DISQUS

Phorm does seem to be following Nebuad's experience in the States (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/99077), though they (Nebuad) are now the subject of a class action suit... Having said that, in the UK there are also a few who think Phorm is actually demonstrably "illegal" in the way they intercept communication(http://www.lightbluetouchpaper.org/2008/04/04/the-phorm-webwise-system/). Be interesting to see how that plays out.

Given that four of the six (http://www.clickz.com/3631791) major UK ISPs seem to have decided Phorm's solution isn't for them, the question does remain how they are going to find ways of monetising their customers through behavioural targeting. I'm working on a solution in this space, so of course I think I know some of the answers (wish I knew them all)...

It does seem to me that while we, as individuals, all have less and less privacy, we're also more and more aware of that fact (partly due to Phorm et al ironically). I now want to see exactly what I'm getting in exchange for my data, and perhaps the most obvious benefits will be measured in time and money. A true, market valuation of me, measured by my data? Not long away, perhaps.

I'm developing a social bookmarking product, but it's just a bit too early-stage to look at (it's called Favy)...

Meanwhile, I'm asked a lot about "social media marketing" - in other words using Web 2.0 tools to market products. So, how a company would best use Twitter and Pownce and widgets and social networking and so on to market their product/service. There are still a lot of people saying "put a page on facebook, slap a few videos on youtube", but we all know that's not really going to work very well.

So it would be great to hear your thoughts about spreading the word about a product and service (of any kind) through the Web 2.0 tools that you're passionate about. The twitter explanation was really good!

I think you're spot on - their proposition (without football or other event rights) just isn't very strong. Virgin and Sky have enormous content and channel breadth, whereas BT's offer comes across as a thin veneer on top of Freeview (and Freeview with a good PVR is a pretty attractive and free option). Tiscali (which I think sells its product a lot better) has even fewer subscribers apparently.

I think for a lot of us "sit back" style TV and "lean forward" style YouTube videos are still distinct, but a combination of the two (maybe some recommended YouTube clips after I've watched a TV drama) might tempt users into sampling. It would also make sense to me as a user that that service was provided by my ISP. Otherwise perhaps in most people's minds BT is a telephony provider and ISP, and that's just a difficult thing to change...

After a quick first test, it's pretty fast, and what you'd expect from Google - simple and does the job. Gmail and google maps are fast, though not a hugly noticeable difference from IE or FF.

Be interesting to see if they can convince large numbers of people that they need another browser, but if they make their own services easier and better by using Chrome - that's a pretty powerful starting point. Meanwhile, I hope they keep it open source and easy to develop third party plug-ins, which does seem to be the idea.

Thanks for the heads-up on the New Media Expo! This side of the ocean we don't get alerted to events like that. Lovin' your video-blog style, keep it up.

I think Google is most concerned now about the source of its searches - if most searches start to originate through social media, or mobile phone, or the next Facebook, can Google be taken out of the loop at source? In other words, just by it being easier to do something else?

I remember when I first used Google, it was wholly because of the quality of the search results. Now, it's more about ubiquity (they're in the browser, on my blackberry start page, generally ingrained in my head as a starting place). But that state of omnipresence isn't impossible to attack online, because of the huge shifts in traffic that Facebook, the iPhone and so on can command

Still, those shifts rely on great products/services, so the premise is the same.

It does occur to me that Google's fundamental idea (who links to you) can be fragile (I've seen too many SEO hacks that are successful!). Other variables - popularity, social search as you say, relevance and so on may eventually be more important, and less spam-able. My business is all about targeting and relevance, so I am biased, but it's where lots user benefit can potentially be found.

Google's brand is a real barrier in main-stream search, so I'm intrigued that Cuil doesn't seem to have done anything that special with their branding - or made the design very appealing.

The winners in this space will be those to whom the user really WANTS to give their data. And that desire is going to be driven by REAL benefits (such as price-point messages or related content, delivered at the right time / at the point of need). The explicit interests and voting are a great start - and add to that the ability to observe behaviour and context (so more implicit stuff), and it becomes really powerful.