_announces_resignation_its_ceo/?business
Charles Jensen has stepped down as the president and chief executive of Fort Myers-based NeoMedia Technologies Inc.
The company, a provider of mobile technology and marketing solutions, announced his resignation Tuesday. Jensen, 63, has been with NeoMedia since its start in 1995.
Reached at home Tuesday, Jensen said he had no comment on why he left the company.
The company also announced a cost-cutting plan, which includes salary reductions for senior executives.
Charles Fritz, NeoMedia’s founder and chairman, will temporarily replace Jensen as CEO.
“No one worked harder or longer on behalf of NeoMedia than Chuck Jensen,” said Fritz, 50, in a statement. “Under his leadership, NeoMedia made its entrance into the mobile industry and expanded international marketing and sales efforts.”
In a news release, Fritz said the company is continuing to implement a revised strategy, which has included selling off its Mobot and Sponge subsidiaries and its micro paint business unit.
The company is focusing its resources on the marketing and launch of its patented qode technology, which connects consumers and cell phones directly to the Web.
Fritz could not be reached for further comment on Tuesday.
Jensen started as NeoMedia’s chief financial officer. In June 2002, he was named president, chief operating officer and interim CEO, succeeding Fritz. In September 2004, he became CEO.
NeoMedia trades under the symbol NEOM on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board. It trades for pennies a share.
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St. Andrew, I think Bigs made a good guess by probably doing a Google search for the criteria in the blog. But there are others with similar and even much better credentials that might be possible candidates if there is even truth to the rumor. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as Chas is the interim CEO meaning more organizational announcements will be forthcoming sometime in the near future. I agree with others that Copus has an excellent chance at eventually getting the promotion to CEO. I would presume they wouldn't want to do that right now until Copus gets qode launched in a much bigger way.
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jcg0176, see my post
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=15499774
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PP Gloating - He finally talks about Neom...of course in a very negative way...and this clearly indicates he is "in bed" with Scanbuy.
http://theponderingprimate.blogspot.com/2006/12/tale-of-two-physical-world-connectors.html
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
A Tale Of Two Physical World Connectors
Two physical world connection companies...........going in opposite directions?
I have talked about Scanbuy numerous times and their application that allows a camera phone to link to the Internet via 2d bar code. Two major announcements today in the PWC space have me wondering if a clear leader is emerging.
Scanbuy, Inc. , a global provider of wireless commerce solutions, today announced the recent hiring of industry veteran Jonathan Bulkeley as Chief Executive Officer. The company also announced that it completed $9 million in Series B financing. Longworth Venture Partners, Masthead Venture Partners and Hudson Venture Partners led the round, with participation from existing angel investors.
Bulkeley was previously the CEO of barnesandnoble.com, growing sales from $71 million to over $200 million, and overseeing its IPO, which at the time was the largest Internet IPO in history. Prior to bn.com, Bulkeley served as Managing Director of AOL's joint venture with Bertelsmann Online in the U.K. and as AOL’s Vice President of Business Development in the U.S
Bulkeley currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Readers Digest Association, and Spark Networks, PLC. He also served on the Board of Directors of IGN Entertainment which was sold to News Corporation last year.
The funds will escalate growth of Scanbuy’s go-to-market efforts, extend its standard 1D and 2D bar code technology leadership in mobile marketing
Opposite directions? ........
Scanbuy's announcement comes on the same day that the other major U.S. Physical World Connection player NeoMedia Technologies, announces that their CEO, President and Board member Charles Jensen resigned.
The company also announced a series of cost-cutting measures, including across-the-board salary reductions for the company's senior-level executives.
Going on 3 years, NeoMedia has been involved in a patent infringment suit against Scanbuy.
"We are seeing huge growth in the mobile marketing arena worldwide and Scanbuy is the clear leader in making it easy for consumers to fully utilize these enhanced services via their wireless phones," said Steve Smith of Masthead Venture Partners.
"We are thrilled to have Jonathan Bulkeley leading the Scanbuy team. His experience, vision and credibility are exactly what the company and the industry need to bring this technology to the mass market," said Nilanjana Bhowmik, partner at Longworth Venture Partners.
It appears there has been a dramatic shift in the physical world connection playing field.
The ponder in me wonders if innovation instead of litigation would have allowed quicker adoption.
Thoughts comments?
posted by Scott Shaffer @ 5:14 PM
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Some past posts on the so-called "heavy hitter" rumor:
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=14911430
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=14995404&txt2find=heavy
HEAVY Hitter Rumor:
I don't know who posted it or if there is any validity to it, but the description that someone hinted at would indicate Joe Gorelick.
Joe Gorelick - Executive Vice President
Mr. Gorelick is a seasoned senior executive with over 20 years of experience within the international wireless telecommunications, internet and aerospace fields. Prior to joining POP Solutions, he served as a consulting advisor to investment banking and venture firms where he evaluated companies and provided business development services in the wireless applications and infrastructure space. Mr. Gorelick has held executive positions with Fortune 100 companies including Ericsson, where he was responsible for the development and management of the company’s global Mobile Internet Applications business in the areas of multimedia and mobile commerce applications. There he recognized the need for compatibility with multitudes of ever-changing hand-held wireless devices (mobile phones, PDAs, Pocket PCs), and innovated a new wireless multimedia enabling framework that provided for the delivery of renderable content to the appropriate devices. By positioning the products and their development towards an end-user benefits and usability paradigm over pure technical specifications, Mr. Gorelick helped establish Ericsson as the premier world leader in Multimedia Messaging.
