10 Hottest Internet Trends For 2015

With the year gone past, it's time to look ahead. With internet as the biggest thing in both consumer and enterprise spaces, it is only obvious that it will play a crucial role in shaping various industries throughout the year.

Ben Schachter, an analyst from Macquarie Securities, has highlighted the top ten things we should expect to see explode in the internet space in the year 2015.

1. The Internet Of Things

Soon, nearly everything will be internet-connected. Schachter says we'll see a burst of connectedness in "virtually all areas of the economy," including home automation, transportation and healthcare.

2. Big Data

Big data — a buzzy term that alludes to new tools that help companies analyze massive amounts of data — will continue to mature into a huge market. Companies will continue increasing the utility of data in 2015, Schachter writes.

3. Wearables

Prepare to see even more fitness gadgets, health monitors and smart glasses. "We're just getting started," according to Schachter.

4. Better Internet Access

Google and Facebook are both trying to drive faster speeds and more connectivity, in the US and abroad. In 2015, we'll see advancements with Google's Project Loon, Google Fiber, and Facebook's Internet.org.

5. Cloud For Business

More and more enterprise companies will start moving parts of their business to the cloud. Right now, Amazon Web Services is the biggest enterprise provider by far, but Google and Microsoft will be coming after AWS more aggressively in the coming year.

6. Mobile Payments

Even though Apple wasn't the first company to take a stab at mobile payments, Apple Pay made much more of an initial splash than its predecessors, and the space is expected to ramp up quickly in 2015.

7. Commerce: Amazon Versus Everyone Else

Amazon makes vastly more in e-commerce sales than anyone else — an expected $91 billion in sales this year, more than the next dozen largest e-tailors combined. Next year, it will continue to take share, but Google, Alibaba, eBay, and others "will try to help large and small local players fight back."

8. Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic platforms — which automate the ad buying and selling process — are prepped to fundamentally reshape the entire digital advertising landscape. Macquarie predicts we'll see improved tech, more platforms and more media, including video dollars, moving to internet players.

9. Better Targeted Ads

"The science of search (advertising) has finally come to display," Schachter writes.You'll start to see video advertisements become much more tailored to your to your interests.

10. Virtual/Augmented Reality

Oculus and Google Glass are the biggest names in virtual reality, but a startup called Magic Leap also entered the the scene this fall with a $542 million investment led by Google. The technology "needs a lot of innovation and improvements, but it?s time is coming," Schachter writes.