These are just a few of the questions examined in the new report Fighting Smart: Using Value-Added Services To Create Lasting Customer Loyalty. The report  – written by MobileGroove  and commissioned by Amdocs Interactive — is based on a survey of 120 telecom executives at major mobile operators across Asia Pacific conducted by market research firm Coleman Parkes.

The findings show that mobile operators are not just waking up to the opportunities to generate revenues through mobile marketing, mobile payments and personalization; they are grasping it with both hands.

Value-add through loyalty

Specifically, the survey found that the majority of respondents (62 percent) believe these value-added services are critical to their business. However,  the survey also revealed that revenue generation is not the top motivation for developing and delivering value-added services to mobile subscribers. Instead, respondents report the end-game is about increasing customer loyalty.

Mobile operators in Asia Pacific — more than in other regions such as North America and Europe — pursue a value-added services strategy to deliver a compelling customer experience, one that will allow them to boost individual loyalty and the lifetime value of their existing customer base. In fact, respondents identified stickiness and improving customer experience as their top two business drivers.

Mobile payments pay-off

Mobile operators in Asia Pacific are also advanced in their strategies to compete against banks, credit cards and middlemen in mobile payments and commerce. Interestingly, Asian mobile operators are not only gearing up for a fight (with 95 percent of respondents claiming to have a mobile payments strategy). They are confident they will win through operator billing, a strategy that stresses billing on behalf of third parties including app stores and providers of virtual goods.

In addition, 84 percent of respondents said they are pursuing bill payment services, 79 percent are investigating peer-to-peer money transfers and 76 percent are working to offer point-of-sale or similar services to enable the purchase of products using NFC.

Why are mobile operators bullish about the outlook for mobile payments and what do they expect to gain? The three top reasons for pursuing this strategy are:  new revenue streams, customer retention and enhanced customer experience.

Personalization and portals

Most Asian mobile operators are confident that their portals and applications storefronts are and will continue to be crowd pleasers. This is a very different picture from other regions where mobile operator portals, destinations that once dominated the landscape, are in serious decline. What’s more, 66 percent of respondents predict that their portals will grow in importance in the next three years, attracting and retaining a loyal audience of mobile users, in  part thanks to portal personalization approaches that emphasize content discovery and contextual relevance.

Among the findings:

• 75 percent of respondents are pursuing mobile advertising and search strategies — and for good reason! The majority (65 percent) report that their subscribers would be willing to view mobile advertising in return for free content such as mobile apps or entertainment

• 55 percent of respondents believe that personalization is the key to improving the value of content (and advertising) they deliver as part of the VAS offer

• 50 percent of respondents believe that at least half of their subscribers will purchase smart phones over the next three years; Blackberry is the most popular platform followed by Android and Apple

Who’s afraid of Google?

Granted, respondents are well aware of the threat from over the top (OTT) players (players including Google, Apple and Facebook that deliver services via operator networks but bypass them completely in the value chain). However, it is interesting to note that mobile operators in this region are also not intimidated by OTT rivals. On the contrary, they are confident that the threat from these players will diminish over time.

My take:

Why the positive outlook? No doubt mobile operators across Asia Pacific are confident that the value added services they have baked into their offers will allow them to deliver a superior customer experience and beat the competition at its own game. In addition to developing their mobile payment strategies, mobile operators are also sharpening their focus on mobile advertising, mobile search, and personalization — an approach that will allow them to super-charge their value-added services for maximum impact.

* * *

TWEETCHAT

The new report is also the topic of this week’s Tweetchat — organized by Amdocs Interactive and hosted by MobileGroove — on Wednesday, August 10. To ensure everyone across Europe and Asia Pacific can join in the discussion, the Tweetchat will take place at 9 am GMT/ 10 am CET/ 1:30 pm IST. Check here to see the time zone in your region, and please spread the word!

Fighting Smart: Using Value-Added Services To Create Lasting Customer Loyalty, available from today for free download from the Amdocs Interactive website.

Disclaimer: News and views across the mobile payments & personalization ecosystem is sponsored by Amdocs Interactive, an MG client and supporter.

It’s that time of year again! Regular readers will know this is the fourth year that I have been commissioned to research and write the Netsize Guide, a global and comprehensive analysis of mobile milestones and future trends.

Last year’s Netsize Guide set a new benchmark, drawing from interviews with senior executives at 28 companies and the exclusive results of a mobile trends survey of more than 1,000 mobile practitioners and professionals to conclude that the industry is entering a new phase of development.

MOBILE IS THE REMOTE CONTROL OF OUR LIVES

With this in mind, the Netsize Guide 2010 is actually titled Mobile Renaissance, and the company –in addition to the thought leadership and information portal here on MSG – has also launched a microsite dedicated to the Netsize Guide.

Put simply, it’s not longer about “mobile;” it’s about the rise of mobile as a new mass media that has impact on all aspects of our lives and lifestyles. The tremendous success of recent conferences focused on mobile learning, mobile retail and even mobile insurance are signposts that mobile has arrived full-force.

Another development highlighted in the Netsize Guide: the arrival of mobile Augmented Reality (AR) and its impact on how we experience everyday activities on our mobile phones. Shops and brands use AR, allowing us to superimpose clothes on our bodies, rather than physically try them on. Ikea recently made its catalog mobile, allowing us to “picture” just how items of furniture would look in our homes before we buy them. And the list goes on…

PITCH NOW TO MSG

The Netsize Guide 2010, which you can still download by clicking the banner below, features exclusive C-level interviews including: EmFinders, Evernote, Flirtomatic, GeoVector, GetJar, Havas Digital Mobile, Layar, Marks & Spencers, NearbyNow, Nokia NAVTEQ, PayPal Mobile, Scanbuy, SFR, Sony Ericsson, Sony Music Entertainment, UGC and Universal McCann.

It also featured insights from analysts and associations including Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (a German association of digital firms and professionals), comScore, Informa Telecoms & Media, Dray & Associates, Innopay, Mobile Entertainment Forum, Mobile Marketing Association and VisionMobile.

This year’s new Netsize Guide will likely bring back a few outstanding companies, but I am also eager to connect with new companies and hear exciting case studies. What am I looking for: pragmtic and path-breaking people, companies, ideas – the works.

Meantime,  download last year’s guide and then reach out to me with your story. (Peggy@msearchgroove.com or @peggyanne).  It may be that it is included in this year’s Guide, which is the tenth edition of this important publication. I look forward to connecting with you.

Special thanks to Stan Chesnais, Netsize CEO; Alexander Vlasblom, Group Marketing Communications Director; and Christine Blattes, “Creative Spark” and Webmaster. The pieces are in place to make sure the Netsize Guide 2011 pushes the envelope!

Disclaimer: Netsize is an MSG supporter. Peggy Anne Salz is author of the Netsize Guide 2010.

