Internet users are consuming more web content but communicating less, reveals a four-year study by the Online Publishers Association (OPA).

The report, released Aug. 13, states Internet users are spending 47% of their time online reading and watching content, compared with 34% in 2003, representing a 37% increase over four years.

The increase in the time spent on content has been steady; growing 10% from 2003 to 2004, remaining even between 2004 and 2005, growing 13% from 2005 to 2006, and growing 13% from 2006 to 2007.

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As Web 2.0 pulls the rug out from under news distribution monopolies, its interactive element will likely tune in millions more online users.

Not only are more people using the Internet each year (currently 1.17 billion globally, up 225 per cent from 2000), people are naturally drawn by its increasingly interactive nature. The opportunity to participate, even if not acted on, is engaging in itself.

Indeed, Web 2.0 allows users to discuss and influence precisely what’s near and dear to their hearts.

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The LA Times recently published an article, in which it compares Google to Osama bin Laden. It seems Google’s plans to let users comment on aggregated news has some editors and journalists edgy. But as long as they do their jobs and publish objective and complete articles, they have nothing to fear.

I wrote the following letter to the LA Times editor in response to the article:

Welcome to Web 2.0, LA Times, where consumers and the public at large get a say.

Surely, providing Google users forums to comment on news stories will result in some biased and uninformed viewpoints, but it’ll also keep editors and journalists on their toes.

For if you don’t do your job, and produce biased or incomplete articles, there will be a newly empowered body ready to call you on it.

StrawberryFrog, a global agency with offices in Amsterdam and New York, recently blogged about the impact and future of consumer-generated content.

Tori Winn, Digital Executive Creative Director at StrawberryFrog, gave her take on the future of consumer-generated content, concluding the future is bright.

Indeed, the emergence of consumer-generated content is rapidly empowering consumers. That’s a good thing, and it’s here to stay.

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Search engines control access to the world’s most valuable commodity: information. So with potential for abuse by companies like Google, is government regulation necessary?

Scholar Frank Pasquale recently put forth the question: Should search engines be subject to the types of regulation now applied to personal data collectors, cable networks, or phone books? He answered it with a 60-page article in favour of search engine regulation.

However, one needs to consider Internet users can choose to use any one of countless search engines. It’s no stroke of luck Google owns more than 50 per cent of the search engine market (Nielsen//NetRatings). Google produces relevant results, and that’s why it’s the king of the hill.

But if Internet users feel Google is manipulating its algorithm and results, or determine there are better search engine results available through different service providers, Google will quickly become today’s Yahoo, which dominated the market just a few short years ago.

Whatever your view, this shouldn’t be taken lightly considering the search engine industry’s influence on our economy, politics and culture could one day exceed all traditional media combined.

Those who tap into their raw talents and passion get ahead further and faster in the ever-expanding Web world.

It seems obvious, but most web types get drawn toward immediate, short-term opportunities and wander far from their true calling.

Enter Specialization

Renew your drive by specializing in an area where you naturally thrive.

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Google will begin issuing its users cookies in coming months that will be set to auto-expire after two years, while auto-renewing the cookies of active users so preferences are not lost. This change is in response to pressure from users and privacy advocates. Google notes that users will continue to have control over cookies via their browsers.

Business never sleeps. And with the advent of the Internet never has the saying seemed so true to its meaning.

Every hour of every day, millions of people in every corner of the world log on to the Internet. They use it as a means of communication; a means of research; and as a means of purchasing products and services with their hard-earned money. To that notion some might even question how we ever survived without it.

Business websites are an integral part of the Internet world. If yours is lost or dead in cyberspace, you sit at a distinct disadvantage disconnected from a vast and growing customer base, now more than one billion strong.

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I recently received both fan mail and hate mail in response to comments featured in Backbone Magazine surrounding Flash-based websites.

My statement: “Most Flash intros are not created with the visitor and business in mind, but rather as an opportunity to showcase a programmer’s abilities,” also sparked exchanges on Ubuntu Forums, drawing more than 1,700 visitors and over 70 comments.

“You miss the point completely,” e-mailed one website developer. “Something needs to jump out at the reader, or you blend in with the rest of the Web.”

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