I have been hungering for strong comment search and utilities for a long time. I was a fan of co.mments because it allowed me to create a comment feed on my blog. This is something that TypePad doesn't offer built in, except on individual posts. (Note - if you subscribe to the comment feed, it will be gone next week.) Backtype is a promising service, but I find it doesn't catch all comments. But it does a fair job.

Overall, I think Friendfeed has the opportunity to soar here. I envision that they will start to integrate more tightly with blog services like Blogger, TypePad and Wordpress, as well as Twitter, Facebook, Backtype and Disqus. Then, conceivably, it can aggregate all blog comments in one place, connect them to your account and make them searchable.

I still hold out that someone will be able to tie all the conversations together and make them searchable. It's painful going to multiple search and aggregation tools to track the conversation. My bet is on Friendfeed.

A big question remains though - how do you monetize aggregated conversation?

In 2008 we saw the news feed and real-time web rise. In addition, we watched as social networking became more deeply embedded into an array of experiences, like news sites. Over the break I had a chance to update my XBox 360 to the new experience and I was knocked over by the design and new social networking features (note: Microsoft is an Edelman client).

What's next or 2009? I am not sure, but I do agree that context will become increasingly an important theme. Read Write Web has a great post summarizing where context is heading.

For an early taste of things to come, check out Visual Wikipedia. They're really on to something. The site, which is unaffiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation, layers on a ton of context around Wikipedia articles. It gets you thinking about what search and/or news delivery might look like one day.

For example, check out this article on Web 2.0. It's a reproduced page from the main Wikipedia site but it also includes an awesome map that points users to other relevant entries.

That's not all though. At the bottom of each page Visual Wikipedia pulls up videos from YouTube, as well as links to other services that offer additional context - Google, Yahoo News and Google Maps, to name three. This is the kind of context I wish that Mahalo would provide. When you couple their human-powered curation with contextual features, the result is something bigger.

In 2009 I am sure we'll see more experimentation with user interface design. It will be interesting to see which new models emerge and stick but I like where Visual Wikipedia is going.

The following is also my January 5th column for AdAge.com.

When I first started blogging five years ago, I was big into writing new year prediction posts. Many bloggers continue this fine tradition. I stopped when I realized that no one would go back and fact check me. More importantly, they were based on gut feelings, not numbers.

With that, sometime this year I resolved instead to form observations using data. The numbers then lead me to insights and directional trends. I prefer to talk about trends rather than predictions because they're based firmly on currents. Much of my focus on this blog over the past 18 months has been on trends. It's my job to study them.

Enter Google Insights for Search - which launched earlier this year. It's the closest thing we have to a global time capsule.

Often overlooked, there's so much you can learn from digging into aggregate query data. Given its huge share and the prevalence of search in our lives, Google actually knows more about us than our own mothers. Everyday we confide in it. We share what we think, hope and fear. The data is absolutely invaluable and the archive goes back five years.

With that in mind, using Google Insights I crunched some data and spotted three Internet trends. These are simply thought-starters as we start the new year (all figures are US only).

• We're growing comfortable with social networks - Not surprisingly, social network related searches grew 178% in 2008. Historically, however, the top searches in the category have reflected privacy concerns. This year was no different. The top keywords included "hide friends" (#7) and "hide comments"(#8). However, search volume on these keywords actually declined in 2008. This, perhaps, is the biggest indicator that as a nation we're becoming more comfortable living on social networks.




• Blogging maybe making a comeback - Searches related to blogging resources and services posted 64% growth in 2004. Then they basically flat-lined the next three years. However, in 2008 they climbed 24%. It's highly likely that in both years this was fueled by the election. But my gut is that something deeper maybe going on here. Perhaps some see blogs as a powerful personal branding tool that can help them weather the recession. Searches for the keywords "personal brand" are also up significantly.







• The recession drove consumers to shop online - Perhaps surprisingly, shopping related searches grew 50% year over year in the fourth quarter. Between 2004 and 2007 search volume typically reached the same apex in December. This year was different. Consumers were also looking for deals. Coupon related searches grew 61% in the fourth quarter. If consumers continue to find deals online, then the trend could stick.

