Commentary

A Few Internet Marketing Predictions for 2011

Internet marketing will be regulated by 2015, and there will be more than $250 billion in Internet marketing spending worldwide. Those are a few of the predictions I received in my email inbox Tuesday morning, in a report from the research firm Gartner.

In another study, which I found somewhat surprising, it appears Internet users would likely welcome a "Do Not Track" list similar to the one the Federal Trade Commission wants to implement. That's according to a poll of 840 adult U.S. Internet users conducted by USA Today and Gallup. The poll finds that Internet users are largely aware that advertisers use users' online browsing history to target ads, but oppose that tactic, even if it helps to keep content free. When asked if advertisers should be allowed to match ads to specific interests based on Web sites visited, 67% said no; the remainder, yes.

The one bright spot for advertisers in this poll is that when given the choice, consumers said they'd prefer advertisers of their choosing to target ads.

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As for those predictions from Gartner, here are a few others I found interesting:

By 2012, Facebook will become the hub for social networks' integration and Web socialization. 

By 2014, more than three billion of the world's adult population will have an option to transact business electronically via mobile and Internet technology. (Security issues aside, have advertisers thought through what it means for consumers to leave their cash behind and have instant access to electronic funds?)

By 2015, context will become as influential to mobile consumer services and relationships as search engines are to the Web. (Geolocation will not only become a trigger, but a very important metrics in the marketing purchase funnel.)

By 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide.

5 comments about "A Few Internet Marketing Predictions for 2011".
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  1. Andre Szykier from maps capital management, December 22, 2010 at 1:53 p.m.

    I assume you are taking a domestic view, rather than international for Garnter's predictions, which in hindsight have been notoriously off the mark in accuracy.

    The one they missed is the following:

    Asia-Pacific markets will dictate the future of mobile communications and computing forcing software and content providers to acquire the distribution networks for broadcast, internet and wireless into one system.

    This is China's plan by 2015 to link up 0.5B of its people.

  2. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, December 22, 2010 at 2:55 p.m.

    The lack of security makes me very insecure. When a fault is found, the fixing is hard, sometimes impossible to find. Earning trust will cost so much more.

  3. Mark McLaughlin, December 22, 2010 at 6:07 p.m.

    By 2015 Facebook brand pages will surpass the brand's own websites as the primary destination for consumer marketing initiatives.

  4. Mark McLaughlin, December 22, 2010 at 6:09 p.m.

    Is there anything in Gartner's legacy of predictions that makes them a credible resource for discussing future predictions?

  5. Seo Queen from Seo Queen, December 23, 2010 at 2:43 p.m.

    Thanks for sharing such a nice most which will help people making their seo strategies for the coming year

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