The Marketing Technology Blog

This slide most likely produces moans and groans when I display it in front of my fellow techies. I have to show it, though. There have been very discreet movements on the web in the past. We had Web 0.0 which was basically text and bulletin boards. Remember those days? Waiting for the image to load line by line with your 1200 baud modem! (Yes, I know I’m old!)

Web History

Web 1.0 really became the hoard and control era. AOL (remember ‘enter keyword CHEVY) had a great grip on the net and more and more gateway sites appeared on the Internet. If you wanted someone to find you, it cost you dearly with a banner ad on a regional website.

Web 2.0 is still a control era - but now the Search Engines, namely Google, own the web traffic. We’re still in Web 2.0 today - if your site is going to be found, you better get it in a search result. The social web is now beginning to emerge, though. Folks are assembling and sharing bookmarks through micro-blogging applications and social bookmarking.

Web 2.0 saw the decline of peer-to-peer file sharing as well. Napster was toppled and the hackers, crackers and thieves had to go underground. Anonymous proxy servers and torrents through The Pirate Bay have jumped into the forefront as ‘free’ remains the price of the Internet.

Web 3.0 = Declining Search Dominance

Web 3.0 is next, and I believe it could be the Wild West all over again! Search engines beware as the people organize themselves, share their content through syndication (Semantic Web), micro networks, and hybrid applications that run on and offline and incorporate mobile usage.

Web 3.0 = Piracy

My vote is that piracy will make a HUGE leap as true peer-to-peer processing becomes common through IP addresses that are becoming more static across high-bandwidth home networks. In the days of Napster, peer-to-peer really meant peer-to-Napster-to-peer. Napster was the gateway for all communications. My bet is on micro-networks where you can link up your applications with trusted friends and send files without any server (outside of your ISP) knowing. The files themselves will be unrecognizable, though, through some cool encryption methods.

In other words, the common sharing of CDs and music drives between students today will move to applications that allow sharing without anyone in between. The pressure from the Music and Movie industry on the government will be HUGE to be able to spy on our home networks to try to track and punish this new wave of pirates. Good luck!

Web 3.0 = Direct Advertising

Along with the decline of search engine dominance, the advent of ’self-managed’ advertising will also grow. No longer will Google be skimming off the transaction between advertisers and publishers, new technologies will allow Advertisers to manage their own ads across the publishers they wish - and the publishers will be paid directly.