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Internet became a place of greedy authorities - what do you think

by warriorbg
18 replies
Since my first web surf back in the 90s till now I observed the following trends:

1 - Internet was all about open culture. Enthusiast developed web sites only for the joy to help people, to supply them with information and mostly to be part of the forming online community. There were no affiliates, no commercials.

2 - Late 90s Big companies and corporations came up with the idea that internet is the future of the communications. The developed web sites of their companies but the idea of the web sites was more like visit-card.

3 - Late 90s and the new millеnium - First affiliates

4 - Nowadays - Internet is over-saturated with com. sites; gurus, shinny templates, websites with more commercials than content.


But I wonder if internet will became a sphere of "corporations". What I mean - websites like bodybuiding.com youtube.com facebook.com etc., are the pioneers in their fields. If someone came up with better idea, with better potential in the same field, it will be almost impossible to make any progress. Bodybulding.com is a giant - the logo may be seen even on Olympia contests. Youtube and google cooperate their efforts.
They will push away every effort for progress. A small web site with good potential for progress will invest $green just to show on the google 1st page for one keyword. Some marketers claim that SEO is not critical anymore... Its all about investments.

Internet became a place of greedy authorities?! What do you think?

The idea of this post is because I read more and more "I can't make single $, I quit", but those who are in the game for some years make more and more...

Please excuse my English..
#authorities #future #greedy #internet #place #trends
  • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
    With increased competition down to the individual level, I do believe it is becoming more and more difficult to earn...of course, part of this "difficulty" is founded in the requirement for a certain degree of skill and experience. Typically, outside of some rare cases, that only comes with time.

    Even though Google's algorithm will change quite a bit each year, there is no substitute for high quality content, as well as, applying some fundamental strategies. Search engines will always need a way to rank content, and, at least for right now, the most effective way seems to be by tracking the amount of sites that effectively link in to a site....which directly relates to its perceived authority and how Google choose to display results.

    The money is in the sub-niches....the long tail keywords. Corporations can virtually corner keywords like "sneaker" or "shoe", but there are gaps....room for competition for those who may be a single person enterprise working from the comfort of their own home office. The tricky thing is that many people will get frustrated long before they figure out what exactly it is that they should be focusing on. It's all about applying the RIGHT kind of effort.
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    • Profile picture of the author scoopy
      Originally Posted by x3xsolxdierx3x View Post

      With increased competition down to the individual level, I do believe it is becoming more and more difficult to earn...of course, part of this "difficulty" is founded in the requirement for a certain degree of skill and experience. Typically, outside of some rare cases, that only comes with time.

      Even though Google's algorithm will change quite a bit each year, there is no substitute for high quality content, as well as, applying some fundamental strategies. Search engines will always need a way to rank content, and, at least for right now, the most effective way seems to be by tracking the amount of sites that effectively link in to a site....which directly relates to its perceived authority and how Google choose to display results.

      The money is in the sub-niches....the long tail keywords. Corporations can virtually corner keywords like "sneaker" or "shoe", but there are gaps....room for competition for those who may be a single person enterprise working from the comfort of their own home office. The tricky thing is that many people will get frustrated long before they figure out what exactly it is that they should be focusing on. It's all about applying the RIGHT kind of effort.
      True i would like to know where the opportunity is now and in the future i mean the answer can't just be be better than the next of course you should but stability isn't there to much now days..
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    The only reason you didn't see as much commercialization in the early internet days... the means didn't exist yet.

    Once the tools were developed... game on!

    Greedy authorities or successful business ventures? I guess it depends on which side of the fence you're on.
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    • Profile picture of the author warriorbg
      Originally Posted by jasonmorgan View Post

      The only reason you didn't see as much commercialization in the early internet days... the means didn't exist yet.

      Once the tools were developed... game on!

      Greedy authorities or successful business ventures? I guess it depends on which side of the fence you're on.
      I don't agree much here. What I mean is that Internet first was developed not for the idea for commercialization in latter stage, but for the innovation itself - the freedom it gives.

      It was told before that internet will became paid. I think its already paid - when user who is not interested in ads and stuff, use a search engine to find the best he want he is forced to see the first results which are sponsored. that is not ethical. You see Im not against IM - it's my way of living, too. But with the time it is more aggressive, more annoying and more "GURU"
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Jason,
      The only reason you didn't see as much commercialization in the early internet days... the means didn't exist yet.

      Once the tools were developed... game on!
      That's true of the very early days, but even when the means existed it took time. The problem then was that people didn't trust it. Many still don't.

