Ask anyone what a "mashup" is and they might think it's the latest in a series of exotic drinks, or maybe a car wreck after an accident. But despite its name, it's opening up an entirely new market.

Simply put, a mashup takes content from several different websites and combines them together to provide the user with an entirely different experience.

The history of mashups is usually traced back to Paul Redemacher who combined real estate listings in popular Craigslist, with maps from Google to pinpoint exact locations of properties with accompanying directions, thereby providing an extremely helpful service to users.

Another example is the complex ChicagoCrime.org website that combines the crime record from the Chicago Police Department with Google Maps allowing users to view the crime rate in their neighborhood. This is especially useful when moving.

Mashups essentially provide a service to users where they don't have to do anything themselves - atleast, not as much as they might have to without it. By drawing on information from multiple sources, it allows the creation of one global operating system, much like Microsoft's Windows.

Of course, drawing information from multiple websites is no new phenomenon - shopping websites have been incorporating it for years by drawing in prices from various sources and displaying them in a single location. However, the prices themselves have remained static and have not been drawn consistently from another website, ie the process has not been dynamic. By not storing everything in their own database, and drawing information directly from the vast repositories of the source websites, this has given developers a vast array of information to play with.

This is now no longer restricted to private individuals with creativity and programming skills - Google liked Redemacher's idea so much that they hired him and his website (HousingMaps) is now Google Maps.

Many other corporations such as Amazon and Yahoo! have started incorporating mashup websites as part of their offerings. Amazon gives users the power in its new A9 website, which draws informatio from various sources and displays it in unique ways to its users.

The benefits and potentials of mashup websites are enormouse - by combining information from various sources, you provide users to instant, dynamic information with a simple click of a button thereby drawing more visitors and less need to look elsewhere.

HousingMaps drew in half a million unique viewers within a few days of its introduction.

For instance, you could draw in information from competing websites to compare the information with your own thereby enforcing your motto line of lower prices and better business, provide of course you're better!

In conclusion, mashups are the next big thing to hit the web and the quicker you get on board, the more profits you reap. After all, they don't say the early bird catches the worm for nothing!