Christmas Day Or April Fools?: Prediction That Web 2.0 Will Die in 2008 Due To Lack Of Advertising

Tis the season for everyone to make predictions and whilst a well thought out predictions list can make for an interesting read, some are just beyond bizarre.

UK based research firm Scivisum has predicted that Web 2.0 will die in 2008, as “cautious companies pull their advertising from user-generated content web sites, worried about the effect on their brand of appearing alongside questionable content.”

Scivisum also suggests that “consumers and companies will continue to adopt a nomadic attitude towards web 2.0 websites, flocking to the ‘next big thing’ until the market becomes so saturated that consumers will actually be turned off.”

I can see some validity in predictions of market saturation, although every year seems to attract similar predictions and the market continues to grow. Will there be fads in 2008? likely. However the notion that advertisers will abandon sites with user generated content is fanciful to say the least. Ultimately advertisers will continue to flock to sites people are visiting, and as long as there are visitors on those sites there will be advertising.

See some of the more recent reports on online advertising growing (including Web 2.0 and social networking sites) here and here.
(via PCW)