Micro Persuasion

The Future is Web Services, Not Web Sites

Remember The Graduate when Benjamin Braddock was advised to go into plastics. The clip is here. It seemed like a safe bet at the time - and it was.

Today the web maybe "the new plastics." It seems like every brand is building a new site or microsite. The Internet feels like Dubai. Some are big, ambitious projects. Others are smaller initiatives like a blog that a small group can manage themselves.

I don't expect organizations to stop building sites anytime soon. However, the Picture-in-Picture Web (what some would call the web services promise of "Web 3.0") is coming on strong. And I believe most brand web sites may not matter in 2012 - unless they have satellites that make the mother ship stronger. The Attention Crash (or what Iconoculture calls "choice fatigue") is accelerating the pace of change. Fred Wilson has a similar point of view.

The leading players on the web all see the train coming. They are wisely creating APIs and turning themselves into plug-and-play services, not just big destinations. YouTube is just the latest to do so today. Amazon has S3. Google has OpenSocial and an extensive library of APIs. As does Microsoft. Facebook is allowing its applications to live outside the site. Twitter is an API first and (eventually) a business model second. Finally, the booming widget economy shows the promise of small content that can go anywhere.

These are the leaders. But everyone - including marketers - will need to think of their online brands not as sites but as portable services that can go anywhere and everywhere the consumer wants. Without such appendages, no brand will ever be able to break through the online clutter such unlimited choice offers.

Schmidt Hints Adsense Maybe Coming to Facebook Apps

Google Adsense may be coming to Facebook applications. Google CEO Eric Schmidt told AdAge ...

"How will those developers get paid for those services? We would like to have our ads in those applications."

This makes a ton of sense. However, as Facebook starts to look like Times Square with ads on top of ads - some they control, others they don't -  it will turn the community off. Already I can't stand it when I see ads in my news feed. That's the problem with open platforms. Also, how long before these applications start to appear outside Facebook on places like iGoogle. Me thinks soon.

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In the Cut and Paste Era, Traffic Happens Elsewhere

Imagine for a moment that you can take any piece of online content that you care about - a news feed, an image, a box score, multimedia, a stream of updates from your friends - and easily pin it wherever you want. Once clipped, you can drop the content on your desktop, an online start page like Windows Live or Pageflakes, “the deck" of your mobile device or even “a crawl” on your Internet-connected television.

This isn’t some far off vision. It’s the near-term future. It’s the coming era of the Cut and Paste Web.

All of the building blocks of the Cut and Paste Web are in place today. They include RSS, widgets, APIs, Javascript embed codes and web services. If you use a personalized start page, you’re already believer. For a sample, check out my Netvibes page, below. You’ll notice that it not only includes news, blogs and social network streams but also images and embedded iPhone versions of Web pages that snap in perfectly.

However, for all of its benefits, the Cut and Paste Web is potentially more disruptive to big traffic sites than Web 2.0 was. If almost all content can be lifted from one spot and placed somewhere where it’s more convenient to the user, just how will it be monetized? The ramifications reach far and wide. It will impact anyone that wants to attract eyeballs - media companies, brand marketers and community/social networking sites.

This week in my AdAge column, I outline three strategies for thriving in the era of a decentralized web. The rest of the column follows. I have written about this before, but it won't be the last time. You will be hearing a lot more about this subject in the months ahead. Now is the time to be ready. All you need to do is remember three little words: "traffic happens elsewhere."

Three Strategies for Thriving on the Decentralized Web

As Long-form Content Becomes Bite-Size, Make Everything on Your Site Embeddable

The Long Tail of content and increasing demands for our attention have created a perfect storm where traffic to brand sites may soon shrink. It's simple supply-and-demand economics at work.

Long-form online content has been usurped by all things bite-size, whether it be widgets, YouTube clips, or micro blogs powered by services such as Tumblr, Jaiku and Twittergram. This column offers three simple steps marketers should consider to thrive in a web that is increasingly becoming decentralized.

