The last ten years have seen a seismic shift in the internet landscape. And although the internet has been around for much longer than most people realise, the last decade has brought it to more people than ever before.
Ten years ago, broadband was just starting to become affordable and it was obvious that eventually it would become the norm and that dial-up would soon be a bad memory. As broadband speeds increased, music and video streaming became common place and voice technology became cheaper and infinitely more usable.
At that time, those in the know could foresee that WiFi and mobile internet were The Next Big Thing. It was just a matter of how long it was going to take.
Now we have mobile phones with high speed access to the internet on which we can get and send email and access the web. They let us take our own pictures and video clips and we can even watch TV shows on them. Some will even tell us where we are on the face of the earth to within a few yards, how to get to our intended destination and even what it will look like when we get there.
Oh yes, and of course they allow you to make phone calls too 
This tidal wave of technology has changed our behaviour too and not just in terms of the floods of chat and trivia. It’s changed our spending habits.
Retailers in the real world are finding their earnings dented by the rapid growth of online vendors. And not just High Street retailers, even some of the “big boys” are having problems. A recent report forecast that by the end of the next decade, 20% of ALL spending would be done online. Add that to the recessionary times that we live in and it becomes more important than ever to go where the business is or risk being left behind.
Whether that proves to be right or a gross over (or under) estimate, one thing seems clear to me. If there is more business online, there will be more advertising and marketing online.
It will be another interesting 10 years.
Sources:
Online spending forecast: blogfusionunlimited.co.uk
2010 graphic: Billy Alexander
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