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So the 'Twitter for enterprise' product Yammer won the TC50 contest. Having slammed Yammer, here is who I think should have won: GoodGuide. It's a consumer play, but it is not Web 2.0 social media wisdom of the crowd. It uses hard core technology and research to deliver a service that is totally mainstream. It is also needed and in a hot area.

What criteria should we use to decide winners? Well this is about business, so my definition of a winner is a company that becomes very profitable for a long time. In other words, would I invest?

Profits will usually follow if you have these three characteristics:

1. A valuable "must have" service
2. Delivered to a very large number of users who have money to spend
3. With rich customers (not necessarily the same as users in web ventures)

Parents a Key Audience

GoodGuide looks like it meets those three criteria pretty well. It looks a tad "trendy green" at first glance, but if you have young children you pay a lot of attention to what you put in and on those little bodies. As a parent, this is "mission critical". There are lots of parents out there and they spend a lot of money on what they consider their top priority. GoodGuide is not just for parents, but I think that will be their initial traction.

GoodGuide is going after a totally mainstream market; this service does not rely on the satiated early adopter that everybody else in Web 2.0 has been chasing.

Being in a hot area - "trendy green" - will help in getting mainstream press. I assume they will be worrying a lot more about PR in Vanity Fair and People than the tech blogosphere. So when they are ready, they have a shot at being noticed.

As for rich customers, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) is the classic advertiser. They spend tons. GoodGuide is not dependent on advertising from financial services firms that are in a mess at the moment.

Database of Intentions

GoodGuide did not reveal specifics on their revenue model. That is not a concern. GoodGuide is naturally monetizable, as the service creates a database of intentions. They will need to be careful in the nuances of monetization and so should take their time to get this right. But unlike communication services - which do not have a native monetization model - anything that creates a database of intentions finds clients and revenues fairly easily.

As for longevity/sustainability/barriers, what GoodGuide has done takes real hard work. This is not a simple social media hack or a surface aggregation that you could do with a tool like Dapper. GoodGuide requires a fine balance of technology, research and domain expertise. If 10 wannabees set out to compete, they would take at least 6 months and probably a lot longer to get to a me too offering.

Finally, passion. These guys sounded like they had been working this for a while and were in it for the long haul. You need that to build a business when simple exits are less likely and businesses will need to manage through a slower growth in the global economy. You need that passion to be thinking a couple of moves ahead, so you have plenty of innovation to counter the inevitable copy cat attempts.

Number 2 Pick

My number two pick would have been TrueCar - and it has similar characteristics. In the end, GoodGuide looks a better bet for one simple reason. We buy a new car only every few years, whereas we buy the products that GoodGuide researches every day. Marketing a brand/service that consumers only need occasionally is tougher, although search engine marketing has certainly made it a lot easier than it used to be.

What do You Think?

Tell us in the Poll what you think. Who should have won? Yammer or GoodGuide or another startup? If you choose 'other', tell us in comments who you think should have won and why.

Who should have won the TC50 start-up challenge?
( polls)

Getting information out to victims and their families during a disaster is a major issue for any relief organization. So while the Central United States recovers from a spate of storms that has ravaged towns with tornadoes and flooding, the American Red Cross is relying on a number of web 2.0 technologies to spread information to the press and people affected by the severe weather. The online newsroom that the organization has set up relies on a number of web 2.0 widgets.

The newsroom site runs off of Wordpress, and it's being used to push out press releases, media, and information about shelters. The Red Cross is using Utterz to post audio reports from the field, Flickr for photos and YouTube for videos, as well as a Slide-powered slideshow widget that allows anyone to upload photos of disaster areas. The site also features a Google Maps mashup that depicts the surprisingly large number of relief operations currently being run by the American Red Cross (hint: click the "view larger map" link, because viewing the informative popups inside the widget on site is next to impossible).

That the Red Cross is using social media sharing sites like Utterz, Flickr, and YouTube (they even have a Twitter account) is not surprising. We reported in April on a study that appeared in New Scientist magazine that found that social media sites, blogs, and instant messaging services are better at connecting people and providing warnings during emergencies than traditional sources of such information.

