"Location, location, location," is increasingly becoming the mantra around new media services, and 2008 seems poised to be a year of growth for hyperlocal content delivery and other location-based services.

Google recently unveiled a new feature on its Google News page--Google News Local, allowing readers to get news occurring only in their local area. Google is moving into this space at a time when GPS is making people more aware of their surroundings and driving innovations in localized content in the form of location-based services like mobile ads for local businesses. Google's local news service joins dominant localized news site Topix.net and newcomer EveryBlock in this content area, and many Internet users will benefit from having better access to news in their area.

Google isn't the only major company taking advantage of hyperlocalized content.

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Parenthood seems to enhance futurist capabilities. With a one-year-old in tow, I personally have become more astute about marketing schemes. No longer are companies just competing for my dollars, they’re also clamoring for my daughter’s future allowance, and ultimately her grown-up spending dollars. As such, I am more apt to consider how a current purchase will have multiplied impact down the road.

Case in point: the Wall Street Journal recently catalogued a new series of designer bouncy seats. Yep, bouncy seats. On the whole, anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that bouncy seats work for a total of about 3 months, before the infant realizes there’s a fascinating world beyond the plastic toys dangling in front of them. And yet here the marketers are, presenting these options to vulnerable first-time parents or eager Boomer grandparents ready to shell out for the very best.

One look at these streamlined seats, and suddenly, the bouncy seats at the typical baby superstore seem terribly over-stimulating and gaudy, what with their jungle and aquarium themes. It’s not enough that new moms can deliberate for months over whether a Kate Spade diaper bag is worth it, now there are obnoxiously tasteful Kate Spade bouncy seats, and strollers to deliberate over as well! I can have a house entirely designed by Kate Spade, without her ever stepping into my home.

While a generational perspective is still forming regarding today’s infants and toddlers, marketers are certainly not deterred by lack of information. Tentatively termed post-Millennials, the kids born between 2000 and 2017 will number close to 79 million (see Pop 1 here), and might inherit certain buying preferences from their Generation X parents.

In recent years, traditionally Generation X stores have brought out new lines targeted to the kids of Generation X, including Pottery Barn, JCrew, and the Gap. A quick scan of the children’s clothing at a department store will include brand names ranging from Juicy Couture, Ugg, and Adidas, to Burberry. On any given day, Hollywood influence seems to be overtaking common sense. One fellow Social Technologies parent recently noted the “siren call of the Bugaboo”— that a $900+ stroller would even be a passing thought for a confirmed non-celebrity such as myself speaks volumes. Such is today’s consumer climate. No judgment here—I am the first person to have considered such notions as possibilities for myself. A quick scan of my budget quickly brings me back to reality, but I still dawdle at the fancy store windows.

But the question remains. If a sizeable number of today’s kids are accustomed to Baby Uggs, Seven Mankind jeans, Pottery Barn Kids bedroom furniture with matching linens, and Kate Spade strollers from birth, what does this signify for their consumer decisions as they get older? While some Generation X parents shelled out for organic everything, it will be interesting to see if the kids develop the nutritional preferences their parents are trying to cultivate. Conversely, it is easy to imagine these little tikes rebelling against all the “couture” choices, seeking something entirely different. For the Xers out there, we may have dressed like Madonna or Michael Jackson, but today’s kids may find more diverse icons to emulate at the click of a mouse, or iPod, or whatever the techie rage is in 2015.

But it remains to be seen whether the “status bubble” will pop, and if so, when. Let’s hope that it happens before Kate Spade begins to design entire neighborhoods.

(Image: Social Technologies) 

For those not familiar with it, Google Earth, the Earth-imaging application distributed by the giant information and search company, isn't just a piece of software. It has attracted devotees of all kinds, assiduously providing annotations in the form of what are called KML (Keyhole Markup Language, after Keyhole, the mapping company that Google purchased) files, data files that include custom information about locations (Lebanon is a hotspot for KML file updates at the moment, as were the parts of South Asia impacted by the tsunami in 2004). Google Earth has created an army of armchair satellite photography analysts, out to find areas previously obscured from the average viewer's eye, such as Nevada's famous Area 51, or a possible nuclear installation under development in Pakistan.

With all of that real estate in view, not surprisingly a commercial angle on Google Earth has emerged. Some companies, such as Target, have even put logos on the tops of their buildings, initially to catch the eye of aircraft passengers, but by default also showing up in Google Earth (one notable Target example is on the approach to Chicago's O'Hare airport seen here).

These "hacks" are taking an interesting political turn, however. The most recent example comes by way of the Canary Islands, whose citizens have taken a recent interest in how their islands look from above. Accusations are now flying from local "green" groups who allege that a recent data file update actually replaced a satellite view from 2005 not with a newer one, but with one from 2002 with the express intent of obscuring recent beachfront development. They say the Canary Island authorities want the area to look more pristine than it is in real life. (More likely is that the older views offered better resolution.)

The precedent has been set by governments seeking to obscure various military installations or strategically important locations. With Google Earth and similar services becoming more popular, efforts to re-touch the Earth with political or commercial aims in mind are likely to proliferate. Google Earth may become a new battlefield for those seeking to redefine or clarify "reality".