The advance of the app store changes all the rules. But who would have thought that the arrival of this new business ecosystem would shift the balance so blatantly in favor of new platforms (primarily Android and Apple) and new players (Google)?

The must-read report from VisionMobile – the first to document developer attitudes and gripes – indicates that mobile app developers are breaking out in new directions after years of struggling with established platforms (such as Java and Symbian) and established players (mobile operators and OEMs).

ANDROID MINDSHARE

This key finding that should alarm bells ringing in boardrooms across the mobile industry.

“In the last two years, a mindshare migration has taken place, with mobile developers moving away from “incumbent” platforms, namely Symbian, Java ME and Windows Phone. The large minority (20-25 percent) of Symbian respondents who sell their apps via iPhone and Android app stores reveals the brain-drain that is taking place towards these newer platforms. The vast majority of Java ME respondents have lost faith in the write-once-run-anywhere vision. Moreover, anecdotal developer testimonials suggest that half of Windows Phone MVP developers (valued for their commitment to the platform) carry an iPhone, and would think twice before re-investing in Windows Phone.”

So, is Android the mindshare leader?

It sure looks it. The survey suggests that nearly 60 percent of all mobile developers recently developed on Android, with iOS (Apple iPhone) coming in a second. Both outrank Symbian and Java ME, which held the pole position in 2008.

Why the overall shift from platform incumbents (such as Symbian) to platform newcomers (Apple and Android)? VisionMobile points out that developers are trying to make money with their apps, so market penetration (addressable market) and monetization models (paid apps) are deciding factors.

Another reason could be platform complexity. VisionMobile’s benchmarks show that a Symbian developer needs to write almost three times more code than an Android developer, and twice as much code as an iPhone developer.

Combine that hassle with the significant differences in time-to-shelf for apps (24 days for Apple, 33 for Android and over 54 days for Symbian) and it’s easy to see why mobile app developers are voting with their feet.

Time-to-payment also plays in favor of the app store model and the platform owners that run them. And no wonder! Developers that choose to sell their apps via an app store generally get paid within a month of the application. On average it takes 55 days to get paid via an operator channel, 69 days to get paid when the app is preloaded by the operator an incredible 168 days (5.5 months) to get paid when the developer preloads the app via a handset maker.

Interestingly, the pay-per-download monetization model is the first pick for most developers (used by two-thirds of respondents). Despite the hype ad-funded apps are very distant second.

MOBILE OPERATOR OBSTACLE

Only 20 percent of respondents are using the mobile operators as a channel to market. Realistically, what role can the mobile operator possibly play in the emerging app economy?

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of developers feel operators are bit-pipes that should clear the way for other ecosystem players. As one opinionated developer put it: “Operators should get out of the way of developers.” It may sound harsh, but it’s easy to understand this sentiment if we recall the miserable track record most mobile operators have in supporting their developers.

Kudos to VisionMobile for retracing this history and correctly observing that there are serious differences in the core ecosystems. The Internet/PC ecosystem has been about enabling developers to differentiate. Apple and Android take this to the next level. Meantime, the embedded software ecosystem has been about allowing handset makers differentiate. Mobile operators and handset makers continue to put their own differentiation first. Against this backdrop, mobile developers are taking matters (and marketing) into their own hands.

Indeed, the rise of the app stores has also impacted go-to-market strategies. Operator portals and on-device preloading through OEM or operator deals, once the preferred and popular channel to the consumer, are used by less than five percent of developers surveyed.

In fact, the vast majority of developers now uses native app stores (run by the handset maker) or offers their apps via a direct download from their own websites. Interestingly, Apple and Android app stores are the crowd-pleasers, with only 5 percent of Java and just over 10 percent of Windows Phone developers using app stores as a primary distribution channel. Java ME developers also use independent app store GetJar as a channel, followed by Nokia’s Ovi Store.

But it’s not easy money. VisionMobile finds that a minority of developers (five percent) reported very good revenues for their work. 24 percent said their revenues were poor and 27 percent said their revenues were as projected. (This dovetails with the recent post/rant from mobile authority Tomi Ahonen. He did the math and concludes the average developers will break even in about ten years.)

VisionMobile explains this could be due to platform-specific issues such as payment and refund policy. Android Market supports paid apps in only 13 of the 46 countries where it is available to users. What’s more, Android allows users to return an app for refund after 24 hours, a policy that Bango CEO Ray Anderson says spells trouble for developers wanting to track customers and calculate sales. [Listen to this no-holds-barred podcast here.]

POOR OPINION, RICH OPPORTUNITY

While developers may have a low opinion of mobile operators, their biggest business challenges (payment and content discovery through improved personalization and premium placement) could actually be solved by working more closely with mobile operators.

Sure, most developers think operators are a hindrance instead of a help. But ask them what support they need – or would be willing to pay for – and the answers place the mobile operator back in the center of the action.

Developers want – and would pay for – access to APIs. The same goes for marketing support. Specifically, half of respondents would be willing to pay for premium app store placement. And we have another confirmation that personalization and recommendation would go a long way toward helping app developers tackle the content discovery dilemma, allowing them to rise above the noise and expose their applications to the right customer segments.

MY TAKE

Connect the dots in this milestone report and it’s clear there are business models and approaches that would pay dividends for everyone in the ecosystem. It’s up to mobile operators to rebuild developer trust, abandon their command-and-control strategies and adopt a coordinate-and-cultivate approach. Payment, personalization and placement are sure-fire ways mobile operators can create value and keep their place at the table.

What’s at stake? I leave you with a quote from the report (via Peter-Paul Koch at www.quiksmode.org) that says it best: “The first mobile company to TRULY reach out to web developers will have an edge over the competition, but right now I don’t see any candidates. Except for Google, obviously. (And Apple, but they’re playing their own game.) If Google became an operator our problems would be solved.”

Disclaimer: Peggy Anne Salz is a VisionMobile Associate.

What are the user experiences and use cases that will drive positive results? What are the challenges and opportunities that face us as we seek answers and solutions? These are just a few of the questions this all-day event will debate and discuss. In fact, this new white paper from Chetan (available for download here/PDF) provides a comprehensive overview of the topics/issues that deserve a top-notch spot on your business agenda.

MSG MEDIA SPONSOR

MSG is extremely proud to be a media sponsor and promote this excellent event. I’m also pleased to report I have lined up the first exclusive pre-event podcast with Paul Palmieri, Millennial Media CEO. Keep checking back or follow MSG on Twitter (@msearchgroove & @peggyanne) to get the inside track on the speakers and the hot topics they will discuss.

