By Paul Philleo

Winston Churchill once said cold war Russia was a "riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma." The same could be said of modern consumers these days, when it comes to technology and their content choices - especially online. The Consumer Technology Innovations event in Redwood City last week highlighted many of these issues facing consumers, and the technology used by developers and content creators to serve them.

Addressing this thorny topic impressively under an hour at the event was Vince Broady, Head of the Games, Entertainment and Youth Properties division at Yahoo! Scott Roesch, Vice President & General Manager at Atom Films, and Paul Yanover, Executive VP & Managing Director at Disney Online, were also part of the panel.

Parts of the discussion touched upon familiar topics of closer content integration with advertising, while remaining relevant against fast-moving trends within Web 2.0. A specific example was the flag the panelists most often rallied around was one of Disney Online's recent acquisitions, Club Penguin. It is a popular Flash-based multiplayer online game designed for the youth market, right down to the charmingly cute penguin avatars. "We're going to try to innovate within Disney, while recognizing…who's innovating outside," said Yanover. Disney Online broadened their horizons past familiar intellectual property and benefited significantly from it. He admitted the challenge in balancing expectations versus opportunity: "How do we stay relevant with the new experience offered on the Internet while staying true to our brand?"

As a representative of a company without a social networking application or web-based game, Roesch posed the introspective question in reply, "As a mid-sized and somewhat established brand….I wonder how we compete with that and stay relevant (to the Club Penguin market)?"

The difference between a classic website, a game and social networking is blurring, a fact the panelists recognized. Yanover quipped, "What was the web is now Facebook, what used to be a website is now a widget."

As tumultuous as sorting through the business of online entertainment can be right now, what might the future hold? Yanover foresees an explosion of virtual worlds and massively multiplayer online games, while developers and investors will try to "crack the code" for paid content. Roesch agreed, adding that the on-demand experience for premium information is also a part of the future. Broady stated he's watchful for the company that can merge advertising with content seamlessly.

Based on the sum of the panelists' conjecture, the future of Web 2.0 will belong to those companies that can innovate quickly. Producing interactive and social networking-friendly content that's tailored to their individual customers' unique needs will also be key. The content will also have to be supported by non-intrusive and perfectly adapted advertising. To say the least, that is an enormous challenge worthy of any company.

The panel from left to right: Moderator, Broady, Yanover, and Roesch