2009 Prediction Roundup (Small Business E-commerce Link Digest – January 9, 2009)

2009 Prediction Roundup

Don’t you love predictions? Every year, we get bombarded with folks prognosticating what’s coming down the pike. And don’t worry, mine are coming soon. In the meantime, here’s a consensus of what folks are predicting for the local, mobile, social web in 2009.

• Steve Rubel leads things off, with Reading Tea Leaves for 2009 in Google Search Data. One thing I particularly like about Steve’s predictions is he uses search data to support his conclusions, much like Bill Tancer in his excellent book, Click (read the thinks review of Click here). Clearly, I’m a fan of the methodology and both the book and Rubel’s post illustrates well how you can use search data to find out where customers are heading.
• Next up, Peter Kim pulled together 14 social media experts to give their thoughts on social media in 2009. Brilliant folks like David Armano and
  Charlene Li chime in with their predictions. While I am a little skeptical of some predictions – (I’m looking at you, Greg Verdino – nothing is ending that debate anytime soon), overall, I think they’re right on the money. Well worth the time to read the whole list.
• While more on the geeky side than the business front, Read/Write Web offers 2009 Web Predictions from its entire staff. One meme to watch is the coming Google backlash (some evidence here, too). Expect more of that going forward.
• Finally, if you want to spend your day rummaging through predictions around search and online marketing, social media, local/mobile, small business and just about everything else, Search Engine Land offers The Big List of 2009 Marketing Predictions.

Of course, you know the best way to make sure your predictions are right, don’t you? Create the future you want for yourself.

Enjoy your weekend, Big Thinkers. Catch you right back here on Monday.

Photo credit: giraffes via Flickr using Creative Commons-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.

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