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Beyond the `search'

Google's activities in 2006 offers a perspective on what's going to be hot on the web

In its technology review of 2006, the BBC summed up Google as the web's equivalent of McDonald's. "(It is) a brand that has become embedded in our language and seems to be everywhere."

There have been several guess-timations of what Google's objectives are — pure moneymaking to ultimate domination of information on the web, but through 2006, it is clear that it continues its diversification from its primary functions, search and Internet advertising.

The first experiment of the year was exploring other advertising markets, principally radio and print. On January 17, 2006, radio advertising company dMarc, which provides an automated system that allows companies to advertise on radio was purchased. Gmail injected new life into email, but it also revealed that there is huge potential for web-based services and storage. Upstartle, which pioneered the online word processor, Writely, was acquired and out came Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

But the biggest acquisitions were definitely YouTube and one that went almost unnoticed, JotSpot. YouTube did to online video sharing probably what Google did to search, and its purchase came in the wake of Google Video.

JotSpot incidentally started out only in February 2006 and was gobbled up by October. It developed Wiki technology for collaborative websites and its features included ability to send email to each page in the wiki, WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editing and embedded spreadsheet capabilities.

2007 looks like the year when online communities are going to make their presence felt and are going to influence a lot of big decisions.

Social networks are already the most searched for keywords online.

One area that will obviously benefit from being clued in to these networks is advertising, while the other is e-commerce. While familiar noises about privacy are going to be raised, big money waiting to be made out there.

ANAND SANKAR

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