Registration is Open Now. Early Bird special rate expires June 30th(!) – Enter MSG to receive your discount rate

Confirmed speakers include:

Glenn Lurie, President, AT&T;Danny Bowman, President, Sprint Nextel; Subba Rao, CEO, TataDoCoMo; Mike Sievert, Chief Commercial Officer, Clearwire; Louis Gump, VP Mobile, CNN; Paul Palmieri, Founder and CEO, Millennial Media; Dr. Sailesh Chutani, CEO, Mobisante; Abhi Ingle, VP, AT&T Wireless; Ken Denman, CEO, Openwave; Amir Mashkoori, CEO, Kovio; Stephen David, Former CIO, Proctor & Gamble; Dr. Genevieve Bell, Intel Fellow, User Experience, Intel; Hank Skorny, SVP, Real Networks; Jon Stross, VP & GM – Babycenter, Johnson & Johnson; Dr. Suzanne Clough, Chief Medical Officer, WellDoc; Dr. Boris Nikolic, Sr. Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Krishna Vedati, SVP & GM – Mobile, AT&T Interactive; Christopher Dean, Chief Strategy Officer, Skype; Russ McGuire, VP, Sprint Nextel; Jack Kennedy, EVP, News Corp; David Weiden, General Partner, Khosla Ventures; Anand Chandrasekhar, SVP and GM, Intel; Chamath Palihapitiya, VP Growth/Mobile, Facebook; Rob Glaser, Chairman, Real Networks; Wim Sweldens, President, Alcatel-Lucent; Takayuki Hoshuyama, CEO, D2 Communications; Neville Ray, SVP, T-Mobile, Bob Azzi, SVP—Networks, Sprint Nextel; Mario Queiroz, VP—Android, Google; Matt Bross, CTO and Vice Chairman, Huawei; and Tony Lewis, VP – Open Development, Verizon.

Topics they will discuss/debate include:

•    Emerging Devices
•    Internet of Things
•    Network Evolution
•    Content, Media, and Entertainment
•    New sources of Revenue and Business Models
•    Evolution of Communication and Interaction
•    Mobile Cloud Computing
•    Globalization and Competition
•    Mobile Anthropology
•    Mobile as a platform
•    The economics and politics of consumer data and privacy
•    Nurturing Developer Ecosystems
•    Shifts in the Ecosystem
•    Mobile Health and Implications
•    Mobile Retail
•    Japanese Mobile Industry
•    Innovations at each level of the value chain
•    Mobile Social and Commerce
•    Managing network growth

Register today for your special rate – and I hope to see you there!

Thanks to Communities Dominate Brands we get a great update on the numbers that play in the zero-sum game involving smartphone makers worldwide. As the inimitable Tomi Ahonen sees it, it’s a bloodbath – and he has the stats to back it up. It’s a meaty, must-read post that recounts shipments and sales by all the major players. It also claims “Apple’s market share has indeed peaked and we’ll see gradual market share decline for this year 2010 compared to 2009.” Is Tomi right? Read on, find out… (and bookmark!)

While Tomi argues with numbers, Ajit Jaokar gives invaluable insights (with a nod to Sun Tzu) in his post into why Apple is no longer the one to watch. Now it’s all about Android. In his view, Apple’s obsessive and un-open approach to mobile has stunted its growth. Android is gaining traction and “it is now a race for Nokia, LiMo and others to compete against the rate of change of Android and that will be hard.” Who will win and why? Read on and find out…

In the run up to an exciting event — Mobile Future Forward (September 8th) — Chetan Sharma’s new post gives us the opportunity to download a worthwhile white paper that outlines the themes/ trends impacting mobile at all levels. It’s a great way to get us all thinking about the big-picture issues that define what mobile is and will likely become. The white paper also gives us a good idea of the topics senior execs from a wide range of top-notch companies will discuss during the path-breaking event. (Shameless plug: MSearchGroove is proud to be the newest media sponsor, so check back here for more content in the run up to the event, including an exclusive podcast (!) with Paul Palmieri, Millennial Media CEO.) What are the trends that matter most? Read on and find out… (Download the PDF here)

Registration for the event is open now. Early Bird expires June 30th 2010.

Mark Bridge over at Fonecast showcases a podcast with Hans Eriksson of mobile video streaming service Bambuser, which lets you share streaming video in real-time and even add chat. Hans tells us about the service and innovative ways people are using it. For one, the service was used to cover Jukka Mutanen’s 1,000 km cross-country drive through Finland. Hans also discusses some of the problems (and solutions) associated with live video streaming. A useful podcast – particularly in view of the traction video is getting on microblogs. How can video amplify your message? Read on and find out…

We know from the Obama campaign that SMS messages encouraging people to vote can have a profound impact on people’s perceptions of candidates and key issues. This post from Alfred DeRose over at Tego Interactive connects the dots in recent research on the topic and walks us through a campaign (combining Web, social media and mobile) his team developed for a Slovakian political party. Why can a well-integrated multi-channel campaign influence voter’s perceptions and participation? Read on and find out…

Participation of another kind is the focus of this post from C. Enrique Ortiz over at About Mobility. He reflects on some of his recent work and insights about the rampant spread of mobile broadband that cause him to wonder if developers (or operators) will have to carry the burden of app support. He asks: Is app-specific support a real issue today or one that is coming? More importantly, can developers even handle the hassle? And he also wants your input on these questions, which is why he asks us all to participate in a simple survey. What are app developer responsibilities and where should we draw the line? Fill out the survey and make your voice heard!

BEST OF THE WEEK

My pick this week: Ajit’s excellent explanation of why Android is pulling ahead of – well – everyone in the smartphone space. His perspective – backed up by multi-disciplinary common sense — is a pleasure to read. And don’t miss his nod to an excellent post from another author on why Apple’s secrecy may also be its undoing.

That’s a wrap until next week – when I hope someone will step up to the plate. At the moment Tomi – always the gentleman – has agreed to be our host. However, I would like to hear from some of you lurkers out there! With over 100 “members” and counting – I sure hope one of you will give a shout….

The Apple app store model – which relies on credit card billing to effectively bypass the mobile operator – may be staggeringly popular in markets such as the U.S. But it doesn’t dictate the direction for the global mobile applications market and the 75+ (and counting) app stores jockeying for position and competitive edge.

Indeed, Apple has been able to capture a large percentage of the apps market from within its own walled garden. Its app store model is inextricably linked with its iTunes content storefront and married to its range of proprietary devices. Thus discovery, download and payment are all part of the same seamless experience. The fact that this approach may actually limit its future market reach (to high-end devices users and owners of credit cards, for example) doesn’t bother Apple in the least.

However, the customer segments Apple ignores (such as featurephone users, youth with credit cards and emerging markets that prefer freemium and ad-supported content models) spell opportunity for the dozens of app store providers and thousands of developers bringing their virtual goods and services to market.

Granted, it’s a tougher play –one that requires providers to cater to a plethora of devices and payment preferences – but the pay-off is worth it.

