The countdown is on. Only a handful of sleeps until 2009 and of course the predictions are flowing thick and fast. The experts are gazing into their crystal balls and sharing their visions for 2009 in terms of search, social, online, mobile and marketing in general.I’ve pulled together a list of the best predictions I’ve uncovered so far and detailed them below. (if I’ve missed any – share them via our comments, and I’ll add them in).
Future Dim For Yahoo’s Jumpcut, Kickstart
You can almost hear the "snip-snip" of cost-cutting scissors at work. Following the forced departure of 1,500 employees last Wednesday, Jumpcut and Kickstart, two of Yahoo’s more experimental and less popular sites, are facing similar fates.
Experts Discuss The Future Of Semantic Search
It’s not the key to flying cars, and perhaps we also can’t count on it to provide clean energy or miracle cures. The development of semantic search is of huge importance to search companies, advertisers, and the average user, however, so a session of the same name addressed the question of "Semantic Search: How Will it Change Our Lives?"
Web Analytics: The Future, SEO, Tools, and Mistakes
Navigate the evolving landscape of web analytics: Learn about trends, the role of SEO, top tools available, and how to avoid common mistakes.
Exploring the History of the Future with Google Earth
Google has teamed up with Past Perfect Productions, UCLA, and the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia to bring Ancient Rome back to life with a new Google Earth layer.
What Future Lies Ahead For Marketers?
Some interesting data from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has been released. The data comes from 1,200 attendees of the ANA’s "Master of Marketing" conference, which was held last month in Orlando. These attendees were polled via handheld electronic device about a variety of topics related to marketing, budgets, and future plans. Branding Through Social Networks
Yahoo’s Decker On Google Deal and Company’s Future
A memo from Yahoo President Susan Decker to "Yahoos" has turned up on the Internet. It addresses the Yahoo-Google deal, which officially fell through today, and tries to keep an optimistic demeanor as the company goes forward. PaidContent offers a peak at the memo:
Father of the Internet Talks About His Child’s Future
Vint Cerf, who is commonly known as the "father of the Internet", has posted an article on the Official Google Blog, as part of their series of experts predicting the future, such as Marissa Mayer did for search and
YouTube Co-Founder Talks About The Future Of Online Video
Online video has proliferated in the last ten years and YouTube co-founder and CEO Chad Hurley talks about the future of online video on the Official Google Blog.Hurley talks about how ten years ago online video was in its infancy and how it was used in closed settings with limited bandwidth and expensive and bulky video gear. He says it was the Internet that helped online video to grow.
Japan Is Future Internet Ready
It’s time for our periodic We-Suck-At-Internet rant, which entails comparing and despairing (thanks, Stewart Smalley) over how slow the Internet is in the US. Once again, Japan has us beat and is ready for next-generation applications like high-quality video streaming. But Slovenia? Lithuania? Latvia? They’re faster than us, too?