      Another issue in the early phase of commercial sites being allowed was that the majority of the Internet population was still from the DARPA/educational era, when anything commercial was not allowed at all. When I first got started online, the total global "population" of the net was around 12 million people. According to internetworldstats.com, there are just under 2 billion people with access at this point.

      The sheer size of the thing makes a huge difference. It's grown by a factor of 166 since then.


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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    The money is in the sub-niches....the long tail keywords. Corporations can virtually corner keywords like "sneaker" or "shoe", but there are gaps....room for competition for those who may be a single person enterprise working from the comfort of their own home office.
    I wouldn't count on this lasting much longer. Corporations and their SEO teams aren't ignorant of the value of long-tail keywords.

    It may take Nike a couple of years to get down to Air Jordans for red headed midgets, but they are working their way down the keyword list.
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    • Profile picture of the author donhx
      Well, I know I was trying my best to commercialize the Internet with my various business ventures, early on (1995).

      To me the biggest barrier was accepting payments online. It took many years before the banks and CC companies allowed online transactions. People use to order, then you'd call them for their CC info (or get it by fax) and fill out a slip manually, then call the CC processor to get it approved. That was a pain. I was a very early PayPal user and think it is the best. I dropped my CC Merchant Account long ago in favor of PayPal.

      Personally, I'm not worried about the status of the Internet from a commercial point of view. It is still in its infancy. What bothers me is intrusion by governments, both in terms of privacy and taxation.
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    • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
      Oh, I agree completely, but with every new keyword conquering endeavor, greater resources have to be expended. As a company grows and builds their bottom line, they are obviously in a better position to invest in even greater online targeting.

      There are plenty of ways that the every day 'joe' can make themselves, and their endeavors, online more and more valuable. Of course, if they become "valuable" in the right niche (say, building a forum and attracting tens of thousands of loyal users), they can just be bought out....

      So, I guess, the rich get richer....but, the everyday joe can certainly join that class with the right kind of effort and dedication. The online world is only getting bigger, and many opportunities abound.

      Originally Posted by jasonmorgan View Post

      I wouldn't count on this lasting much longer. Corporations and their SEO teams aren't ignorant of the value of long-tail keywords.

      It may take Nike a couple of years to get down to Air Jordans for red headed midgets, but they are working their way down the keyword list.
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      • Profile picture of the author anmatt
        I'm relatively new to Internet marketing and am starting to see some of my hard work paying off.

        I think it's true that marketing online sure seems more competitive than it used to be. You can't just slap your affiliate link everywhere and expect to make sales. In fact, there are many places you're no longer allowed to put your affiliate link. You need your own website. Spammers and people's reaction to them have made it a little tougher for others to promote themselves.

        With all that said, though, I still believe there are lots of opportunities for everyone who is willing to learn the trade and work hard--just like with any profession. I think a lot of times people complain that it's too hard to break in because it's easier to blame society than improve yourself when things aren't working out for you. It's always easier to whine than to just dig in and do it.

        In general I like that the trend is to favor people with solid content and slap the people who just spam and contribute nothing but sales copy. Sometimes the efforts to can spam get in the way of people who do have honest content. It's just the way it goes.

        The Internet will never be perfect and there will always be cheaters who make it big at the expense of others. Welcome to the world! But it will also be filled with awesome opportunities for people just starting out too.

        ~anmatt
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    You seem to be a smart man here, where do you see opportunity in 2011 ?
    Read tigerbeat or any other teen magazine, figure out who the next Justin Bieber is and have your sites set up and ranking before the rush hits.

    Why? Teen idols are disposable and change every year. Their fans are crazy and buy up anything they can get. Even adsense will payoff for the kiddies that don't have a credit card yet.

    It's easier to get into a niche that will become popular than it is to jump into an established niche.

    Ideas, they are a dime a dozen. It's what you do with them that matters. Just ask the Winklevass's.
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    • Profile picture of the author jan roos
      Originally Posted by jasonmorgan View Post

      Read tigerbeat or any other teen magazine, figure out who the next Justin Bieber is and have your sites set up and ranking before the rush hits.

      Why? Teen idols are disposable and change every year. Their fans are crazy and buy up anything they can get. Even adsense will payoff for the kiddies that don't have a credit card yet.

      It's easier to get into a niche that will become popular than it is to jump into an established niche.

      Ideas, they are a dime a dozen. It's what you do with them that matters. Just ask the Winklevass's.

      What happens when the teen becomes unpopular within a year or two? Now you have to go do it all over again. I say go for established niches where people have real problems and are willing to pay for solutions or go after physical products as an affiliate or drop shipping.