During last fall's California wildfires, for example, the best source of breaking information was a combination of Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, blogs, and other tools of citizen journalists. As the fires continued to rage out of control, media poured into CNN's i-Report section, which collects user submitted news photos and videos, and the value of citizen journalism became so apparent that the company eventually spun i-Report off as a standalone web site.

"The real contribution of citizen journalists in a story like this, where whole areas of land are closed off and the fields of greatest danger keep shifting, is in having more eyes on the ground," Thomas Hollihan, a professor of media at the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Southern California, told the Baltimore Sun. "Citizen journalists are swapping information back and forth - reporting where the flames are now headed or showing images on their cell phones of the fire. And with so much happening so quickly, that kind of information can be really powerful - if it is accurate."

Last spring, when tragedy struck Virginia Tech University, the "I'm ok at VT" group on Facebook famously connected students with families and friends. Hundreds of other support groups, blogs, and web site sprung up on social networking sites and around the web as a way to connect students and help them through troubling times. The Red Cross operates a similar site for connecting disaster survivors with friends and family.

From disaster relief and other non-governmental organizations to citizen journalists and the mainstream media, web 2.0 and mobile technology is being used to connect, inform, and mobilize people during disasters.

Today Google announced the public availability of Google Health, after initially launching as a closed beta back in February. It is described as "a safe and secure way to collect, store, and manage [your] medical records and health information online" and is being positioned as a way for users to control their own medical records.

Google Health is a decent entry into the game-changing (and potentially hugely profitable) world of health 2.0. But in comparison with other health startups, Google Health has a limited scope and is not as innovative a service as we've come to expect from Google...

Taking a leaf from Microsoft's marketing playbook, in announcing the public launch Google has partnered with a number of health services - although it admits that it has "literally thousands [more] partnerships to forge".

Limitations

As of now Google Health is limited to english language and is available in the US only. So there isn't a lot to be gained for those of us outside the US uploading our medical records into Google Health. Perhaps we are better off using a truly global service, such as Australian startup MiVitals (our coverage). Although Google will over time open up Google Health to the rest of the world.

Google Health is limited in many other ways, chief among them is that users need to import their own data into the service - there is little in the way of automatic data entry from your health providers. This was a key issue we found with MiVitals too. As we've noted before, when it comes to health data there are a couple of key issues to overcome:

1) Ensuring that the data is ultra secure and that all privacy bases are covered; and

2) Getting healthcare professionals to use the system.

On the first issue, Google appears to have pretty strong privacy policies - indeed before you can even access the site you need to approve a fairly long Terms of Service page. For example Google is very careful to position this as an informational service, rather than a diagnostic one:

"Google Health does not offer medical advice. Any content accessed through Google Health is for informational purposes only, and is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, drug interactions, or adverse effects."

However they still need to convince consumers that their data is truly safe on the Web - which with very personal data like health, is a tough ask. Even I'm not fully comfortable storing my health data online yet.

As we mentioned with MiVitals, the second issue is probably the biggest - and will require integration with existing healthcare IT systems. Google has made a start with the few partners it announced (limited to parts of the US).

Some of Google's initial health partners

However integration is a huge obstacle and one that many startups have tried to solve before, including in the original 'dot com' era. One was Jim Clark's famous Healtheon startup - as outlined in Michael Lewis' must-read dot com book The New New Thing, Clark (the co-founder of Netscape and one of Silicon Valley's enduring folk heroes) set out to revolutionize the healthcare industry in the US via an Internet startup named Healtheon. As the Wikipedia notes, Healtheon "developed software that essentially placed their company between physicians, patients, and health care institutions, eliminating unnecessary paperwork and facilitating networking and communication amongst the three." Although initially unsuccessful, in late 1999 Healtheon merged with the Microsoft-backed WebMD - and today the combined entity is considered the leading health portal.

Conclusion: Google Health Just Scratches the Surface

Google Blogoscoped has a good overview of the new service. But to us, it feels like Google Health is not much more than a glorified health search engine / portal - which to be fair is perhaps the whole point (Google's motto after all is to organize the world's information).

