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What if the Internet Went Away?

2012: The Year The Internet Ends

This video should inspire an interesting conversation. What do you think?

We have been and are building our businesses around the internet. What if the internet, as we know it was either taken away or became too expensive for us to access large enough distribution of our product? What would we do? Is this really possible? Is there a plan B?

Is it conceivable that only the largest and wealthiest companies could be left standing?
Can you imagine having access to only about 200 sites?
Can you conceive the cost of having to pay for any additional sites accessed that were not part of the package?
We are becoming completely dependant on the internet for our marketing, what would happen to our businesses if it became cost prohibitive?

What do you think?

Posted by Long Beach Ca Real Estate, Laurie Manny on 08/12/2008 11:04 AM

Comments (108)

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108 Comments on What if the Internet Went Away?

AUG

2008

business would slow down but still get done. Consumers would drive a little more looking at properties and signs. They would look to flyers and print for informaiton -- would be simpler and maybe better.

Dang, that was a L-O-N-G video..... I don't see that happening, but if it did, back to doing business the old way as Scott wrote. Ann

I think you almost have to ask thie question first. Why do we use the Internet?

Newspaper, Radio, and TV advertising became to expensive and is limited to just big companies.

If the net goes away something else will replace it but I think we will be fine for 2012

Good post

tony

For some reason I kept thinking the guys from a Clockwork Orange were going to enter....

Laurie, people had worked before internet and if that ever happened I am sure we will have something better going on by then. I am still basing my business heavily on internet.

Laurie - this is a very interesting question to ponder. I often wonder if there will be a time when we have have to pay to get some of the access that is now free. The Internet should never be a substitute for face time with people in our marketplace.

Laurie,

People ARE working on this. There are just too many stakeholders.

I smell "Y2K" all over it.

Laurie, this is weird and I don't believe it. It is something like out of science fiction. There would be a revolt among businessess, individuals and would lead to world war 3.

Hi Laurie The thought seems very far fetched but who knows. I guess anything is possible.

Government intervention would be the only thing that could cause this to happen. I would not be surprised if it did, because the goverment thinks that they need a way to tax the internet. They think we don't have enough taxes now. It does scare me that Al Gore has been working with google since being out of office. Anything he touches starts to smell.

Laura,

If the coming "One World Order" decides it wants to stiffle free thought and expression I could see it happen. But then again anything that we write, view and email can be accessed right now, so look over shoulder folks Big Brother is watching... as you read this! Spooky!!!

Ugh - does this mean we'll be stuck using Realtor"dot"com as a platform? What a nightmare!

I would cry for a week. Then I would recharge and going about doing what I always do: Meet people, talk to people, interact with people.

You are so right! The interent cannot be our only tool in our toolkit! It should be a compliment to what we do.

Even though it may be a strech its interesting to think about. I wouldn't mind less internet and more real interaction with people.

There could be a positive if it eliminated the spammers, sploggers, and Nigerian offers. ;-) As others have said, we would just have to go back to life ... and work ... as it was 10 years ago which is meeting people face to face. The internet certainly helps expose our listings (and ourselves) to far more people, but I think some agents may be spending so much time relying solely on the internet and social networking that they're not cultivating their business OFFLINE.

Just to be safe, we should all work a little more and make sure we can retired if and when this happens.

Laurie - interesting video! I cannot imagine the net would go away, because so many businesses (not just real estate) use it. But if it did, we would adapt, go back to print media, as a form of advertising.

Wow very interesting, if that were ever to happen, I guess we head back to the MLS book

We would have to go back to the stone age and start writing things down again.

Well I don't think this is going to happen anytime soon. Way too many people would be against it. But shoud it come to pass people will still buy houses.

I wouldn't be surprised. Monetizing the Internet has always been a challenge. I think the thing for me is that there will always be "rogues" out there to "spoil" things. I mean in real estate Iggy'sHouse lets people upload their home for free. I would bet that there would be a company that would allow free access to the internet.

Laurie...

