Cloud Computing: the Revenue Model, Not the Technology

Cloud computing has immediate revenue implications for hosted service providers now. Down the road, it is going to create new revenue models for all sorts of companies that used to sell in a "location-limited" manner. Whether you want to consider this "over the top everything" or just the extension of browser-based and Internet-based application delivery is sort of a matter of taste and your own preferences. But is will be a big deal. Here's one practical look at the matter.

PayPal To Launch Micropayments

PayPal will be launching a payments technology for micropayments.

According to the company, the new product will include specialized payment support for micropayments for online video, music, games (including the sale of virtual goods and currencies), paid content, books and software.

PayPal To Launch Micropayments Product

Apple iPhone Will be Available on Verizon Wireless in 2011

Verizon Wireless will be selling the Apple iPhone in 2011, the Wall Street Journal now reports, potentially ending the seemingly-endless speculation about whether that would happen.

The new iPhone would be similar in design to the iPhone 4 currently sold by AT&T.

As with the ramped-up Long Term Evolution deployment plan Verizon Wireless also has announced, Verizon getting the iPhone would close a window, ending AT&T's years-long exclusive on the device.

With Verizon Wireless also saying it will activate 4G networks in 38 U.S. cities before the end of the year, Verizon is ending the relatively-brief window of time when Clearwire and Sprint Nextel could claim to operate the only nationwide 4G networks.

Consumers Like Video Content from New Sources but Few Are Ready to “Cut the Pay-TV Cord,” According to Survey | Press Release | ABI Research

A recent ABI Research consumer survey of 1005 consumers revealed that about 32 percent of those surveyed are interested in watching Internet video on their TV, nearly double the number who expressed the same interest in a similar 2008 survey.

In 2008 only 13 percent said they would consider cancelling their pay-TV services and receiving video content just from the Internet, rentals or off-air broadcast television.

According to ABI Research practice director Jason Blackwell, “The alternatives to pay-TV — online services from Netflix, Hulu and the like — are decentralized and can be complicated to negotiate.”

Of course, the question might not suggest as much current interest as might seem to be the case. If you ask people whether they'd like something, in the abstract, without including price and content availability, they might say "yes" because there is no cost to the answer.

If you ask whether a user would spend $200, be able to access YouTube video, movie trailers and some content, you'd get fewer people reaching for their wallets. If you then asked whether access to popular content, time shifted a bit, would be available for additional payments ranging from about a dollar to $3, you'd get fewer hands reaching for wallets.

The survey results are not surprising. They just don't predict actual behavior very well.

Consumers Like Video Content from New Sources but Few Are Ready to “Cut the Pay-TV Cord,” According to Survey

Android a serious threat to iPhone and RIM, study suggests

Sometimes a story has to be retold only to emphasize and confirm what you already know, pointing out that something still is a trend. This is one of those types of stories.

http://latestgeeknews.blogspot.com/2010/10/android-serious-threat-to-iphone-and.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LatestGeekStuff+%28Latest+Geek+Stuff%29

Equinix Revises 3Q, Full-Year Guidance 2.2%

Equinix expects 2010 third quarter and full year revenues will be below the company’s previous outlook, and it expects 2010 third quarter and full year adjusted EBITDA will be above the Company’s previous outlook, both provided on July 28, 2010.

Equinix now expects third quarter revenues to be in the range of $328.0 to $330.0 million, the midpoint of which is 2.2 percent lower than the midpoint of its previous outlook, and total revenues for the full year to be approximately $1,215.0 million, which is 1.2 percent lower than the midpoint of its previous outlook.

This updated guidance is due to underestimated churn assumptions in Equinix’s forecast models in North America, greater than expected discounting to secure longer term contract renewals and lower than expected revenues attributable to the Switch and Data business acquired in April 2010.

http://www.equinix.com/news/press/na/2010/Equinix-Revises-2010-Third-Quarter-and-Fiscal-Year-Guidance/

Internet Traffic up 62% in 2010

Global Internet traffic has grown 62 percent in 2010, after logging 74 percent growth in 2009.