In terms of the market for health apps, it is still a nascent one - but both Google and Microsoft have been positioning themselves well. Microsoft announced their Health Vault initiative last October and in February they acquired Medstory, a vertical search engine for health information. Others in this market include Steve Case's Revolution Health and the current market leader in online health, WebMD. There are also a host of vertical search engines in the health field, including Healia and one of my favorites kosmix.

ReadWriteWeb has been covering health 2.0 for a while now. Check out some of our previous coverage in this fascinating sector of web technology:

• Health 2.0 - Apps & Trends to Watch
• Health Care at SXSW - Health Getting Hot With Tech Crowd
• Top Health 2.0 Web Apps

As we mentioned in the 'Top Health 2.0 Web Apps' post, much of the current crop of health 2.0 apps are based on enhancing communucation, information sharing, and community; rather than tackling the bigger challenges like providing medical diagnosis over the Web. Google Health is a very good example, as it is basically just an information storage service - albeit a handy one because patients will be able to access their records much easier.

But that is slowly changing. Carol.com (a "care marketplace") and Sermo (a community for physicians to exchange information and collaborate) are two examples of new business models that are emerging in healthcare, using the Web (see the Top Health 2.0 Web Apps post for more detail). ZocDoc, which enables you to make doctor and dentist appointments online (currently limited to parts of New York), is another. Online diagnosis will happen too, for example automated online CDSS (Clinical Decision Support Systems).

So Google Health is a good start, alongside Microsoft Health Vault and the many other initiatives by startups and others who have been working on health data apps for some time. But the real action will be in online diagnosis and when web apps are integrated into traditional health systems.

SXSW 2008 will most likely be remembered for the Zuckerberg interview controversy. But a more interesting phenomenon, that in some ways broke through at SXSW, was health care and tech. Specifically the movement to user (or at least employer) owned Web-based health and wellness apps and services.

One of the most popular sessions was 'Transforming Hospital Systems: The Digital Future of Healthcare'.

This is a guest post by Joshua Rosenthal, Ph.D., founder of www.Sprigley.com

The speakers were Michael Kennedy, an Info systems guy at Microsoft specializing in hospital and insurance systems, and Gregg Lucksinger, Chief Medical Officer of Red River Family Practice and Central Texas Clinical Research. Dr. Lucksinger opened with a case study of how Electronic Medical Records have helped his practice. Helped save time, save money, reduce mistakes, etc. It's not too hard of a case to make in theory. Your bank uses electronic records to streamline your banking, why should your doctors have to mail each other libraries of paper files? Of course the devil is in the details, particularly those involving implementation.

SXSW health care session

Michael Kennedy noted that Microsoft is getting into health care big time. According to Kennedy, Microsoft's health care staff now tops 600 full time employees. Much of the work focuses on tying electronic medical records to hospital systems. Not surprisingly, most of the growth is in foreign markets where things don't need to be "retro-fitted" to engage "legacy systems", but can be dropped in from scratch.

Microsoft's Healthvault

All of this is old hat in healthcare circles and received limited yawns and polite nods of ascent in the session. Things got interesting when Kennedy described Microsoft's Personal Health Record product, Healthvault.

Basic primer: Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) are for doctors and hospitals, insurance companies and employers. They contain things like codes for drugs, tests and procedures - i.e. data. Personal Health Records, on the other hand, are accessible to individual patients. They are a higher level description that people can understand themselves and share with others - i.e. information rather than data. Microsoft's Healthvault places them squarely in the consumer market. It's the plumbing that ties together devices and services meant for individuals. Add to that Google Health, another recent Big Internet Co entry into the same space, and it's easy to see why the session was standing room only and the line for Q&A stretched almost out the door.

Kennedy noted that things were still early, still in roll out mode for both Microsoft and Google, but he mentioned enough current consumer devices and applications to create buzz.

