GigaOM Pro

Big data continues to be a big draw for GigaOM Pro readers. This week Derrick Harris’ “Cloud computing and trickle-down analytics” looks at the rising demand for big-data analytics from businesses of all sizes, deemed “trickle-down analytics.” While analyzing large data sets (especially when using Hadoop) typically requires the attention of a data scientist or specialized engineer, there’s a rapidly growing set of tools and applications that are specifically designed with user-friendly interfaces for developers and nondevelopers alike. Harris provides an overview of what’s on the market today, cites specific market niches that are still evolving and maturing, and takes a look ahead to Hadoop in 2013.

Next, in “New strategies in consumer-media cloud storage,” Paul Sweeting examines a survey of consumer adoption and knowledge of cloud technology and provides a brief history of the consumer-cloud market to date. He also compares the cloud technology, strategies and outlook for the three major players in the market — Apple, Amazon and Google — as well as offerings from stand-alone cloud startups such as Dropbox and SugarSync.

Last, David Card looks at the contentious social-media ad space in “Social media advertising realities.” With an eye closely trained on Facebook and Twitter, both of which made recent announcements about new partnerships and strategies, Card questions if either company can succeed in monetizing the social media ad space and whether or not a mobile strategy will actually make a difference.

Also popular this week:

A near-term outlook for big data

Why Tesla’s Model X could make the electric SUV a mainstream hit

Is Android broken, and if so, will Google fix it?