Know thy user

Dynamic advertisements have been around long before Adroit, but new intuitive tools are a welcome addition. It seems advertisers are understanding that it’s becoming more and more important these days to deliver exactly the right message to the right user at the right time. We are seeing this also grow in the mobile space, with dynamic ad networks popping up on the iPhone. In the fog of online ads on every site, the one that best targets an individual aspect of the current user will win out.

Sorry guys. Not much has happened here in the past year or so. Balancing work and play has left little time for theWebosphere. But its time for a revival! Check back in late-2009 for a brand new design and relaunch.

Analyzing your website’s performance is crucial.

While I am certainly sick of web companies with double vowels and missing ‘e’s, I see potential in Traackr. If it nails down the user interface, it could prove to be a very useful tool. The fact remains that user activity data is of the utmost importance to any media outlet, and the internet is no exception. To be able to track the popularity of your latest published content is crucial in paving the way for your improvement on the webosphere. Yes yes, I know it’s another aggregation tool, but hell, at least this one can prove useful.

The main point about Twitter is that it allows you to share your thoughts, ideas, and experiences at the very moment you have them. This is incredibly interesting to the friends and families you know. With Twitter, you are able to peek into the life of someone you know on a day to day basis. They can share with you not just where they are or what they’re doing, but their emotions, thoughts, and opinions throughout the day. Partying tonight? Update your Twitter to invite others to join you.

And ever since Twitter’s launch, Silicon Valley has gone Twitter crazy. Given the ease at which people can update, Twitter has turned into a place of ‘back channels’ for public events. What to know what’s happening at the Techcrunch conference while it’s happening? Check out Twitter. Follow the right people and you can gain a very accurate feed and overall opinion and pulse of an event. Even the latest in tech news and rumors pop up on Twitter first. Just recently, a rumor on the acquisition of Revision3 by CNET for $57 mil popped up on Twitter. Twitter is becoming the ‘back channel’ for Silicon Valley.

But its it only for web nerds?

When I explain Twitter to new users, their barriers of entry are 1, no one they know uses Twitter, and more importantly 2, they just don’t “get” it. While Twitter is no different than any other social network and users simply won’t join unless their friends have already joined, Twitter has a bigger problem. People don’t “get” Twitter easily. Regular people don’t think it’s worth their time to update it throughout the day. While I truly believe in Twitter’s eventual raise to as one the biggest social networks, the Twitter team needs to solve this initial “question mark” of sorts for new users.

uLocate’s main offering is called WHERE. WHERE is a mobile application which is basically a platform for developers to create location-based applications (ex. local search, social, and shopping). So how does Zync fit in? Based in Boston, MA, Zync has implemented predictive software that provides recommendations to users based on the preferences of similar people. While, I am not sure on the specific capabilities of their implementation, this could prove very useful in mobile web applications, where a clever use of aggregated user opinions have yet to make an appearance. The acquisition price for Zync wasn’t disclosed.

More ‘Web 3.0′?

With many saying that Web 3.0 starts with mobile, interest and innovation in this space has been growing at a fast pace in the last couple of years. However, since the majority of mobile phones have no GPS, a location-based mobile offering has yet to make headlines.

MakeMeSustainable is a very novel idea. In fact, it’s a great idea. Unfortunately, I don’t see it working. It’s true, GREEN is in. In fact, the hot new MacBook Air even has a blurb about how green friendly they are. It’s got these nifty graphs and percentages and visual keys to indicate how much you’re saving the world. The unfortunate thing is, I think the average person is lazy. Few people are going to go out of their way to go to a site, look through all the interesting stuff and take the time and effort to go through with it. Sure some may, and even get into it for a little bit. The honeymoon is short though, and the appeal will wear off. As for going out of your way to join another community, it might be better served as a Facebook App. Don’t get me wrong, I hope this site will work, I just don’t think it will.

Would I join:? Not likely

SpotScout is an interesting concept. It’s also been done before. Companies such as mobileParking LLC and ParkingCarma have done this concept. I’m not going to down the pros and cons of these companies, but the idea has been done before. It’s the whole scenario in which we drive, we can’t find a spot, and yes, you are my answer to linking my problem finding a spot and your service finding a spot for me. And the same paramount issue is about information that a spot is available, and parking in that spot. Oh, I would absolutely love getting a text alert that a spot is open, only to find that it’s been taken…. 2 hours ago. This idea is a tough one to execute. SpotScout, just like MakeMeSustainable tout the “green is good” motto of course. But the twist on this company is, it’s the “ebay” of parking spots. That’s a great idea, but just like uBid, if you don’t have a wide enough user base, why sell there? So if adoption of this site doesn’t increase at a rapid pace, the usability is defunct.

