walkman - 4:42 am on Jul 7, 2011 (gmt 0)

"In a few year's time there won't be such a thing as a website," claimed Boulton. "With the rise of the social Web, now online experiences are built around the individual rather than around the organization."

Ah yes. I never had a domain name, I still use my AOL keyword from back in the day. Anyone else?

I can't say I disagree too much with the author of either of the articles, however Ben Elowitz makes a couple of points that few have read before. One very critical piece for webmasters to understand about the Google ecosystem:

Unlike the ecosystem set up by Google, where the search engine ironically intermediates between users and the objects of their queries (so that users reinforce their loyalty to Google, far more than to the publisher), in the world of social publishing, the Facebook hub enables a direct, if constrained, relationship between users and media brands.

Excellent point Brett. Yet, with declining use Google has to figure out how to increase earnings by 15-20% each year. Shall we guess where that money is coming from ?

I heard that on Chrome they even removed the url bar, they want users to forget domain names, just search for them...on Google. Once there maybe Google will guess that you want to actually see something else :).

The web world is changing, it's becoming cut throat and all bets are off.

Which is why Google is pushing so hard for the "mobile experience" ..and why it is so important that sites look good and work well on mobile devices..especially phones and tablets..

Actually Android has Google search and Google can penetrate even countries where they aren't doing well otherwise (Korea for example.) By hoping to make Android the new Windows they hope to keep and expand their search empire. However looks like a lot of patents were ignored so the big boys are now gunning for Google.