Health 2.0 Devices and Apps

First up, watches from Polar that monitor your heart rate and write the information to your Personal Health Record:

Imagine sharing trends from your workout sessions with your doctor health coach or personal trainer. Same thing with a scale from A&D Medical:

A pedometer from OMRON:

The more traditional medical devices, like blood pressure monitors from OMRON:

A wrist-worn blood pressure unit from Microlife, and a blood glucose meter from Johnson & Johnson's LifeScan:

Okay, so the above are some cool devices. Is anyone making slick apps to sit on top of those devices? Check out the American Heart Association's Blood Pressure Management Center, which gives a slick visualization and makes it easy to see your blood pressure trends over time:

Maybe you're an athlete. How about software from Peaksware? Training Peaks is for the workout junky, while Fitness Peaks is more for the person interested in being generally fit.

Trends

So what does all of this mean? Firstly, these devices and apps help people become experts in their health and well-being. Individuals gather their data - blood pressure, glucose, heart rate, weight, workout session and nutritional information, etc - then use the apps to learn about themselves over time.

Second, portability. Tracking your weight, blood pressure and workout info over time isn't new. The problem was that every product lived in its own silo. The offerings from Microsoft and Google break down these walled gardens, creating rich data assets for personal lifelong care, from their interaction with a given product.

Perhaps more importantly, granting people a 360 degree view of themselves - how does taking a walk affect your own blood pressure and glucose?

Finally, personal responsibility. Health care is about behavior change - about people taking control of their own health and well-being. Right now everybody has your data but you. Your doctor, your employer and your insurance company have the information and the tools. But that data is lost every time you move, switch doctors, switch jobs or insurance companies. Ironically, the person who has the greatest chance of impacting your health behaviors (you), has virtually no access to information and tools to do so. But the above apps are changing that, creating access and portability that give you the power to take control of your own health and well-being.

Written by Joshua Rosenthal, Ph.D., founder of www.Sprigley.com

Editor's note: this week the Health 2.0 Conference was held in San Diego, CA. The following is a review of the event, by Bill Allman from HealthCentral.com.

Anyone who struggles with healthcare in America – and that’s probably just about everyone – has a pretty good grip on the myriad problems facing doctors, patients, and health institutions. It’s a long list: finding a doctor when and where you need one; getting your health questions answered; finding trustworthy, reliable information online; worrying about getting quick and easy access to your health records (while at the same time worried about keeping them away from a too nosy-somebody else); and just getting a simple hug and a little support from a sympathetic friend or ally who knows what you are going through.

Despite the legendary intractableness some of these issues, at this week's Health 2.0 – “Connecting Consumers & Providers” conference in San Diego, there was no dearth of tech adventurers with an idea of solving some small corner of the puzzle. Orchestrated by health gurus Matthew Holt and Indu Subalya, who founded the event last year (click here for Holt’s Health 2.0 blog), the conference was quickly sold out, and the hundreds of attendees were treated to a host of presentations, ranging from trendy health-oriented social networks to “wired” doctors to the storing, managing and protection of Patient Health Records.

Matthew Holt questioning Matthew Zachary - photo by sprigley

Setting the stage on the first morning was Susannah Fox of the Pew Internet and American Live Project (her blog), who championed the idea that patients have to take – and be given – a stronger role in their health care. She also pushed the assembled entrepreneurs to carve their role in creating a doctor-patient partnership, in what she called the “space in between ‘doctor knows best’ and ‘leave the e-patient alone and he/she will find what is needed’" (her quote is from doctor/pioneer Charlie White, founder of www.eDocAmerica.com.). Fox also launched what turned out to the be the leading “meme” of the conference – summarizing her position in a “seven-word wisdom” mantra that inspired dozens of similar efforts by other presenters:

• Recruit doctors
• Let e-patients lead
• Go mobile

Consumer Health Portals

First up to try to fill in that “space in between” were three consumer health sites that are breaking the mold of the traditional health portals: One is www.Trusera.com, founded by former Amazon exec Keith Schorsch, and which officially launched today; another is www.WEGOHealth.com, founded by former Yahoo Health exec Jack Barrette, which is now in beta; the third is the site I am the General Manager of, www.healthcentral.com. All start with the premise that the experience and learning of patients can be crucial to helping patients get the knowledge and support they need.

