SEM Synergy Extras – How Predictable: Internet Marketers Peer through the Crystal Ball

On the SEM Synergy podcast today, Bruce Clay gave listeners an overview of his predictions for what’s to come this year in search. I look forward to Bruce’s fully laid out predictions in his article in the upcoming SEOToolSet Newsletter because I happen to like the hair-raising goosebumps that manifest as a reaction to Bruce’s eerie knack for telling the future.

Bruce is in good company in sharing his expectations for what’s to come over the next 12 months. If you’re able to keep up with many of the blogs in the SEO industry, you’ve noticed the usual, annual influx of posts with an eye toward trends of the future.

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For today’s SEM Synergy Extras I’ve rounded up prediction posts from some of the most respected experts on SEO. And be sure to tune in to January’s newsletter (subscribe with the form in the blog sidebar!) for Bruce Clay’s predictions.

John Battelle’s Predictions 2010

John Battelle’s predictions go back as far as 2004! This year John expects to witness the beginning of the end when it comes to American dominance on the Web. He also sees Google’s corporate strategy shifting focus from search engine to software brand. John anticipates privacy advocates making noise around social media and advertising. Meanwhile, he expects traditional search results to miss the mark as queries become more complicated, and he sees Bing usurping Yahoo!’s market share. And in 2010, John thinks advertising spend online will rise sharply.

Rand Fishkin’s 8 Predictions for SEO in 2010

SEOmoz’s Rand Fishkin laid out his eight predictions for the new year. Citing what appears to be an unfinished product, Rand sees Google squashing its real-time search results. He also sees Google integrating Twitter into the way it considers the link graph, and he says Google’s personalization of search results will be a permanent fixture going forward. Following approval of the Bing and Yahoo! search partnership, Rand expects Bing-Yahoo! to settle around 20 percent of search traffic, with Google picking up 80 percent. According to Rand, SEO spend will rise sharply in 2010, a year during which conversion optimization will receive more attention.

eMarketer’s Trends to Watch — All of eMarketer’s 2010 Predictions

eMarketer expects big changes on the way this year. Marketers will expect the star of 2009, social media, to meet higher standards of management and measurement in the new year. As more marketers take advantage of users’ personal data to target ads, they’ll also offer greater transparency about the data being collected and ways to remove personal data. Search results are expected to become more influenced by the social sphere, and marketers will start paying more attention to the power of professional online video content. Mobile ad spending will get a boost throughout the new year, including an increase in location- and social-aware mobile apps.

Ian Lurie’s 11 Internet Marketing Trends to Ignore in 2010

Bucking the trend, blogger of Conversation Marketing, Ian Lurie, offers up the posited trends of 2010 that will actually end in an uneventful fizzle. Ian goes against the grain in predicting mobile advertising won’t find success for a few more years. He expects Yahoo! and Bing to march toward their final deathbed this year. Real-time search received much attention at the end of last year, but Ian thinks the problems posed by real-time search are too big to fix. And he finally puts to rest Google’s old motto “don’t be evil”, replacing it with “don’t be evil in public” or “don’t be evil unless it’s random”.

Last Exit’s Top Digital Marketing Trends for 2010: Flash, Crowdsourcing, Info-Art

Mentioned by the hosts on today’s podcast, this post lays out trends recognized by Internet services company Last Exit. Long-awaited and anticipated, mobile e-commerce will finally get its legs this year. The company expects to see social networks being integrated across the Web rather than concentrated on individual platforms. The emerging do-it-yourself culture will continue to grow with an increase in Web-driven, open-source offerings. And information graphics and data visualization, which were very popular in 2009, will become even more popular in 2010.

Virginia Nussey is the director of content marketing at MobileMonkey. Prior to joining this startup in 2018, Virginia was the operations and content manager at Bruce Clay Inc., having joined the company in 2008 as a writer and blogger.

See Virginia's author page for links to connect on social media.