We recently ran our numbers and discovered that only 15% of our business is coming from the Internet. As we don't do Buyers the Interent could disappear tomorrow and it wouldn't effect us very much. I am of the opinion that having all the eggs in one marketing basket is a bad idea. But, hey that's just me :)

What I would miss is the social Blogging. Without the web, well...I'd be forced to join The Country Club and learn to golf with The Lovelies :)

TLW...ROAR!

Laurie - very interesting video! Wow...I can see something like this happening, but hard to believe to this extent. We would just have to learn to adapt to a new way of doing business. We have had to do this before.

The What If.

End Of The World As We Know It

This is interesting to say the least. However, there was a time when we sold houses prior to cell phones, fax machines, and email. It was like being a midnight bandit. Not that I would want to go back. We made it work before, we will figure it out again. Hopefully this will not happen.

I don't think the internet would go away. I don't get much business from the internet but I do use it a lot. I would make the adjustment.

It does propose an interesting question, but I have a feeling that even if the power that is behind the Internet was to stop, something will rise to replace the Internet or even in worse case if the Internet was to stop and nothing replaced it, the world would still go on. In my opinion however we have only seen the Internet grow and become a staple of most peoples everyday lives and it would take a lot for the Internet to just stop or become to expensive for most people to use.

I do have a closet full of 3x5 index cards, glue sticks for adding photos to marketing materials, yellow legal pads and poloroid film. Hahaha! You know I started in the business without the internet and could survive without - but it would be tough and talk about working hard!!

I hate cable tv and how it is sold and I am sure others do to - I don' t think the internet will end up that way.

It's amazing how reliant I am on the internet so this is a pretty scary video that could very well be right on the money. Because, after all, it's all about money! Not only would it affect our businesses, but our ability to easily search and learn from others. In the real estate industry, the buyers and sellers would rely more on realtors in finding homes and understanding the process. It would be interesting to see, if true, the government intervention - after all this is all about monopoly and giving control to the few and taking away from others.

Great find Laurie.

Laurie, an interesting hypothesis. Will it happen? Who knows? I suspect that the reaction by the public may be so negative that it would either force the govt. or ISPs to curtail such a drastic move. AJ

That sounds like a nightmare prediction. If it really happened, I think the whole gang of ActiveRainers, Twitterers, and Facebook members would end up in rehab! (see you there!)

Thank you for your responses.

I find it interesting that many of you don't believe that this could happen and others 'hope' that the government will step in and make it go away if it did. While I realize that it seems unbelievable, history has shown us repeatedly that there are those that walk among us who would go to any length to control the masses. The worldwide web is taking away a lot of their power to both control and process propaganda. Just look at what the media has done to our industry.

Look at what the internet/social networking has done for the participating real estate community. Realtordotcom is a great example. Without social networking how would Realtors around the country have communicated en masse on how bad it was, that the problem was universal, that it wasn't that they were a failure.

Anybody care to offer up possible solutions? How about a 2nd internet - bypass them???

C'mon stretch yourself.

Laurie, (thanks:) I did a blog a few days ago that is kind of related to what Manny is talking about----concerns that we may loose what we are used to. While my blog was done "tongue-in-cheek"---perhaps it is something we should actually be serious about. Is it time for the 28th Amendment to the US Constitution?

I have no idea what I would do without the internet! If it goes out I would have to go back to school all over again!

OK, for those of you who do not think this is possible I ask you these questions:

Do you remember when television was free?
Do you remember when cable TV came along?
Are you paying for extra channels now?
Still think its not possible?

There was a hilarious episode of South Park in which everyone lost the internet. But you really have to have a wharped sense of humor to watch that show (I can wharp with the best of them). I get frustrated when I have to unplug because of a thunderstorm. I don't even like to think about it.

Laurie...

I live in a world where anything is possible and I just love that :)

TLW...ROAR!

it won't happen, the internet is way too massive. if they try, there will be an alternative. This thing is just too big to control.

First, just wanted to say that I enjoyed hearing you speak at Inman. I like now being able to put a personality with your blog.

I tried to pay attention to the whole video and couldn't quite make it thru, but I think I got the gist. I don't agree with the video. I think the long tail of the Internet is too big to control, as this video makes it seem like a few people can. Countries, for example some in Asia, are trying to control the Internet to a degree, and aren't doing it very successfully.

However (for the sake of getting the discussion going), in 2012 I wonder how relevant"websites" as we know them today will be. Mobile is changing everything and making possible for new business models to emerge. New ways for information to be delivered to us are popping up everyday.

For example, just 3 years ago I would never have imagined getting a lot of my news through an RSS feed, direct into my email inbox (on subjects I proactively select). I don't even go to some sites anymore, but benefit from their content.

Technology is evolving too fast to think that one entity could control it. IF that were to happen, there would be a new set of entrepreneurs ready to with bigger, better, faster systems.

Sort of reminds me of the South Park episode when the Internet goes down. Hilarous! Here is a click of that episode, if you need a pick me up after watching this video- http://vodpod.com/watch/676231-south-park-no-internet

That South Park video is hilarious! Thanks for sharing it.

I don't want to agree with the video either, but it is good to consider the possibilities and have some solutions handy. It's also good to stretch the mind and question everything.

Sara,

Thank you, I enjoyed Inman, how is it that we didn't meet?

Everything you mentioned is currently internet based, mobile, rss and email all depend on the existance and use of the internet. Even this video doesn't suggest that the internet would go away, it does suggest selling packages based on usage. Access to 200 sites for a certain cost, additional for other sites accessed, which is pretty much what occured with the advent of cable TV.

I agree that this is not likely that the internet will go away, and if it was going to some very bright minds would appear backed by a parcel of Venture Capital. I guess I was just wondering if anybody here would go for the solution and the money to be made from it.

You, see if it got to expensive for businesses to use it, then it would get to expensive for consumer to use it too. So the effect would be little on businesses. Consumers would not use the internet either. The folks that really want this to happen are the print media folks. They are the ones suffering from the internet. This would boost there bottom lines. If this happens, go put all our money into print media stocks, becuase you will get a real return from them. Really, we would just go back to the way we used to do it. News Paper Adds, three line descriptions of homes, MLS Books, The little Real Estate magazines, etc. Buyers would have to work a little harder and they would have to trust a little more. We would have to break out the Maps in the cars and not rely on GPS so much. I love Technology, but it would not be so bad to happen right now. Now in 2030, when we have been using the internet for 30+ years and all the print companies are gone, it would be a little more of an issue, but 2008 or 2012, not so much!!

We won't have to waste time worrying about it, as we're all going to die when the meteor hits in 2012. : ) Just have fun now.

Nearly everything is moving to internet based. Even computers are moving to "cloud systems" that are entirely internet based. If the internet wasn't of a use to Realtors anymore it would cost you all quite a lot of money. Advertising on the internet is a lot cheaper than other means of advertising, and you can reach so many more people.

The Net Neutrality issue... isn't a big issue. It will fall away in a few months anyways. The internet is here to stay just the way it is.. for many many years.

Very interesting Laurie. Well for me it wouldn't make any difference at all. I only get about 15% of my business from the Internet. I don't see the Internet going away but it is possible that Google decides to make 1st page results completely PPC.

They could certainly put a hurtin' on folks relying 100% on the Internet for their business.

A smart business person would NEVER place all of their eggs in the same basket. Especially when we can't control the basket.

OK I have to run. I have a mailer to do. :)

Brian, Now thats what I'm talking about.

Do you recall a time in history when the clock was rolled back on progress?

Years ago I worked in the textile industry in NY (fabrics). Cotton is a favorite of most of us and it was in very high demand. Consumers wanted the highest quality cottons, which at the time were coming out of India. The consumers wanted more, better quality, higher end. The heads of the textile industry met and discussed this. You see the USA had been the producer of the finest cottons in the world for many years. The cotton was produced in the South East which is also where the cotton mills which produced the high quality product were located as well. They were all closed down for many years (generations) and most of the cotton fields had been repurposed. The textile moguls went in search of the formula to once again produce this cotton. They discovered that the formula for this highly desirable product was taken to the grave with the masters.

30 years from now the machinery to produce a newspaper woudn't be available and new equipment would likely be powered by the internet since software is going the way of the wind as well. Few would know how to produce or distribute a newspaper and the current distribution channels would be defunct as well.

Just thinking out loud here...

I guess I should have read TLW's comment first. Damn...we've been married waaaaaay too long!!!

Excuse me Laurie...

Baby. It's not a matter of being married too long. It's more a matter of great minds thinking alike.

That could explain 'why' we've been married so long.

TLW...ROAR!

I am surprised that people think this is completely off base. This video may be an extremist view on the future, but there are real, serious threats being made against the freedom of the internet. I have been following the issue of Net Neutrality and it is a major concern. Do some research and get on board fighting those that would try to control the internet for their own gain. It isn't a joke.

The Internet is not centrally controlled. It consists of many, many little networks that are linked to each other. If a particular government decided that it wanted to shut down Internet access for its citizens, it could prevent the networks from running in their country, but they would not be able to stop the other networks in other countries.

The only way the Internet could be completely turned off is if all of the governments in the world decided together that they would ban Internet communications within their country and between their country and everyone else. This will never happen.

If the U.S. decided to allow Pay Per Click revenue models for Internet access in the U.S., this would not have any effect on the Internet access of citizens in Australia or Japan.

If this happend I would lose my job. You can stop this by going to: and click "act now" and sign the petition http://savetheinternet.com/=faq

It is funny how some people think this is too big a thing to control... I remember once sitting on a media analysis panel, and we had some Soviets (remember them?) visiting us... those Soviets were astounded at how uniform the news was across our country... the same news across the whole country... something the Soviets had strived for without success... so how did we do it, they asked.

How?

By making the entire thing market based... advertising driven... the big advertisers all wanted to advertise on certain types of topics that gained high ratings... rating made the networks more money (charge more for ads in popular programs) so they aimed for high ratings, whiche ended up become a formula... now we all see the same news all across the country...

So the market can be as despotic or tyranical as a totalitarian regime... and in fact can do so without people thinking they are subject to such a regime... the "best of both worlds" so it seems...

And the issues surrounding the internet can be seen in this light as well...

What would we do? Cry... and then move on...

We need legislation. Maybe NAR must get involved.

Richard

We lived without it before, I guess we could survive the loss. I know from experience, that I have become too dependant on the Internet. It is a double edge sword.

I sometimes think about that. So strange, 20 years ago not a factor....today so very important in business. I depend on it.

I told my husband this a long time ago: everything in business changes or goes away eventually, and I can see the Internet either collapsing, going away, being replaced, being some kind of pay as you go site even more than it is now...or it gets hijacked by hackers and becomes too precarious to use. But I love Jeanne Kontis' comment: if it happens, we may have to use Realtor dot com as a platform for business. Horrors! Yeah, let me see if I have this right: because I do a lot of listing business, my charge to post "showcase" listings on your site is more because busier agents can afford to pay Realtor dot com more? New agents pay less. This is their business model. Has anyone ever talked to their high pressure sales people? I don't recommend it unless you want to go slowly mad. Talk about hijacking!

Kimberly, I dont think it would a be a very slow process... madness would come quickly...

And, getting NAR involved??? Seems they are so good at managing their own domains and websites... let's have tehm deal with this too... naahhh...

Since there are not that many internet providers, I don't have any doubt that it could be done. I've witnessed many things that I could not imagine could be done.

Great topic, Laurie ... Kudos to you.

It took me a while to remember where I'd read this opinion piece, but I found it ... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/opinion/19mon2.html

Also, I clipped this from the FAQ section of OpenInternetCoalition.com:

There is a clear and present danger facing the open Internet from a handful of powerful cable and telephone companies.

Today, and for the foreseeable future, cable and telephone companies are the dominant providers of Internet access services, serving over 98% of all consumer broadband connections. Some cable and telephone companies have blocked certain Internet traffic or given preference to their own Internet services. Some equipment manufacturers have begun marketing equipment that allows network operators to identify and screen traffic. And many telephone and cable executives have publicly stated their desire to leverage their own networks to favor their own or affiliated content, and to create “tiers” of service that allow some content to receive enhanced treatment or “quality of service.”

Telcos and cable companies charging companies to be in the "Internet fast lane" while relegating smaller companies to a less-than-optimal Internet, restricting access to certain content, and implementing tiered systems of Internet access is totally plausible.

Comcast got in trouble last month for blocking Internet traffic: http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2008/07/11/net-users-band-together-stop-comcast-and-win-one-for-net-neutrality/

I would think that a bunch of big companies getting together to do this would cause quite a lot of huge lawsuits when they try to actually implement it. Ibelieve so many more in this world would suffer huge monetary losses, substantial enough to hurt the economy that the government would step in as well. Just think of how many small business (the cornerstone of our society) wold go under because of these changes. Other big companies like GoDaddy, and other Domain name and hosting companies would go under, they would have to right? Could you imagine if GoDaddy's customer base went from 100's of millions to a few thousand overnight. I'm sure something along these lines will be tried in various forms in the future, however there are Always small groups that will stand up and find a way around. People like the world wide collaboration of OpenOffice .org who said "I am not paying the high price of Microsoft, so I will make my own Free version and others will jump on board who think like i do and help out".

Bottom Line: big business will always try to take as much of your money as possible, and the little guy or the loud majority will always find/provide alternatives. But, the cost will always go up for the consumer.

Better get to work, so I can have enough money to retire in 4 years before I cannot afford to do business online anymore :)

I don't think I will loose sleep over it....

It would be fine with me -- couldn't happen fast enough, as far as the real estate business in concerned. Many of my reasons have to do with local factors, but the biggest problem is that internet-based MLS's encourage merger of them, which encourages agents to do business in areas where they are utterly unequipped, and frequently even need a map. IMHO, an agent who actually needs a map has no business doing business in that area. We are committing professional suicide by facilitating agents' doing business in areas where the client is often more knowledgeable than the agent.

Laurie, my first reaction was that for those of us old enough to have trained the old fashioned ways it wouldn't be a big deal...just back to the basics. However, then I thought about all of those amazing techies out there and now I'm thinking that if this happened to the Internet I'll bet something else would emerge to take it's place.

Wow, I couldn't imagine not having internet

Laurie, this is the first I have heard of this. Somehow I would think that conspiring to limit access and control prices would fall into a monopoly situation, and there are laws against that.

Activists, Enough said...!

This question is nothing more than wishful thinking. The only way for this to be possible is if EVERYONE were to join this "New" internet and stop using the old internet or network similar to using the Real internet and AOL which is more like a private filtered out internet. That concept is already here.

It's here, it's here to stay. Adapt, Embrace, Learn a Thing or Two and use it like any other tool.

My dad asked me yesterday when I plan to retire. I told him when I'm 45 which is almost 4 years away.

Coincidentally, he asked me this yesterday. I don't have an exit strategy---because I plan to be done with heavy prospecting by and Web development by end of year 2008; and will ride out the end of my career---and let it fizzle away into nothing'ness'.

So, I guess I say--let Google buy the whole freakin' internet AND the world.

That's the thing about that video that most people don't realize:

that video is a form of terrorism--for good or for bad; it's still terrorism.

I don't subscribe to it.

I think if this happens along with all the other predictions for 2012, the internet and selling real estate will be the least of our problems. My advice is, don't get too comfy with any one thing and dont put all your eggs in one basket. Listen to your gut, and save some of those commissions for hard times ;)

Hey guys:

The Jeff Lewis "Flipping Out" reunion is on tonight, along with "Million Dollar Listing".

I'm deep, huh.

Business will slow down but things will get done. Before the Internet,companies were making millions and billions of dollars. Its just that now with internet,more people and companies are making more millions and billions of dollars. And I guess more people who will go back to doing cold calling to generate business. It is something to think about. Great post Laurie.

I probably only visit 20-30 sites regularly, so I think 200 would be OK. It's kind of like cable TV in a way -- lots of channels, but how many do we really watch? And for plan B, I guess mine would be to make enough money over the next three years so that it wouldn't really matter. I'd better get blogging!

What a bunch of losers non-interested people we have here commenting on this topic. I assumed I would find many people trying to find out how to confront this and what action one might be able to take in order to fight this.

Instead, most people seem to be willing to just bend over and take it with barely a whimper.

Who can blame the government and corporations from doing this when you can see here that so few are willing to do anything about it.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I had never heard of this before. I'll have to look into this and at least try to let more people know about this and let the politicians know how I feel about this. It really makes me sad to see so many people just willing to sit back and accept such a change without any sort of protest.

Tim...

I don't think calling other Industry Professionals losers reflects you very well. Some of us have reasons for not giving a rats ass. I am one of them. I'm in the golden years of my life. That being the case I have every intention of letting the younger folks fight these battles. I fought many battles in my lifetime. It's time for the next generation to step up and do their part. Maybe they'll figure out name calling only takes you so far in life :)

TLW...ROAR!

Intriguing... something I haven't thought about. I firmly believe anything is possible and we have to be reactionary beings in many cases and in this business, chameleon marketers. I'd lose some business, but not a high percentage. I've done 'old school' for a long time, talking to as many people as I can about what I do. Phone calls & face to face networking will always have a strong place & threshold in any business, in my opinion. Plus, in 2012, I will be entering my new career as a Bailiff in People's Court;-)

Laurie,now this is underground interesting! So, you're saying ... or they're saying that Nostradamus's "end of world" prediction in the year 2012 should have been end of the world wide web??? Could happen. Very disconcerting...where did you come across this?

P.S. Sonya is a great attention getter. I have emailed this to hubby. It could affect our plans!

Thanks Laurie, Later in the rain~Deb

TLW,

I'm sorry, but a free and open Internet is the last chance we have for allowing the free and open exchange of ideas to take place. It is something that is allowing people to actually find out what is going on. It's a way to combat the almost complete control that the big media corporations have over the information that gets out.

This is way more than how we are going to continue to use the Intenet to get more business. This is about freedom and control of information. This is a big deal.

A story just came out today about getting the Fairness Doctrine tied into this net neutrality thing. Isn't that special. We'll have the government telling us what we can say on the Internet. Who needs to worry about freedom of speech anyway?

I don't see it happening, but I bet there are some players that would love it. The big media companies would be back in control again... until someone figured out a way to sneak past them again.

But, business would go on. It was here before the internet, and will be here after. Recognized experts would find themselves in demand to write for offline media...

I guess it could happen, but I don't think so. We would find a way to push forward as we did before...in the "olden days".

Never happen!!!!!!!!!!!!

It sounds like the sky is falling to me.

I like debates;-)

I got through university with both my B.S. and M.S. because of the internet. I sure would have failed my assignments without it. It was a cost effective and time consuming wonderful thing to have during my university years.

;>)

Wow, never really thought about it like that... the world would be different. We have transformed all our marketing and advertising dollars to the net : ) Will continue to do it for now.

Philadelphia Real Estate

It would be A Sight if it went away! Thanks, Tom Davis World Class DE Realtor

AUG

2008

I don't think it will ever happen. there are just too many sites and pagers and companies, big and small that rely on this platform. But, for converstion sake, I would go nuts!

Laurie I'm glad you deleted the last comment.

I don't delete comments. Don't know what you are referring to.

Laurie,

I get the sense that we're being played here in this video by some good actors with some kind of political agenda, or they have a scheme to make money or fame from putting this out as a theory. These kinds of "bait" videos are common on YouTube and other social media.

I didn't believe a single word of it, but I'll admit that I skipped through it after the first two minutes. I don't have a whole 12 minutes for these kids and their game.

Bringing this back to real estate...