According to Sizing Up The Global Apps Market, the recent milestone report from Chetan Sharma Consulting (commissioned by independent app store GetJar), app downloads are expected to rise from over 7 billion in 2009 (Asia accounted for a whopping 37 percent of the total) to almost 50 billion by 2012. Revenue is forecast to increase from $4.1 billion in 2009 to $17.5 billion by 2012. Predictably, a variety of models — ranging from paid apps and apps bundled with subscription offers, to ad-funded schemes and loyalty programs that raise brand awareness – will drive distribution and monetization. (Listen in to the podcast with getJar here.]

MAKING APPS PAY

Chetan’s report and the sheer number of app stores (75+ listed here via WIP Connect) confirm the existence of a Long Tail of app stores catering to a variety of customer segments (enterprise, gamers), devices (smartphones, featurephones, netbooks, personal navigation devices) and geographies (Asia, India).

By way of background, WIP Connect reckons 39 out of the 75 stores listed are smartphone-only app stores catering to a variety of high-end devices. However, 26 app stores offer software and content for both smartphone and feature phones, while another three focus exclusively on feature phones.

It’s clear that we are seeing an avalanche of new app store providers. But we are also seeing an increase in the range of payment and monetization models coming online as developers seek to increase flexibility (by supporting pay-per-use, freemium and subscription models) and take more control over the end-to-end app experience. An outcome of this is the new interest in solutions that allow developers and providers to sell content, virtual goods and add-ons from within the app (so-called in-app billing).

NETSIZE SURVEY

What are the components of a good app store experience? An earlier Netsize survey of 1,000+ mobile professionals and practitioners across 67 countries, concluded that the four C’s - Convenience, Compatibility, Choice, and Charging are the top enablers of application store success.

The newest report, aptly titled App Store Billing, delves down deeper in the survey results to identify the payment models and mechanisms likely to deliver mass-market success.

Among the findings:

• The majority (85 percent) of respondents indicated that operator billing is a key enabler for application store mass market appeal.
• Almost half (46 percent) of respondents believe operator billing alone will dominate; 39 percent also include credit card billing in the mix.
• Only 15 percent of respondents indicated credit card billing alone will ensure mass-market success for app store providers.

Put simply, the report confirms that the tenets of Retail 101 hold for app stores everywhere. Retailers (providers and developers) must embrace a variety of business models and payment methods to reach their target audience. Credit card billing may be the rage in regions where Apple has carved out a significant share of the market. But the race is just starting.

As Netsize CEO Stan Chesnais put it in a press statement: “The survey shows providers will need to develop much more than a me-too application storefront modeled on the Apple blueprint. Clearly, to guarantee a seamless user experience and a ubiquitous quality of service, application store providers must support a variety of payment mechanisms including operator billing.”

APP STORE LANDSCAPE

The research also presents substantial proof that a Long Tail of app stores is indeed emerging. To illustrate this exciting trend Netsize has drawn from publicly available research to rank the top 52 app stores by size and the number of applications on offer (as of May 2010). The chart speaks volumes (literally) and can be downloaded with the report here.

Predictably, application stores linked with the Apple iPhone and Android platforms lead the list. However, a substantial number of independent application stores run by mobile operators and independent providers also hold top positions. Indeed, new entrants are breaking on the scene with niche app stores that target a wide variety of customer segments.

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE NETSIZE APP BILLING REPORT HERE

My take: Are app stores going the way of mobile portals? It sure looks that way if we add up the numbers (75+ app stores) and note their niche focus on vertical markets (such as retail, enterprise, and even cars.). We will no doubt witness an avalanche of app stores and the emergence of an almost equal number of business models (paid apps, subscription bundles, freemium, ad-funded– and everything in between). To support these app store providers and developers will need to offer a variety of payment mechanisms, including operator-billing. Interestingly, app store business growth will likely be driven by models that put the provider/developer in control of the experience. Top of the list: freemium-type models that offer consumers free applications as a means to cross-sell or up-sell consumers to a variety of paid content and services, ranging from real-world physical goods to digital services. (And we should not underestimate the potential of mobile commerce. It was the business model that Alisa Bowen, Thomas Reuters SVP, told me had the most mileage and would potentially make the most money for content owners – period. Listen in!)

* * *

Continuing the focus on app stores, I’ll be back later this week with a look at Ondeego, an app store that has cleverly chosen to target the mobile enterprise and the needs of workers on the move.

Disclaimer: Netsize is an MSG supporter and client.

But the real news is Pump Up The Volume: An Assessment of Voice-Enabled Web Search on the iPhone, MSearchGroove’s new-release white paper assessing the performance of voice search on an iPhone offered by ChaCha, Google and Vlingo (using Yahoo!), which you can download here. The report is especially timely, coming on the heels of today’s announcement by Google that it has fine-tuned the mobile app versions of its Google Voice service for Blackberry and Android. (More on the user experience via this detailed post at GigaOm.)

The top-level findings: ChaCha, a fast-growing SMS mobile search service available in the U.S. in the industry, “proved superior” to two other voice-enabled search options for the iPhone: the Google Mobile App with Voice and Vlingo for iPhone, a voice enabled application that allows users to direct their spoken queries to Google or Yahoo! (For the purposes of this study Vlingo provided a spoken interface to the Yahoo! search engine.)

ChaCha proved to offer exceptional results, with its human guides interpreting the search query accurately in the majority of cases. According to the study, ChaCha interpreted natural language search queries, that is, queries asked as questions, accurately in 94.4 percent of the tests and delivered an accurate search result in 88.9 percent of cases. The Google voice recognition technology interpreted queries accurately in 16.7 percent of tests and delivered accurate search results in 22.2 percent of tests. The Vlingo for iPhone voice recognition technology correctly interpreted queries in 72.2 percent of cases and delivered accurate results (via Yahoo!) in 27.8 percent of tests.

My personal thanks to esteemed colleague and associate Peggy Albright, the study’s lead analyst and principal author, and Bill Meisel, editor of Speech Strategy News and a leading authority on market and product opportunities created by the maturing of speech technology. Bill is also the president of president of TMA Associates and I look forward to showcasing his work and ideas on MSG soon.

Tomorrow: More report findings and surprising observations on the dismal state of mobile search.

Disclaimer: The complete report is available for free download here. This white paper is published by MSearchGroove. It contains the findings of independent research and analysis carried out by Peggy Albright, Albright Communications, and Peggy Anne Salz, MSearchGroove in January 2009. The research methodology was developed by Peggy Albright. The research was sponsored by ChaCha. The opinions expressed in this white paper are those of Peggy Albright and Peggy Anne Salz, and do not reflect the opinions of the organizations referenced in this paper.

The 450+ attendees at Think Mobile that descended on NYC in March can count themselves lucky. We were treated to an excellent line-up of 60+ top-notch speakers, chosen by my esteemed colleague Matthew Snyder, Founder & CEO of ADObjects, a strategic cross-media consultancy, for their insights, ideas, and willingness to share both. Feedback from my panel on Mobile Search & SEO has been overwhelmingly positive, in part because Matthew and I brainstormed and purposely brought together an eclectic mix of individuals passionate about their work and the mobile industry at large.

