Marketers must embrace shift of power to the consumer
There were three engaging presentations about the Future of Online Marketing at the Commission Junction University event for advertisers and publishers in London this week.
The message coming through loud and clear was that marketers need to wake up quickly to the shifting balance of power on the internet.
There is no escaping the fact that consumers will increasingly hold sway in the fast-changing digital environment.
Will the geeks really rule the world?
Paul Graham, one of the founders of web incubator Y Combinator, says we’re not in a bubble, and he’s right. There’s way too much talk about this mythical bubble. It ain’t a bubble, folks.
However, I think Paul is wide of the mark on a number of his assertions made when interviewed by Ian Delaney, who is currently writing a book on Web 2.0. Paul says he has spotted “a social trend that will last”, namely: “the startup world will increasingly be ruled by technical people rather than business people”.
God forbid!
I’m amazed that a savvy investor would think that way. Paul is a hacker himself of course, and a successful entrepreneur to boot, so I could be wildly out on this one. It just seems… wrong… on… so… many… levels…
Free Web 2.0 software doesn’t mean better…
TechCrunch posts a heads up on ActiveCollab, a new open source alternative to popular online project management tool Basecamp, by Web 2.0 poster children 37Signals, and talks about the possible threat to current monopoly and current business model if the software is of high quality.
Dell leads the way with blogging
Recently Dell launched a blog where their “intention is to address issues that are important to use and our customers”, and at present I feel that can only be a good thing, so long as Dell are committed to listening and acting on what they’ve already stated.
Myspace overtakes Yahoo and Google
MySpace.com has overtaken the likes of Yahoo and Google to become the most visited site in the US, according to a new survey.
Measurement firm Hitwise said MySpace.com had the most visits by US surfers in the week to July 8, thanks to a 132% rise in traffic in the previous year.
Offertrax raises funds, launch set for August
Congratulations are in order for Ron and Ben at Boston-based Offertrax, who have raised an initial round of funding to help them launch their first product in August.
The company has raised “less than $1m - for now” according to CEO Ronald Pruett, who told me that he secured the funds from “private investors from the Boston area with high tech backgrounds and understanding”.
Offertrax is a social shopping site based around RSS technologies. The founders (Ronald Pruett and Ben Carcio) hope that the service will help join up the gap between consumers and merchants, via targeted alerts delivered by RSS. “It is time to put consumers back in the driving seat,” says Ron.
BT denies Bebo approach, Web 2.0 shark not yet jumped
TechCrunch reports that Bebo has spurned the advances of UK telecoms behemoth BT, which is rumoured to have offered more than £300m ($552m) for the social networking site.
However, a senior BT executive told E-consultancy that this is nonsense.
Our BT source said: “We can state categorically that BT has not had any discussions with, or made any approach to, Bebo. We're not sure where this rumour came from.”
UPDATE: Bebo's Xochi Birch also emailed me to say: "BT has not approached us and we currently have no contact with anyone at BT." She also has no clue about where the rumour came from.
Valleyschwag for July 2006
As a non-coder I've never felt 100% geek, despite what some of my Luddite friends think. However, as this picture shows, I am getting ever-closer to that magical figure (and to inheriting the earth, which would fulfil a small ambition).
Yes, I've received this month's geek merchandise from Valleyschwag!
eBay generates extra cash for Brits
Britons made £8.5 billion last year by trading goods online, according to a new survey. The research, by Orange Broadband, said UK citizens made an average of £341 in 2005 through auction sites such as eBay.
What MySpace means to Murdoch's space
It will come as news to few that MySpace is the social media phenomenon
du jour
. Picked up by News Corp for $580m, 90m members, and that oh-so juicy teen demographic to market to when no-one under 30 is buying newspapers anymore? Strewth, Rupert Murdoch's got a fair dinkum bet there.
So you may be perplexed by this suggestion Rupert should spin MySpace off on its own, from MarketWatch's wonderfully named Bambi Francisco:
"Clearly, MySpace -- if it were a standalone company -- would be the hottest kind of stock, one that every sell-side analyst would gladly hawk. It's very likely the thought has crossed the minds of executives as well as MySpace founders. Prior to the sale to News Corp., MySpace founders had considered an IPO, according to someone close to the company."
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Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