Insights without data is useless and, of course, Google is just one indicator. However, it's the best tool that we have and a good way to gauge where the wind will blow in 2009. It will be fun to watch to see how this all evolves and to see if any of this is right.

Two digital publishing sites have quietly started rolling out electronic books that can be viewed just using a web browser.

Random House is now offering several full length books for free on Scribd. The choices include The Surgeon, a 2002 novel by bestselling author Tess Gerritsen. What's also significant here is that Gerritsen is making the book available as a DRM-free PDF download.

Meanwhile Zinio, a site that offers digital magazines and textbooks, is expanding into mass-market books. Zinio has opened a digital bookstore that features a handful of titles. These include technology tomes like Social Media Marketing in an Hour a Day.

It's great to see the publishing industry experimenting with new formats. I personally think that book publishing is primed to see the same kind of disruption that the music business saw earlier the decade. This is why I am a fan of sites like Safari Books Online.

As mobile devices become more sophisticated, many consumers will aspire to do more in their browsers. This includes, for some, reading books. I think this will lead to a lot of experimentation with different business models. Two that come to mind are a-la-carte pricing for specific chapters and/or books that are free and supported through advertising.

Scribd, which has seen strong growth this year, and Zinio won't be alone. Google could start monetizing out of print books or even current bestsellers in a manner similar to what it has done with magazines. In addition, I would be highly surprised if by year's end the Amazon Kindle wasn't just a gadget but a platform that operates on many devices, including most mobile phones. They will increasingly face pressure from the iPhone.

It's early going and electronic reading is not for everyone. However, millennials and their younger sibings expect all media to be searchable and available in chunks. So this is why I am bullish about ebooks and think they will have a breakout year in 2009.

Twitterholic added a couple of neat features.

First, they now sort Twitter users by when they joined.

They also now sort Twitter users by location. So, for example, you can now see who has the most followers among San Franciscans or New Yorkers.

In addition, you can also sort Twitter users by the number of updates or by how many they follow.

Finally, you can combine these. So now it's easy to find out who in New York has been on Twitter the longest. In addition, you can also now track the overall top 100 list via RSS. Here's the feed.

One of my hopes for 2009 is that we'll see greater innovation in the social media search space - both free and premium. I have a bunch that I am trying out now: SM2, Zuula, Blogscope.net and Wikio and others. What follows is a first look at a new site called WhosTalkin that launched its public beta yesterday after seven months of development. (Hat tip to adthinktank.com)

WhosTalking is a metasearch engine that in one place aggregates results from the major free tools for scanning blogs and blog comments, news sites, social networks, video hubs, image, forum and tag sites. It rolls up results from over 60 sites, such as BackType, Technorati, IceRocket, Google Blog Search, Friendfeed, LinkedIn, Twitter, Board Reader and many more.

The site has a nice interface that displays results using frames. Just click on the navigational links on the left hand side and they show up on the right. The quality of the results, I find, is hit or miss depending on the source. For example, Bloglines and Backtype results feel very fresh. However, Twitter search results are lacking compared to what you get from search.twitter.com.

In addition, there are two other major limitations. First, you can't view all results in a single view, even by channel (e.g. blogs, social networks, etc.). The other is that you can't save searches or generate RSS feeds - at least yet. These and other services are forthcoming for paid subscribers. There is also a URL API for developers.

At first glance, I am excited about WhosTalkin. There was a ton of innovation in the social media search space in the middle part of the decade. Then it seems like a lot of people talk their eye off the ball once Google Blog Search launched and when Twitter bought Summize.

Given that WhosTalking is pulling results from other sites, I expect they can improve the quality of results rather quickly. Although you have to wonder how the other sites will feel about having their data scraped.

Still, given the way the landscape continues to expand, I think an aggregated approach like this one is the right way to go. And this is a good first effort. If WhosTalkin can improve the timeliness and relevance across all the engines they crawl, then it could become a serious player since they leverage everyone else's databases.