Cell Phones and Web 2.0.....

I did not want to let this opportunity pass by.

We are living through an amazing time in the history of our world. Technology advances, communication -- and socialization have reached new heights.

The ability to extract data, and make decisions based on information extracted from defined environments.....is simply staggering.

To give you a idea of how much money is following this TREND:

VC Breakdown - deals and money flow by sector online: (first half of 2006)
Social Networking Sites - 21 Companies - Raised $95.8 Million
Business Social Networking 3 companies - Raised $21 Million
Video Sharing/Social - 14 companies - Raised $60 Million

Why am I sharing this information?

Because a tremendous amount of capital is flowing into a sector, called Social Media (and all the components that make it up) -- and around all of this money and deal flow is one important, yet under utilized element......

THE EFEECTIVE USE OF DATA.

Privacy of course needs to be respected and preserved, however WE BELIEVE that many of the tools, and solutions in the marketplace today, were far more effective and more useful when the internet was in its earlier stages. (Web 1.0)

We are in a different phase of maturity as far as the internet is concerned -- but the one aspect that has remained the same?

Ad-Serving.

Ad-Serving has become commodotized. A few large players dominant the ad-serving space....2 of the largest, consist of DART and Atlas.

Ad-Serving is a complex, difficult and evolving issue for publishers online. Many large publishers use one of the two solutions above as the BACKBONE of their website (outside of content) -- to manage inventory, advertising....and analytics.

I want to compliment DART and ATLAS for their dominance and forsight to have basically built tools and functions that allow them to own the ad serving market for the past 10+ years. My hats are off to them for accomplishments in web development and monetization of online media.

Times they are a Changing....

We see the marketplace changing abruptly from under these 2 giant Ad-Serving Solutions of the past decade.

I use the example of the telephone.

The telephone works and it is GREAT. We used it for 100 years, and it was effective and revolutionary at enhancing and developing business....and connecting people and commerce.

The telephone enhanced socialization between people.

But then, the wireless (or cell phone) came along as a technological advancement.

Wham.

Telephone evolved -- AND THE CELL PHONE BROUGHT A NEW TWIST TO A ALREADY REMARKABLE ADVANCE IN COMMUNICATION. You cannot walk down a street, go to a conference, or be in a airport without seeing many people USING THEIR CELL PHONE.

The standard phone was excellent, and if we had asked the average person in 1976 - the rotary phone was just fine....(in terms of communication advancement - the normal phone was the standard).....

Imagine if all cell phone service went down today. The communication problems that would develop with people would, AFFECT SOCIALIZATION in a monumental way.

That is what the current technology of Ad-Serving, is doing to the data of Social Media.


I use this analogy to explain the difference in DATA between normal web sites, (standard phones) -- and social media in Web 2.0, and the advances in DATA and information that is usable.....(cell phone.)

But, we are still using ad-serving systems (DART and ATLAS) akin to the standard phone of yesteryear, in the Cell phone (web 2.0) world.

Because user-generated content (social media) is so dynamic and variable, it's contextual value is VERY LIMITED. It's all the other components -- similar to using a cell phone instead of a standard phone, that make up the uniqueness of social media - and it's ACTIONABLE and INSIGHTFUL DATA.....

Ad-Serving today is not answering this call.

Very soon a system will. Trust me.