We all know that $ makes the web go round, and the great big pot of gold everyone is trying to find is targeted advertising - the ability to deliver custom ads to a very narrowly defined base. Advertisers have figured out that most people don't care about what they have to say - which means that traditional media that are supported by advertising are in trouble. The key is to get your message to the few who might reasonably care. Facebook recently announced it would sell ads to be delivered to users based on their interests.
Email providers have been trying this for a while. For example, I recently got an email from my mom regarding her recent treatment for kidney stones. At the top of my gmail page, very unobtrusively, was a small ad for an anti-kidney stones diet cookbook or some such. Google, whose stock goes for $600 even though most of their products are free and who may soon be the target of an EU anti-trust investigation over their acquisition of Double-Click, is widely recognized as the leader in targeted web advertising.
The next big thing for Google, of course, is their anticipated entry into the mobile phone market next year. In preparation, Google recently acquired Jaiku, a strange little service combining elements of blogging and IM. The key for Google, however (suggests Google Operating System), is Jaiku's ability to identify the location of its users when they post (by triangulating with the nearest cell towers).
So when you get your gphone next year, look for messages directing you to nearby restaurants and other attractions wherever you happen to be. Now that's ambient findability...
