Inside the Valley

I like my coffee and find inspiration in sitting with iPhone in one hand, double expresso in the other, flipping the NewYorkTimes.com or other websites around the Content Revenue Strategies Conference we run twice a year - looking for new start ups that need help.

Raised in the coffee capital of Melbourne, Australia, its easy to consume 3-4 cups per day. So now I find myself in cafes from the famous Buck’s of Wooside to Coupa Cafe in Palo Alto to Peets in Menlo Park. Whilst the coffee is different, there is the familiar site of two guys sitting around talking about their start up company. So I’ve noticed that often, the same people go to these cafes and are often talking to different people. They have a knack for striking up conversations with others and so welcome to Silicon Valley, where coffee is helping - as it has done for centuries - people pitch ideas to each other.

I was in London in the previous weeks and visited the BBC on several occaisions. The full impact of the Internet dawned upon me as the plans were unveiled to launch the BBC.com to the world in Q1, 2010. It is a milestone that my firm, SearchForecast can work with the technical leaders at the BBC to help architect the structure of how that content can be maximized for search engines.

Geodelic - which I’m an advisor of - continues to make an impact with T-Mobile myTouch 3G (branded by Google) - which is redefining how the global mobile web evolves. Geodelic software powers the Sherpa application on the phone which learns user behavior and then present information that is customized to each user. That’s mobile local search in the future folks!At breakfast in New York this morning, Saj Sahay, director of product innovation, T-Mobile USA said “The amazing thing about Sherpa is that it learns your favorite types of locations and preferences over time and the more you use it, the better it knows you. MyTouch is all about putting you at the center of the device experience and Sherpa is a shining example of this true, powerful personalization.”Watch the Geodelic Video on ABC Online interview with Autumn Radtke. It can be preordered from T-Mobile’s web site starting today for $200. Deliveries will start on or about August 5.

Having just read the article on Twitter in Time Magazine, and having been involved in some Silicon Valley venture capital meetings around Twitter apps, the most important element to consider is the “noise to value ratio” which measures the number of tweets to the number of relevant tweets a user experiences. Whilst no-one can dispute the “real time” benefits that Twitter offer, I’ve just experienced two Twitter-esque start ups not recieving funding because Venture Capitalists were concerned about the limited value versus volume of tweets. Relevance is key for advertisers and knowing Google so well, I realize that blog posts may become shorter due to Twitter’s 140 character competitor threat but there is something inherently more valuable in expressing an idea beyond a tweet which readers value more.

Follow us here on SearchForecast Twitter

We extend our congratulations to the Campbell Family for a successful election victory in British Columbia, Canada - earlier this month. SearchForecast was able to provide some advice on search engine optimization for the campaign and provided online marketing advice to their campaign team. It is a fascinating process to be involved in given the constant media coverage and impact that search engines - like Google and Yahoo! - have on the imagery, messaging and perception the public at large has of political personalities and party policy.

AdSpace was a huge success with over 500 people attending the conference on 22nd April at Moscone Centre West. My thanks to all the team and speakers as well as sponsors…. here’s one of the signs on the show floor!  We also received some great media coverage as well:  http://www.siliconbeat.com/2009/04/23/conference-features-money-making-tips-for-web-publishers a

Smart entrepreneurs be warned as Apple Apps for iPhone/iTouch apps - http://www.apple.com/webapps/whatarewebapps.html - are dramatically redefining Internet usage. With 200 million apps downloaded - most are free - but many have with low price points of $0.99 to $4.99 each, the gaming/app industry is going to massively increase.  Taking advantage of this gaming trend is www.MyGameMug.com - a social gaming network based in San Mateo, CA which I am an advisor to. The site allows gamers to find other like minded gamers…. see who you are matched with at http://www.mygamemug.com/matchtest.php?p=2

The SearchForecast ‘Directory of AdSense Publishers’ now has 350,000 AdSense Publishers inlcuded. Correct me if I’m wrong but I do believe its the largest in the world and with Google getting 35% of their revenues ($5.78 Billion) from AdSense in 2007, its important to understand who these publishers are.

Search and browse the directory at http://www.searchforecast.com/directory/index.php. Website Publishers can also now add a description, photo or video to their directory listing!

Recently, I’ve recently become an advisor to Parallel Capital Ltd. - a $10 million early stage venture fund.

Last week, I listened to Scott McNealey, co-founder & Chairman of Sun Microsystems, address a small room of 50 or so start ups in Sunnyvale, CA. talk about open source.  I learned that there are 68,000 downloads of MySQL a day. 4 years ago I made the decision to build SearchForecast with MySQL believing open source is the way forward.  With over millions of records now, the decision was a right one as it costs zero in licence fees. My advice to start ups is to watch and listen to guys like Scott McNealey who in 1982 began thinking differently about computer networks. Today, he’s giving back at www.sun.com/startups !

We have received excellent feedback from the commencement of David Rodnitzky’s series of editorial articles on SearchForecast’s AdSense Publisher Directory.

Based in San Francisco, David provides excellent insights into what technology trends are impacting AdSense and other contextual Publishers. I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading David’s article as much as the SearchForecast team does.

http://www.searchforecast.com/article/article_details.php?itemSelected=5