Coming up for predictions for 2008 is much harder than last year.  Before I go into 2008 Predictions, I'm going to check and see how I did with my Web Predictions for 2007.

1 - Google buys FeedBurner and Quantcast - merges both platforms into it's own

Google did buy FeedBurner but didn't buy Quantcast - do I get half credit here?

2 - Google Fatigue starts setting in for many as Google's growth continues to lead it to act similar to Microsoft, HP and IBM.

Correct, people are more apt to look at Google as "Big Brother" now than a year ago - I get credit on this one.

3 -Certain Web 2.0 Widgets become very popular in 2007 

Correct, Widgets have taken off this year.

4-Online Video continues gain importance and YouTube becomes crucial as communications medium for Politicians running for office.

We did see Online Videos of Presidential Candidates as they launched their campaigns - and in fact, YouTube hosted a Presidential debate or two - so I'd get credit on this one.

5 - Second Life becomes crucial for many businesses

I think the message here is very mixed - Second Life actually turned out to be a disappointment for many businesses - and while I got involved very deeply, with IBM's Business Center in Second Life - providing the most advanced metrics in the world, as far as I know, for most other companies -Second Life was a mixed bag, and more of an experiment,   I would say that I could get half credit on this one - but it's all how you see it.

6- Ultra Mobile PC's begin to replace mobile phones in 2007 as the dominant device people use to collect information.

If we consider the iPhone as a Ultra Mobile PC, I'd be right - I get credit for this one.

So how did I do? I got credit for 4.5 of the 6 Predictions or 75% - not bad.

Now, here's my predictions for 2008 - it's going to be very tough year for many people:

Financial - Domestic - International - Political

1- The World Economy slips into a very deep, severe recession due, mostly to the Sub Prime Mortgage Meltdown, and some areas go into a depression, with many local municipalities and county governments rapidly going bankrupt due to the lowering value of real estate, lower tax-base and delinquent taxes.  Huge layoffs on the local and state level aggravate any chance of a quick recovery.  Today's article in the New York Times - This Is the Sound of a Bubble Bursting is just the tip of what's yet to come.

2- The next President of the United States is almost certainly going to be a Democrat.   While the Democrats have played a part in our current economic and political problems, with Republicans blaming the Democrats and Liberals for most of the damage (as they have always do) most people believe Republican ideas, over all, didn't work and aren't working.  A Republican Presidential Candidate is unelectable - and there's nothing I can see that would turn that situation around.  Therefore the next President of the United states, will be a Democrat.

Having said that, Who will be on the Winning Ticket?   I'm going to go out on a limb and say that while Hillary Rodham Clinton looks to be the strongest candidate now, John Edwards will pull ahead, at the last minute and steal the nomination from her.   Barack Obama, who appears the most popular now, will be perceived as not yet ready for the Presidency by the majority of those who vote in the Primaries. 

John Edwards also has the "John Kennedy" type aura that will help. True, he did vote to authorize the actions leading to the Iraq War, but given the the political environment right after 9/11, at this point, people will tend to give candidates slack on this now even though they didn't in the past. 

One of current candidates may end up as the Vice President, and I feel that could be Joe Biden or perhaps Barack Obama.

So my prediction for the Presidency is 75% John Edwards and 25% Hillary Clinton.  

We'll see.  My guess is that as liberal as many think they are (even as the word Liberal has be demeaned from what it meant 30-40 years ago) people, even now, aren't ready for a Woman President -and John Edwards will be seen as more electable in the general election (provided there is not some kind of state of emergency declared by the Bush Administration at the last minute - but if so, I believe the effort will fail).

3 - 2008 will be the year that Environmentalism will become a major political factor - it will be finally accepted that Global Warming is a fact and irreversible.  More Glaciers will be melting and that's going to be tied the world's consumption of fossil fuels - which will continue to drive a demand for new energy sources.

However, events are moving so quickly that it's impossible for me to predict in any more detailed way, what's going to happen globally or even politically here - so I'll narrow the next set of predictions.

Web Analytics - Web 2.0 / Web 3.0

4. The current membership of the Web Analytics Association will move up from 1500 (today) to 2600 by the end of 2008 and up to 3500 by the time I run again for a WAA Board Seat in 2009.

There is a perception that Google will buy a large Web Analytics Vendor such as Omniture, Coremetrics, WebTrends, etc.  I don't see that happening in 2008 but I think it's possible it may happen in 2009.  However, there will be speculation that Google may buy Facebook in 2008, but again, it seems far fetched that will happen (but you never know - look, they bought YouTube..so maybe it's not so far fetched).

I wish I had more Tech Predictions - and if I do come up with a few thoughts about this, I'll write another post that focuses on the Technology Sector - otherwise, this will be the only post I write about
2008 Predictions.