Web 2.0 Maybe Consolidating Even as it Expands

A few years ago, all the buzz in the advertising community was about media consolidation. A feeling pervaded that there only a few companies basically controlled all media. It was disconcerting to advertisers and activists because they felt there was a group monopoly.

These days, you rarely ever hear about media consolidation any more. It's sort of a moot point. After all, the word "media" is really expansive. Companies produce media. Individuals create media. At a media conference I went to a discussion broke out that one day smart devices like Roomba will become media. (Note that not all media is journalism - different discussion entirely.)

Amy Gahran at Poynter has a fascinating post up about Who Owns What v2.0. The image, above, shows that in reality only a few companies - Google, Yahoo, IAC, etc - control a vast number of the Web 2.0 platforms where we create, connect and share.

That's ironic, isn't it? The web is so expansive. It's like the Universe, which seems to have no end, not Earth, which has a finite amount of space. So how is it possible that online media is consolidating? However, you can't dispute the facts presented in the graphic above. The big media companies have been steadily buying up lots of emerging sites.

Still even if you buy the argument that Web 2.0 is falling into the hands of a few players, it shouldn't rekindle any of the discussions that we had back when the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was passed and media really did consolidate. There are two key reasons.

First, the barrier to entry online has been obliterated. Anyone can come along and start a social network or publishing platform fairly cheaply and easily and knock off a big dog. Globalization is certainly helping here. Tom Friedman chronicles the technological and social changes at length in The World is Flat - which is out now in version 3.0. I highly recommend the book.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, the web is extremely transient. Today's hot site is cold pizza tomorrow. Have you spent any time on TheGlobe.com or GeoCities lately? Audiences migrate. It happens.

So even if you buy that Web 2.0 is really in the hands of a few players, it's far from a monopoly in this era and nothing to be concerned about. The year 2007 is very different from 1997. (Disclaimer: Edelman works with News Corp and Microsoft, depicted above.)