Forum Moderators: open
1. MicroSoft releases Vista and data mines deeper, but still isn't able to put out a product that capitalizes on the data.
2. Google continues to struggle with their power consumption problem even after the installation of massive solar panels. This constraint is recognized as a key factor in their future stock value.
3. Any company even remotely related to social networking is sold for x-times their value in a great final consolidation.
4. For every opportunity I take of advantage of, the best will pass by me.
[edited by: tedster at 5:39 pm (utc) on Dec. 5, 2006]
I also expect to see a weaning away from the current link-reliant algorithms and more weight applied towards user behavior and user input.
They will continue to invest money into video related services, believing that more and more people will want to add their own content or watch videos (from short vids to full movies) online - and they want to handle the related advertising for these videos - whether its ads before the video, clickable product placement ads in the videos or normal commercials within them (perhaps inserted dynamically based on a users current location).
Google will continue to innovent to try to identify possible things that competitors could do - in an effort to get there first. E.g. perhaps we'll see Google creating or buying an affiliate network.
Search engines will keep looking out for potential threats / investments and buy them out as soon as they get used by enough people (deliver ads), look like a threat (or potential threat if a competitor buys it) or if they see some value added service to it.
Google or another search engine may promote alternative office software that would generate extra income for it. Google or another could also begin promoting linux or develop their own version of linux. Thinking further ahead to when wi-fi is everywhere, we could see low cost handhelds/tablets/laptops that just act as input/output devices - hosting servers owned by the search engines could provide storage, the operating system and processing power simply sending output over the web and generate income that way.
I think that search engines will be thinking hard on what happens when enough people have very fast broadband - will people watch tv online in the future? How does this integrate into their advertising plans? Do they distribute these direct to consumers or work with existing tv companies?
They will continue to enhance services for mobiles, knowing that mobiles are becomming more and more sophisticated.
Therefore Intel will be huge winners, MS should be! Apple have another fight to contend with!
IMHO MS are a dollar short and a day late in their primary market, but, it is better to get it "fairly right" than "totally wrong"....
2. Google strikes into the OS or browser market.
3. Matt Cutts gains 7 pounds.