Would I use it: I’ll give it a whirl.

So to be quite honest, Urban Interactive seems the most intriguing to me. That doesn’t necessarily mean best, but in my opinion, it might have the most potential. And I unfortunately have not heard of any companies with similar business models, so it is also the most unique out of the “main dish presenters” that are presenting at Webinno. Let’s get down to business. Right off the bat, the homepage has a quote from the Boston Globe, “It’s a blend between ‘The Amazing Race’ and the TV show `Treasure Hunter.” I mean, that alone caught my eye. First, I thought this was some sort of Geocaching website. I’ve never tried geocaching, but it looks fun. I simply don’t have the time, but seems like it would be entertaining. Back to this site, so it’s not really geocaching. It’s more of a set theme adventure. The activity could be a mystery or spying on an “agent”, all that good espionage stuff…

Basically you get a cool phone to use for the game. That’s actually what caught my eye the most. An iPhone or Nokia E61. But you use the device and with your team you do the adventure and solve the crime or mystery. There are these improv actors along the way that contribute to the adventure as well. Now the business guy I am, I was thinking…. what’s the business model? My initial thought, ooh the adventures might have product placement or some sort of advertising model. It took me all the way to the registration page where I found out the price, $60 a team. Team is a max of 4, so $17 a person. Hmm, there’s a lot I can do with $17. But honestly, I really wanted to try it, when it’s warmer that is. It’s kind of like that guilty pleasure like watching Bravo or MTV shows. It looks kind of dopey, but it also looks fun! As Matt would say, Web2.0 is all about the free.

Would I use it: I think it might be fun to try!

Let’s see what impresses, and what doesn’t tomorrow evening.

Other Notables

Other notables include Untravel Media, another step towards location aware content with its Boston audio tours, and StudentConcourse, a web based organizer designed and developed by highschoolers. One company that had a lot of potential but blew its thirty second pitch was 360Gadget. No one could understand what the presenter was saying and it clouded an otherwise great product, basically an iGoogle for Facebook. Look here for more information on these startups in the coming days.

Give me that ad money!

It seems everyone is jumping into ad money lately. With both Myspace and Facebook developing their own ad platforms, people are getting excited about this space again. However, I just don’t see ideas like Lemonade strong enough to base a business on.

For those unfamiliar with the Web Innovators Group, it’s basically a community for web and mobile innovation serving the greater Boston area. Founded and currently led by David Beisel of Venrock, the Web Innovators Group has held a demo conference every month or so for the past couple years. The conference, named WebInno, allows local web and mobile startups to present their offerings in order to seek feedback, advice, and even funding from the community.

The latest WebInno conference, WebInno15, is scheduled for November 6th and they have just release the names of the presenting startups. The “main dish” presenters are FlipKey, Lemonade, and iiProperty, who will showcase their recently launched services to the entire crowd. Carbon Rally, Mix and Meet, Panospin, 360Gadget, and Student Concourse will demo their services in booths in a more informal mingling session.

I have attended WebInno a few times in the past and each time the audience grows. With over 400 people in attendance last time, WebInno has become a great place for local Boston entrepreneurs and startups to get their feet wet in the community. While the presenting companies are sometimes stale, the overall quality of services and products introduced is high. Stay tuned this week on TheWebosphere for coverage on these local Web 2.0 startups.

“Internet start-ups are drawing investment based on their ability to build an audience, not bring in revenue — the very alchemy that many say led to the inflation and bursting of the dot-com bubble.”

Can it last?

When social networks for fishermen start popping up, I start asking questions, but are we really in a “bubble”? Is all things web 2.0 going to crash, leaving thousands of geeks and web nerd jobless around the world?

I do not believe so and here’s why. Value. With DRM free music, on-demand IPTV, enterprise level web applications, user generated ad-driven communities, video blogging, and the widespread growth of broadband - this new web, this web 2.0, is hitting on all cylinders. We can all agree that there is a ton a hype in the webosphere right now, but, really, it’s there for a damn good reason.