Content Industry Outlook

Last week, Shore Communications released the 2007 edition of its Content Industry Outlook.

The publication, available for free download, starts with a look back at 2006, then provides guidance for the trends they anticipate dominating 2007.  They note a coming shift in 2007, where the rise of social media and vertical search may begin to shift the balance of power slightly away from Google.  No doubt Google will still be the dominant player, but these new entries create new opportunity.

Shore describes their "Seven A's" for 2007: Answers, Audience, Aggregation, APIs, Alternatives, Acceleration and Asia. 
The Answers market has been building off the social media frenzy, with Yahoo, LinkedIn and many others getting into the space, even as Google has left it.  Shore describes the New Aggregation, where platforms that allow integration of internal, external and community-based content will find success, leveraging RSS and social media.  APIs and Widgets will also be critical in that path as content providers who continue to force their users towards closed, proprietary platforms will find new markets closed to them.

John Blossom and the Shore team always do a great job of staying on top of (and in front of) the trends.  The pace of change continues to increase, and some of the trends Shore talks about will certainly have bottom-line impact for content providers in 2007 and 2008.