Today MSG was formally named a top 50 influential tech blogs in a new report from Konector, a company linking digital marketers with leading bloggers to help promote brands to highly targeted audiences. The report, Top Independent Gadget Blogs and Bloggers, profiles leading tech sites and found that a whopping 40+ million visit the top 140 technology and gadget websites each month.

MSG joins an impressive roster of technology websites and blogs including CrunchGear, Crunch Mobile and ReadWriteWeb. Other important destinations not included in the top 50 but nonetheless listed in the top 140 tracked in the Konector report include: All Things Digital, Mobile Industry Review and Scobleizer. (Konector does not include corporate blogs or blog networks in the Top 50 list, which is why websites including Ars Technica, Gizmodo and VentureBeat are not mentioned.)

To deliver their message to their target demographic marketing, advertising and PR professionals must connect with quality audiences of influencers who will accept and – even better – amplify the brand message. To achieve this Konector uses a unique methodology to measure the quantity and quality of visitors. Ranking is based on reach, frequency and interaction. As Kingsley Maunder, a director at Konector, put it in a press statement: “We use our proprietary Online Impact Factor to measure how many people visit a blog, how often they visit that blog, the time spent on the blog and how active they are once they get there.”

TIPPING POINT

Being named a top 50 influential technology destination is the latest in a string of developments and accolades that has seen MSG extend its global reach and reputation through the production of highly-acclaimed white papers, market research, podcasts and editorial content for the mobile industry.

Working with the fantastic team at Tego Interactive, an experienced team of professionals helping to build businesses through converged Web and mobile solutions, MSG is extending its reach with new projects and new partners. In the next weeks you’ll see more thought leadership from leading companies as I formally take the wraps off a series of branded microsites – known as Briefing Rooms.

These destinations, accessible via the MSG homepage and mobile website, will promote ideas and insights from MSG partner companies and supporters including Tego Interactive, mobile payments and mobile analytics provider Bango, mobile search provider Taptu and mobile commerce and communications provider Netsize on topics ranging from usability and user experience to mobile industry mega-trends. I’ll announce additional partners in the areas of mobile marketing and Augmented Reality in the next weeks.

MORE AWESOME AUTHORS

MSG is also growing its roster of contributors and collaborators.

In addition to exclusive columns from leading industry executives including Colm Healy, Vice President of EMEA Services for Qualcomm Internet Services (QIS) and General Manager of Xiam Technologies, and Antti Öhrling, Co-Founder of Blyk, the messaging media that works with mobile operators to link young people with brands and other stuff they like, I’ve found a new author who shares MSG values and vision (!)

Eliza Dashwood will be contributing regular analysis of mobile advertising and social media, and commenting on key industry data points. She has a 10+ year track record in the online industry delivering digital strategy and execution for brands and accounts including Mercedes Benz, The White Company and Optical Express. She has also held a variety of senior positions at digital agencies including Ambergreen, a digital marketing agency headquartered in Scotland, and MediaVision, a media planning agency with clients throughout Britain, Europe and North America.

More importantly, she knows the industry and cares about the trends/shifts impacting it at all levels.

Eliza consistently tracks how social media, mobility and permission-based marketing combine – even collide – to change all the rules. But it’s not just about identifying the opportunities and challenges ahead. Eliza also architects strategies that allow brands and companies to connect with empowered people (consumers) who expect/demand a conversation and not a sales pitch.

I look forward to the ideas and insights she will bring to MSG and encourage you to reach out to her directly (elizadashwood at googlemail dot com).

KONECTOR REPORT

The Top Gadget Blogs and Bloggers report provides marketing, advertising and PR professionals with key data and stats on the most influential gadget blogs they should target to promote their brands online, helping them understand:

• Which blogs have the most impact in gadgets
• Which bloggers have the most impact on their audience
• Which bloggers have a captive audience most suitable for their target
• market (by demographic and location)
• Which bloggers promote and review products and services most suitable for their brand

The Top Independent Gadget Blogs and Bloggers report will also give marketing, advertising and PR professionals additional insight into promoting their brands on social networks, including YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, giving them an opportunity to increase their exposure to this wider audience.

