While the prestigious Web 2.0 Expo got underway in San Francisco yesterday, a new report claims that Web 2.0 is set for record investment as it revolutionises business over the next 5 years. Tech research group Forrester claim that around $5 billion will be spent on Web 2.0 by 2013 and it will represent a “fundamentally new way” for companies to do business.
The report claims that behind this drive will not just be developers but multinational giants such as General Motors and McDonald’s which have already embraced tools like blogs, RSS feeds, podcasting and social networking tools. The report analysed seven Web 2.0 categories: blogs, mashups, podcasting, RSS, social networking, widgets and wikis. It found that social networking tools will attract the greatest levels of investment but even that will be dwarfed by the multi million dollar revenues the software industry commands.
Report analyst Oliver Young told the BBC that this boom will quickly level out however:
Companies are now looking over their shoulder to the business market where even revenues of $50 per user per month are looking increasingly appealing. However, there will come a saturation point and investment will start to slow down as Web 2.0 applications become increasingly prevalent and absorbed into collaborative software packages.
You can follow all the latest news and exciting Web 2.0 developments in the pipeline in the Web 2.0 Expo newsroom here.