Think web services, not websites. Most innovation online today is created by an army of talented, independent web developers. Sites such as Microsoft, Google and Facebook are turning themselves into platforms that can run these applications, almost like Windows did on the desktop. This has spawned hundreds of miniature online applications.

To thrive, marketers need to think about how to create similar mini experiences via web services that plug into these sites yet are consistent with the brand.

Connect people. The web is transforming into a medium where the greatest value is created when people connect via platforms of participation around a common goal -- to make money, be entertained or informed, to create, etc.

To thrive, brands need to identify these motivations and participate in these new micro-content platforms in a way that helps consumers meet their goals. For example, the Los Angeles Fire Department recognized that consumers actively use Twitter when disaster strikes. It has opened a channel on the site to provide updates at twitter.com/LAFD.

Make everything portable. The next version of the Macintosh operating system, due out in October, has a small feature called Web Clip that turns any part of a site into a widget that lives on the consumer's desktop. This is a big sign of things to come.

In the very near future portals including iGoogle, My Yahoo and Netvibes as well as social networks will be able to easily inhale the smallest pieces of content from across the web. Don't wait. Start now to make everything on your website embeddable. Traffic is becoming something that happens elsewhere, not just on your site.

Find Related Wikipedia Content with Similpedia

Wikipedia is by far one of the most useful sites on the Web - at least to me. That's why I am looking forward to seeing what Jimmy Wales and crew come up with when they launch their new search engine. In the meantime, there is a new Wikipedia tool, however, that has caught my attention - Similpedia.

Similpedia takes any links and shows you related content from Wikipedia. It's extremely handy if you want to drill down into a subject. Even better, they give you a bookmarklet that makes this all a snap to use from any site. You can also add a contextual widget to your site that pulls up related content for your readers and even track results via RSS. Bigger plans are in the works - a site for news and blogs called Similario.

This is a taste of what can be done with Wikipedia's vast stores of data. I would love to see Wikimedia take this to the next level with a robust API.

Wither Blogging? Not Yet, But Perhaps Soon

Earlier this week we chatted - here and on Twitter - about Shiny Object Syndrome (SOS). Our appetite for new technologies and channels is certainly insatiable, but it points to a larger trend. Perhaps we're in search of a new format (or formats) to replace the almighty blog.

What, wither blogging? Not quite. I believe blogs remain extremely powerful and I plan to be a multi-format contributor. Still, a perfect storm is brewing that could one day mark the decline of the long form blog as we know and love it today.  BL Ochman and Michael Tangeman are two that are pondering the same trend.

Let's take a closer look at what's happening. There are three big forces at bay here.

First, there's the Attention Crash. The demands on our time, be they work, family, shiny objects or all of the above loom large. This is changing our media habits. We crave what's pithy and fun. That's one reason why YouTube and widgets got hot.

Second, there's the proliferation of mobile Internet usage. I don't have the statistics handy but my gut is that the upper strata of Forrester's participation ladder includes many smart-phone owners.

As a reporter from MSNBC found, you can increasingly do a lot with these devices by themselves. On my next short trip I plan to leave my laptop at home in favor of my iPhone, especially if I can plan it all so that I am around wifi.

What this all means is that mobile platforms and devices encourages people to publish more often, but in a far shorter format.

Last but not least we have social networking. These sites and services make it easier for us to tune into "signals" - e.g. people and topics we care about - and tune out noise.

So what does this mean all for blogging? I imagine over time some erosion. We will unsubscribe from low quality blogs written by strangers that we truly don't have time for, in favor of tuning into friends and their mobile streams. Perhaps it's already happening.

The Page View is Officially Dead

As predicted late last year, the page view is officially irrelevant. Nielsen is no longer measuring sites this way thanks to widgets and online video. ComScore needs to follow next. Further, both companies need to open up their auditing process across The Long Tail.