A detailed overview of the report, including sample pages can be found here.
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Disclaimer: Tego Interactive, Bango, Blyk, Netsize, Taptu and Xiam (all mentioned in this post) are MSG supporters.

In the first of a series of quest columns Colm Healy – Vice President of EMEA services and General Manager of Xiam Technologies, a Qualcomm company – dissects the discovery dilemma.

Search, recommendation and discovery tools are commonplace on the web. We are used to having an intermediary between us and the content that we will eventually consume.

There are many ways in which that intermediary can appear, how we access it, and how it can go about its business, but its role is the same – to enable us to find content. Content that we are looking for; content that we might be looking for; and content that providers want us to see.

The reason that these tools exist is, quite simply, because there is too much content available to do without them. We need some service in place to help us find what we want.

The same now applies to mobile content, be it content designed specifically for mobile, or web content accessed via the mobile. The amount of content available has exploded in recent years to the point where the search, recommendation and discovery tools essential on the web are equally important in our mobile experience.

Key drivers for this explosion in content creation and availability have been led, first and foremost, by the adoption of mobile as an ever-present attachment to our lives, and, in turn, the reliance on the mobile device as a device for more than simply communications.

Evolving from this is the increasing sophistication of mobile handsets – from now so-called ‘Vanilla’ phones, to feature phones, to the emergence and unremitting growth of the smartphone category – users now have mobile handsets that are capable of processing any of the content out there on the web, including HD video. Enabled by the network developments to support increased bandwidth capacity and faster peak data rates, users are now capable of consuming almost any content through their mobile handset.

The user behaviour that this creates represents an incredible opportunity for content developers and publishers. And for the retailers that provide access to that content.

Yet the challenge for all players in the mobile ecosystem is centred on enabling users – buyers – to find the content that they want.

User Research

At Xiam, we recently commissioned TNS Global to carry out transnational – UK and US – research into the experiences of mobile content users which found clear evidence that discovery was standing in the way of a satisfactory mobile user experience. More importantly for the players in the mobile ecosystem, discovery of content is standing in the way of significant revenue opportunities, and creating a user experience that deters customers and will, ultimately, lead to increased customer churn.

The study, which began with a representative sample of 2,666 mobile content users and derived quantitative and qualitative research by focussing more closely on the most active users, revealed an enthusiastic but frustrated demand for easy to use content and applications.

A key finding of the research highlighted that content discoverability was a significant issue, with eight out of ten users reporting a problem obtaining content on their mobile handsets. When it came to finally finding the content for which they were searching, mobile Internet users were, on average, unsuccessful 27% of the time.

Users were frustrated by the time required to find the information they were searching for, and access the specific content that they wanted. Slow page loads, too many layers on websites, and too much irrelevant information are frequent annoyances for mobile content users.

Yet the opportunity presented by mobile content was reiterated by the fact that almost two-thirds (63%) of consumers surveyed indicated that they would spend more time browsing and purchase more content if it was personalized and easier to find.

How We Search

Though mobile content is a relatively new arrival on our plate of entertainment and services for consumption, users are already set in their ways, accessing the same types of content and doing so via the same search tools. Both, more often than not, an extension of their traditional, online content and search habits from their laptop or PC.

Mobile web browsers tend to use search engines (with Google the most frequently referenced), bookmarked sites or to enter URLs directly.

This reflects, very clearly, that there is no significant, regular influence on users as to the content for which they search:
• Search engines are a powerful tool for giving you specifically what you were looking for, though they are far from flawless
• Bookmarked sites are sites that the user has previously visited and had a productive experience of using
• Directly entered URLs indicate that the user knew precisely where on the mobile they wanted to go

Using the mobile network operator’s content portal is one of the less often used methods for accessing content, and was rated in our survey as least effective for finding desired content. Respondents reported that the service provider’s portal was often poorly organised, and that relevant content was not easily and directly accessible.

Those same users reported that they would increase the time and money spent on mobile web browsing if relevant content was easier to find. 59 percent said they would spend more time accessing content – translating to, on average, 65 minutes more per month. And 37 percent said they would spend more money on content purchases – translating to, on average, £5 more per month.

A further criticism of service provider portals was focusing too much on content downloads (i.e. sales) rather than on providing information and a service. Information on events and special promotions, as well as relevant recommendations based upon previous choices of the individual user would enhance the operator’s value to end users significantly.

