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The Web is coming into maturity. The question arises, what are the trends/future-trends of the Web. In my opinion, the biggest trend in 10 years time won’t necessarily be via a computer screen. Your online-activity will be mixed with your “web-presence”, travel, and objects you buy or act with. Also, a lot of “crossover” will occur among the 10 trends below (and more) and there will be Web technologies that will become enormously popular that we can’t even begin to predict now. With that in mind, the following are my 10 Web trends to look out for over the next several years…

1. Semantic Web

In a nutshell, the Semantic Web is about machines talking to machines. It’s about making the Web more ‘intelligent’, or as some describe it: computers “analyzing all the data on the Web - all the content, links, and transactions between people and computers.” The core idea of the “Semantic Web” is to create the “meta-data” DESCRIBING that data, which will enable computers to process the “meaning” of things (for instance, Microsoft’s new release of their “Bing” search engine. - Once computers are equipped with semantics, they will be capable of solving complex semantically-optimization problems.

So when will the Semantic Web arrive? Well, some of the foundation is already there: RDF, OWL, “micro-formats” are a few. But, no doubt it will take some time to annotate the world’s information and then to capture personal information in the “right” way. We’re getting closer, but we are probably a few years off still before the big promise of the Semantic Web is fulfilled.

2. Artificial Intelligence

“AI” is probably the ultimate “Next Big Thing” in the future-history of computing, AI has been the dream of computer scientists since the ‘50s - when Alan Turing introduced the Turing test to determine a machine’s capability to participate in human-like conversation. In the context of the Web, AI means making intelligent machines. In that sense, it has some things in common with the Semantic Web vision. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface of AI on the Web.

3. Virtual Worlds

The website, “Second Life”, gets a lot of mainstream media attention as a future Web system. But there are many other virtual world opportunities. As the younger generation grows up and infrastructure is built out, virtual worlds will become a vibrant market all over the world, in the next 10 years. It’s not just about digital life, but also making our real life more digital. On the one hand, we have the rapid rise of Second Life and other virtual worlds. On the other we are beginning to annotate our planet with digital information, via technologies like “Google Earth.”

4. Mobile

My personal favorite is “the Mobile Web.” It’s already big in parts of Asia and Europe, and it received a kick in the US market in 2007 with the release of Apple’s iPhone. To me, this is just the beginning. In a very short period of time, there will be many more location-aware services available via mobile devices; such as getting personalized shopping offers as you walk (or drive?) through your local mall; (getting map directions while driving your car is already here;) Or, maybe hooking up with your friends on a Friday night. Look for the big Internet companies like Yahoo and Google to become key mobile-portals, alongside the mobile-operators: Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, Palm, Blackberry and Microsoft.

One of the main issues with the Mobile Web has always been usability. The iPhone has a revolutionary user-interface that makes it easier for users to browse the Web, using zooming, pinching and other methods. Not to be under-ignored with the iPhone is a strategy that may expand Apple’s sphere of influence, from web browsing to social networking and web-search.

5. Attention Economy

The “Attention Economy” is a marketplace where consumers agree to receive services in exchange for their attention. Examples include: personalized news, personalized search, alerts and recommendations to buy. The Attention Economy is about the consumer having choices - they get to choose where their attention is ’spent’. Another key ingredient in the attention game is relevancy. As long as the consumer sees relevant content, he/she is going to stick around - and that creates more opportunities to sell.

Expect to see this concept become more important to the Web’s economy over the next decade. We’re already seeing it with the likes of Amazon and Netflix, but there is a lot more opportunity yet to explore from startups.

6. Websites as Web Services

More and more of the Web is becoming “re-mixable”; the entire system is turning into both a platform and a database. Major Websites are going to be transformed into web services - and will effectively expose their information to the world. Such transformations are never smooth – in other words, scalability is a big issue and legal aspects are never simple. But, it is not a question of *if* websites become web services, rather, it’s WHEN and HOW.

The transformation will happen in one of two ways. Some websites will follow the example of Amazon, and Flickr and will offer their information via an API. Others will try to keep their information proprietary. The net effect will be that unstructured information ALWAYS gives way to structured information - paving the road to more intelligent computing.

7. Online Video / Internet TV

This trend has already exploded on the Web – but, you still get the sense there’s a lot more to come. In October 2006 Google acquired the hottest online video property on the planet, YouTube. Later on that same month, news came out that the founders of Kazaa and Skype were building an Internet TV service, named Joost. In 2007, YouTube continued to dominate. Meanwhile Internet TV services are rapidly getting off the ground.

It’s fair to say that in 10 years time, Internet TV will be the standard way of watching TV. (Totally different to what it is today.) Higher quality pictures, more powerful streaming, personalization, sharing, and much more - it’s all coming over the next decade. A bigger question is: how will the current mainstream TV networks (NBC, CNN, etc) adapt?

8. Rich Internet Apps

As the current trend of hybrid web/desktop apps continues, expect to see “RIA” (Rich Internet Apps) continue to increase in use and functionality. Adobe’s AIR platform (Adobe Integrated Runtime) is one of the leaders, along with Microsoft with its Windows Presentation Foundation. Also in the mix is “Laszlo” with its open source platform “OpenLaszlo,” and there are several other startups offering RIA platforms.

Rich Internet Apps allow sophisticated effects and transitions that are important in keeping the user engaged. This means developers will be able to take the amazing changes in the Web for granted and start focusing on a flawless experience for users. It is going to be an exciting time for anyone involved in building the new Web, because the interfaces are finally catching up with the content.

9. International Web

While the US is still the major market on the Web, in 10 years time, things might be very different. China is often touted as a growth market, but other countries with big populations will also grow - India and African nations for example. But right now, the US market makes up over 50% of web-users. On the other hand, “comScore” reported in November 2007 that 3/4 of traffic to top websites is international. They further pointed out that 14 of the top 25 US Web properties now attract more visitors from OUTSIDE the US than from within. That includes the top 5 US properties - Yahoo! Sites, Time Warner Network, Microsoft, Google Sites, and eBay.

10. Personalization

“Personalization” is a strong theme, particularly with Google. What can we expect over the next decade? Recently, at a SEO conference, a Lead Software Engineer for Personalization at Google was asked: “Will there be a ‘Personalized Search-Page’ system in the future.

He replied: “We have various levels of personalization already. For those who are signed up for Web History, we have the deepest personalization, but even for those who are not signed up, we personalize your results based on what country you are searching from. As we move forward, personalization will continue to be a gradient; i.e., the more you share with Google, the more tailored your results will be.”