It is a bit "Bridget Jones-ish," but the release announcing the results of the Euro RSCG Worldwide study on global trends for 2004 -- "Year in Prospect: 2004" -- makes for interesting reading.
Two predictions:
- Blogging: 2003 was the year in which weblogging -- a.k.a. blogging -- really took hold, with an estimated 3 million sites worldwide. In 2004, we'll see more buzz marketing via blogs, as marketers figure out ways to use this new medium for their own means.
- Google Bombing and Further Politicization of the Internet: In 2004, we'll see greater politicization of the Internet as more people take advantage of its ability to apply concentrated "people power," whether by organizing volunteers for a political candidate, raising funds, or starting a boycott. One thing we'll be keeping our eye on: Google bombing. Popular search engine Google works by picking up on associations between websites and particular words and phrases. Earlier this month, anyone who typed in the words "miserable failure" on Google was directed to the official White House biography of President George W. Bush. The prank was the brainchild of a computer programmer who e-mailed blogs with an anti-Bush stance and urged them to link the phrase to the biography site. We can expect plenty more of this tactic during the upcoming election year-including a likely counter-offense from pro-Bush bloggers.
The New Normal?? "From demographic changes that have developed over the past few decades, including the rise of singletons, to shifts in priorities that are the result of a rapidly changing and uncertain world, we're finding that people's lives and objectives are significantly different today compared with even ten years ago."
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