This element – recommendation enabling discovery – is primary to any mobile content service as it cuts through the time consuming search procedure, and improves the experience of the user. The model adopted and made famous by Amazon – ‘if you liked this, you might also like this’ – is a simple and effective one. The more sophisticated this can be, the more effective the results will be.

And with the myriad different types of content and applications available, a tool to enable the discovery of content that is highly relevant but might otherwise go unnoticed can be especially valuable. Valuable to the user; valuable to the manager of the portal or store; and valuable to developers and publishers of the content, who will focus their efforts towards a provider that can enable their offering to be discovered.

One of Qualcomm’s key messages to the industry is that the mobile experience has to evolve beyond simple search and move toward personal discovery, making the user’s experience more intuitive. These results point to a huge opportunity for operators to increase mobile data usage and sales by providing personalized mobile apps, content and services.

Colm Healy is vice president of EMEA services and general manager of Xiam Technologies for Qualcomm Internet Services (QIS).  QIS helps accelerate consumer adoption and consumption of mobile content across all networks and devices by delivering a more engaging mobile experience that is contextual and relevant to consumers’ personal interests. In his current role, Healy manages all business relationship and deployments of Qualcomm’s services solutions within the EMEA region. As general manager of Xiam Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary acquired by Qualcomm in March 2008, he continues to lead the team’s efforts in selling and deploying Xiam’s discovery and recommendations products to a worldwide network of mobile operators including Vodafone, Orange, O2, AIS and Globe.

Disclaimer: Xiam is an MSG supporter.

At first, the endgame was about boosting personalization to improve the mobile operator portals (that forced us to navigate through multiple menus) and cut the clicks to content that we genuinely appreciated. Typically, operators implemented personalization tools to bubble up cool content to the idle screen, taking the hassle out of finding and buying content on the device.

Fast forward, and on-portal is no longer where (all) the action is. The explosion in the number of app stores — software applications supermarkets run by handset makers, operators and independent players such as GetJar – increases our interest in finding stuff we like, and the sheer abundance of apps turns up the pressure on companies across the emerging ecosystem to make finding cool stuff a no-brainer.

By way of background, the content discovery dilemma was expertly outlined in a recent post by Alfred DeRose, who heads Tego Interactive, a Web and mobile product and services company specialized in integrated solutions for converged businesses determined to get more out of their digital assets. Working with clients to address a variety of issues around content discovery has allowed Tego to create a series of “cheat sheets” and white papers describing the problem and offering suggestions/solutions. So, watch this space.

PERSONALIZATION FOR THE PEOPLE

Put another way, content discovery is back at the top of the agenda and interest in personalization/recommendation technologies (to expose people to apps they are likely to appreciate) is also on the rise.

I know this from my interviews with vendors and operators, and from studying a raft of recent stats confirming (through app downloads) that we do indeed want more mobile stuff than ever. However, a disturbing hole in the argument has been (until this week) a lack of insight into what the people want.

Indeed, the underlying assumption has been that poor discovery (and even more miserable mobile search, as this in-depth post from my last mobile search master class shows) frustrates us (because we can’t find what we want) and forces mobile companies (operators/content owners and now developers) to leave money on the table.

So – how serious is the content discovery dilemma, really? Are people really frustrated? And would they buy more if it was easier?

NEW SURVEY

Thanks to a new survey of 2,666 mobile users in the U.S. and the U.K. — conducted by research firm TNS Global on behalf of Xiam Technologies, a Qualcomm subsidiary providing discovery and recommendations solutions to mobile operators – we finally have some thought-provoking stats.

The key data point: 80 percent of people experience some sort of problem getting stuff. The three biggest barriers: stuff is hard to find, phone and interface issues are a pain and the content is just plain irrelevant.

MOBILE SEARCH DOESN’T CUT IT

People are relying on mobile search to discover content, with some 68 percent using search engines to find what they want. 58 percent type in the URL. But – when it comes to effectiveness – people report URLs (83 percent) and bookmarks (89 percent) are the best ways to find content. Mobile search comes in a close third. Interestingly, 67 percent said the handset manufacturer portal was an effective way to find content; 67 percent said operator/service provider portals were effective.

