Crystal ball time

01/01/2008

So what does 2008 hold? Now that the Google DoubleClick deal has gone through, we are looking at a year of innovation in consumer targeting within the online space. The lines between display being used as a branding medium and search being used as a direct response mechanism will blur. Combined exposure and click data, should enable user behaviour tracking and targeting across a much wider range of activity than previously available. And while increasingly accurate targeting may sound very Big Brother-esque, privacy concerns aside, it is a win-win marketing formula.

Marketers want the right people seeing and clicking on their ads, consumers want to be exposed to advertising (if they're going to be exposed to advertising at all) that they find relevant and meaningful. All this targeting will mean lower search volumes overall but higher CPC's and (hopefully conversion rates) as advertisers fight to get in front of the right communities and profiles.

The tie-ins between the search engines and social networks should bring about new meaning for Search as an experience in itself. "Social search" isn't new, but it has never attracted the volume that these networking sites command so it hasn't been possible before to test the power of word of mouth and personal recommendations in the world of Search. This development will be unscripted in true Web 2.0 spirit. Users are in control and are going to decide how this story unfolds.