Track the Google Zeitgeist on iGoogle

Google has launched a trends module for iGoogle. The widget/gadget pulls in the top news, video, image and web searches. PR pros: this is a handy way to see what's on the mind of the public. Not an iGoogle user? Windows Live has a similar gadget. It tracks the top news photos on MSNBC. (Microsoft is an Edelman client.)

Google Coop Embeds Gadgets in Search Results

Google Coop has quietly expanded and now can embed data from gadgets (i.e. widgets) as subscribed links. In English, as opposed to Googlese, what this means is that you can opt-in to have important live data pop-up when you enter certain search keywords.

Right now there are only a handful of gadgets you can sign up for. All of them are from Google, but they are handy. They include: time/date, translations, traffic and weather radar/conditions. If you have a Google account and you opt into these links, when you search it will trigger the data to load above the search results. You need to enter certain keyword commands, such as: "what time is it" or "weather 10036" or "new york traffic" or "translate hello into spanish." Google Coop has all the documentation, but see the sample in the screen shot below...

Given the size of the Google Gadget ecosystem, this is an important development - especially if developers begin tweak their gadgets. It turns Google into a giant command-line interface for web data.

However, one wonders if Google will eventually rolling this all up into their new universal search and "widgetsense." As you look down the road, you can see this as an avenue to deliver one heckuva an opt-in online ad. The key is that the information delivered must be compelling enough.

Google Widgetsense is a Reality

Widgets embedded in Adsense isn't just an idea. According to Niall Kennedy, its a reality.

Niall reports that soon webmasters will be able to auction off widget space on their sites and blogs managed and marketed by Google. Advertisers can produce Gadgets in standard ad sizes for distribution across the Google network.

Is PayPerWidget Another PayPerPost? Not Quite

Firsr there was PayPerPost. Now there's Sniperoo's PayPerWidget - a marketplace that pairs widget  publishers and bloggers. However, the semantics are where the similarities end.

PayPerWidget does sound awfully similar to PayPerPost. Bloggers get paid to feature widgets on their blog. However, unlike PayPerPost, I don't have a problem with this just yet. It's no different really than bloggers running an interactive ad tile. Still, it's unclear to what lengths Sniperoo requires bloggers to disclose payment or label the widget as advertising. They must do so.

Sniperoo, a widget directory, needs to be careful not only in the disclosures they require participating bloggers make but also in where the widgets are placed. The closer they are placed to the editorial content, the more there's risk to all involved. Also, I am not sure who chose the name, but ideally it would have been better to distance this program from the PayPerPost debacle.

Google Debuts Official eBay Gadget

Google has rolled out an official eBay Gadget for the Google Personalized Home Page. The widget allows you to conduct in-line auction searches right off the Google home page. You can also track your auctions - watching, bidding and won. It's easy to convert this into a "Mini Me" bookmarklet. Just drag this link to your bookmarks. (Several eBay units are Edelman clients.)

Widgets Arrive for the iPod

The iPod is still largely a closed development platform, but that's not stopping some folks from creating widgets that run on it. Kooloroo has two products that bring handy information to the iPod. One is a tip calculator. The other is a color wheel. More here.

Over time, all handheld devices will get widget capabilities. It's the perfect venue for them. The challenge will be that many these devices today are not yet Internet-enabled.

When you think about it, Java apps that run on phones are basically widgets. One of the key trends to watch for is synchronization - users will want to run the same widgets on their mobile devices as they do on the desktop or web-top. We'll also see even more innovation once marketers get wind that widgets are a ticket to getting on mobile phones.

Pump Your Productivity with "Mini Me" Bookmarklets

Tabbed browsing has been a staple of the modern browser for awhile now. The feature is built into Firefox and Safari. Moreover, with the launch of Internet Explorer 7 it's now available to pretty much all.