Overall, people complained they are unsuccessful in accessing/purchasing (!) content they want 27 percent of the time.

WOULD PERSONALIZATION HELP?

In principle, it would. Assuming it was easier to find personalized stuff, almost 60 percent would spend more time accessing content and almost 40 percent would spend more money. Would people accept customized recommendations to find stuff they like? Approximately half of people survey in both the U.S. and the U.K. would accept suggestions.

HOW MUCH MONEY CAN BE MADE

Specifically, people said they would spend over an hour a week (55 percent increase) more accessing stuff with their mobile phones and over $8 per month (148 percent increase) if finding and buying was a no-brainer.

In addition to these consumer insights, the report is chock-full with interesting stats about the type of content people download (apps lead the pack) and pay for (games); top mobile sites (service provider destinations/portal trail the likes of Google, Yahoo, Facebook and the BBC); and the gripes people have about their providers (too pricey, too difficult to use and un-cool content).

MOBILE SOCIAL FUTURE

My personal thanks to Martin Clancy, Xiam Marketing Manager, for bringing my attention to the report (in a pre-briefing) and for arranging an interview with Colm Healy, Xiam CEO, to connect the dots. Naturally, much of this analysis is reserved for my report.

However, one exciting observation I can share is the pivotal importance of “significant others” (peers, friends, like-minded people) in the content app suggestions we can expect moving forward.

As Colm put it: The space is “in the eye of the storm.” App stores up the ante and force companies across the ecosystem to focus on personalization and recommendation as means to expose people to the stuff they are likely to appreciate and – ultimately – purchase.

App stores are the place to go – but what is going to keep us coming back for more?

Colm believes that social discovery will provide that stickiness. As he puts it: Recommendations from our friends will be the way we find apps.

But the challenge is not just in harnessing rants and raves from our peers to complement personalization and drive discovery. The real work is in creating recommendations that will work across the plethora of app stores coming on line. “There are unique challenges related to app store fragmentation. If I’ve discovered a great app on an iPhone, obviously what I want to do is let my friend know about that great app. But – if they have a different phone – then the question is how to direct them to the right app for that particular phone.”

Another trend high on Colm’s radar: apps to discover apps. As Colm sees it: Smartphones are chock-full of features and functionalities — clever technology that providers could/should harness to sell us on the wealth of apps at our finger tips. It’s all about taking advantage the interface and features such as location, the compass and the accelerometer (to name a few) to help people get to apps they would likely appreciate.

My take: Personalization has been at the center of mobile since the start. First people bought content (such as ringtones) to personalize their devices. Then companies implemented technology to deliver personalized suggestions and idle-screen takeovers as a way to help people navigate the avalanche of content and cut the clicks to content. It’s work in progress. Now the explosion of app stores pushes the content discovery issue back to the top of the agenda for operators, handset makers, developers – everyone. As this report shows, people would spend more time and money accessing stuff on their mobile phones if it were easier to do. Moving forward, people will likely not only appreciate personalized recommendations (particularly if they come from their peers). They may even come to expect them.

Disclaimer: MSG relies on Tego Interactive for the creation and integration of its online and mobile destinations/strategies. Xiam has aligned with MSG to publish a sponsored series of thought leadership columns and contributions beginning in December 2009.

But this time it’s more than warm-and-fuzzy lip-service. This time it’s hard-nosed business. Two developments – flat sales of  more traditional mobile entertainment offers such as games and ringtones (albeit at a high level), and the phenomenal popularity of apps and app stores – exacerbate the content discovery dilemma, forcing companies and operators alike to admit that better personalization is a must if higher revenues are the goal.

Last week I directed your attention to this excellent column from Mark Lowenstein, who drives home a point the significance of which I cannot overstate: “The most important way to differentiate in this growing but increasingly crowded market is to deliver a more personalized, contextual applications experience.” He was referring to app stores, where we are forced to sift through thousands of apps. (Déjà vu! It was our frustration with scrolling up and down mobile operator portals and hierarchical menus that opened the door for a variety of mobile search and content discovery solutions and providers that promised to take the pain out of finding and buying content.)

