In response to my last post, “Magikplp” asked what I thought might happen with Google in 2009.  I suspect that Google will have a good year in 2009 but not a *great* year.  Google will continue to be a force to reckon with and will remain the leader in most things web, but this will be a year of building new technologies and investing in the future, while navigating a tough economic climate – not necessarily a year for exponential profit growth (though I don’t think profits will be bad in 2009).

Google is making a huge investment in Android, which won’t pay off in the near future because mobile advertising hasn’t taken off yet.  Google doesn’t expect to make money on their 30% cut off off apps, once they start allowing paid-apps on the Android Market.  Here’s what Eric Chu (Android Mobile Platform Program Manager) said about it in a recent blog post:

Starting in early Q1 [2009], developers will also be able to distribute paid apps in addition to free apps. Developers will get 70% of the revenue from each purchase; the remaining amount goes to carriers and billing settlement fees—Google does not take a percentage. We believe this revenue model creates a fair and positive experience for users, developers, and carriers.

(more…)

Here are a handful of my predictions for mobile and social media in 2009, moving into 2010… For the record, I’ve left off everything I know will happen in 2009 and limited this list to things I *think* will happen:

• Smartphones and feature phones will continue to converge in iPhone-esque fashion.
  • Mobile Internet will drive usage of smartphones, and with it, more robust experiments with mobile advertising and payments will begin.
  • Mobile advertising and payments will gain some momentum in 2009 but won’t really take off until 2010 and beyond.
• A few thoughts on Android:
  • Android will struggle to gain momentum until there is infrastructure to distribute paid apps and an iTunes-esque web or client-based interface for PC & Mac.
  • Ultimately, Android will do well, but it’s going to take longer than many anticipate. (more…)

For those of you that disconnected during Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year, etc…  Welcome back. Here’s a summary of the most interesting social media and mobile news I read in the last few weeks: (more…)