The user revolution

I accepted very kindly the invitation to write on this blog and I’d like to suggest some topics come out from the massive analysis “The user revolution” recently posted from Piper Jaffray, one of the most famous american business banks. I’m sure that most of topics treated in this research will be very popular during the next IAB European Congress; meanwhile here are the 12 resuming points confirming without any doubt the changes on the way:

1. Global online advertising revenue to reach $81.1 billion by 2011.
2. Communitainment: Internet has increasingly become a principal medium for community, communication and entertainment -- three areas that have collided and are impacting each other's growth -- generating a new type of activity: communitainment. Communitainment is taking time away from other, traditional, types of content consumption on the Internet.
3. Usites - The increasing popular category of user generated sites, which we are calling Usites, are driving traffic away from other destinations and pose a challenge to the advertisers and publishers.
4. The Internet is now a mainstream medium: The web is the leading medium at work and the second leading medium at home behind television.
5. Internet usage patterns are changing, favoring Usites,communitainment sites, search, and away from traditional portals.
6. User Generated Brands. The consumers are taking control of content consumption and branding.
7. Media Fragmentation: Advertisers increasingly will need to buy more inventory, from nearly all types of media, especially the Internet, to have the desired impact.
8. The Golden Search: search has become the new portal.
9. Google's dominance is likely to expand, partly fueled by a wide variety of non-search related products that create a virtuous cycle of brand affinity for Google.
10. Video ads will be the driver of the next major growth in brand advertising and getting additional dollars shifted from traditional media to online.
11. Ad networks are experiencing increased demand due to increasing Internet fragmentation, desire for more targeted inventory, increasing usage of networks for branding and increased site visibility.
12. Agencies are rapidly evolving into more sophisticated, technology-savvy entities that combine best of breed offerings.

It has been several years since Piper Jaffray is involved in studying the online communication business. Their “Golden Search” (2003) has considered the turning point in search marketing analysis and quite all their forecasts have been confirmed.