I went hiking this weekend with a group that included an entrepreneur whose firm specializes in click-through ads. We've known the entrepreneur for several months, and in February he was excited about several new online ad product services that were booming. When we asked again about his business this weekend, he was worried that it might fail within the next year. I was astonished that the turn from boom to potential bust could be so rapid, but he assured me that lifespan in the digital ad world is only secured via constant innovation. His view is that rivals can easily copy digital ad business models, and that technology is constantly changing, so to stay ahead of the curve (and in business) you have to reinvent yourself constantly. His tactic is to check in with his customers literally every week - his customers are his most useful source for issues or competing company copycat pitches. Often, he explained, his digital ad products can become obsolete in a matter of a two to four weeks.
It appears that this need for speed/innovation in the technology world will only grow worse - gigaom published today an article speculating on our what our "web addiction" will look like in 2016. On average in 2011, internet users generated 11.5 gigabytes of data per month - by 2016, this is estimated to grow to 32.3 GB per month. The moral of the story? More and more users are coming into internet connections in developing countries, and more and more users in developed countries and doing more and more activities online. Our gadgets are also become smarter and more data-hungry as we transition to smart utility meters, internet-savvy cars and televisions, and more.
An exponential hunger for more data means the world of internet advertizing will continue to grow - but how can smaller companies (like my entrepreneur friend) gain momentum among constant changes in giant personal-data-collecting competitors (like Google), and constant changes in advertizing mediums? Will we soon be hearing ads in our cars, or "sponsored" tips from our smart utility meters?
http://gigaom.com/broadband/heres-what-our-web-addiction-looks-like-in-2016/
1 comment:
Bigger companies like Google will always have more resources than small entrepreneurs like your friend, but smaller entrepreneurs will be more nimble and have less overhead and bureaucracy. It may turn into more work, but if your friend can continuously out-execute a larger company turning a new idea into reality, he may be able to turn a shorter online lifespan into an advantage.
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