I was so impressed by the caliber of speakers (Michael Slinger, Manager, Google: Rachel Pasqua, Director, Mobile Strategy, iCrossing; and David Berkowitz, Director of Emerging Media & Client Strategy at 360i) that I have decided to showcase each individually on MSG. (I had the opportunity to do a video interview with David and will be back with more on that, and his views on social media and mobile search, once the bnetTV team has edited the footage and posted in the video player in the sidebar.)

Today I kick off this “mini-series” with Bob Rosenschein, Answers Corporation CEO and mobile search “guru” (my description- he’s far too modest). The company’s social search service WikiAnswers.com has seen some stellar growth, according to comScore. In March, the measurement and market research firm reported that WikiAnswers.com U.S. unique visitors reached nearly 19 million in January 2009, compared to 729,000 in December 2006. During this time period, WikiAnswers.com’s market share increased from 4 percent to nearly 35 percent, vs. Yahoo! Answers, based on U.S. unique visitors. Overall, WikiAnswers.com was identified as the fastest growing top 200 U.S. domain for all of 2008.

Another milestone: Answers Corporation counted 10 million questions in the WikiAnswers.com Q&A database. (Answers Corporation acquired the WikiAnswers.com database in 2006, and since then questions have increased over 35-fold.) As Bruce D. Smith, Chief Strategic Officer of Answers Corporation, who leads the Community Development team, put it in a recent release: The WikiAnswers community is “experiencing exciting growth,” with over 500 volunteer supervisors and millions of contributors, supported by our 12-member Community Development Team.

Social search meets mobile? Regular readers will know I am excited about this combination. (In fact, I commented on this emerging business model in recent-release white papers from mobile search companies Taptu and abphone.) In view of WikiAnswers.com’s increasing popularity, I decided to take a closer look at the company’s future roadmap. I caught up with Bob to get the inside track on his company’s mobile ambitions, discuss the key criteria for an optimal mobile search experience, and the role of mobile advertising in the scheme of things.

Listen to the podcast. [16:18]

By way of background, Answers Corporation, founded in 1998, was formerly known as GuruNet. It changed its name to Answers Corporation in 2005. The company is best known as the owner of the popular social knowledge Q&A site WikiAnswers.com, and the “encyclodictionalmanacapedia” Answers.com. Answers is a Google AdSense partner, meaning thatAnswers.com and WikiAnswers.com show Google performance ads on their pages.

WIKIANSWERS.COM: It’s a fast-mover. “On WikiAnswers, people type in the questions; other people answer them; and hopefully, over time, we get the best possible answers. Our goal is to give the best answers anywhere on the Web, for any kind of question.”

MOBILE SEARCH: Bob can’t give specifics and I respect that. But he can give us an indication of what is in the pipeline. As he put it: “I will say that the area of delivering our answers on mobile is obviously of enormous interest to us this year and next year.” While companies can tailor their services to specific platforms and devices, Bob doesn’t recommend it and hints that his company is focused on “adapting our product lines over time to work on all of the mobile devices, and of course we mean smartphones, but not only smartphones — anything with a Web browser.”

OPTIMAL USER EXPERIENCE: Quick answers in fewer clicks is the algorithm for mobile search success. “We believe that there’s too much information overload.” The problem is that search engines are really good at searching the Web, but what do they deliver? “A page of links; of links to other sites, but you know what? The mobile world still has slow browsers….If you get a list of links to pages that are mobile pages, you’re almost afraid to click on one of them. How do you know if it’s going to be a 5 second page or a 25 second page?” You don’t know. “Our goal is to give people useful information in fewer clicks. And so that’s actually a very good hint towards how we see the mobile world evolving and what we think we might be able to add to it.”

MOBILE SEO: Is the end-game about delivering answers on the go? If so, then what is the potential impact on SEO? In a word: Profound. Bob points out that Google’s introduction of a canonical element aimed at assisting SEO clearly recognizes mobile content is different from the Web. “In other words, you can now make a page that exists in different forms, give it a canonical name, and tell Google that this is the canonical page. This is the real page, and all these other things are just adaptations of it for different user experiences and phone factors, especially mobile. So, Google is being advised that this is the same page as another page in a legitimate fashion such that it doesn’t hurt SEO.

PUBLISHER TIPS: Brand is everything, which is why companies must deliver a quality user experience that begins with the basics, such as presentation. “Users will have even less patience on a small device. You have to get it right and it’s a really different ballgame in terms of presentational dynamics.” Google and Yahoo will continue to be important, and I think the challenges for the rest of us [will be] to find our place in this new world…. [It] will boil down to user experience. In the words of Tim O’Reilly; ‘How do we get users to visit our content in an age where they are free to choose content?’

MONETIZATION & MOBILE ADS: Google changed the rules when it introduced text ads on their pages that didn’t look like text ads. “Google zagged when everybody else was zigging, and they did something very brilliant.” But the real lesson we must apply to mobile is relevancy.  ”It is attractive to the user; it’s more trustworthy. But if that weren’t enough, it is informative and not interruptive.” But even relevant ads might not convince users to accept mobile advertising, according to recent research from Nielsen Mobile (via Citi Investment Research, a division of Citigroup Global markets). Bob was kind enough to share a short excerpt and some surprising stats from the client report, written by analyst Mark Mahaney. Under the heading: “There is a material consumer resistance to mobile advertising,” Mahaney states privacy concerns and users’ skepticism are holding back mobile advertising in the U.S.

Meanwhile, we learn from the Thanh Nien Daily that mobile advertising is booming in Vietnam. Quoting Aaron Cross, managing director of The Nielsen Company in Vietnam, who spoke at a two-day conference on Integrated Marketing in Vietnam which wrapped up last Friday in Ho Chi Minh City, the post reports (according to the Nielsen Mobile Insights Survey 2008) almost half of mobile owners in Vietnam receive advertisements via SMS each month.

The majority of those ads are read by consumers. The survey also said 74 percent of people in HCMC and Hanoi, the country’s two economic hubs, own a mobile phone. Over half (58 percent) of the country’s urban population, and a third (37 percent) of rural residents own cell phones. But the way isn’t clear for mass marketing yet. Cross pointed out the new anti-spam government decree, which took effect last month in Vietnam, protects consumers from receiving unwanted messages on their mobile phones. However, cost-conscious Vietnamese consumers are open to “hot deals and great value to relieve pressure from their monthly budgets.”

Mobile advertising is also gaining traction in Japan. This post, quoting Tom Bowman, BBC.com’s VP international ad sales who spoke at the Digital Symposium hosted by Habari Media last week in the Western Cape, argues consumers are “almost twice as receptive to mobile advertising as to magazine advertising, making it the highest priority for prospective advertisers.”

