The first Open Web Awards hosted by Mashable was a success. The awards night was a bit late since the winners were already announced last December 21, 2007. But still, it was a success and I’m hoping this won’t just be a first.

The conference was held yesterday January 10 at sunny San Francisco, California at the Palace Hotel. The whole Social Media and Web 2.0 community has finally got to recognizing the best of the best. A total of 250,000 votes were cast. Next year, I am certain it’ll be bigger— more nominations, more finalists, and hopefully more sponsors so the prizes will be bigger.

Here are the winners of Mashable’s first ever Open Web Awards.

1. PEOPLE’S CHOICE
Mainstream and Large Social Networks
Netlog

Applications and Widgets
WidgetBucks

Social News and Social Bookmarking
digg

Social Search
facebook

Sports and Fitness
SPORTME

Photo Sharing
VOIS

Video Sharing
Kaltura

Start Pages
iGoogle

Places and Events
myspace.com

Music
PANDORA

Social Shopping
ZliO

Mobile
Google Mobile

Niche and Miscellaneous Social Networks
cafemom

3. JUDGE’S CHOICE
Mainstream and Large Social Networks
facebook

Applications and Widgets
Flock

Social News and Social Bookmarking
digg

Social Search
Mahalo

Sports and Fitness
ESPN

Photo Sharing
flickr

Video Sharing
YouTube

Start Pages
netvibe

Places and Events
Meetup

Music
last.fm

Social Shopping
woot!

Mobile
twitter

Niche and Miscellaneous Social Networks
FilmCrave

Websites like facebook and digg are lucky to have been awarded twice. I agree more with the Judge’s Choice than with the People’s Choice though.

Congratulations to the winners! Here’s to a more successful and social Web 2.0 and Social Media in 2008!

Definitely a first for the largest search engine in the world, Google and YouTube is teaming up with Japanase electronics company Matsushita,maker of Panasonic, to create flat panel TVs that allow viewing of online videos via YouTube.

I know of using the TV set as the computer monitor to surf the Internet but with this one, Google, YouTube, and Picassa can be easily accessed with just a press of a button.

So there’s the Google Phone and YouTube viewing in iPhones. An internet-enabled TV could be a welcome addition to the pack. I can see social marketing making its way to local TV sets making advertising and marketing have a larger reach.

If built-in Internet TVs catch the attention of the public, then web social marketing has a very bright future. Imagine Web 2.0 experience right in your own living room with just a click of the remote. I bet there will be more and more couch potatoes.

So we’re done with the predictions. Looks like social marketing is here to stay. Better yet, is here to lead the way of Internet marketing. The YouTube boom and the sudden popularity of Facebook are just perhaps two of the most memorable successes in 2007. From Web 2.0, we are slowly moving to Web 3.0 and now there are talks about Web 4.0. It can be quite confusing to differentiate, but only one thing is clear : Internet marketing, whether SEO, e-mail marketing, and video marketing, will still be the fastest and most phenomenal means of marketing.

Traditional marketing will still be effective but more people will turn to their Macs and PCs instead of their newspapers and TVs. I agree with Blue Magnet that “social and search marketing is clearly leading the way together with e-mail and mobile marketing.” And I so agree with their Top 10 Internet Marketing Tips :

1. Optimise your website’s content. SEO is still important. If you still haven’t gotten to optimizing your site’s content, start now. Love your audience. Love Google.
2. Create a content development strategy for your website. Nothing’s better than having a good plan. Check if it’s time for you to change niche or directions.
3. Invest in a paid search (pay-per-click) campaign. AdWords or Overture. Choose just one expect more search traffic.
4. Publicize your website through article marketing. Doing PR work is not just for traditional media. Article directories and submissions will be good for your linkbuilding efforts.
5. Develop a social media marketing strategy. Into Facebook? MySpace? There are hundreds of social networks and bookmarks that allow you to share whatever you have.
6. Create a Company Blog. Enough said. Blog will be bigger this year so take time to develop a readable and interesting blog.
7. Experiment with video marketing. You’ll be surprised how videos can help. Why do you think Google bought YouTube in the first place?
8. Engage your audiences with web widget marketing. Widgets are everywhere. Why not join in the bandwagon?
9. Discover the benefits of mobile marketing. Your mobile phone will only get thinner and smarter but it will be one powerful marketing tool. Companies should learn how to do more effective mobile marketing.
10. Create an effective email marketing strategy. E-mails will still be effective this year. Make sure though that you think of different ways on how to catch the attention of your audience. Don’t make them look like they are ready to be sent to the Spam folder.

I can’t believe it’s SEOmoz. You’d think they’d know better. Well, it’s a lesson for the rest of us.

If you’re going to post a video to YouTube and embed it on your blog then make sure it’s available. There’s no sense in posting a video only to have it removed then your blog content is useless because it relies on a multimedia presentation that once existed on another website.

I don’t know why the video isn’t available, but SEOmoz only posted this blog post yesterday. Who knows how long the video had been posted before that. But it isn’t available now. Just click on it as if you want to see the video. It’s all gone. Bad, bad, bad.

And I like what one visitor had to say, obviously while the video was still available:

It certainly sound interesting, but the one thing I would add even without watching is that I think it’s important to differentiate viral marketing & linkbait - they’re not the same thing.

Yes, that’s true. Viral marketing and linkbait are two different things. But both can be ruined by a good foible.

Video sharing is on fire from all quarters. First, Viacom took a punch at YouTube, but other large companies have done so as well. If the Napster story is any clue, you can bet the courts will step in rule in favor of the companies who feel as though they are being shafted by video owners sharing their video content with non-owners. But this will only affect those video owners who share content that was produced by someone else. In short, you will need to get permission before you share video content.

Most video marketers, however, produce their own videos. But what about those who do not? Is there any protection? Here are a few pointers if you want to get involved in video social marketing:

• Produce your own videos; do not use someone else’s content
• If you do use someone else’s content, get permission first
• Understand Fair Use Law and act appropriately
• Give proper attribution for material that is not yours
• When it doubt, throw it out

Play it on the safe side. Eventually, these companies will start going after the video sharers themselves. Or you could run the risk of losing your account status at the video sharing sites if the courts do decide against them. When it comes to video marketing, your business reputation is at stake so keep it ethical.

You know, this may sound crazy, but if the current Writer’s Guild of America strike may actually be a boon to YouTube.

If the strike lasts much longer, prime time television shows will run out of finished episodes they can air, and where will entertainment starved people turn to? Yes, the Internet. There could be a lot of new traffic coming in to the popular video sharing site if this happens, so why shouldn’t you be there?

We’ve talked numerous times about creating viral videos and putting them on YouTube to advertise your company, so wouldn’t an increase in traffic make it even more worth your time? Even if this doesn’t come to pass, you should have videos out there any way for the normal, everyday traffic the site gets.

While certainly no one wants to profit from misfortune, it is never a good idea to pass up a potential opportunity.

I’ve mentioned using videos via YouTube before, but know how you can use it even more?

Hold a video contest.

That’s right, a contest. Have customers make a “commercial” for your business (with lots of rules, of course), and tell them they can submit the videos via YouTube because it’s free. In actuality you are having them spread the name of your business all over the popular video sharing site. Tell them the name of your business must be in the title of the video so you can find it in case something goes wrong with their submission, and that will increase your indexing on the site. Carry it even further, and tell them they get a second entry in the contest if they post it to their social networking accounts.

With all the advances in technology, there’s nothing that says you must do all the work to get your name out there in front of the masses.