Headlines can tell you a lot about what happened over the year. Below I’ve assembled some of the most telling headlines from TechCrunch posts in 2007, divided by month. The big story of the year was the battle between Facebook and Google with their competing platforms for social networking applications (and ads). But there were other interesting subplots as well, such as media companies trying to assert themselves in the digital domain with Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit against YouTube, NBC and Fox launching Hulu, and NBC tangling with iTunes, not to mention the whole DRM-free drama in music. In the wireless world, we saw Google launch its Android mobile operating system and make a bid for wireless spectrum. The iPhone was another big story, as was Apple’s efforts to control how consumers were able to use (or not use) the device.
A lot of startups gained some major traction during the year, including Digg, Joost, Ning, and Slide. The notion of paying consumers who help to build popular sites also gained traction, with Revver doling out more than $1 million to its top contributors, and YouTube following suit by opening up its own partner program. In Web apps, online spreadsheets, word processors, and presentation suites came together and both Zoho and Google made strides towards taking those apps offline, representing an important shift in consumer software.
Below is a set of the most topical posts from TechCrunch in 2007 that I hope gives you a flavor of the year that’s passed. See also our Year in Deals, Year in DeadPool, and Most Popular Posts.
December
20: Google-DoubleClick Deal Passes FTC Hurdle. Now Comes the Hard Part: Europe
20: Fair Use Vs. Free Speech in the Internet Age: The Lane Hartwell Problem
12: Bebo Embraces Facebook Apps With Its “Open Applications Platform”
3: More Facebook Advertisers Bail From Beacon. Plus, New Concerns.
November
29: Google To Announce Wireless Spectrum Bid Friday
18: Amazon Kindle To Debut On Monday – Ugly But Impressive
6: Liveblogging Facebook Advertising Announcement (Social Ads + Beacon + Insights)
5: Breaking: Google Announces Android and Open Handset Alliance
October
30: Details Revealed: Google OpenSocial To Launch Thursday
28: Hulu Launches Private Beta, Makes Very Good First Impressions
4: The Inevitable March of Recorded Music Towards Free
1: Skype: CEO Zennstrom Steps Down; Only 1/3 of Earnout Paid
September
28: Note to Apple: Stop Thinking Like a Phone Company
27: AOL Is Gussying Itself Up for an Advertising IPO
23: Ning Milestone: 100k Social Networks
21: Google To “Out Open” Facebook On November 5
12: Revver: $1 Million In User Payouts In First 12 Months
August
28: Slide Users Adding One Million New Widgets Daily: That’s a Lot Of Widgets
21: Zoho Goes Offline (in a good way)
July
25: Joost Says They Have 1 million Beta Users; Launch By Year End
25: Microsoft Now Selling Digg’s Ads, July 25
25: The FCC Needs To Listen To Google, July 22
15: Ron Paul: A Distributed Web 2.0 Campaign
June
27: MySpace Videos To Become MySpace TV, YouTube Competitor
2: Amp’d Mobile Implodes: Burns $360 million, Declares Bankruptcy
May
30: Google Gears Lets Developers Take Apps Offline
24: Facebook Launches Facebook Platform; They are the Anti-MySpace
22: Silicon Valley Could Use A Downturn Right About Now
3: Breaking: Yahoo To Shut Down Yahoo Photos In Favor Of Flickr
April
30: Silverlight: The Web Just Got Richer
17: Google’s Office Suite Complete: Google “PowerPoint” Confirmed
10: PhotoBucket Videos Blocked on MySpace
4: Forget YouTube: Go To These Sites If You Want Hard Core Copyright Infringing Content
March
23: Dear Clown Co.: Name This Thing Fast Before It’s Too Late
13: Viacom Drops a $1 Billion Nuke on Google.
7: Digg Hits 1 Million Registered Users.
February
PowerHype At Powerset, February 12
Apple Openly Supports Death of DRM. February 6
January
It’s Official – eBay is Buying StubHub For $310 million. January 10
Bubble, Bubble, Bubble, January 7, 2007