Where did the Web 3.0 go and why is it not here yet??

Prelude:

The content that I am planning for this week is something which is thought provoking but is rather a forgotten concept. We all know when the website era took off (and equally known the notorious dotcom bust). This was around the 1990-95. This was later christened as web 1.0.

Later came the era of user driven content, which is commonly termed as the web 2.0. It started with blogging, later started getting popular with sites like Wikipedia and came to its peak with youtube and facebook. Of course there are lots of web 2.0 sites you can also refer to my earlier blog on them. This web 2.0 picked up in 1997-2002 years that is when it is started and saw a humungous growth.

But going by a preliminary math, the web 3.0 should now be atleast at its half peak during this time. But still it is not found anywhere.What is holding it back, why is the web 3.0 not prevalent yet.

Read on to know why….

Reasons why there is no Web 3.0 yet….

1.       Definition of Web 3.0:

Just like any trend in the technology, the naming convention comes only after a trend has got popular. There are few fluidic definitions of web 3.0. One definition mentions that any website which makes money or revenue out of Web 2.0 can be termed as web 3.0.

But one definition that I love the most is “Any personalized content that is driven by machines” now it might sound similar to Web 1.0. But stands at a different magnitude.

The content is to be developed by machines alright, but it has to be personalized too. Its ages ahead of Web 2.0 even. This might sound impossible, but according to many researches right amount of efforts will surely result in a better preposition. So for all one might know it might be prevalent already.

2.       Concerns of security and privacy:

It might sound preliminary, but actually any company which tries to get closer to its customer places itself in a “catch 22” situation.

The nearer it gets to customers the further the legal requirements make them go. Like for example, recently Apple Inc. was bashed by all for tracking its customers location. Now how do you expect your phone to generate local searches without supplying your location tracking or your route information without getting your track. Just like that even Andriod has been acussed by many. It’s a balancing act, that companies are forced to resort.

It is has been seen almost impossible to prepare an algorithm without storing personal information. People expect personalized information without disclosing information, which like I mentioned is a catch 22 situation.

3.       Why it has high chances that it will come up first in BRIC countries (specifically in China)

The given that the developed countries are very strict on their regulations on not storing the personal information/ tracking information of the customers, I have a strong feeling the BRIC countries, or rather the developing countries will be the one who will come up with web 3.0 style sites first, even before the developed countries. Developed countries might catch up later.

The primary reason is that the regulations are not stringent, which enables one to make markets a test bed and build applications that enhance the web 3.0 experience.

The top web 2.0 proponents including Google, facebook will try out their applications in BRI market and the loads of local sites of web 2.0 in China (like Baidu, QQ, taobao and 163)  will surely try out options and come up with one for sure. Thus expect the development to Web 3.0 coming from these markets.

4.       Is it already there and we don’t realize it?

Another school of thought goes around saying that the web 3.0 is something that Google is currently working on. Going by my favorite definition of the Web 3.0 which is:

“Any personalized content that is driven by machines” one example among current sites is the Google news. Which creates content based on what the customer might like.

Google flu-trend (http://www.google.org/flutrends) is also one such example, the flu-trend site predicts occurrence for flu in any region based on number of people searching for flu related topics in that region.

Another story that goes around is the fact that Facebook is perfecting the model of web 3.0. There are many web pundits who believe that Facebook is working on a platform which will display ads on things that one might get interested in future days. This actually brings Facebook a step ahead of Google (that’s why Google is worried). The ads are driven purely based on topic discussed by that person in Facebook.

But as mentioned earlier, one common drawback in FB example is the privacy concern.

5.       Growth of Mobile platform

One real agreeable reason why web 3.0 never took off or rather kicked off is the presence of the mobile platform. This has changed the web game altogether, mainly with the increasing number of Smartphones in the market. People who were working on Web 3.0 are now engaging in developing Mobile Apps. With mobile platform getting into the game, the websites have become more like a medium than the end state. Thus one can say that the mobile platforms in a way have become the web 3.0. Sites like twitter, facebook and google got into having mobile apps.

In fact many still believe the mobile app is the web 3.0, as it is personalized and its machine generated content. Likewise many believe the App Store in iPhone and the Market in Android are in effect perfect examples of web 3.0.

They oblige to both the running definition of web 3.0. They derive revenue based predominantly on web 2.0 trends. Also as you are aware once a user logs into these sites he gets content on what he might like, which in most cases he ends up buying.

Imagine this by 2001 who would have thought that an app on flatulence would be one of the most liked applications. Space like App Store has brought ahead apps which was in customers mind but never came out.

Conclusion:

Going by the trend that we are seeing, I am guessing the web 3.0 won’t come at all. If at all it comes it will only be in markets where the customers are not bothered much about privacy or at the markets where the govt regulations are not strict on storing customers data. Just like how Japan lead the world in mobile telecom, China might end up leading the world in mechanized user content delivery.

Or like I mentioned in the first point, we might end up changing the definition of Web 3.0 and make mobile platform as Web 3.0

Do let me know your views by commenting or mailing me at ganesh.dg@gmail.com