      Once you break into these niches you can profit from it for years to come instead of having to start over again every time your teenage idol goes through puberty.

      People like to say that it's too competitive in some niches but let me tell you there is always a way in and once you are in, you will make money because the niche is proven to make money.

      Look at energy drinks for example. It seems like every day they come out with a different energy drink and somehow it seems they all make money. Golfers for example won't just buy one putting instruction course, they will buy many to try and get that edge over their buddies on the putting green.

      Internet marketers will always buy new SEO software, link building packages etc etc. These are called evergreen niches and that's where the money is now and in the future.

      Cheers
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  • Profile picture of the author madison_avenue
    Competition is any market always remains the same, there are usually a large amount of people failing and a small amount of people succeeding. The ratio is around 90% failing and 10% succeeding. I would venture that the ratio was the same in 2001 as it is in 2010.

    Although theoretically the competitive environment today seems harder because there more players in the market, it is not, because automation and intelligence tools make developing a site easier, this makes it easier to compete against bigger players.

    Because of a whole range of statistical factors the competitive environment remains the same. There is always a small percentage of players who really understand the market and know how to leverage and integrate the tools to give them a edge in the market. The skill set required was rare ten years ago and is still rare today.
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  • Profile picture of the author eQuus
    People starting selling stuff online as soon as the internet was opened to the public and long before the web -- when the internet was just a black screen with an A> prompt at the bottom left of the screen. The psychological connection between the commercially driven TV screen and the PC monitor was too obvious and too good to leave un-marketed.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    I don't agree much here. What I mean is that Internet first was developed not for the idea for commercialization in latter stage, but for the innovation itself - the freedom it gives.
    The internet was developed for military communication.

    BBS days... I'm ignoring that. Anybody play Three Kingdoms? I miss my paladin. Many great adventures.

    What era of the internet are we talking about. The internet as we know it didn't really take off until around 1995.

    At that time users had limited options for access (america online, compuserve, prodigy) and those services were 100% commercialized ventures with a captive audience.

    For many, the internet was what their service provider (america online etc...) offered.

    A user didn't have to venture out into the www world to enjoy the internet. I bet most didn't even know it existed.

    Given that search engines sucked at that time... it was impossible to find anything even if it existed and most of the websites at that time weren't anything to get excited about anyway. Best off to stick with the america online cyber sex chat rooms for you're 20 free hours a month and call it good.

    Remember, the internet wasn't always unlimited access. A user couldn't waste their evening watching a monkey pee in it's mouth on youtube. The internet was a quick in and out experience unless you wanted to pay outrageous overtime fees.

    At this early stage, credit card processing wasn't developed for mass use online and affiliate programs as we know them didn't exist.

    Guru's existed... Tony Robbins was all the rage, even way back then. Tony just couldn't make money online yet so he stuck with cable tv infomercials.

    It's not that people weren't trying to make money with the internet, it was just very difficult for most to get into. It took money to make money. It also took knowledge. There was no cpanel wordpress instant gratification button. Those two things alone eliminates most of the basement entrepreneurs.

    Thus is my headache induced revisionist history of the internet.
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    • Profile picture of the author warriorbg
      Originally Posted by jasonmorgan View Post

      BBS days... I'm ignoring that.
      Well before you put a dose of sarcasm I would thank you shared some BBS history in the topic, but I think you missed my point may be the reason is my not so good English level

      I mean the ratio is important - quality(content, service etc.) / earn profit.

      The best examples are some of the biggest websites about news - such as NT, clear vision , unostentatious ads.. users happy, the organization is happy
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    What happens when the teen becomes unpopular within a year or two? Now you have to go do it all over again
    I just threw out an idea. Not claiming it's the best. No $7 ebook here. Just an idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    I think you are correct that the internet has become more commercialized over the years. I don't think anybody would disagree with that.

    And like anything that involves money and profits, we've seen the big corporations move in and try to take over.

    I just don't think it has anything to do with the internet beginning as a happy commune of peace and love but simply the means to make money online wasn't as accessible in the early days. If it had been, the sharks would have been in the water from day one.

    In many ways the internet has turned into one big late night infomercial. It's the modern era gold rush.

    And just like every other business. Mom n' pop stores can't compete with Wal-Mart and the average joe can't compete with big-authority-site.com.

    That doesn't mean there isn't room for the little guy offline and online, you just need to find your place in a world of corporate godzillas.
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    • Profile picture of the author warriorbg
      yeah.. Online marketing is tricky nowadays.

      Post factum nullum consilium
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