Mobile Groove

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.

After collecting a slew of stats for my recent presentation on the state of the mobile Web (at the invitation of Qualcomm), as well as background for my upcoming mobile search white papers and on-going mobile advertising projects (such as Mobile Advertising U.K.), I am well aware of the importance of critical and credible data points. To make the numbers easy to find, and even easier to understand, I will collect and share them here on a regular basis.

U.K. MOBILE INTERNET: A new report from eMarketer – true to its name always an excellent source of mobile marketing stats and insights. U.K. Mobile Internet connects the dots in mobile user behavior. How many users are there? Between just 7.2 million and 17.4 million, depending on the report you read.

But the report conclusion is hardly subject to interpretation: The mobile Web is “gaining ground in the U.K., and soon the audience will be large and broad enough to interest mainstream advertisers.” Key drivers: iPhone and similar high-end devices, cool new apps, and improved usability. Still, more of the same are sorely needed to increase the number of people using the mobile Web.

Another day, another apps store. Following on the heels on Apple (App Store), Google (Android Marketplace) and Handango, the blogosphere is buzzing with rumors that Nokia has jumped on the application store bandwagon, and is gearing up to launch an app store for its Symbian platform just in time for next week’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. At the other end of the spectrum, The Wall Street Journal tells us Microsoft is putting the final touches on Skymarket, an app for Windows Mobile devices (although Skymarket apps won’t be exclusive to Microsoft’s store).

Notice anyone missing? Service providers and mobile operators.

In fact, their absence in this line-up tells us these players are either content to leave it to the handset makers and Internet giants (a first step on a slippery slope to being a dumb pipe perhaps?), or are simply oblivious to the vast arsenal of capabilities at their disposal, capabilities such as customer relationship data, personalization technologies, and location information that allow them to fight back. In my view, if these players could open up to make all the above available to developers (in a standardized, no-brainer way), then they would cover the bases to be much more than just another application store. With their reach and resources, operators and service providers could be the super shopping malls of the mobile Internet.

Last week I explored this in a post that outlined how Qualcomm and its Plaza Mobile Internet platform potentially change all the rules, levelling the playing field and allowing operators and brands to play a central role in this brave new Open Web. This week I’m back with an exclusive look at Amdocs, a company preparing to take the wraps off an application store platform that ups the ante.

Thanks to Andrea Henninge and Stuart Willett, who heads up MSG Media Solutions, this next Mobile World Congress is shaping up to be the best so far! My schedule is packed with briefings, speaking engagements (such as the Qualcomm’s Plaza Mobile Internet Forum), and a string of video interviews I’m conducting together with MSG’s own in-house film crew. Slots are going fast – so if you would like to learn more please contact Stuart Willett directly – sw@morianamediagroup.com or mobile: +44 7734 315 506.

MSG is also proud to partner with bnetTV to conduct studio interviews with an exciting line-up of companies including AdMob, BuddyMob, BuzzCity,Gigafone, Gracenote, GyPSii, JumpTap, MCN, Mob4Hire, Movius, and VISTO. The finished segments will showcase on MSG (in the customized video player in the right-hand corner), so please check back regularly. You can also look for event coverage – as well as my regular columns – on this special Events page bnetTV created exclusively for MSG.

Which brings me to this week’s column and focus on Motricity, a provider of mobile data solutions and services, ranging from mobile portals and storefronts, to messaging aggregation, to a slew of mobile operators and content providers, including AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Alltel, TracFone Wireless, PlayPhone, CNN, FOX News, A&E, and Condé Nast. The company had a banner year in 2008. But the real news is mobile marketing, a sector Ryan Wuerch, Motricity Chairman and CEO, tells me is poised for impressive growth.

An exclusive interview with Noam Raffaelli, managing director of Plaza for Qualcomm Internet Services, and a look at Qualcomm’s upcoming and exclusive event during Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. I am honored to participate in the Plaza Mobile Internet Forum in Barcelona (my presentation explores mobile Internet strategies and what media companies can do to take advantage of the widget opportunity). But the real news is the crowd of major publishers and brands, including Amazon, Turner Broadcasting System, and Universal McCann, I will address, and a special guest whose identity I have promised to not yet divulge.

In the course of conducting interviews with some 35 industry movers and shakers for the Netsize Guide – an in-depth analysis of the mobile industry – I learned that, across the board, senior executives viewed the march of Internet giants such as Google into mobile, and the advance of handset makers such as Apple and Nokia into content and apps, as more of a cause for concern than celebration.

Qualcomm takes a different approach, crafting a one-of-a-kind mobile Internet strategy that allows mobile operators to control their own apps store – and their destiny. What’s next for Qualcomm? In the run up to Mobile World Congress (MWC), I caught up with Noam Raffaelli, managing director of Plaza for Qualcomm Internet Services, to discuss the evolution of Plaza (and how it can be leveraged as a monetization platform); the role of widgets; and the increased focus on mobile advertising. Special thanks to Richard George, Qualcomm account manager at Hill & Knowlton, for arranging the briefing.

STUDY: Common sense tells us click-through rates (CTRs) on personalized advertising should exceed CTRs on more random [translated: less relevant] mobile advertising, but here is an important data point direct from Telenor R & I, the research arm of the Telenor Group, and Mobile Content Networks, a provider of mobile search management, search merchandising, and PPC content promotion solutions, to back it up.

The companies teamed up in Norway along with MADS, a European mobile advertising technology provider, and Aspiro, a Scandinavian mobile content provider, to evaluate the effectiveness of federated mobile search – an approach that blends results from a variety of content sources and search engines – and personalized advertising. Findings from the pilot tell us that CTRs for personalized ads “exceeded those for random ads by a 3:1 ratio.”