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Local focused mobile advertising is shaping up to be more than a revenue opportunity. There is every indication that it will be one the few channels to buck the downward trend in advertising spend over the next few years. Where's the money?

MSG mobile search research (the profiles and analysis I share on MSG, and the new-release white paper assessing search, which I co-created with my esteemed colleague Peggy Albright) has attracted the attention of a growing community of readers and influencers across a variety of online destinations and industry organizations. I am pleased to report this work has also sparked interest at Eyefor Travel Research, a business intelligence firm known as the "leading voice of online travel." Andrew Merrie, research analyst and Headmaster of the School for Mobile (the firm's initiative for educating the travel and tourism industries on opportunities in mobile), reached out to me earlier today to collaborate on the firm's series of free reports (which are essential reads chock-full of case studies, key statistics, and best practice) focused on mobile technology and solutions. There is a special emphasis on mobile search (which we agree is the linchpin of a range of effective strategies to deliver mobile advertising, commerce, and CRM). By way of background, the Eyefor Travel report series consists of Vol.1 Mobile Technology in Travel: The Introduction, and Vol 2, Mobile Technology in Travel Report: The Detail. Vol 3 Mobile Technology in Travel Report: Consumer Insight is work in progress, but you can sign up here for an alert when it is released later in June. A trend that stands out is the new popularity of SMS search schemes as a sure-fire way to reach a mass market. As Andrew puts it: "SMS search is a tool that 99 percent of customers know how to use. In a consumer-focused industry such as ours, it [SMS search] represents a good first step in how companies need to move forward." Another advantage beyond intuitive usability: Proven monetization models around the delivery of related text links and advertising. This point came through loud and clear in this week's AdAge article, which outlines the advantages of SMS search, and takes a look at the companies (notably 4INFO, which MSG profiled here, and ChaCha) cashing in on its newfound popularity among users and advertisers. Rita Chang, who wrote the piece, contacted me for the article, and has since arranged a follow-up call to discuss the mobile search competitive landscape. The intention is to write a comprehensive feature on the models and companies I think set the bar. I gladly support her in this work, and welcome other journalists to reach out to me for comments or just a few company contacts. The increasing excitement around SMS search isn't limited to the U.S. (the focus of Rita's AdAge article). It's also going full-steam in Asia, where Mobile Content Networks (MCN) - a provider of mobile search and revenue solutions that deliver people connections to content, not links to content, on their mobile phones - has chalked up an impressive list of operator customers for its SMS search, which emphasizes content discovery instead of answers to specific search queries. Today marks the company's official launch of Smart Search (aptly named) in partnership with Smart Communications, the Philippines' leading mobile operator with 36.9 million subscribers.

What do you get when you bring together the intellectual resources of Rudy De Waele/ mTrends and dotopen, an open innovation consulting firm known for its insights into the emerging mobile Web 2.0 ecosystem, and MSearchGroove, a knowledge resource dedicated to the analysis of mobile search (and all things mobile at the intersection of context and content)? In a word, impact! Since teaming up with Rudy De Waele, blogger at mTrends and dotopen founder, to develop mobile search case studies in preparation for a workshop on Mobile Search Future Prospects organized by JRC IPTS (Institute for Prospective Technological Studies of the European Commission), and seeing the positive response to our work to date, I'm convinced mobile search is back again at the top of the industry agenda. And with good reason: Search is the de facto interface to all things digital in the online space, and there is every indication that it will be the same in mobile. From mobile advertising, where our queries trigger the delivery of related advertising (in the best case scenario, we're not there yet), to social media, where the content we appreciate and discuss across destinations ranging from MySpace to Twitter allows us to restore balance in an otherwise purely algorithmic approach that tends to promote search engine optimized websites over what we find genuinely relevant and useful, mobile search is where the action is. But as Rudy and I have both pointed out in our recent presentations, mobile search is not about the usual suspects (Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft). Rudy spoke at Next09, and you can find his slides further on in this post; I spoke at the European Mobile Media Conference, and my deck can likewise be found after the jump. Indeed, context and personalization change all the rules (!) A highlight of our recent presentations: A comprehensive overview of the market and (thanks to Rudy) a SWOT analysis of the players that stand out in their category such as Google (universal search with a poor mobile offer and an even weaker grasp of social search), and Twitter (a case of mobile search + social media = real-time results that really reflect what we discuss/share). In my own mobile search research - an on-going project that began back in 2004/2005 when I wrote the first report on mobile search and content discovery, a 220+ page report published by Informa Telecoms & Media - I have recently identified some 60+ companies and 10+ categories of mobile search I would like to share with you (below) for your feedback.