The growth in traffic is coming from non-mature markets likes Eastern Europe and India, where traffic growth between mid-2009 and mid-2010 was in excess of 100 percent, says Telegeography notes.

In the Middle East, traffic rose just under 100 percent. Traffic in mature markets also is growing rapidly. Western European international Internet traffic increased 66 percent, and the U.S. and Canadian international Internet traffic climbed 54 percent.

In some ways, the growth rates are not news. What would be news is if the amount of traffic demand did not grow about 60 percent.

Opera launches Open Mobile Ad Exchange

It has to tell you something about the browser business,at least the mobile segment, when this happens.

http://www.opera.com/press/releases/2010/10/05/

comScore Introduces Mobile-Optimized Tagging for Publishers

http://blog.comscore.com/2010/10/comscore_mobile_optimized_tagging.html

Smartphones Generate Majority of Mobile Browser, App Use

Which somehow comes as no surprise...

http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/smartphones-generate-majority-of-mobile-browser-app-use-14439/?utm_campaign=rssfeed&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Vodafone gets into mobile payments

A Vodafone partnership with boku gets the carrier into mobile payments.

http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/05/mobile-payments-startup-boku-lands-direct-carrier-deal-with-vodafone-uk/

Ringio "A Bit Surprised" by End User App Demand

No matter how experienced you might be in the broader unified communications, customers still can surprise you, leading to a "why didn't I think of that?" moment. That's what Michael Zirngibl, Ringio co-founder, recently discovered.

Ringio recently found customers asking for, and so built, a calling center function for small businesses operating in several product lines or spaces, but with a single staff. Basically, Ringio sorts inbound calls according to those lines of business, providing screen pops to staff about which business an inbound call is related to.

The other angle is the integration of customer relationship management features with the screen pops, so an organization call agent knows a bit about call history, and what that particular caller might have been asking for help with, on previous calls.

The same sort of feature allows businesses to track leads as well.

"You don't always know what end users want," says Zirngibl.

Video and Social Drive Online Display Advertising's Growth in U.K. | ClickZ

Following a year-over-year decline during the first half of 2009, spending on Internet display advertising grew by 6.3 percent in the U.K. market during the first six months of 2010, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau U.K.

Overall, online ad spend for the same period grew 10 percent, year-over-year, reaching a total of 1.97 billion ($3.1 billion.)

The report, collated in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers, attributed the growth to increased investment in search advertising - which grew 8.9 percent - but also to a rebounding display ad market, which grew by 6.3 percent.

According to the report, spending on pre- and post-roll video advertising drove much of that growth, increasing 82 percent, year-over-year. Meanwhile, advertising on social media sites also contributed to the growth, the IAB said, accounting for 13 percent of all online display ads between January and June.

Video and Social Drive Online Display Advertising's Growth in U.K. | ClickZ

Social Media and Email Best for Organic Lead Conversion

One of the most controversial topics in lead generation and online marketing in general is the best source of traffic for generating leads. After analyzing more than 2.2 million leads generated by its customers, Hubspot says.

Paid traffic and email marketing tended to have the highest conversion rates. Also, social media performed better than both organic SEO traffic and direct navigation.

Social Media and Email Best for Organic Lead Conversion

Consumers Willing to Upgrade, but Slow to Embrace Super-Fast Broadband Access

Consumers are willing to pay a large amount to upgrade their Internet access speeds from slow to fast, but are more reluctant to upgrade from fast to super-fast, according to Gregory Rosston of Stanford University.

That probably would come as no surprise to any service providers offering 50 Gbps or faster service as a commercial offering.

Consumers are as greatly interested in reliability as they are in speed, Rosston said. The research also found that experienced users are much more willing to pay for higher speeds while inexperienced users are willing to pay for basic access.

Additionally, consumers are willing to pay for high-speed access but demand reliability over a super-fast speed connection.

BroadbandBreakfast.com: Consumers Willing to Upgrade, but Slow to Embrace Super-Fast Technology