Yahoo!, the number two search engine in the US is about to get into the blogging biz in a big way. On March 29, 2005 the company will introduce a service called Yahoo 360. Right now, you can configure your MyYahoo to read as many blogs as you wish. This competes with dedicated blog reading software like http://www.feeddemon.com.
I’ve heard statistics that are mind-boggling, like: TypePad (the $15/month consumer blogging site http://www.typepad.com) is signing on 5,000 new bloggers daily. This is probably a good business for Yahoo!
That being said, if blogging continues on this growth curve, it may have a profound effect on the way search engines deliver data. Right now, you have to seriously consider the source of information found on the Internet. There is no guaranteed that any information you read (even this blog) has been properly fact checked or vetted in any way. In a blog-clogged world, the information you get from search engines that rely on keywords and meta-tags will be that much less reliable.
However, RSS 2.0 includes a specification for an envelope. In this envelope you can put a Podcast (audio that will download into an iPod or MP3 player) or even a video file. Either very strategically or by accident, the popularity of blogs and incorporated blog readers my have an even more profound effect on the way we search for and get our video entertainment in the very near future.
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