The Ambient Webstream

Outside of internet porn, probably the biggest contributor to revenue flow on the web is SEARCH.

Simply put, the search ecosystem drives traffic to a site where revenue conversion is accomplished either through advertising or some kind of online or real-world commercial conversion.

However, many that seek monetization opportunities online do not realize users spend very little time actively using Search on the web vis-a-vis what I would call the Ambient Webstream. In fact, a lot of focus is put on the frenetic and lucrative interplay between SEO professionals and search companies as one tries to outsmart the other in the game of search ranking.

While search relies on users actively requesting information on the web, the Ambient Webstream is a continuous flow of internet data being pushed to us while connected to the web. The true conversations on the web gets to us nowadays without consciously (mostly) asking for them. It’s this background noise that interrupts us and compels us to react and add to the stream.

Think about it, how many times have you used Google during the course of your internet day? Now, how much data have you passively received from Twitter alerts, Facebook notifications. Plurk lifestreams, Linkedin activity, RSS feeds, and Email? I dare to guess that it would be dramatically greater in magnitude.

While many are trying to tap into the economics of search, the true opportunity lies in the Ambient Webstream where monetization has yet to seriously emerge