WHAT’S NEXT?: The industry has to sort out business models. Is it sponsorship? Is it an animated display ad? Or is it some kind of click-through only on performance ads? “But I’m going to say something very flippant now: “Who cares? …It’s a branding opportunity… and sometimes you subsidize one part of your business with another.” Bob would rather “get the service right and figure out how to monetize later.”

Special thanks to Alison Minaglia at Technology PR for the image of Bob addressing the ThinkMobile audience!

It’s early days and there are no easy answers – all the more reason to attend Mobile Advertising & the Rise of Social Networking: What does it mean for Brands, Agencies and Service Providers?, a Knowledge & Networking Seminar organized by AIME, (The Association for Interactive Media and Entertainment), this Thursday in London.  The seminar provides the perfect opportunity to explore key learnings with industry pioneers and network over drinks. (The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and wraps up around 11 p.m. More details on the program and venue here.)

One company I look forward to hearing is Flirtomatic, a pioneer mobile flirting service that has had great success monetizing mobile users through conversation with added fun and great content such as virtual flowers and kisses. The company recently extended its reach to enable members to give the objects of their affection real gifts including chocolate and sexy underwear. As Matt Dicks, Commercial Director for Flirtomatic, put it in an interview with AIME’s Andrew Darling: The approach to mobile advertising is about marketing entertainment and content services as part of its mobile social network. “It’s about integrating ads and brands into the fabric of a social networking service – enabling premium gifting between users and using advertising to support content.”

Other speakers on hand to share their experiences/vision include:

• Nandi Gurprasad, VP of Alliances, Bango
• Dusan Hamlin, Joint Managing Director, Inside Mobile
• Mark Brill, Chairman Mobile Council, DMA
• Henry Stevens, Director of Media and Entertainment, GSMA

I’ve been invited to present the results of my new-release white paper (Mobile Advertising For The Masses). In it I road test the mobile ad networks offered by three mobile social networks and document the results. (Look for the free download later on in the week.) I also conclude with my three principles for interacting with mobile social networkers on their terms. (After all, those are the rules here!)

1) Make the most out of mobile analytics offered both by the ad network and an independent vendor to match your marketing message/campaign with the community.

2)Consider virtual gifting and other schemes to provide something of value to users and their community.

3)Participate actively in the community and interact with members to build relationships and enable them to deepen their relationships with each other by providing tools that will let them do what they are there to do: Keep in touch with friends, connect with people who share their interests and share content and feelings with the community.

If you want to meet up or catch-up during the seminar, then please reach out to me directly, or contact Andrea Henninge (andrea@msearchgroove.com) to schedule a briefing.

Disclaimer: Bango is an MSG sponsor.

Get the Bango Whitepaper

However, I am deeply honored that Bango thinks of me as such: communicated in their press releases, corporate messaging and on the cover of my new release mobile advertising white paper, Mobile advertising for newbies. As of today it’s available for free download here, and already the congratulatory emails are pouring in. As Glenn Roland, who is active on the dotMobi Advisory Group, writes: “I just got done reading your white paper on Mobile Advertising. Nice job! I thought it very insightful and a good read on an emerging space.”

I am overjoyed that my work has impact, and I hope it will provide some guidance to the Long Tail of publishers and advertisers that want to move into mobile but need some help.

In the meantime, thanks are in order to my esteemed colleague Maria Sanchez. Brainstorming sessions with her were both fun and fruitful. (Full disclosure here: Maria is a Bango marketing manager. She also calls them as she sees them.) Her keen observations and good-natured rants, which she posts regularly on the mobislim blog, are a perfect complement to my in-depth analysis and user-friendly clarification of the range of mobile advertising and mobile analytics tools and techniques at your disposal.

I was also inspired by the writings of Tomi Ahonen and Jonathan MacDonald – both figure prominently in the white paper. (As they should!)

The purpose of this hands-on research – a how-to white paper covering the basics of mobile advertising and mobile analytics – is to give readers the inside track on the procedure to set up and measure the results of three mobile campaigns. I chose to use a small-scale mobile site created by Bango called Mobislim, which offers a light-hearted look at weight-loss tips.

But my investigation into mobile advertising won’t stop there. This white paper marks the launch of a dedicated blog here at MSG. Marketers that can’t wait can also visit the accompanying Mobislim blog to see the three campaigns cited in this white paper. You’re also welcome to try out your own mobile advertising campaigns there and direct traffic to the Mobislim mobile site if you don’t have one of your own.

Creating a mobile site for MSG is next on my list, and I’m investigating options. Wapple appears to be a good place to start. (Who knows? That learning process might turn out to be the stuff of a mini white paper…After all, it’s all about breaking down the barriers that keep us from embracing mobile. With the right tools, mindset and how-to tips publishers can move full-steam into mobile and jumpstart this exciting industry…)

Where do we go from here?

As I write in my conclusion: “Mobile advertising is a brave new space with new rules and new rewards. As publishers and advertisers we should be conscious that our efforts to achieve our business objectives can be compared to a marathon with no finish line.”

Success is a journey, not a destination. Great to have you along for the ride!

Disclaimer: Bango is an MSG supporter.

But a recent Media Post interview with Bob Walczak, CEO of mobile ad network MoPhap, points out that behavioral targeting (BT) has quite a few hurdles to clear before it can be as powerful and effective as its online counterpart. A huge problem is the mobile browser, which can’t handle cookies and can’t develop detailed profiles of how individuals sue their mobile phones. As Walczak puts it: “[U]ntil that hurdle is addressed, you really don’t have anything that can legitimately be known as behavioral targeting. The essence of behavioral targeting online is the marriage of supply of publisher inventory and the demand for advertisers, and vice versa — but no network in mobile has been able to make that happen. Essentially both publishers and advertisers have been flying blind.”

Seeking a shortcut some publishers and advertisers have built their business models on the willingness of mobile operators to share the data they collect from user registration and other forms users fill out to receive content and apps. But it’s a risky business and operators are increasingly reluctant to share the data that will save them from becoming dumb pipes. Fortunately, other technologies coming online (such as server-side solutions and on-device portals) also allow publishers and advertisers to identify the individual user’s device and context. Now advertisers and publsihers have to work together to fill in the gaps.

Walczak explains: “What we do is identify users by device and identify their device as they enter a site on our publisher network. From there we can aggregate information and create a behavioral profile based on a variety of criteria. Our approach to behavioral targeting is then geared to bringing the three main components online advertisers have grown accustomed to into the mobile sphere, telling them who users are, what they do in real time and what ads they tend to be most responsive toward. If you can combine the three in a mobile context, you’ve got a heat-seeking missile. You’ve also finally leveled the playing field somewhat between mobile and online.”

