What is the next Internet business for 2021?

1995: Internet was free and open, connected through the telephone line. The discussion was about how to monetise the Internet and what would be the best exponential growth business on top of the network. Alternatives were: Advertising, User managed content platforms (softer called social networks), How-to’s reading platforms (after called Learning Management Systems), and Remote Management Software (RMS), Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP).

2000: Internet was connected through optical fibre and we all pay a monthly fee to be online. The discussion was about how to monetise the online business to make possible the online advertising industry to get customers against the current tv channels and current newspapers and magazines. Some profile management websites and chat messaging platforms were arising (MySpace, MSN, ICQ, Hotmail, Latinmail, Geocities). CD-ROM Learning Platforms like Encarta were some kind of mix between online and offline. The words “online” and “offline” themselves were understood for first time.

2004-2008: Google made Gmail with a security failure that Facebook, YouTube and Twitter exploited to raise together the whole Internet’s users interest using automated invitations bots.

2007-2009: The raise of Apple’s products through the success of the iPhone, the fall of Internet Explorer and Netscape browsers and the raise of mobile devices (Nokia, Samsung, Motorola ) diversified the Internet industry

2015: We started to hear about the Internet of Things (IoT), some say this is old news from 2009 or even 2007 when the Arduino device was born. Some creative marketing agencies were talking about the future of robotics and Human Machine Interaction.

2016: The rise of the e-Commerce, FinTech and mobile payments

2020: Videoconferencing tools were unexpectedly popular because of the social distance need to prevent COVID disease.

What is the next Internet business for 2021?