Genius.com's David Thompson on why Web 2.0 is about more than consumers

So far, most of the focus of Web 2.0 has been on consumers and user-generated content.

But given the successful IPO executed earlier this month by Web analytics firm Constant Contact, investors are ready to reward companies who use Web data to help businesses.

David Thompson, CEO of Genius.com, says large companies are looking for ways to take data on Web users and apply it to their sales tracking processes.

One of the company's largest clients is Cisco, whose inside sales reps use Genius technology to see what current and potential customers are looking at online and then use a customized chat service to send them offers and information.

Genius charges $49 per month per corporate user, and layers other services, like customized reports, on top of those fees. 

The company is in a crowded market, with rivals ranging from Omniture to Core Metrics to Web Side Story and Constant Contact, which raised $107 million in their IPO. The stock soared in its first day of trading, giving the firm a market cap of over $700 million.