Mark Evans is asking whether the big Web 2.0 blogs will face tough times next year...
One of the fundamental questions is whether there will be enough “juice” to support growth or, for that matter, the status quo. If advertising declines, particularly by attention-seeking startups, how will that impact TechCrunch, GigaOm, ReadWriteWeb, et al? And if the number of new start-ups shrinks, does that create less editorial fodder to attract readers?
Robert Scoble wrote in the comments that the action is moving out of blogs into social networks and that this will challenge the bigs.
I think the big Web 2.0 blog franchises will remain strong in 2009. I do expect their editorial slants to change with the times. Beyond that, here are three things to watch ...
- First, to Robert’s comments, blogs vs. social networks is not a zero sum game. Social networks and search will help all of us filter out the noise and hone in on the signal. Some of this signal will be blog content. Other times soc nets will serve as a lens onto traditional media.
- Second, expect to see these sites diversify their revenue streams beyond advertising and events. Research is a good area and one that probably leaves other, older companies exposed on price. GigaOm is already publishing solid white papers. Databases are another potential source of revenue. CrunchBase may have unlocked value.
- Finally could there be a demand for subscription blogs? In other words, maybe there’s a premium
version of TechCrunch that is for VCs and reasonably priced.
