It was a big year for Web2.0, especially with Google's $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube.
But what about 2007? What can we expect?
I had a chance to interview a variety of top players in the space:
Suranga Chandratillake, founder and CTO of blinx:
In 2006, video sharing was the biggest trend with lots of companies -- especially the smaller sites -- growing really fast, which highlights the demand for online video. We also saw a great jump in user-generated content. But, traditional media and entertainment companies are catching up and seeing the Internet as a great distribution channel. In 2007, we expect to see even more content on the Web -- especially high-quality content -- and a greater need for better video search engines that can help Internet users navigate through the clutter. Also, with the Internet making content creation and distribution cheap, we expect to see a lot of experimentation with the length of videos and advertisements.
Chase Norlin, CEO of Pixsy:
- By end of 2007 you'll start seeing the beginning of a Web2.0 shake-out
of companies that haven't established a clear business model with
predictable revenues in a growing market. - Video won't be hot anymore.
- More consolidation across all online categories. More "me-too"
YouTube-type acquisitions coming as acquirers believe that controlling
destination traffic is important. The savviest acquirers, however, will
focus on companies that have "network reach" instead of destination traffic. - Online ad networks will move towards becoming content syndicators as
media advertising becomes increasingly important and website publishers look
to receive more options and value from their ad providers. Also look to see
some of the small/medium-sized ad networks get acquired. - Yahoo! will be back on track.
Mike Sawtell, CEO of TheFamilyPost:
I believe that 2007 will continue to be an extraordinary year for Web 2.0 properties. If you look at what is really driving many of these sites, it is the "enabling" of the consumer to more easily upload high-quality digital media. The manufacturers of such equipment, for example Nikon (No-Lag / Digital SLR's) and Sony (camcorders with their own hard drive), are enabling the consumer to more easily upload the images and videos onto the Web, and as these interfaces become more and more simple to use, the demographic of the typical participant of uploading "user-generated content" on the Web will continue to shift from the techno-savvy 17- to 28-year-olds to moms, dads, and grandparents all over the world.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates DealProfiles.com.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-01-2007 @ 5:38PM
Steve said...
"Video won't be hot anymore"?
That is a big call. I thought that would be in line with predictions in the 1940's that "TV is a fad".
Go into Youtube and check out the most popular videos of the week. Yesterday 11 out of 12 videos were about Saddam.
I think video popularity will increase... because it is our new camp fire. TV plays the role of Camp fire well and now with video on demand, the choice of which story to watch makes it far more interesting.