ReadWriteWeb just posted an in depth article stating that the contextual web is the next stage in the development of the web. The article states that technologies like open API’s and web services like those offered by Baynote’s contextual targeting platform have paved the way for a more personal and contextual user experience. While many of these new products designed to target the user’s context are being guided by similar methodologies, the data they use to drive relevant content is often quite rudimentary.

Given the state of the economy, this shift to the contextual web makes perfect sense. The last few years have been about finding new ways to spend your money to drive more people to your website like determining the best viral marketing techniques for getting 5 million unique users per month. This next step is constructing a more efficient web. A web where websites need less visitors to produce the same number of conversions, and to use those conversions to attract new visitors within the same context.