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?
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Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 2007 Predictions for the web and software: Comments 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
Ghee, I wonder how much the "Consultant" got in ScanBuy shares to bring Nately Kogan of Hudson VC to the table? Seems like an affiliation between MSFT & Scanbuy was in the works for quite some time. Nice one Bro., but then again what do I know? It's only business, eh? Xuma (off-shore) must be lovely this time of year...
I wonder if this may spell some troubling situations for NEOM....why is Scanby so far ahead if NEOM is the much better product/solution.....this is the question that really needs answering because companies like Mr. Softie just do not make statements like this out of the BLUE!
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