Trusera.com is a visually pleasing social network platform, designed to be a place where patients blog and can tell their stories to others. WEGOHealth.com takes a different approach, using patients to help suggest and rate various Web sites for different conditions. HealthCentral.com takes a further, different approach, hiring hundreds of “expert patients” to blog, react to breaking news, answer questions, and give support.

Finding Doctors / Health Providers

Finding, evaluating, and making an appointment with a doctor or health provider is a ever more crowded space, with Healthcare.com, Xoova.com, Healthgrades.com, Vitals.com, and Carol.com all offering variations on the theme of enabling users to research local health resources, get reviews of them, and even book and appointment online. And several companies are rolling out ideas to make those visits easier, or in some cases not as urgent.

The tech company Phreesia.com introduced a cool electronic tablet that doctors can use to electronically sign-in patients, the first foray in the quest to eliminate the tedious process of repeatedly filling out medical forms. American Well and Organized Wisdom are rolling out online applications where patients can chat live with a physician to get basic care questions answered. Both companies emphasize that their sites are not a substitute for a visit to the doctor, but instead could make that visit more effective by giving peace of mind and prescreen for potential problems.

Pioneering MDs

The most intriguing -- and perhaps frustrating presentations -- of the day came from a few pioneering MDs who have set alternative examples of how to set up shop.

Jordan Shlain founded the San Francisco On Call Medical Group, a group of doctors who make house calls almost anywhere their patients want to see them (home, office, even cruise ships) using a souped-up, hi-tech version of the doctors’ venerable black bag.

Jay Parkinson is aiming to be the “small town doctor of Brooklyn ,” using video camming, text messaging, email and chat to help treat his patients.

Both Jordan and Jay showed how different the standard model of health care can be -- but also revealed the huge gap between the existing system of health care and the state-of-the art technology that potentially could be harnessed to serve patients at an ordinary level. In the end, this gap is the core dilemma facing the Health 2.0 efforts to transform the industry.

Conclusion

As David Sobel of The Permanente Medical Group noted, the innovations seen at Health 2.0 are “merely a band-aid” to deeper issues facing the nation’s healthcare system. The technology of the nation’s medicine is perhaps the most sophisticated on the planet -- but a big part of its focus is mostly on managing the last year of a person’s life. Keeping the rest of us healthy, wealthy and wise in an affordable and effective way is a need yet to be met, but the efforts shown at the Health 2.0 conference are at least the first steps in how this might be accomplished. Or, to channel Susannah Fox:

• Health care
• Thorny, tangled mess
• Tech helps

Bill Allman is General Manager / Chief Content-Creative Officer at HealthCentral.com

MySpace may have saved itself from being absolutely intolerable today when it added an option to require a CAPTCHA entry before sending a friend request. Every one's friend Tom announced a host of changes to MySpace this afternoon, most of which were aesthetic and likely to be of consequence only to serious MySpace users.

For the rest of us who keep accounts there primarily to facilitate discovery by old, non-technical friends - the new spam controls will probably be the only change that matters. What a change it is, though! If you've been tempted to cancel you MySpace account because you're tired of porn stars trying to be your friend (is it just me?) now you can log in and change your account settings to block automated friend requests. Sweet. What took so long?

Every swiss male has the duty to serve 260 days (more for higher ranks) in the army. There’s a kind of boom in reforming the swiss army in the last few years, though. So I advice to recheck this information when you’re reading this from the more distant future.

There are different alternatives to serving in the army. I stopped being a soldier some time ago. I’m now serving my first 23 days of alternative civilian service at this small farm. It’s at about 1000 meter over sea level; and it’s getting winter…

I’ll try to do some photo blogging. But don’t have a camera, yet. And I’m not used to photograph at all. My 3 Month stay in North and South America resulted in 0 (zero) pictures:-(

Let’s see.

Disclaimer: some links in German, sorry.

technorati tags: swiss, army, zivildienst, entlebuch, lutersarni, civilian service, huerlisi