With all the gloom in the global economy, I got to wondering whether there is anything else going on in the world of business. I'm looking for growth because I think that's what will ultimately bring the economy out of the doldrums. Not surprisingly, that growth is coming from technology companies. In Growth Matters, I look at consumer technology companies that point the way to growth trends -- and in the process introduce services and products you may want to explore.

If you want to make sense of all the video on the Internet so you can view just the good stuff, then Veoh Networks may be worth a visit. I interviewed Veoh Networks' CEO, Steve Mitgang, who told me an interesting tale about Veoh's history: "The founder of Veoh [Dmitry Shapiro] was an expert in security for Peer-to-Peer (P2P) networks. Video was active around enterprises as employees were watching more videos on YouTube."

On the one year anniversary of BloggingStock.com's launch, I took a look back at our inaugural posts-

Sarah Gilbert was writing about the phenom YouTube, and AOL's (Time Warner, NYSE:TWX) investment in a rival Veoh.

Anne Metz wrote about the success of Skype and Vonage in the VOIP business. Skype (eBay, NASDAQ:EBAY) had just hit 100 million customers. If you still want some Vonage stock, you can get it real cheap.

Brian White reported on the growing dissatisfaction of WalMart (NYSE:WMT) suppliers with the company's requirement that they maintain inventories of product at the beck and call of the retail giant.

Howard Tsung related Steve Jobs' assurance to Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stockholders that, regardless the purchase of Pixar by Disney, his role in Apple would remain unchanged.

Sarah also wrote about the one-day 11% drop ($31 billion) in Microsoft (NYSE:MSFT) stock and how some readers were livid at the press, blaming the messenger for the message. By the same thinking, perhaps Sarah should be credited for Microsoft's subsequent growth.

Brian filed a story about a new Sam's Club product; for $30 grand, one could buy a junket with Jimmy Buffet of "Cheeseburger in Paradise" fame.

Anne Metz covered AOL's hopes that product placement with a new TNT series, Saved, as well as their hit The Closer, would help push the pay service to new heights. How'd that work out?

Brian launched our obsession with Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) with two stories, about implications for the company of widespread click fraud, and its interest in ad-supported municipal wireless.

Looking back, I'm struck by how quickly the market changes, especially the e-economy, and how on top of trends our BloggingStocks writers have been. Pretty good work for a one-year-old, eh?
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Michael Eisner, former CEO of Disney, wants to once-again be a media mogul.  His resume is amazing, of course – having developed television shows (Happy Days, Welcome Back Kotter, Barney Miller) and movies (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Saturday Night Fever, The Little Mermaid, Good Will Hunting).  He also orchestrated the turnaround of Disney during the mid 1980s.

This time, Eisner sees the next phase in media being online video. To this end, he's on the board of directors of the video-sharing site, Veoh, as well as an investor. The company recently snagged $12.5 million from investors, such as Time-Warner and Spark Capital.

But it's not without its challenges. For example, the adult entertainment company, Io Group, recently filed a copyright infringement suit again Veoh.

Michael Eisner hasn't been up to much since his departure from Disney.

It looks though, like Eisner is eyeing the Online Video space.  With broadband becoming more and more prevalent in US homes, the technological infrastructure/capability for streaming videos is reaching fruition.  With American Idol and the plethora of reality t.v. shows abounding, there is a discernible trend towards amateur/'real' videos and the corresponding stars and starlets.

The space is still being defined, but already net giant Google and Yahoo are getting positioned with video versions of their respective search engines. 

Google Video is a portal type page which is hoping to bridge the gap between amateur and licensed videos and programming. 

YouTube though is arguably the most successful player in this space, pulling in 9 million users a month (according to Nielson/NetRatings)

Eisner will also sit on the board of directors for Veoh.  The online network space is a very interesting one and one to keep an eye on. 

For Time Warner the natural motives would be to incorporate Veoh or a module/shell into its AOL portal.  The distribution aspect is also huge as Time Warner's video content is tremendous (ie. Warner Brothers).