Put simply, personalization is not just central to app store schemes. It is critical to the delivery of content and advertising we will likely appreciate because it is in tune with our lifestyles (through profiling) as well as the important clues we leave behind though our browsing behavior, purchase patterns, and download history. (JumpTap, for example, has built a business connecting the dots between these data points to match relevant advertising to relevant consumer segments. As this MSG post recounts, the company  first released tapLink, a platform that builds targeting intelligence from multiple sources including search queries, browsing history, demographic and location data, and then followed up with the recent launch of tapMatch, its pay-per-click (PPC) performance mobile ad marketplace.)

As I have written many times on MSG, the new paradigm is personalized content-push based on a deep understanding of the individual. It’s even more compelling if the technology can learn users’ likes and dislikes over time to dynamically and consistently deliver the right content mix.

One company making its mark is Xiam Technologies, a Qualcomm company that I have tracked from the start. I recently caught up with Colm Healy, Xiam CEO, in a video interview to discuss the role of recommendation and personalized discovery techniques. (My personal thanks to Martin Clancy, Xiam Marketing Manager, for arranging the interview, and to Curtis Shmigelsky and the rest of the great people at bnetTV for including it in MSG video jukebox!)

I encourage you to check out the video interview in the sidebar. A highlight: Colm’s comments on the opportunities in personalization for mobile operators. As he puts it: “Mobile is a uniquely personal device and if you [operator/service provider] aren’t taking advantage of that by building in recommendations and personalized discovery techniques, you’re missing a beat.”

Almost as exciting as the array of business opportunities Colm describes, is his view of filtering. To cover all the material we did in a reality short video didn’t allow us the time to explore this topic as deeply as I would have liked. However, Martin has kindly offered to set up another interview following this week’s debut to delve into Colm’s vision for filters and systems that will – as he hinted in the video interview – “filter out the noise around us to focus in on the things that really make a difference to me.” His vision: “What you need is to get to a situation where a service becomes like a personal assistant that’s helping you get through the clutter and find what you really want.”

My take: Colm’s sharp focus on improving our mobile experiences – through improved personalization and, moving forward, the development and implementation of better filters – is the way to go. It’s also a perfect fit with a milestone, must-watch keynote speech by Clay Shirky, aptly entitled It’s not information overload. It’s filter failure. In this address, Clay puts his finger on the problem of our times: “What we’re dealing with now is not the problem of information overload, because we’re always dealing (and always have been dealing) with information overload…Thinking about information overload isn’t accurately describing the problem; thinking about filter failure is.” If we apply it to mobile, content and apps aren’t stalled because we don’t appreciate them or want to purchase them; we are confronted by a content overload problem and we need better filters that will help us find and buy what we – as individuals (hence the critical role of personalization) – appreciate even before we know we want it.

BTW: Qualcomm, which recently beefed up the personalization element in its Plaza suite of solutions to include Plaza Retail, has also reached out for a briefing to walk me through improvements to the storefront, and the nuts and bolts of the modular toolset it introduced for creating or managing app stores, and personalizing the content experiences they offer.

Disclaimer: Xiam sponsored the creation of the video, but did not influence the questions/topics covered in the interview.

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.  We saw it coming back in April when the company snapped up Xiam Technologies (a move, as I wrote in my post, which gave them “the corporate DNA for a full-force push into the delivery of targeted, dynamically personalized content, apps and advertising”).

But the launch of Plaza (a comprehensive widget ecosystem I detail further down in this post) and tie up with Amobee Media Systems, a provider of advertising solutions for mobile operators that counts mobile operators among its investors, paves the way for operators (and publishers!) to ad-enable widgets and measure the results. Connect the dots, and Qualcomm is pulling together a capabilities mix fully focused on helping mobile operators – as well as brands and publishers – get feature-rich widgets in front of a mass-market audience and make some serious money in the process.

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.

Excerpts from our Q&A:

By way of background, Qualcomm launched the Plaza Mobile Internet platform last May. The platform-agnostic service provides a framework for the development of mobile widgets — Web-based applications for mobile devices – and features a catalog of mobile widgets that will be made available to mobile operators worldwide. (Good move since mobile operators have already proven content creation is not their strength. Operators’ understanding of the developer community – and how to encourage innovation – also has its gaps.) The Amobee Media System comes in to help operators monetize the use of these widgets. Put simply, Amobee’s integration into the Plaza Mobile Internet platform means operators can create and sell new advertising inventory to brands and agencies that will run on these widgets. Amobee will dynamically insert relevant ads into appropriate widgets and round off the offer with analytics tools to measure and optimize these campaigns.

