WEB 2.0 is still the Internet, but it's different to everything we've become used. It's a movement away from websites as simple information resources to a new web platform characterised by freedom, participation and interactivity.

With Web 2.0, users participate in the World Wide Web via web-based communities which encourage sharing and collaboration. Instead of just reading other people's content, users can create their own, comment on and even edit what other people have done. What used to be a read-only web is now a read-write web.

O'Reilly Media coined the term Web 2.0 in 2003. While the name suggests it's an updated version of the Internet, Web 2.0 is merely a more intelligent way of using the same technology. Blogs, networking sites, Wikis and RSS feeds, which let users join interactive online communities and share content with other users, are among the most popular Web 2.0 tools.

Its increasing popularity has made companies that own Web 2.0 websites the target of major corporate acquisitions. Websites launched years ago by small start-up companies are being sold to global media conglomerates for millions. Two of the biggest success stories of this revolution are Myspace and YouTube.

Myspace is a social networking site that allows users to interact with friends from around the world. Created in 2003 by Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe, who in 2005 sold it to News Corporation for $US580 million, has about 182 million members.

Perhaps the most famous of all recent Web 2.0 acquisitions is the YouTube/Google deal. YouTube, created by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim in 2005, is a website for users to upload, view and share videos. From humble beginnings in a garage, it has become one of the most popular websites on the Internet. Google bought it for $US1.65 billion late last year.

There have been more than 20 Web 2.0 acquisitions since 2003, from the sale of WebJay to Yahoo for about $US1 million to the enormous $US2.5 billion purchase of Skype. Major media companies are racing to buy as many Web 2.0 sites as possible, suggesting they realise the popularity and power the second generation of the World Wide Web wields.

Even if you don't have the millions of dollars needed to buy your own revolutionary Web 2.0 company, you can use Web 2.0 as a great business tool.

It's an excellent Internet marketing resource for businesses of all sizes. Used correctly, technologies like blogs and RSS feeds are simple and cost-effective ways to generate business leads, raise awareness of your brand, build your database of contacts and even improve your Google page rank.

The figures for Web 2.0 are mind blowing - Technorati indexes more than 75 million blogs, 230,000 new members sign up to Myspace every day and YouTube gets more than 20 million visitors each month.

The sales potential is huge if your business can reach even a small of these people. You can integrate these tools with other Internet marketing activities to generate results. Getting your business name out there through Blogs, networking sites and articles will increase the traffic to your website. Once potential customers are on your site, there are numerous ways to capture their details so you can add them to your database and continue communicating with them.