I noticed in some of the blogging going on this week that there was some questions regarding where the business (aka. revenues) lies in many of the new location-enabled applications and services that are coming online every day… a great question. Indeed at Where 2.0 a common topic of discussion was indeed just that – “the app looks really cool but where’s the business model?” This is an even more important question when you look at companies like Fatdoor who launched a social networking service at Where – these guys had a big presence with loads of staff and all the free t-shirts you can handle! So where’s the money? Well, much of that is still a mystery.. perhaps drumming up VC. Most of it I suspect will come from the obvious… advertising revenues – think Google! Yesterday at Google’s developer day there was much discussion about the direction of the APIs. Something we were told we’ll be seeing much more of is advertising… particularly in maps. Not just textual ads surrounding maps like we see everywhere but also, ads embedded within maps. Imagine as you look through your favorite mashup you will be presented with cool little graphic icons from Burger King or McDonalds etc… we were told that developers will have some control and be able to decide if they wish to serve these ads or not. More relevant ads are in the future as well and a move towards improvements like forcing new ads as you pan around the map or ads that change based on zoom level etc… the end result is more options for developers, more cash in their pockets, oh, and loads of advertising cash for Google as well. Enhancements to the Google Ajax Search API enabling users to display search results within their website, the Ajax feed API enabling users to easily load RSS and atom feeds into their websites will enable publishers to easily add compelling content to their sites… think more traffic. Also, on the flip side of ads.. those serving ads will be able to use Google Checkout and integrate the service into their ads.. think “buy now”. With the new mashup editor, google gears and in particular, Mapplets, the number of people using google maps mashups is going to increase at an exponential rate for sure. Mapplets will enable people to mashup their mashups (eg. add a crimemapping mashup to your real estate mashup) so developers should be drooling over this as I suspect those that create mapplets will be rewarded with substantially larger adwords revenue checks than what they are used to. See http://code.google.com
Archives for June 1, 2007
gisuserGoogle Maps Street View and Google Developer Day on YouTube
No doubt you heard all about the updates to google maps from this week… here’s a cool youtube channel from Google that will introduce you to what all the hype is about – see http://www.youtube.com/google for this and a number of other videos.
Looking for videos from Google Developer Day? You’ll find them HERE… thanks Google!
eco week and geography leaving an impact on kids
I just returned from my son’s elementary school graduation ceremony.. it was very cool to see and hear about the kid’s elementary experience but what was really cool was hearing a quote from each child regarding his/her most memorable moment over the past 6 years. Of interest, about half of them noted/referenced their experience from the last year during what was billed as eco week. This was a week of fun, education, and activities involving getting in touch with nature and geography. The kids truly were inspired and motivated by hands-on learning, being outdoors, and learning about their natural surroundings. Any teachers looking for some great ideas might consider planning such an event… perhaps in conjunction with GIS day and geography week!
Webinar reminder How Location Based Services Deliver
Here’s a reminder about an event of interest taking place today… “In Perfect Sync; How Location Based Services Deliver Exceptional Control of the Mobile Enterprise”. June 1 (that’s today) , 2007 12:00 PM Central – During this Free webinar you’ll learn best practices from Rob Juncker, CTO of Gearworks on how to keep your mobile enterprise in perfect sync with Location Based Services — Details HERE – One participant will be selected to win a new Palm Treo! See also http://www.integratedmobile.com/events/