Mobile Groove

MOBILE SEARCH WILL TAKE UP ALMOST 75 PERCENT OF THE MOBILE AD MARKET BY 2013, according to a recent report from Citibank. The report says that SMS ads currently represent 63 percent of mobile ad spending, but this will drop to 9 percent in four years; display ads are projected to increase 5 points to 18 percent. The report says mobile search currently makes up about a quarter of the mobile ad market.

Overall, the mobile ad market is projected to rise from $160 million to $3.1 billion by 2013. Source

Are you a company in a vertical industry (banking healthcare, retail etc…) that has implemented mobile in a new way to improve processes and achieve positive results? Or are you a vendor company with a compelling customer case study to share? If your answer to either is “yes,” then reach out to me directly. For the third consecutive year I have been commissioned to research and write the Netsize Guide, a comprehensive mobile industry almanac published by Netsize, a mobile commerce and communications enabler. Following on from the phenomenally popular future-focused chapter that wrapped up last year’s Netsize guide (a chapter I was proud to co-create with Stan Chesnais, Netsize CEO), this year’s publication will continue to explore the personal experiences and business opportunities emerging as our virtual and physical worlds converge supported by 25+ interviews with C-Level executives and influencers.

In brief: Inma Martinez – a leading digital media strategist, “free radical” and advisor to venture capitalists – is back for the second in the series. Following her last take on Blyk she comes back from lunch with Antti Öhrling, Blyk Co-Founder, with deep insights into the Blyk model. Other topics/companies include: VouChaCha and other startups high on the radar; social media buzz and Vodafone 360; a review of Mobilize and Mobile Marketing Forum Europe; the new mobile brain drain; and why developers need to tune into women. We salute Mark Curtis, founder of Flirtomatic; Dagmara Brylack (for innovative and thoughtful mobile campaigns at P&G); and Mark “Mr. Mobile” Wächter, for his work to take the partnership between the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and the German Federal Association for the Digital Economy’s mobile division, the BVDW Section Mobile, to a new level.

Mobile Groove, the monthly podcast that focuses on the news and companies that matter most in mobile — is back with a great line-up of topics and the usual mix of insights and outspoken observations from co-host Inma Martinez, my über-connected and always professional partner in crime. (We missed posting on Friday, but the reason for the delay will be clear when I take the wraps off an all-new MSearchGroove, so watch this space.)

Mobilize, the conference Inma attended in September, left a lasting impression. Her SWOT analysis: a great line-up of startups and a high level of energy and VC activity in the Valley. Where does this leave Europe? Inma (also based in London) connects the dots in some recent investor reports and concludes Europe may see its best and brightest in mobile “defect.” Is the U.S. the place to be if you are a mobile entrepreneur? Listen in and let us know what you think.

Speaking of startups, Inma also outlines the highlights from Seedcamp, a program created to jumpstart the entrepreneurial community in Europe by connecting next generation developers and entrepreneurs with over 400 mentors from a top-tier network of company builders; including seed investors, serial entrepreneurs, product experts, HR and PR specialists, marketers, lawyers, recruiters, journalists and venture capitalists. One company that stood out: VouChaCha, a U.K. startup that delivers vouchers to your mobile phone. Where is the hold up in Europe and why aren’t coupons a de facto part of our daily mobile routines (as they are in the U.S.)? You tell us!

Other success stories Inma shares: Flirtomatic, iScoot and eBuddy.

CONTEXT MATTERS?

Will location-based services excite women? Well, we beg to disagree.

