The push for Net neutrality suffered a setback yesterday, but it’s not dead yet. Rather, as described by InformationWeek in Net Neutrality Debate Shifts to Full Senate, a tie vote in the Senate Commerce Committee rejected a Net neutrality amendment. While a setback for advocates of Net neutrality (in essence, a condition where all Internet content is delivered at the same price), it is expected that the battle will now be waged in the full Senate. Some think that the tie vote in the committee indicates that the full Senate may be nearly evenly split as well. Continue reading »
Jun 302006
Jun 262006
James Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds became popular in the same general time frame as Web 2.0 morphed into a major buzzword for a more interactive, user-involving Web. The main premise of Surowiecki’s book is that groups often “know” more than even expert individuals and hence make better decisions. This dovetailed perfectly with Web 2.0 sites that let large numbers of users add content as well as decide what content should be most prominently displayed (by ratings, rankings, etc.). An interesting post at the Enfact blog exposes a bit of the nasty reality underlying the utopian democracy of Web 2.0 sites. In short, an analysis of community-driven news site Digg.com found that two thirds of the stories that made the home page were posted by a mere 60 of Digg’s many thousands of members – 0.03% of the registered user base. In essence, the post notes, Digg is less driven by community than by a core of five dozen unpaid editors who select stories, and, by virtue of the self-reinforcing interests and preferences of this core group, the same kinds of stories rise to the top. New arrivals at Digg may lose interest if they find that it’s almost impossible for their posts to gain traction. And, rather than one of Surowiecki’s supernaturally wise crowds driving the best stories to the top, it’s a small cadre of committed (but potentially biased) individuals.
Jun 222006
One of the major elements of Web 2.0 is that sites can leverage user-created content. Users can create articles, forum postings, reviews, videos, photos, or anything else you can imagine, and post them to the site. Other users can enhance this content by tagging it, by rating it, or just by viewing it (to build a popularity ranking). The site acts as platform and facilitator, and watches the advertising dollars roll in. This is a great business model when it works, and the users, though usually not compensated, derive enjoyment from both their contributions of content and viewing those made by other users. One site format that has grown in popularity recently is video sharing, in which users can post videos and other users can rate, tag, or comment on them. The Red Tape Chronicles blog, in Gruesome Stunts, Risky Pranks Mar Video Sites, points out the dark underbelly of the explosion in user-created content – in some cases, they are motivated to behave in a way that is dangerous. The blog post, based on an investigation by MSNBC.com, describes some of the incredibly risky (and, dare we say, stupid) stunts users have attempted to get their 15 minutes of video fame.
Jun 202006
Here’s the downside of community building and social networking, apparently: MSNBC.com reports Google’s Orkut hit by data-stealing worm.
Reviews of the new show Treasure Hunters haven’t all been glowing – examples include the Baltimore Sun’s A scavenger hunt without a clue and Reality TV’s Treasure Hunters Lacks Mystery But Holds Some Promise. Nevertheless, the highly promoted NBC show is the first I recall where a search engine gets star billing. Apparently, Ask.com was the high bidder for the rights to be the only website that contestants are allowed to use.
Jun 142006
Even as Web advertising is reaching new heights, we learn that it is very underweighted in ad spending. I sat in on a briefing session from the Online Publishers Association called Eyes on the Internet. The Chicago session was quite crowded, with a diverse group of advertising and publishing people anxious to hear about research on how real people use media like TV, radio, and the Web. It’s worth noting that the sponsors of this series of briefings are online publishers, who have a vested interest in making Web advertising seem like the greatest marketing opportunity ever; still, the findings were quite interesting.
Jun 092006
Google cofounder Sergey Brin is having second thoughts about the firm’s China deal, in which Google agreed to censor sites listed by the Chinese government. Many of these banned sites are political or religious in nature. When Google first announced the deal, many were critical of it as a contradiction of Google’s stated policy to “do no evil.” The wire story notes: Continue reading »
Jun 062006
Bruce Nussbaum at BusinessWeek.com raises, and answers, an interesting question: Are CEOs A Tech Gap in Themselves? You Bet. Continue reading »