The Web’s Next Phase
by Michael HoffmanWednesday, November 21st, 2007
I feel that we are on the verge of a lot of changes on the web. The Web 2.0 phenomena of portable content and user generated content is just the transition to something deeper. I don’t have a complete articulation of what that is yet, but two things got my attention recently that feel different. One is an ad format where characters in a video — in this case a Mac ad - seem to control a banner in another part of the page. That’s clever (though not terrible complex technically) and I feel it is a harbinger of more serious playing with web space to come.
The other item is about Facebook’s new ads. The interesting and even alarming thing is how Facebook is set to use your personal data (if you are on it) to deliver to you contextual ads that are generated from your activity off site. So, for example, I go to Blockbuster’s site and Facebook knows this and next time I am on Facebook I am getting Blockbuster promotions. You can read more about Facebook’s system here.
Here’s the new Mac ad format:
