Google Wannabes Abound at Mashup Camp

The ongoing Mashup Camp show in Palo Alto, Calif., is teeming with companies claiming theyve found Internet search features that search giants like Google either havent found yet, have rejected or just plain missed.

For instance, PodBops feature searches based on a geographic location and podcasts by bands set to appear in those locales. It won top honors at the show.

By finding niches to settle into, these companies seek to prove there is room for Internet search firms despite the significant market-share captured by Google and the majors.

Events such as Mashup Camp are designed to develop ideas about Internet search to be used by enterprises and other consumers.

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The show has no agenda, unlike industry shows such as Search Engine Strategies, which starts later this week.

Major search engines wouldnt dare predict things, but TwoCrowds does. It lets people contribute their own predictions with others.

The search engines top two most popular predictions, and by theory the ones most likely to actually come true, are now “Apple Computer will release a phone” and “Google will advertise on TV.”

Theres room for more search engine business models, believe firms like Edgeio.

The search engine plumbs RSS feeds, an increasingly popular self-publishing technique, to give Web interests “of all sizes the means to control how their content is published, discovered and consumed.”

Mashup Camp is a bring-your-own-idea event. Early on in the show, discussions are focusing on rapid fire development techniques, various forms of content licensing and mobility.

“Mashup” refers to a combination of Internet resources.

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