GOOGLE’S NEW KEYWORD TOOL SHARES SEARCH VOLUMES for the first time. AcuraCast road tests the tool (currently in beta), which provides mobile website owners and mobile search marketing agencies the ability to estimate PPC costs and traffic volumes they can expect from mobile search. A quick review of mobile search volumes shows even the most popular keywords we know from the Web aren’t crowd-pleasers in mobile. For categories such as local information and gaming, the post says, the volume of mobile searches is “a mere fraction – as low as 0.3% – 0.6% of traditional Web searches for the same 1-word keyword queries.” Source

The bottom line: Finally Google reveals the terms that deliver results in mobile search. But mobile search usage is still lagging, no doubt due to a laundry-list of universal shortcomings MSearchGroove has analyzed in this recent post. The new Google Keywords Tool is good news for marketers and publishers, but another proof that mobile search as a service has a way to go. Peggy adds: Or does it simply underline the pivotal importance of content discovery – not mobile search – as a primary means to explore the wealth of content at our finger tips and find what we are likely to appreciate?

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MORE THAN HALF OF INDIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS USE THE MOBILE WEB, says a new survey from Indian mobile ad firm InMobi, and a third of the students engage with brands that advertise online. The students’ favorite sites to visit on their mobile devices are search engines, news sites and social networks, and the company says that mobile internet usage is spread across a multitude of income groups. Source

The bottom line: More evidence pointing to the popularity of the mobile internet in emerging markets, and the ability of mobile ads to reach consumers there.

In brief: A summary of October thought leadership events and a preview of the cool companies (AmbiSense & GeoVector, to name a few) you can look for soon on MSearchGroove.

While MSG prepares to unveil a string of new projects and media solutions for our growing roster of clients, I am wrapping up my own presentations for two exciting industry events. First on the agenda: a half-day session on Tuesday (September 29th) with Deutsche Telekom executives to discuss the challenges and opportunities of converged services and the implications this has for the consumer portal experience.

My contribution to this exclusive thought leadership event, organized by Amdocs Interactive, will look at the trend to hyper-connectedness and our increasing requirements for personalized and relevant content experiences.

I will be joined by esteemed friend and colleague Andreas Constantinou, Research Director of VisionMobile, a market analysis and strategic advisory firm. Andreas’ thoughts on the new mobile services and applications value chain – and the impact of the likes of Google, Nokia and Apple – is beyond thought-provoking.

I look forward to capturing his ideas in the opening chapter of the Netsize Guide 2010, the must-read mobile industry almanac I write (for the third consecutive year!) on behalf of Netsize, a mobile commerce and communications enabler. More details on the Guide in future posts. In the meantime, I encourage companies across the ecosystems to contact me directly with case studies and great ideas.

After that it’s off to Edinburgh to speak at the 2009 118tracker Information Innovation Conference & Awards aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia. Where is the value in location? My presentation — the outcome of a new collaboration with Matthew Snyder, Founder & CEO of ADObjects, a strategic cross-media consultancy – offers some surprising answers.

We also draw from some exciting new services (such as AmbiSense’s innovative destination guide solutions for mobile phones, GeoVector’s new directional search and pointing app and Colibria’s Network Address Book, an offer that builds on our increasing interest in context-aware social address books – a requirement that sits at the core of Vodafone’s path-breaking 360 offer.

In brief: MSearchGroove proudly steps up to the plate and hosts the Carnival of the Mobilists for the first time.

The last weekend in August and I spent much of it at a two-day summer festival in Siegburg, Germany, where I’m based. I’ve been on a natural high with good friends, great food and a wonderful line-up of home-grown entertainment. But not all the excitement was at the local fairgrounds. The Mobilists have also come up with a mix of thought leadership and must-read posts that give us new perspectives on mobile and start our adrenalin flowing.

Andy Favell and the team at mobiThinking.com do us all a great service and compile a comprehensive list of mobile industry facts and figures. The first in this series focuses on the size of the mobile Web and the implications for marketers. What do the numbers tell us? Should investors/companies take advantage of the economic slowdown and move ahead while others are standing still? Read on, find out and tell us what you think.

Another round of important mobile stats comes from Jose Colucci at Mobile Strategy, who continues the countdown of the 12 Reasons Why Canadian Banks Should Really Offer Mobile Services.