My prediction for the top 5 hot areas for 2007 should be no surprise to regular readers of my blog.
- Online Video / TV - YouTube burst onto the scene in a big way last year paving the way for consumer generated video. BrightCove is my pick for the commercial side of Internet TV/Video.
- Browser based applications - JotSpot, SocialText, WikiCalc, Zoho, ThinkFree, and others released first versions of Office like productivity applications. Expect to see these apps get better and the competition to heat up.
- Mobile web - The press calls cell phones the third screen (TV, Computer, Phone). They have it backwards, the cell phone is the first screen for the younger generation. Mobile applications are hot, going far beyond ring tones. Location Based Services will be hot in 2007. Mobile search is a multi billion dollar opportunity.
- RSS, Blogs, Wikis - These are already hot for the tech crowd but they will go mainstream in 2007. Blogs and Wikis will move beyond simple applications to becoming a platform for applications.
- Vertical Search - I have written extensively about the three monster markets for search; Mobile Search, Local Search, and Classified Ad Search. Other areas that will be hotter in 2007; People Search, Product Search, Video Search.
Those are my top 5 picks for hot markets in 2007. Richard MacManus of Read/Write Web has about 50 picks which I will attempt to summarize here. But, don't be lazy... read all of Richard's post here. It is worth the time.
RSS will go mainstream
Structured data will be a big trend
Widgets will continue rising in 2007
Web Office will continue to ramp up
The consumerization of the enterprise will infiltrate corporate IT
Rich Internet Apps will be a major force
Google in particular will continue to push the boundaries of browser-based apps
Semantic Web products will come of age
Expect more big things from Amazon
Expect some shakeups in the online advertising market
Online ad models will improve / evolve
Search 2.0 and the rise of the vertical search engines
Microsoft’s Windows Live services will gain real momentum
Google may come out with some form of GoogleOS
Open Source Desktops will continue to gain momentum
Browser competition between IE7 and FireFox (plus Flock, Opera and Maxthon)
Expect Safari compatibility to rise sharply in 2007
Internet-based TV will ramp up in 2007
Peer-to-Peer will gain momentum again
SecondLife - an important platform for marketing, promotion, social networking
Virtual Money: Paypal showed the way, SecondLife LindeX, Microsoft points etc.
The online real estate market will grow rapidly in ‘07
The search for disruptive business models will continue!
Social networks will probably also become more open
International Web will finally start to get its due in mainstream media
One Laptop Per Child may increase the adoption of thin-client like computers
Broadband continues to grow
VoIP space will really hot up
Mobile Web may be the big story of 2007
Mobile will be a bigger development and advertising platform in ‘07
Webphone market - for example Apple’s rumored iPhone and a GooglePhone
OK, what do you think will be hot in 2007?