Mr. Gorelick holds an Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of New York, and a Bachelors degree from the City University of New York in conjunction with Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science.
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phoenix69, I believe your thoughts do play into what has and will transpire in the coming months...along with mine that the BOD and shareholder community at large was not satisfied with results and miscues.
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YJ, nice dot connecting partner.
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Re: CJ resignation. Read between the lines on these statements from today's PR:
In step with its revised mobile marketing strategy of targeting corporate resources on the continued enhancement and ongoing marketing and launch of its patented qode® suite of cell phone-based direct-to-mobile-web products,...
"No one worked harder or longer on behalf of NeoMedia than Chuck Jensen," Mr. Fritz said. "Under his leadership, NeoMedia made its entrance into the mobile industry and expanded international marketing and sales efforts.
CJ worked hard, but it doesn't say a lot about "significant results" from his leadership...and that my friends, is the real crux of the matter. "Results" do matter, and that is why CJ is no longer with the Company IMHO.
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It is interesting why Scanbuy decided to PR the CEO announcement now - some 8 months later. It could be that they wanted to PR the new funding and just tacked on the CEO with that announcement (seems like a poor excuse but that's about all I could come up with).
Just getting that level of funding reiterates that Scanbuy is a force to be reckoned with. Unless Neom has reached a settlement with them that is just waiting to be approved by the attorneys and PR'ed in the near future. Neom is in dire need for cash so it wouldn't surprise me that they would be a little less greedy in what they wanted in terms of a settlement. Past DD on this board indicated that Scanbuy attempted settlement talks:
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=12474839&txt2find=scanbuy
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=13185409&txt2find=scanbuy
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?Message_id=11808482&txt2find=scanbuy
We will just have to wait and see. Interesting times these past few weeks and I would suspect will continue over the next few months. Seems like the Neom BOD has really developed a sense of urgency to turn things around...albeit, survival-mode.
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success622, I thought Bulkeley had been with them for awhile and that this was not a new development. Thanks for digging up that old post to confirm my belief.
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Tomrob, I believe the ages in the PR are correct as I have met both men.
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OT Brewski I deleted the referenced posts as well as yours and any replies to yours.
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Assistant Moderator
GONEOM, I agree. Their wording is misleading (not on purpose I am sure). As you stated, qode is not being used in Japan. Competing software called i-mode by NTT DoCoMo is very popular in Japan for scanning of codes with a cell phone.
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Humbleinvestor, well said. The only thing I would add is that a seasoned CFO would have never allowed the T&C's specified in the acquisition contracts. I really wish Neom would address this very apparent organizational weakness.
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OT Personal Attacks will not be tolerated EOM
Industry DD: The New M-Commerce Barons
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/11/1123_mobile_barons/index_01.htm
MIKE JELLEY AND NIHAL MEHTA
ipsh!
Jelley was 29 and Mehta was 24 when the two founded ipsh!, a mobile marketing consultancy, in June, 2001. The business was acquired by Omnicom Group in September, 2005, and Mehta has remained CEO and Jelley chief technology officer. So far, the company has handled more than 600 mobile marketing campaigns for the likes of Disney, Sony, HBO, and Pfizer in the U.S.
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dlethe01, I agree...the 2 subs I wanted Neom to keep were Gavitec and Mobot. IMO, they had the best synergy with qode. I understand financially why Neom made the decision to sell Mobot, and overall I support it because of the financial crisis we are faced with today. Over the long term, Neom will benefit with its nearly one-fifth ownership level.
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Prediction: Look for some very significant PR announcements from Mobot within the next 100 days. Neom will benefit with their 18% ownership.
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DD Extract from the Mobot press release: http://www.mobot.com/presspdfs/MobotSpinout20061207.pdf
Over the past year Mobot has successfully delivered national programs such as Starbucks
Summer Pursuit – a mobile visual scavenger hunt; ELLE Magazine’s Wireless Wish List – a
mobile phone is now a powerful shopping accessory; and the Acura RDX Music Sweepstakes –
catch the Acura RDX with your camera phone and win. Closing out 2006 will see the launch of
two significant initiatives for Conde Nast, and a breakthrough project for a major television
network partner in the US. Also, strong demand in Europe and Asia, fueled by a growing roster
of international mobile marketing firms and wireless carriers, continues to represent a significant
portion of the company’s business.
“With three years of experience under our belt we are well positioned in the mobile marketplace,”
said Mobot CEO, Russ Gocht. “We have invested significantly in our platform, technology, and
intellectual property base, to offer scalable services to meet marketers’ growing demand for
unique mobile experiences worldwide. Based on this infrastructure, our track record of
successes, and the renewed focus of our founding team, we expect an exciting year ahead.”
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