However, tabbed browsing is sometimes a pain when you want to look up something quickly - for example the weather, sunrise/sunset times, a sports score or your RSS feeds. Of course you can simply open another tab to accomplish this. However, I am now using a new hack that combines bookmarklets, pop-up windows, widgets and mobile web sites in a way that has made me a lot more productive. I use these to look up information a lot.

I know about as much Javascript as I do Japanese. Zilch. But, I do know how to make small edits to code to get by, just as I know how to say sayonara. That's all I had to do to put this system into place

Hawk Wings has two handy bookmarklets that spawn separate "distraction free" Gmail and Google Calendar windows. Once you bookmark them they pop-up in front in IE and Safari but for some reason they load in the back in Firefox.

I have cloned these bookmarklets and adapted them by changing the URL they open and the window size. Each bookmarklet is assigned to either a) mobile-friendly versions of one of my favorite sites or b) a Google widget. The result is instantaneous information! When I want to look up say a sports score, I pop the window. In addition, sometimes I minimize my main browser window and keep "Mini Me" open. This makes it easier to look up Wikipedia articles, for example, while I work on a document. (See screen grab below)

To start using these, simply right click on each one and add to your Favorites/bookmarks. Depending on the browser you're using you might get a warning. Just click ok. If you use Firefox you can even assign keywords to these. If you clone the WeatherBug or sports scores widget and change it to the URL for any widget in this directory, you can run widgets as pop-ups. Most work.

Answers.com Dictionary

CBS Sportsline Scores

Digg

Google

Google Reader

Google Talk

Techmeme

Technorati

WeatherBug

Wikipedia

Adobe Launches a Colorful Social Network

Adobe, which is an Edelman A&R client, today launched the CS3 suite - a massive upgrade to all of its core design products. However, there was some other news too that I thought was cool. And I am not just saying that because we work for Adobe and I want to be nice and all.

The company also unveiled a social network called kuler.  Basically  it's a place for designers to share color combinations for different purposes. The site has tags, RSS feeds and desktop and Apollo widgets as well. Using the site, designers can upload color combinations they used for different projects.

AJAX: The Giant Page View Killer

Today I spoke at the AJAXworld conference and expo in New York. Internetnews.com has an in-depth write-up of my speech. During the prezo, I gave the page view three years to live. Further, I discuss why it's wise these days to focus not only on building out your own sites but how you shrink yourself into atomized content that will fit into other places.

Google Home Page Gets Themes

Google has added a little link to the personalized home page that presents the user with themes they can select for their page. Right now there are only a handful of options - beach, bus stop, Google, etc. However, one would hope that Google will allow others to create their own themes. This is the first time I can recall Google departing from it's usual bright colors on a white background. I particularly like the sweet dreams theme. It changes based on your time zone.

The change is more than cosmetic, however. By opening its personalized home page to themes Google can begin to sell marketers on branded layouts, much as My Yahoo has done in the past for brands like Purina. Watch for this to happen real soon. This will give marketers stronger branding than what a widget delivers and the two can work in tandem.

Watch Live TV on Your Google Home Page

This is really cool and a sign of where things are going. Just add this widget to your personalized Google home page and you can watch live updates from CNN and other networks. LabPixies has a similar widget.

Clearspring and CBS Debut March Madness Widget

OK bracketologists, this one is for you.

Clearspring and CBS TV have partnered to bring you an NCAA March Madness widget. You can add it to your personalized Google or Windows Live page or even stick it on your blog. You can also try it out below (my feed readers ned to click through). Hit "Snag It" to add it to the destination of your choice.

Google to Integrate Web-based VOIP into its Home Page

After playing around a bit with the new Google Talk widget for the Google Home Page, I noticed a little button that says "call." Right now, it's grayed out for all of my contacts. However, it appears as though the Google Talk VOIP service is coming to the Google home page. Has anyone been able to get this to work?

Google Talk Widget Lands

Googlified has the skinny on a new widget that brings instant messaging right to your Google Personalized Home Page. The sheer application and utility of start pages are going to drive it into the masses. Check out how you can use it for GTD.