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.
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.