The Web/Internet is not a fad. It is not going away. It is not going to be controlled by a handful of large corporations, as these kids claim.

In five years of serving the real estate industry with Web marketing services, I have become aware that a lot of people in real estate are trying their best to ignore or discredit the Web. So I can understand that a video like this supports their own bias and concepts. They can continue to ignore the Web, with some kind of imagined satisfaction that in 2012 it all won't matter, and we'll all be back at 1993 again.

It is understandable that some old school agents and brokers have no interest in the Web. They have done their time, and will finish their days in this industry relying on well-established referral networks. No harm in that. They have earned it.

However, if they also take the time to denigrate the Web among other agents who are here for the longer haul, they are doing them a huge disservice. If they are also in a leadership position as a mentor or broker, they are sabotaging their own team.

Here's a post related to that:
Do you need a Mentor Evaluation?

Betting that the Web will revert to some kind of truncated, useless utility in 2012 is just not supported by a single fact on the ground, and none were put forward in this video.

I do think that a video like this does provide us all with some basis for discussion. That's what I am trying to do. But I think the discussion should center around reality as it exists and will likely exist going forward. It's an opportunity to take stock in where we are and where we are going.

Every reasonable indication and trend is that the Web will play an ever expanding role in real estate marketing. It is possible to plan a marketing strategy that runs counter to that claim. It is even possible to make it work.

But the Web is what buyers use these days to find property. Running away from that traffic and lead stream would be a very curious way to approach real estate marketing.

OMG!! this is FANTASTIC!!! does this mean my kids will actually learn to go to the library and do research? and actually know how to search for books and possibly even hold an Encyclopedia??

I think what we all have to think here is that our worlds will change and we have to be ready to accept change. Will I pay to search for Google when the small sites won't be able to sustain themselves? probably not because it means I'll be searching in a world of nothing.

The big guys can't live without the little guys - but that's only MHO.

Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you got till it's gone? That song sums it up, we take for granted the organic search power that the www currently offers us. A little Realtor from Tecumseh can take prominent first page placement for anyone searching Tecumseh Real Estate on a major advertising source like google, at no cost but with some work on linking, SEO, content and bang, there you are. All of us work to rank and place ourselves where the clients will find us easily. Can you think of any other marketing avenue where this is possible, can you rank yourself into a primetime commercial spot on your TV. or a front page ad in your local news, maybe a billboard on the main drag, never, and you'd never expect to, you know you must pay for those priviledges. And here many of you seem to assume that you are safe on the internet, it won't change, you aren't worried that comcast and the other players might just decide that only those who pay a price will show up on those first pages, the premium spots for the premium payers.

It isn't just how it would effect your business, it is also about how it will effect your own searches and research, looking for a great get-away, right now you can enter your search and see everything that is offered, little mom and pop hide-aways, specialty inns, thats the fun, its all out there, free and free flowing, as of today anyway. Can any of you remember free lightbulbs, we used to gather up the burned out bulbs, go to the Edison office and they gave you replacement for free, who would have thought they would get so selfish and make you go buy your own? Now the answer is easy, of course you have to pay, why would you expect such a thing for free? One day they will be saying the same thing about paying for premium placement on the internet search rankings if you don't fight for net neutrality now, while you still can. Go to Savetheinternet.com and check out at least the FAQ section, join up and join the fight, or keep your heads in the sand and pretend that the internet is beyond the control of mere corporate giants.

You can also check out googles information on net neutrailty and their role in fighting for it.

Laurie,

Let the internet go away? It's OK with me because I know that something better will replace it. Paying for more than a select number of sites - could happen. We'd just adjust.

Steve

As I sit here working away tonight, I wish the internet would go away! I won't feel that way in the morning!

The music on that video gave it a bit of a silly feel but I wouldn't be suprised if the efforts they are discussing aren't real.

The thing that has made the internet what it is, are the types of people that are involved. Of course there is a large population of people that use it superficially, but there is an entire population of people that are 'early adopter' types and consumers that tend to be on the edge of new ideas, technologies and tools.

