If the global recession has made companies focus on business plans with solid financial returns, the Internet remains its own autonomous trade zone, free from the reach of the standard rules. But from Hulu.com to Twitter to Microsoft Corp, the heady talk of new Web technology and innovation was matched by the continuing inability by many of the industry's leaders to make money from their creations, no matter how popular.
The champion of the new breed of Internet companies, Twitter, got top billing at the event. Co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams described various new product features and money-making initiatives under development, but acknowledged that the key revenue source for the company in a couple of years remains unknown. "We have to bake into our plans the fact that we don't know," said Stone. As it is, Twitter and Facebook are considered so integral to the modern Internet landscape that other companies are increasingly incorporating social media into their own product plans.
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