Q: Advertising and widgets are a good fit. We’ve seen Nokia sharpen its focus on ad-enabling widgets – in that case WidSets – through its own mobile advertising activities. But Plaza is more than ad-enabling. It seems to be focused on creating a kind of workflow that allows any company – operator or publisher – to monetize widgets any way they want. Is that correct?

A: Correct. But let me give you some context about Plaza. Plaza is a mobile Internet platform for mobile operators that want to bring the true Internet experience to their end-users. It allows them to mobilize the Web developer communities, and address fragmentation issues [inherent in] mobile devices, applications, and platforms. What’s more, it allows operators to make short- and long-tail content available to their users. On top of that, Plaza is structured around widgets. We are therefore speaking about a platform that is not necessarily BREW dependent or dependent on the Qualcomm chipset or anything like that. It’s completely platform agnostic. That’s what the Internet is all about: To mobilize the Internet [content and apps] you need to be able to get maximum reach and get to mass-market as well as high-end phones.

Q: There’s a lot of buzz about widgets. What are they and – more importantly – what aren’t they within the Qualcomm strategy and framework?

A: There is hype around widgets. You see a lot of companies coming up with all sorts of platforms that are basically just about launching in-built device applications, and stuff like that, and they call it widgets. A widget is – in the true sense of the word – obviously a Web-based application. In other words, those are applications that are basically acting as front-end to the Internet. It’s an important point, because we see widgets as a means to enable this long-tail creativity of Web-based applications to be mobilized, and be presented and present on mobile devices. The user experience is all about the ability of the user to personalize his phone and bring just a snippet of the information they want to the phone. Sure, some are much more accustomed to the experience of opening a full Web page on a desktop or on an iPhone or high-end phone. But, when you get to the mass market phones and feature phones, it’s [opening up a full page in a browser] not the perfect experience. We think that widgets, because of the limited screen and other constraints of the mobile device, are definitely a way forward in terms of the user experience. And we also think that widgets, because they leverage Web tools and the existing tools that Web developers use, represent a huge opportunity to unlock the long-tail of Web applications out there and mobilize them.

Q: Let’s talk advertising. What business models do you enable and what role does Amobee play in this?

A: We present Plaza as a platform, and advertising is a part of it. Operators are able to choose whatever business model they desire to implement. There could be markets where operators are going to say ‘I think that I can have some free widgets to provide to my end-users’, and others are going to say ‘I can offer some premium widgets or enable some content providers that want to sell widgets’. And there are going to be some opportunities for end-users to have user-generated widgets -  widgets created by end-users as utilities. In this scenario, a student at a university will be able to create their own widget, submit it, put it on a phone, and [through Plaza] viral-share it with friends and the community.

So there are going to be different business models. If we take the case of an operator that would like to offer widgets for free, then obviously the model would be around opportunities to derive advertising revenues in return for those free services. That’s what we’re trying to do with our relationship with Amobee. If you think about it, the ability of end-users to personalize their phone with different Web online preferences opens up a lot of possibilities for [companies] to create advertising push, relevant messaging, and relevant marketing [for different segments of users]. So if I’m a user and I have downloaded a Formula 1 widget, it tells you about my preferences and – obviously – allows companies to target their marketing message [to those preferences]. It creates the same kind of model and paradigm that exists on the Internet today.

Q: Amobee is the first. Are there more deals with mobile advertising solutions providers in the pipeline? I imagine you would want other mobile marketing and advertising companies to get onboard…

A: It’s not an exclusive relationship. Amobee is important because Amobee is by far the biggest in terms of market presence and in terms of their mobile advertising platform. So we see working with Amobee [as] creating a win-win between the two platforms, and creating use cases that are exciting for publishers and advertisers as something unique. But it’s not an exclusive relationship. Operators will come to us with different network preferences.