Granted, collecting contextual data is a tall order – but the effort will likely pay handsome dividends. After all, the majority of users who access mobile search on-the-fly are not surfing for fun; they are searching for answers.

Mobile Search And Its Implications For Search Engine Marketing, a OneUpWeb white paper I admire, has put an interesting spin on this. Comparing mobile search to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the white paper notes that mobile users tend to use search to satisfy “personal-survival” needs such as finding a hotel (shelter) and locating a good restaurant (food). These needs are followed by “personal-security” needs such as accessing weather information or creating personalized information environments with the help of favorite songs, images and social networks. Users are likely to put “personal-survival” needs first and local mobile search that can offer relevant results and even connect the consumer to the merchant with a phone call will become must-have survival services.

The good news is mobile search says a lot about user intent and already allows for the delivery of targeted advertising. (Watch for ODP-mobile search solutions and tie-ups that will put the content owners in control of the experience.) The better news is it also allows for new forms of search-related value-add services and new delivery schemes. An excellent example of this is Proxpro, a U.S.-based provider of mobile search, proximity social networking and location-aware tools for mobile professionals. Its patented technology and algorithms allow users to discover people nearby who match pre-specified interests. The service then sends a text message to both and, if both agree, a face-to-face meeting can take place within minutes. (Watch for an interview with Julian Bourne, Proxpro CEO and founder, next week. I’m told he’s gearing up for a new product launch and a couple of other surprises.)

Walczak doesn’t quite share my vision of social search, but he can imagine intelligent agents that – like butlers – could undertake searches across mobile and online platforms for content and services sure to please their masters. “We believe that mobile will be the catalyst for intelligent agents or Semantic Web 2.0. These are tools that don’t just return links about a subject as in a Web search, but rather are designed to find answers based on an evolving understanding of what a mobile user’s interests, needs and style of using information are. The agent actually learns the decision-making process of its user.” He continues: “The implications for targeting are enormous, and mobile will be at the center of it. In theory what it entails is knowing not just that a consumer is interested in shopping for a car, or even that their tastes seem to run in the direction of auto type A versus auto type B, but the chain of personalized decision criteria and the decision-making process.”

But this vision is fast becoming reality. I’ve interviewed several start-ups for my VisionGain report – and warmly invite other companies in this exciting space to contact me directly.

NTELOS, a U.S. mobile operator serving Virginian and West Virginia, has announced its intention to offer the BREW Consumer Portal later this year. Like many ODP offers, QIS lets operators manage the back-end to configure the destination’s look and feel through banners, icons and graphics, and promote BREW content and apps. I’ll have more on QIS and its ODP strategy in my upcoming VisionGain report. Likewise, I encourage you to check out Activating the Idle Screen: Uncharted Territory, a comprehensive white paper on the subject from Informa Telecoms & Media. (Link located here and under White Papers on this page.) Andreas Constantinou, one of MSG’s authors, also contributed to the report.

1. Mobile content: More effort than its worth?
With an avalanche of pre-packaged and user-generated mobile content slated to come online this year, subscribers can’t say they dont have choice. But they can complain about the tedious navigation process they have to endure to find, access and buy content they like.
Recent usability studies, from Sweden’s Mobile Matrix, argue mobile portals must bring content to users within six clicks. The same studies conclude that a whopping 65 percent of content is positioned too far from the home page, making it invisible to users. Indeed, the vast majority of content may as well not be on offer because it is buried deep in confusing – oftentimes counter-intuitive – hierarchical menus and positioned too many clicks from the portal home page. A recent Informa Telecoms & Media benchmarking study found that users typically have to click through 10-40 screens, and spend more than two minutes to download some of the most popular ringtones or games. Mobile devices with their screen-size limitations and restricted input capabilities only exacerbate the problem.

Until now, many operators have tried to solve the problem by reorganizing their portals and placing similar content only a few clicks away from the portal home page. However, in practice, this reorganization technique is not the best approach to take. While it does help to group similar content together and label it as such, this approach also ignores other important variables such as content popularity, frequency and freshness.

It also can’t cope with the sheer volume of content on offer. Put simply, as the amount of content grows, grouping content according to any method no matter how logical will automatically lead to an increase in click distance, or at the very least a dissatisfactory mobile experience. An industry rule of thumb from the fixed Internet was content providers lose half their audience to frustration at every additional click it takes them to find what they want. Why should the mobile Internet be any different?

1.1 The search for answers

Understanding users can’t buy content if they can’t find it, an increasing number of mobile operators and content providers are scrambling to offer mobile search capabilities, as well as an array of tools, that will encourage users to explore more of the content at their finger tips. The raft of recent announcements, involving market giants such as Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and a growing number of white-label search providers including InfoSpace, Fast Search & Transfer, Medio Systems, JumpTap and Mobile Content Network (MCN) shows carriers and content companies are clearly excited about mobile search.

Although it’s early days, mobile search is picking up steam, and the usage figures are encouraging. M:Metrics, a U.S.-based company specialized in measuring consumer consumption of mobile content and applications, recently reported 15 percent of users in the U.S. access Internet content on their phones.

More good news comes from Ipsos Insight, which has found that the mobile phone is well on its way to becoming the dominant Internet platform. It reports 28 percent of mobile phone owners worldwide had browsed the Internet on a wireless handset in 2006, up slightly from 25 percent at the end of 2004. France and the UK exhibit the strongest increase, but Japan also shows rapid growth.

China leads the pack when it comes to mobile search, according to new research from iResearch, a Chinese information consulting company. It estimates the number of mobile search users in China will more than double to reach 71 million this year. A whopping 127 million will use mobile search in 2008. The report also predicts a strong interest in search as more content-rich services, such as mobile video and mobile TV, come online.

By 2010, the gap between the average number of searches that a user does on their desktop versus the number of searches they do on their mobiles will vanish, observes Chetan Sharma, President of Chetan Sharma Consulting, a strategic advisory firm. Today, he estimates, desktop search outpaces mobile search by a ratio of 3:1. But the revenue potential of the mobile search market in the U.S. alone is set to reach a staggering $2.5 billion in 2010, up from just $100 million in 2007. And these estimates don’t include enterprise mobile search, a vertical poised for growth as more road warriors demand remote access to information and applications on-the-fly.

However, plain-vanilla mobile search the approach that delivers a long list of blue links to users’ mobile phones – will not deliver a satisfactory user experience. It’s a one-size-fits-all approach from the Web that blatantly ignores the needs of individual users for search results that matter to them. Personalized mobile search – which caters to the individual and collects clues they leave, such as their reading patterns, their viewing preferences and their download history, as well as their action and location at that moment in time is the superior model. It provides operators the basis for new and lucrative segmentation strategies, as well as targeted mobile advertising campaigns.
In recognition of the trend to more personalized mobile search, most major players are sharpening their focus on technologies that will deliver the right content to the right users.

