Where Content Is Headed - Page 2

2. The web free sheet - sponsored content. Domain Parking leads us neatly into sponsored content. Demand Media's write up in the WSJ is actually a sponsored page. It is accessible to the public because Demand pays for it to be free rather than behind the subscription log-in. That's a variation on the theme we've seen trying to log into sites like Salon where we watch an ad or we pay to read content. Is this really a separate type of content? I think it is because it's like the avertising feature or free sheet of the web.

3. Video uploads. The video search engine dabble reckons there are already around 250 video upload sites with MSFT entering the market soon. YouTube is the daddy of course. One of the noticeable uses of YouTUbe is as a kind of flickr. There are small entertainment sites that eliminate their own hosting costs by uploading video to YouTube and steering customers there to watch content. A smart strategist at YouTube would cash in. Niche sites like Viewdo cater to specialist needs or to the need for content on everyday practical tasks. Videojug is a viewdo competitor and both are in the space I'll call web-for-everyday-life.

4. Start pages. The Start Page, the first place you go to when firing up your browser has been contested in the past by your ISP, who used to have an unofficial monopoly to display its portal there, the browser, your online e-mail and google. Netvibes, pageflakes and webwag had the bright idea of claiming that space. That's giving them some leverage with content provivders who want to be on your start page and with advertisers who would like you to aggregate sites closely allied to them. Netvibes defaults Yahoo-owned Kelkoo on its page but still the potential is underdeveloped.

5. Blog aggregation is a big area and there are many, many players. From straight aggregators like blogdigger to niche players like elbows, to blog search engines like technorati this is a tenuous form of business, often dependent on contextual ads. Bloggers need companies out there holding up signposts, and aggregators who signpost well will get blogs signing up but few take the job seriously.

Continued tomorrow.

Article Author: Haydn Shaughnessy

A journalist and critic, Haydn writes on where the web's going as well as on the impact of the digital on art and culture. He also does a bit of food writing over at TheDietCast.com.

Visit Haydn Shaughnessy's author page — Haydn Shaughnessy's Blog