• by Ross Fadner , January 1, 2004

Marketing/consulting agency, e-agency, made several bold pronouncements for the coming year earlier this week. The most notable of these claims that the Internet is set to disappear in 2004.

Figuratively, that is. Ubiquitous, streaming media shall be the order of the day for 2004, according to the Oakland-based Web services company. Said an e-agency spokesperson in a statement: "In terms of our perceptions, the Internet in all its various incarnations will soon become as ubiquitous in our modern everyday life as, say, electric power, running water, or written words. The Internet is fast becoming part of every tool and toy we use, to the point that eventually, we won't think about it. Simply put, the Internet is not just about computers anymore."

According to the e-agency professionals surveyed, the big impacts in 2004 will come from five big ideas:

1- Everything wireless-from phones to laptops, cameras to coffee shops-will be major players in the march to online ubiquity.

2- The Presidential election campaigns will make this the year that politics on the Web goes mainstream, becoming part of the way political campaigns function, and the way we vote.

3- Search-related Web marketing was hot last year because it was a bargain for advertisers. Now, as it becomes less of a novelty, search-related advertising will become a tool that consumers will be glad to use, until eventually we forget to notice it anymore. (And although the prices are now relatively higher, it's still a bargain.)

4- Spam probably won't die this year, but it won't be because too few weapons of mass destruction are thrown at it. The State of California led the way with a new anti-spam law last fall, the U.S. Congress recently followed, and everyone from Microsoft to AOL (to e-agency!) is looking for ways to rid our inboxes of a torrent of offensive, unwanted, and even fraudulent e-mail. There will be some limited successes. But spam control may open the door to government attempts to regulate Internet operations in other areas.

5- It's the economy ... ! Cash is beginning to flow again, and will flow through the Web more than ever before. Smart companies will invest early in upgrading their Web presence-both their public sites and their operations-oriented intranets and extranets. The smart ones will also elevate Web spending to a regular and accountable spot in their annual budgets, and demand realistic predictable returns on and careful management of their investments.