Regular readers will know I rave about EContent magazine, where I am a Contributing Editor and regular columnist. I am proud to say some of my best work has been for EContent, inspired by the vision and dedication of Michelle Manafy, EContent editor-in-chief and expert commentator on a range of issues impacting the content industry at all levels. I encourage you to add the site to your list of must-read destinations. Why? Many of the business models and businesses driving revenues in the Internet are coming soon to mobile. (Search engines and collaborative software companies lead the pack of companies moving out of stealth mode to make some serious waves.) Amidst this change I know of no better source than EContent to stay that extra-important step ahead of the game. (I will therefore give EContent a top-notch spot in the new-look Knowledge Sharing Zone I wrote about in this earlier post. The goal is to create a comprehensive list of valuable resources and destinations. If you would like your site or blog to be considered, please email it to me (peggy@msearchgroove.com). As part of the recent Buying and Selling eContent conference, Michelle invited experts and contributors who judged the EContent 100, to give their views on the companies and trends that matter. Michelle reports that the series of video interviews got good reviews, and the content in them was "extremely well received."

This first in a series of exclusive interviews with mobile ad networks, profiles JumpTap and details what today's announcement means for advertisers, publishers and market rivals. Look for more interviews/podcasts with ad networks you need to know better including Greystripe (CEO Michael Chang tells how his company made the move from advertising enable to ad network); Mojiva (CEO Dave Gwozdz walks us through a new white-label platform for publishers), and itsmy.com (CEO Vince Staybl talks about targeting options in itsmy.biz, the mobile social network's ad network). If you are an ad network with a story to tell, then contact me directly or arrange a briefing with Andrea Henninge (andrea@msearchgroove.com). On the heels of JumpTap's announcement of tapMatch, its pay-per-click (PPC) performance mobile ad marketplace, I can finally post this exclusive Q&A with Paran Johar, JumpTap CMO. During the pre-briefing we went through the nuts and bolts of the offer (unlike Google, which offers keyword bidding and MCN - a provider of mobile search management, search merchandising, and PPC content promotion solutions offering category bidding- Jumptap offers both), and took a closer look at how the search technology potentially maximizes performance by delivering contextually relevant advertising. Q: Let's start with the landscape. When I read the draft press release I thought it competes with Google at one level and MCN at another. What is the differentiation?

Following up on a new report from Bernstein Research, I'm back with a closer examination of the research (which focuses on the U.S. market) and an exclusive podcast with Jeffrey Lindsay, senior analyst and lead author. My special thanks to Jeffrey for fitting this interview in between trips. A value-add in this particular podcast: Another perspective on the controversial question: What is the potential impact of a tie-up between Vodafone and Yahoo? Overall, the report is a good read. It covers all the bases, from mobile ad revenue predictions to estimates for mobile search revenues, and it recounts the results of a road test (Google vs. Yahoo) to determine (literally) which provider is getting more bang for the buck when it comes to paid search. Indeed, mobile search performance is at the top of my radar as Peggy Albright (founder of Albright Research and MSG associate) and I have just wrapped up a white paper comparing mobile voice services available on the iPhone. More importantly, we have moved into the final phase of our the Mobile Search Performance Report (MSPR), an industry-first quarterly report documenting the mobile search experience across a range of geographies, operators, and search engine providers, providing insight into the key performance metrics, such as click-distance and mobile advertising relevancy. While I may have my issues with some of the Bernstein report findings, there's no arguing the fact that Google controls a sizeable share of the U.S. mobile search market, and that despite the fact the search giant consistently delivers a poorer user experience (an observation based on MSPR findings as well as those reported by Mobile Commerce during a recent Mobile Search Master Class). Based on brand reach research (number of visitors to a search property divided by the estimated total of visitors ever to access the search category ever in a month) and comScore estimates (as reported in September 2008), Bernstein Research reckons Google had 62 percent of the U.S. market in January 2009. Yahoo came in second with 30 percent and Microsoft's Windows Live finished third with 11 percent. Listen to the podcast here. [19:21]