Q: Plaza is for operators and publishers and brands. And it’s not about BREW…

A: It’s platform agnostic, and I think that’s why we’re getting the traction. We’re creating a solution that will be based on the Web tools. It’s about making it possible for Web developers to create for the Web and also for the mobile phone, and make it as simple as possible to start developing mobile applications.

Q: But it’s also about making it simple for operators to go the way of an App Store on their own rather than give it all up to Apple or Google – and any other company getting into this space. I heard Samsung is thinking about content and apps…

A: You’ve got it. It’s about creating an ecosystem of content, of content across platforms, and of content that is not part of a walled garden in that it is specific to a particular device, platform, operating system, or device manufacturer. It’s about enabling the operators to open up their network and their portfolio to the many long-tail developers out there. Definitely.

Q: And where does Qualcomm fit in the picture? What are you saying to mobile operators, for example?

A: If you look at it, everybody attacks the mobile operators and comes down very hard on mobile operators and their walled gardens. But if you look closer, the iPhone and even some of the Internet companies themselves are very successful walled gardens. So what we’re saying to mobile operators is: You don’t need to be ashamed of what you’re trying to do [with walled gardens] because at the end of the day, the ability to control and to create something is important.

If you’re mobilizing the Internet, and if you think about mobilization without any control mechanisms, well, it’s going to be the wild, Wild West in terms of quality of service. There’s definitely a need for mobile operators to guarantee a certain quality of service, a quality of service [that applies] to the applications and to the overall end-user experience. There’s also an opportunity [for operators] to open up to Web developers and create an ecosystem that also addresses the long-tail needs of the different user segments.

Q: Aren’t you asking companies to choose between Plaza and app stores? We know companies want to monetize their content but isn’t it also limiting their options?

A: You don’t have to choose, Peggy. Operators will be able to say ‘we have apps on the iPhone. It’s part of our portfolio on devices.’ But for the mass-market phones, here’s a solution that will allow them to offer and monetize long-tail content. And again, the good thing about it is, it’s not only addressing mass market, but is also is based on Web standards and Web legacy tools. If you look at the evolution of mobile, some 2-3 years ago there were a lot of ODPs. These on-device portals gave users access to apps within a kind of walled garden, and allowed them to personalize their experiences to an extent. But at the end of the day the on-device portals were very proprietary. The widget changes that, and now we see applications evolving in one direction, evolving into one [Web] standard and one paradigm of [Web] tools.

Q: Still, the business model sounds quite similar to the Apple App Store. What’s the difference?

A: We’re providing a monetization platform for mobile operators to be able to monetize apps in terms of Internet revenue streams. That’s what it is. It allows mobile operators to choose their model and revenue share deal they do with the Amobees of the world as their app platform and with the developers. We are providing the enabling platform, and it’s up to operators in different markets to decide the different models they wish to implement.

Q: So you’re giving them a platform and the nuts and bolts of what is essentially their apps store. They cut the deal with Amobee and the revenue share is up to them.

Exactly. And let me emphasize that the implementation will include Java. Just as it will include BREW. It will also include others. If an operator is to be successful in monetizing the new revenue opportunities, they need to get maximum reach. And for the non-BREW operators, [we know] you need to address their device platforms and how to put those applications on the devices.

Q: It’s the only app store approach focused at mobile operators. Do you have mobile operator clients to announce?

A: We’re already engaging with operators, and we are in very progressed stages with operators, and we will soon announce those customer relationships and the deployments.  The platform puts operators in control, and there are a huge number of use cases. It unlocks a huge portfolio of opportunities for operators, allowing them to deploy applications that use the unique aspect of mobility and mobile retailing and marketing [apps] based on location information the operators have, for example.

My take: Apple does it, Google does it and RIM and Microsoft are next in line. Operator rivals have their app stores in place, and the market is wide open for solutions that potentially level the playing field and put service providers on a more even keel with this new breed of challenger. Qualcomm’s offer covers the bases – and now it’s up to operators/publishers to respond.

That day may come sooner than we think.

