11 internet marketing trends to ignore in 2010

Ian Lurie Jan 5 2010

Flush with my 2009 success, I’m heading straight into my predictions for 2010. These are the trends I think the pundits will yell about even as they slip gracefully beneath the waves, never to be seen again:

  1. Bing versus Google. Bing came out swinging, took one on the chin and went down like a sack of wet cement. All they’ve managed to do is take market share from their latest acquisition, Yahoo!. Microsoft, take note: It’s not about $80 million in marketing dollars that you lit on fire. It’s. About. The. Algorithm. And yours still sucks.
  2. Yahoo!. Along the same line, Yahoo! is done for. A mass exodus of talent, a horrifically bad set of business decisions and the public’s perception that they’re roadkill means they’re going nowhere.
  3. Mobile advertising. I’m going waaaay out on a limb here. But after all the hubbub over Admob and Google, folks will start asking uncomfortable questions like “Is it earning any money?” Mobile ads will succeed, but not for another couple of years.
  4. Web 3.0 will die a well-deserved death after I invent a device that magically teleports to boardrooms across the planet and punches anyone who utters this ridiculous term.
  5. Apple vs. Microsoft. It’s over. Watch for Apple vs. Google, instead, as the iPhone and various Android handsets start duking it out. PS: I predict Apple crushes Google in the hardware battle, then loses the battle to Google’s ubiquitous operating system and more flexible licensing. Sound familiar?
  6. Boutique content sites. The rise of content sweatshops like Demand Media will keep putting pressure on content producers who actually offer value. It’s McContent versus the mom and pop diner. Who wins? You make the call (I hope I’m wrong, since I’m the latter).
  7. Corporate social media policies. Someone, somewhere, will finally realize that turning off comments on the corporate blog is like plugging your ears and yelling ‘LALALALALA’ while a lion chews on your rear end.
  8. Augmented reality. Most Americans can barely walk straight as it is. Make them peer through their handsets during a stroll and human/manhole incidents will quintuple. Augmented reality is still a niche application. We’re still 2-3 years from widespread adoption.
  9. Google real time search. Eventually, we’ll all realize that a real-time stream of poo is still poo.
  10. Green marketing. Consumers will finally realize that, during the 30 second spot in which they claim ‘green’ status, the same company also razed 400 cubic miles of rain forest. Recycling the napkins after Donut Fridays doesn’t cut it.
  11. “Don’t be evil”. So 2001. Google’s new motto will be “Don’t be evil in public”, soon to be replaced by “Don’t be evil unless it’s random”, and then “You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few legs. Uh, eggs.”

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tags : conversation marketing

19 Comments

  1. I agree, 100%. Except maybe on the Apple thing. If one company can take on Google, it’s Apple. And I have a feeling Apple is going to lighten up a little bit in order to make sure Google doesn’t win that battle.
    I don’t know if one or the other will clearly prevail, but that’s what Apple can only hope for. Google already won if Apple refuses to make adjustments.

  2. #5 is right on the money. I think every business should be thinking about how iPhone-friendly their social media strategy really is.
    I’m also inclined to agree with you on mobile advertising. My suspicion is that the medium (on the go surfer) will limit ad responsiveness at least for the ways most advertisers use the medium.
    Second, any advertising medium whose primary metric is “impressions” may be thriving more on hype than anything else.

  3. Great list and even better that it provokes thinking on my part.
    What is Web 3.0 supposed to be anyway??
    I think Microsoft should be in a class of their own for how little they understand the internet!
    Keep producing great content!

  4. haha… I actually liked this list… have ignored tons but you made me laugh a bit… deserves a comment, a share on google reader, and a thanks.
    Cheers

  6. Absolutely Love #10. So True. But several others had me giggling or pondering too. Not my field, but really enjoy your perspective and posts.

  7. Rippingly good show! #7 is so totally precious it deserves its own blog post.
    On #6, yeah, content sweatshops inevitable — providing perhaps the next biz model transformation for the likes of Izea post FTC issues.
    On #10 – ooh – agree that Google is highly likely to be evil as signalled by Schmidt in his Dec statement to Gawker, “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” (I’m only surprised this very quote didnt get the thorough beating it deserved on The Daily Show.)

  8. Congratulations on creating the most entertaining 2010 predictions post I’ve come across.

  9. Keith

    Keith

    @ #2, Yea Yahoo hasn’t done anything good in a looooong time, lol. They’ve been on a downward spiral for years while Google’s been running laps around them.
    –nice list btw

  10. Very entertaining and inciteful – why I like reading your blog.
    OK – #3 and #5 are a bit of a conflict – but mostly I agree with you.
    Mobile advertising, IMO, will eventually gain market share as Google and Apple duke it out.
    Totally agree with point #5 though. Apple’s success and downfall is they create extremely innovative, yet proprietary technology.
    If they could break out and go open source or open structure…
    Anyway, I’m off to read your post on cycling, since I am a cyclist myself.
    Great stuff – keep it coming.

  11. Great point in #7. If we do not listen to our market, all we are doing is shouting to hear ourselves. The great corporations encourage their customers to comment and respect their feedback.
    Thanks for this thought provoking list.
    Cheers to 2010!
    Kathleen

  12. scott

    scott

    Ian that’s hilarious. Thanks! I’ll be back :)

  13. Neil

    Neil

    For the most part, I’m in sync with 9 of your 11. You might to re-think mobile adverts and RT feeds. Getting the right message to the right person at precisely the right time is nirvana, but doable and the GPS guys are going to deliver great RT feeds on a whole host of useful 411 shortly.

  14. #11 in light of current news is my favorite.
    The image they would like to portray is of being hip, cool, environmentally friendly, fair to every creature on the planet. Can you see the blue birds landing on the Google sign in silicon valley?
    Then they wake up from their dream and realize that at the end of the day, Google is a profit seeking business that is accountable to its shareholders.

  15. Rick

    Rick

    “Google real time search. Eventually, we’ll all realize that a real-time stream of poo is still poo.” – lol
    Really though how useful could this possibly be?

  16. todd

    todd

    I agree with all except the Green… People are utter idiots when it comes to marketing. companies will continue to spend millions of dollars making consumers feel like they are buying something that is focused on the environment regardless of the realities. Hmmm how many trees were cut down to produce that “we are green” marketing piece… Oh my bad it’s on 10% recycled paper.

  17. Toff

    Toff

    This is the one that did it for me..
    “Someone, somewhere, will finally realize that turning off comments on the corporate blog is like plugging your ears and yelling ‘LALALALALA’ while a lion chews on your rear end.”
    I’ve had that conversation with clients before and it still amazes me that people would actively turn away good press about their product or service.
    They will pay big money to buy and spam an email list, but when I suggest actually talking to their customers, they balk.
    Then again, they were also downsizing. How you interact with your customers, pretty much determines whether your business grows or shrinks.

  18. Nice Rick. Your comment made me laugh.
    So did the Bing Versus Google bullet point. I remember about a year ago so many radio advertisements for Bing, I tried it and couldn’t find one reason to start using it. Google is the worst search engine to challenge as it has been around for so long. You need a much stronger punch to even compete with Google.

  19. Interesting thoughts regarding the “McContent” trend. So much in this world is outsourced and built in bulk. I’m in the hopes that we’ll all be able to coexist; and maintain much of our unique nature and character.

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