WebSite Watch
The following pages are remarkable for one or more of a few reasons. They show remarkable growth in recent weeks, offer a service that I predict will be successful, demonstrate a unique model, or offer incites into the uses people are finding for the World Wide Web.
Facebook (www.facebook.com) In a recent Newsweek article, Peter Thiel, board member of Facebook valued Facebook at more than $7 billion. This comes after founder Mark Zuckerburg turned down a $1 billion offer by Yahoo. Within the next year or so Facebook expects to announce the largest IPO since Google. Facebook is also working quietly on an advertising system that would allow ad companies to target their ads based on information users reveal about themselves on their page.
Facebook Applications:
Where I’ve Been (www.whereivebeen.com) A map feature that facebook, myspace, or other site hosts can add to their page and map where in the world they’ve traveled, lived, and where they want to go. The firm of three is expanding rapidly and is searching for programming engineers. They currently have 2.4 million users and are growing by about 20,000 unique users/week.
The Million Dollar Wiki (www.milliondollarwiki.com) Using the “wiki model” a University of Connecticut student (19 years old) started a site on which users purchased wiki pages for life. Page content can only be changed by the pages owner. Everypage costs $100. Pages can be resold to other users for a profit down the line. His goal is to sell 10,000 pages, thus the name, million dollar wiki. As of 8/28 he has sold 417 pages.
WikiPages (www.wikipages.com) Also using the wiki model, this page is a business directory. In its early stages this page focused on New York City but now is expanding listings to other cities as well. Similarly, (city name)wiki.com is growing in popularity as users can add events, restaurants, businesses, and add reviews for other users. (Example: www.daviswiki.org)
ShareNotes.com (www.sharenotes.com) We have yet to see the beta version of this site. As of now, users can enter an e-mail address to be notified when the beta launch occurs, expected late 4th quarter of 2007. When functional, site will allow users to share lecture notes from universities across the US. It is unclear if they will require payment but it’s looking like it will be a free service. Current marketability of the site looks high.
Click India (www.clickindia.com) This site is growing increasingly popular in India. Given the ethnic/tribal division of the country this site allows users from villages/clans nation-wide to congregate on an online message board/community classified site. Users can make announcements, sell items, search for jobs, etc, all on one site. Think craigslist + newspaper classifieds + monster + eHarmony + rent.com.
NextWebStudios (www.nextwebstudios.com) Embedding video on web pages is growing rapidly. This company shoots greenscreen for businesses/web developers and embeds high-quality video on their sites. Rationale: viewing video on a company’s page exponentially increases amount of time spent on that particular site.
Club Penguin (www.clubpenguin.com) Inspired by the success of other social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, Club Penguin targets younger children. The site offers games, kid-friendly chat, and even an online store. This month, Walt Disney Co. paid $350 million for the site.
