Shelve your crystal ball. You're now going to find out the eight most significant developments for the search space that will arise in 2006. I can say this with utmost confidence now; the humility of hindsight will come in December.

To ring in the new year, let us recognize the real Superheroes of search. No, don't fret. We are not about to enter into yet another war of the engines discussion. Goodness knows that Google, Yahoo! and MSN are the proven Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman of search.

we all spend a lot of time ensuring that our companies and clients sites are well ranked for relevant phrases, but we often overlook our own personal brand presence online. If you were Googled, what would people find?

There are differences in the way men and women use search and the Internet. It's been fascinating to see how millions of years of conditioning and the differences in our respective genetic wiring have impacted our use of new technologies.

OK, so Nostradamus I'm not. Looking back on my predictions for 2005, I'm humbled. They were all over the map.