Yahoo!’s new oneSearch, a Web 2.0-type search engine, picks up on users’ intent, intuits the information they want and then presents the relevant content, grouped by subject, in synopsis form; Medio Systems’ solution combines search and recommendation technology to proactively suggest similar content to users based on an analysis of their content preferences and intent; InfoSpace is revamping its offer to deliver a more relevant and more comprehensive mobile search experience; Fast is pursuing a strategy of ‘zero-search,’ which will serve up content to users based on their actions and where they are possibly eliminating the need for a search box forever.

Moreover, a number of vendors are coming out of stealth mode with mobile search solutions that, like an electronic concierge, attempt to deliver users genuinely useful content (relevant to their context) – even before they ask for it. Leiki, a Finnish developer of intelligent Web and mobile services, offers a patented technology that combines real-time learning, profiling and personalization to help users explore content that they might never have known existed. Denmark’s MobilePeople goes beyond personalized mobile search to personalize the phone, learning over time to display desired content, services and frequent search queries as icons high in the mobile phone menu. And the list goes on.

Clearly, mobile search has moved to the next level. Expect the focus in 2007 to be on finding, not browsing.

2. Software solutions with the personal touch

However, mobile search isn’t the only method available. In fact, many media companies and brands fear mobile search schemes – such as paid search, which showcases content from the company that pays the most for a top-notch spot in the results could lure users away from the very sites many content companies have bet their bottom line to build. Operators, frustrated by mobile search models that take the lion�s share of the ad revenues, are also investigating alternatives.

One approach comes in the form of on-device software solutions that effectively automate and personalize the delivery and display of mobile content directly on the user’s device. By downloading the software to their phones, users gain 24/7 access to the content as well as updates, promotions or special offers.

Put another way, the client software leverages the handset’s capabilities to deliver a more appealing user experience, increase service awareness and streamline content purchasing.

This new breed of companies is popularly referred to as On-Device Portal providers (ODPs), after the milestone ARCChart report (On-Device portals: The next step beyond WAP in data service monetization- November 2005) that discovered the new growth market.

Andreas Constantinou, author of the report, counts over 25 vendors in this emerging space, including Action Engine, ChangingWorlds, Cibenix, Comverse, InFusio, mPortal, Nellymoser, Qualcomm, RefreshMobile, Silk Mobile and Volantis. The market leader is SurfKitchen, which has been selected by over 20 operators worldwide. The company’s software is also pre-installed on 60 percent of handsets being shipped today.

2.1 Follow the leader

ODP software, installed directly on the device, reduces the click-distance and takes the pain out of content discovery. It delivers users a more compelling content experience for a variety of reasons:

• The software is specifically designed to fetch content, render it for the device in use and allow users to interact with the content on their terms.
• Because the software can proactively present cached content, it effectively blurs the boundary between an offline and online experience, presenting the user with what appears to be an always-on experience on their mobile phones.
• Depending on the vendor, client software on the device can also interact with core handset capabilities, such as messaging, to present the user with an easy-to-understand dashboard view of mobile services.
• It can also store information on the device, making it available to users even when their wireless connection is not. In some cases, the software can even remember users’ most recent requests, learn their preferences and usage patterns, and use this insight to deliver personalized and customized content experiences.

Moving forward, operators and content companies can’t afford to rely on search and user-pull to clinch the deal; they will have to consider other technologies and techniques, such as those offered by ODP providers, to push content to users based on their profiles, preferences and purchasing history.

3. Highly ‘recommended’ approaches

In an effort to deliver the right users the right content, an increasing number of content companies, as well as search engine providers, are also developing and deploying so-called recommendation engines. This technology modelled on the approach of online bookseller Amazon, effectively suggests content on the basis of the individual user’s past preferences or on the basis of what a user’s peers consumed, or both.

However, deploying discovery solutions in the mobile environment is not straightforward, and solutions cannot be ported from the Internet. Mobile recommendation engines also have to identify which users have which devices, and translate the content recommendation into what is appropriate for each user and each device. This means reaching a balance between the content that users might like and the content they can actually access on their make and model of handset.

Recommendation engines are particularly well suited to assist users in the search for entertainment content they are likely to appreciate. After all, mobile search is patently ill-suited to deliver mobile entertainment. (How would a user search for ‘underground hip-hop’ or simply ‘more music like the last track?’ It can’t.)

AgentArts, Alatto, ChoiceStream, Gracenote, mPortal, PurpleAce and Sony Network Services are just a few of the companies jockeying for position in this emerging market. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

3.1 Community drive

Some companies plan to take this a huge step further, building hybrid approaches that promise to link users not only with content they like, but ultimately with users who share their interests and passions. MyStrands, a U.S.-based provider of content discovery and recommendation technology, has developed what it calls a ’social recommendation engine.’

Put simply, the company’s patented technology relies on the wisdom of crowds to recommend the right music content to the right users. It then analyzes how people listen to and organize their music and learns from these patterns to suggest the right content to the right users in real-time.

Handset manufacturers, riding the tide of consumer interest in MP3 players and mobile phones turned digital music players, have also boarded the recommender bandwagon. Nokia and Motorola have taken the wraps off the industry’s more ambitious approaches.

4 Fast forward

While search, discovery and recommendation approaches, based on customer information such as page views and downloads, will no doubt be an important part of content-selling strategies going forward, it may well be the interactions with, and suggestions from, the tight-knit communities users know and trust that matter most.

Indeed, a recent survey from Jupiter Research shows 64% of users will try a service or content recommended by a friend, and 69% will pass what they like along to between two and six friends.

Against this backdrop, the real power of search and discovery may be about much more than encouraging users to interact with content; it may be about enabling them to create mobile communities around the content they seek and share together. Witness the growth of mobile social networking sites and the emergence of the We generation. You (we!) are even on the cover of TIME.

Just as search has become the de facto interface to content on the fixed and mobile Internets, so social networks have become the entry-point to a much greater and richer user experience. In fact, they stand to replace search as the interface to content.

A recent Hitwise study reveals social networking sites are already the Web’s fastest growing category, with one in 20 Internet visits destined for a social networking site during the month of October 2006, nearly double the proportion of traffic a year ago. More importantly, social sites drive traffic to other destinations on the Web. Shopping and classified sites, for instance, received 2.4% of their visits directly from MySpace in September 2006 –an 83% increase since March.

Whatever the mix, personalization and recommendation will be must-have features of content services going forward. Indeed, search and discovery will be about more than finding content according to keywords and concepts such as music or sports. Finding and sharing content with people who have mutual interests will be the next killer app. And social search may be the service that marks the dawn of mobile Web 3.0.

Peggy Anne Salz, a brave new voice in the fast-paced mobile content market, is the author of Mobile Search & Content Discovery the first industry report to explore content discovery and search engine technologies and the ways companies can use them to monetize the Long Tail of hit-and-miss mobile content.