What happens to online advertising when web-sites transition from “isolated information silos” to sources of content and functionality? Also, what’s up with all those shiny buttons and gradients? That what we are here to find out!
Below is a list of some things we’ll be talking about it today’s meeting. If I missed anything, feel free to add it in the comments section.
Web 2.0 definition
From Wikipedia:
In alluding to the version-numbers that commonly designate software upgrades, the phrase “Web 2.0” may hint at an improved form of the World Wide Web. Advocates of the concept suggest that technologies such as weblogs, social bookmarking, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds (and other forms of many-to-many publishing), social software, Web APIs, Web standards and online Web services imply a significant change in web usage. As used by its supporters, the phrase “Web 2.0” can also refer to one or more of the following:
• the transition of web-sites from isolated information silos to sources of content and functionality, thus becoming computing platforms serving web applications to end-users
• a social phenomenon embracing an approach to generating and distributing Web content itself, characterized by open communication, decentralization of authority, freedom to share and re-use, and “the market as a conversation”
• enhanced organization and categorization of content, emphasizing deep linking
• a rise in the economic value of the Web, possibly surpassing[citation needed] the impact of the dot-com boom of the late 1990s
Also from Wikipedia:
In the opening talk of the first Web 2.0 conference, Tim O’Reilly and John Battelle summarized what they saw as key principles of Web 2.0 applications:
• the web as a platform
• data as the driving force
• network effects created by an architecture of participation
• innovation in assembly of systems and sites composed by pulling together features from distributed, independent developers (a kind of “open source” development)
• lightweight business models enabled by content and service syndication
• the end of the software adoption cycle (“the perpetual beta”)
• software above the level of a single device, leveraging the power of the “Long Tail”
• ease of picking-up by early adopters
To further illustrate what we’re talking about, here is a list of popular Web 2.0 sites
The 10 Most Popular Web 2.0 Sites for June 2007
Myspace
Myspace is perhaps the most popular and widely known of all social networking sites. Myspace set itself apart from its competitors (most notably friendster) by encouraging musicians to create profiles for their bands and by allowing user to modify the look of their profiles (more on that from zefrank).
Wikipedia.org
The non-profit Wikimedia Foundation runs Wikipedia. Wikipedia is “…a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project. Wikipedia is written collaboratively by volunteers; the vast majority of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet.” Mediawiki is the open source wiki software used by Wikipedia and many other wikis. Setting up your own wiki with Mediawiki is relatively easy.
YouTube.com
If you want to see old clips of Americas Funniest Home Videos on your computer, Youtube is the site for you! Developed to be a flickr for video, Youtube allows users to upload clips and then allows other users to comments on them.
FaceBook.com
Facebook, second only to Myspace in popularity, was originally restricted to members with a college or university email address. Recently it has been made available to everyone. Facebook is notable for its organization of people into networks like high school, place of employment, or geographic region. Users are not allowed to modify the style of their page, but can select what kind of content appears on it. Facebook sold its banner rights to Microsoft in a multi-year deal. Therefore, they’re very eager to work with advertisers on alternative ways to reach their users.
PhotoBucket.com
Photobucket is an image-hosting site often used to post avatars on sites like MySpace, Facebook etc. This may explain its high traffic. People who see an image hosted by Photobucket may never know of the sites existence. Interesting…
CraigsList.org
Craigslist is “a centralized network of online urban communities”. Revenue comes purely from paid job ads and apartment listings.
flickr.com
Flickr is an image hosting site, but unlike Photobucket, flickr discourages people from posting their flickr photos elsewhere. Instead, Flickr encourages users to view its site as a destination and allows some limited social networking.
Digg.com
Digg is a community focused news site with “democratic editorial control”. Users submit stories and other users vote on them with a simple thumbs up or thumbs down. Sites that have been featured on Digg often talk about the “Digg effect” , causing them to slow down or even temporarily close due to the huge influx of traffic.
Topix.com
Topix uses an artificial intelligence algorithms that “monitors news from over 50,000 sources and then categorize each story into one or more of the 360,000 news pages, including pages for all 32,500 US zip codes, 5,500 public company and industry verticals, 48,000 celebrities and musicians, 1,500 sports teams and personalities, and many, many more.” Users are then able to comment on, and discuss the news.
WordPress.com
WordPress is a popular open source blog platform that features easy customization through the use of plugins. WordPress.com allows people to create a wordpress blog with limited functionality without needing to touch the code or have a webhost.
Web 2.0 as design movement:
The term Web 2.0 has also been applied to recent online visual trends. This includes so called “web standards” (CSS) but also a particular, almost dogmatic aesthetics. Here are some examples of the term Web 2.0 used in this context.
http://www.photoshoplab.com/web20-design-kit.html
http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/web-2.0-design-style-guide.cfm
http://www.stripegenerator.com/index.php?page=index
Web 2.0 and advertising:
So, how can Web 2.0 inform online advertising? Are banner ads enough? Are there other types of advertising that can make better use of the Web 2.0 landscape?
One option is using Alternate Reality Games or “ARGs.” An ARG is an immersive game that takes place in real-time and evolves according to participants’ responses. ARGs use multiple media (cell phones, email, and mail etc.) but rely heavily on the Internet. The most Famous ARGs are “the Beast” for the film “AI” and the Halo 2 campaign “I Love Bees”. Similar campaigns have been done for Lost and Heroes.
Boutiques like 42 entertainment deal exclusively in ARGs.
Another now famous campaign was the “That Girl Emily” for court TV. The campaign started as a billboard written by “Emily” outing a cheating spouse and supposedly paid for using the couple’s joint bank account. Then came a blogger site. Many people bought in, but when it was reveled to be an ad campaign, It was viewed as a let down.
So what does this all mean for us? Lets meet at 2pm and discuss.
-stirling
Posted by atmocreative 
Posted by atmocreative 
Posted by atmocreative 
