It’s no longer enough to have a Web site. Blog software let absolutely everyone into that club. Now the way to fame and riches seems to be starting an advertising network. Other sites are morphing their own business models to tap into the ad network craze. For example, ZoomInfo, a company that started out as a search engine for information about people, is using the data it gleans about people in a targeted ad network.

Prediction 1: We’ll see dozens more ad networks announced in the next 12 months.

Prediction 2: 95 percent of them will be gone in two years.

Everyone who has ever sold advertising says that buyers like things to be simple. And the plethora of competing networks and technologies is anything but. Google has already proven that there is a powerful network effect to advertising. The more buyers and sellers in one place, the better prices for all.

Yes, there are some who argue that the rise of advertising exchanges, like Advtise.com will help make the market efficient for lots of players. That could be, but I’ll still stand by the idea that Google and a handful of others will end up with the vast bulk of the ad network business.

  The proportion of households in the UK shopping online has been flat, according to the latest Point Topic survey.   Even though the percentage of UK households who reported shopping online is relatively high—69% in January 2008—this figure has remained largely unchanged over the past 18 months.   Furthermore, in the past six months the number of households in the UK reporting using auction sites actually declined by 4%.   “It is easy to get carried along by the enthusiasm for a dynamic sales channel like the Internet but it’s important to take note of the limits of what is achievable,” said Pamela Varley, research analyst at Point Topic, in a statement released with the survey. “It appears that a ceiling has been reached under the current conditions and retailers will need to ensure their business models reflect this reality. Historically this hasn’t always been the case.”