I have a hard time picturing this unique early adopter group, getting swept along in the dumbing down process. They will find a new way and blaze a new path before they see it just go away - and then we'll all be following them yet again.

AUG

2008

I didn't make it past minute two of the video, but it had the look of a viral marketing campaign. Your analogy to T.V. is valid but I don't see the Internet going the way of cable. Large ISP's have been attempting to be "everything for all" for quite some time and haven't been successful. Their home pages attempt to gather all the news and info that is worth knowing in an easy to use format and yet surfers are still out looking on their own all over the web. To hedge my bet, I'll just need to work harder and make sure I retire by 2012...problem solved! :^)

Gulp... I would have more time for business and would probably list and sell more home and definitely get some much needed sleep. Laurie, thanks for the thought provoking question.

It should coincide nicely w/the next upswing, so I think we will be alright, at least for the short term. We are continually changing and we change w/this as well.

I cannot even imagine what life would be like without the Internet! In the last 12-15 years we have become totally dependent upon our cyberspace connections.

AUG

2008

Taking it to the streets.... what a great idea! On the other hand, perhaps Al Gore could intervene on our behalf....

Wow! What a concept. If the Internet were to be pay per view by 2012. What was life like before it?

Whats good for the goose is good for the gander. The only reason why the internet is so widely used is because it is so inexpensive. Supply and demand principles are the same for everything.

I did not have a problem getting used to the internet and will not have a problem doing without it. Hey, I just might meet a prospect when waiting in line at the bank to pay a bill.

AUG

2008

It makes a lot more sense that information will eventually cost something than that it will remain as free. Google is one of the main reasons people find obscure things now...and YouTube, like the one posted here. How long can huge information sources be free? Why should they be free?

Life will go on. Blogs will become infomercials :)

I don't see this happening..there would be too much of an uproar. Look at the screaming and yelling going on now for other things that are lesser. If it did...it would have to be really slow...and its true, we would adjust somehow.

There was a comment above: "Government intervention would be the only thing that could cause this to happen."

In fact it may take government intervention to keep it from happening. If net neutrality is not maintained don't you think that all the big guys will put out enough for the service providers to slow everyone else down to a crawl.

AUG

2008

Actually, the internet as we know it is fading fast: very soon it will be mostly video, and SEO is almost dead due to standardising of code standards, and widespread acceptance of best practices content management systems.

Putting your content here instead of on your own website as the source is a good example, though, that most of you are not ready for this change, which is why I am still here - unlike you, you are my target market.

AUG

2008

Holy Crap! I didn't realize Net Neutrality was still a possibility. But with You Tube doing the damage it has done to TV, I can understand their desperation. As for my business, I guess it would go back to print advertising with print companies that have a large internet presence. But I don't know what I'd do without my social networks, and my online gaming =( I'm going to now, go add this to my Favorites on ALL my You Tube channels, and I'll make my own vlog about it. You Tube is key to destroying this change.

AUG

2008

Laurie, I think that you a posed a great question and even if the internet does not fizzle out by 2012 we have to constantly changing to stay up with the times. Thanks for getting us to think out of the box!

Wow thanks for the info.

I do think they will redefine how the internet is used. If you think about it, it is still in the infant stage. Everything changes as technology changes at a faster pace. I believe it will evolves into a different form. With the evolving comes a price to be paid? This all makes my head hurt, I am going to the beach.

AUG

2008

Not necessary a bad thing seemingly how attached I am to internet. I think it will give me the freedom of doing things the old way and give me my freedom back! Might be a great improvement in the quality of our lives!

AUG

2008

Hi Laurie: Despite it's convenience, there was business before the Internet, and there would be business after the Internet. If it became too expensive, new routes would open up and new opportunities. Still an interesting question. Misty http://viscape.com List your properties for FREE!

AUG

2008

I am terribly shocked about the comments here.

That's basically what the majority of you is saying here: "...Of course it is always an improvement, if somebody else makes the decision for you, isn't it. Having choice is confusing...."

Shame on you!
Wake up people!

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