In general I see 2006 as the year of advertising. While organic will continue to improve I think we'll see an explosion in the alternatives available to pay for listings. From paid listings in blog and news feeds to more inroads in rich media ads like flash and even video.

Along those lines I think we will also see increased adoption of blogs, as they reach the critical mass they need to be considered 'mainstream.'

Hot on the heels of text blogs, though, we'll see corporate blogging move into podcasting and video blogging. I don't think this will go corporate until the last - of 2006 however.

Yahoo! will obviously continue to build its social networking infrastructure but I think the other engines will also get on board when they see the potential of such systems.

That's why I see tagging as another emerging tactic search marketers will begin to embrace. No longer will hyperlinking similar documents remain in the realm of bloggers and wiki enthusiasts. I think you'll see tagging occur both at the corporate level (where sites control the tags) and at the consumer level (where more control is given to website users to tag as they see fit).

I think we will see this type of web use in general increase as more people are introduced to services like Flikr and Technorati because these types of services will become more mainstream. Thanks in part to Yahoo!s purchases but I also expect to see Microsoft get more into tagging and other community based web services.

Speaking of community based web services; I don't think we've seen the end of Wiki sites. In fact I believe this will be another tactic more search marketers use. While there will be skepticism from clients (how can I put up something on my site that I can't control?) I do think that by mid 2006 you will see more sites at least experimenting with the idea.

This, then, should lead to resurgence in forums on sites as more people become more adept at sharing information on the web.

Of course we will see even more services spring up allowing people to find, sort and categorize and share their favorite sites. Just look at the success of Yahoo!s Myweb 2.0 and you'll see what I mean.

Now to some specifics

I don't think Google's bubble will burst in 2006. In fact I think it will grow as they continue to take over more of the desktop and replace it with web based applications. They are only just starting to play with alternatives to HTML such as AJAX. This is going to cause great problems for Microsoft who has always been a follower and never a leader.

My only caveat with Google is they must continue to innovate and walk the line between good and evil. While the products they release for free to the masses are good, they have to be careful to continue to ensure that privacy issues are addressed or they will be considered evil.

Yahoo! will continue to build the 'be everything to everyone' entertainment portal and I think you'll see, with the advent of TV over IP, the company taking an active lead in web based media delivery. In fact I think you will see Yahoo! pioneering things like a web only show made for the masses.

I know it's already been done, but I think this will be a true mainstream show - one that appeals to a broader audience. Think Survivor on the web.

And while it hasn't happened yet, I also expect to see a Yahoo! branded online multimedia game. One that perhaps utilizes many of Yahoo!s assets, from in-game advertising to tying in to other properties such as music and TV. For example, you will be playing the game and have to watch a particular show, or listen to a particular song to receive a clue to help you in the gameplay.

Speaking of games as an advertising medium I think we'll see more advertisers beginning to realize the value of in-game ads. Particularly with the success of console games of late, and their ability to connect to the internet I think it's a very real possibility in late 2006 or early 2007 that we'll see the first game with streaming ads.

MSN as always will continue to follow. I think they have lots of great potential, but nothing revolutionary. We should see more 'live' products coming out but the company just won't seem to integrate everything properly.

What I'd like to see is the 'live' site integrated more tightly with the MSN homepage. Then the company truly could do some damage but I doubt that will happen.

With their new advertising product coming out early in 2006 they will have the potential to do damage to Google and Yahoo! however again I think they will drop the ball and it will not be until mid to late 2006 that advertisers realize that there is a good reason to use MSN's PPC ads.

In the mean time, Ask Jeeves will continue to gain market share and may even sign a few key partnerships.

We will see Ask (as it will become in 2006) grow its network both naturally and through acquisitions and partnerships made by the parent company. I think 2006 could be the year that online marketers realize that Ask provides significant enough traffic to at least warrant consideration - If not for 2006 then for sure in 2007. In other words, they may realize that Ask is a player and will have to start budgeting some money for it in their 2007 marketing plan.

The whole vertical/local market will continue to grow as users demand that search engines realize that when they search for 'pizaa' they want a site locally and not Domino's corporate website.

That means that users will either have to give up a certain amount of privacy (by telling the engine where they are) or the engine has to get smarter at figuring out where they are (through IP recognition for example). Of everything I think will happen in 2006, local search will be the biggest change we have to deal with. It will reach the critical mass needed to push it into the mainstream market.

But the engines won't leave us out in the cold on this one. Through a combination of data mining and geo-location, they will be able to figure out what's the best way to serve results. They are getting better at determining when someone might want a local result or a generic result and that will only improve with time.

I also think we'll see even more growth in online commerce as more and more people become even more comfortable with spending online. We've already seen how big comparison shopping has been over this Christmas holiday season, and I think consumers reliance on such sites will continue to grow.

This could lead to refinements in current shopping products whereby Google's Froogle and Yahoo!'s and MSN's shopping sites are tweaked to offer better product and price comparisons. Even Ebay will make changes to its site to allow for better comparison shopping. Speaking of Ebay - watch for their own on-site advertising in 2006 where sellers and others can purchase ads just as if they were buying YSM or Google AdWords.

As I mentioned last year, mobile will continue to grow now that all engines have staked their space, but we'll also see the engines help take mobile in a new way - namely mobile communication through VOIP networks. People will be able to log into their favorite IM via their mobile phones and make long distance calls without the worry of wireless long distance charges. And of course, they will all be looking for monetization opportunities. Can we say audio ads before a call? Perhaps while you are waiting for your call to connect you are sent a short (5 second) audio ad. But I don't see this monetization happening until late 2006 at the very earliest. Likely this will happen in 2007.

So there you have it - my crystal ball predictions for 2006. I'll admit some are 'out there' but some are pretty much guaranteed.


Rob Sullivan
Head Organic Search Strategist
Enquiro Full Service Search Engine Marketing

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