Qualcomm has invited me to speak at the Plaza Mobile Internet Forum, an exclusive event at MWC on February 18, where my topic will be mobile Internet, mobile advertising, and the strategies that will likely allow media companies to take advantage of the upswing in both. I’m excited about speaking, and delighted at the prospect of meeting attendees – including executives from Amazon, Turner Broadcasting System, and Universal McCann - during the cocktail hour following the forum. My personal thanks to Julian Harris at Qualcomm Europe and the rest of his team for reaching out to me with this exciting opportunity.

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.” What’s more, CTRs on ads also “increase in proportion to the degree of humor, context, and targeting associated with specific search queries.” Finally, nearly half of the users surveyed reported they were “satisfied or very satisfied” with the service, and 54 percent said they got the results they wanted. (Both results were more than double pre-study satisfaction levels.)

The takeaway: MCN CEO Marc Bookman is quoted as saying that the Telenor pilot has “confirmed the effectiveness of federated search to promote content availability, to rank and place relevant content, and to support the delivery of highly relevant and valuable advertising.” This conclusion dovetails well with my own work in this space, which I present in a white paper on federated mobile search, the first of its kind in the industry, sponsored by Motricity and slated (I’m told) to be released in the next weeks. I reserve judgment on the specific findings of the Telenor pilot until I know more about the methodology. (The press release is quite thin on this.) However, I’ll have a chance to get the inside track from the source soon. Andrea tells me I have a bnetTV interview scheduled with MCN co-founder Kimmo Paaso during Mobile World Congress (MWC), so please check for the video interview (on the MSG player) shortly after the event.

XIAM: A giant step forward for location-based advertising, content, and services. Xiam Technologies – a Qualcomm subsidiary providing discovery and recommendations solutions to mobile operators, and a company MSG has covered from the star – has added location to the mix, beefing up its platform to deliver “recommendations ranging from helping subscribers find their way around new cities, to locating products and services they need quickly, wherever they are.” According to a press statement, the addition of two new algorithms now allows Xiam to make location-based recommendations and assisted mobile Internet discovery available to its global customer base.

The platform’s open APIs pave the way for operators, publishers, and third-party brands (!) to make “geographically specific offers of content and services to subscribers.” How precise are these location-specific recommendations? The company says they are “accurate to the latitude and longitude of the device, providing relevant results in real-time for anything from local hotspots to retail outlets.”

The takeaway: This enhancement – plus the addition of an assisted mobile Internet browsing discovery service (allowing users to receive individual recommendations for mobile sites and widgets) – significantly strengthens Xiam’s (and Qualcomm’s) strategy to target publishers and brands. (Think Plaza and you’ll get where this is going. Add a multi-platform approach, which Xiam talked about here, and you’ll know why I’m excited to find out more.) Fortunately, Martin Clancy, Xiam Marketing Manager, has just reached out to offer me a briefing during MWC, so I’ll have a much more detailed take on this soon.

TOP KEYWORDS: A valuable post from Bryson Meunier, Associate Director of SEO at Resolution Media, an Omnicom Media Group, and leading SEO expert (my opinion). In this recent post, Bryson does the heavy-lifting for us all, compiling a must-read list of the top mobile search queries entered in 2008, as reported by Yahoo Mobile, AOL Mobile, and Google Mobile India.

Yahoo! Top Mobile Searches 2008

1. MySpace
2. Facebook
3. Craigslist
4. Movies
5. Weather
6. Olympics
7. The Dark Knight
8. Kim Kardashian
9. eBay
10. AIG

AOL Mobile Search Top Mobile Searches 2008

1. MySpace
2. AIM
3. iPhone
4. MocoSpace
5. Facebook
6. Craigslist
7. Weather
8. Free Ringtones
9. MapQuest
10. Match.com

Google Mobile Top Mobile Searches 2008 – Google India

1. orkut
2. yahoo
3. waptrick
4. gmail
5. games
6. katrina kaif
7. rediffmail
8. yahoomail
9. namitha
10. google

But Bryson doesn’t stop there. He also conducts an interesting experiment, assigning each keyword a volume according to Google’s new mobile keywords tool. His takeaway: “If you or your clients were selling anything in 2008 that related to any one of these things and you didn’t target mobile users, you missed out on millions of impressions and possible conversions.” The mobile opportunity is significant, and Bryson’s must-read blog gives us the context we need to understand and take advantage of it.

Disclaimer: Motricity is an MSG supporter; MCN has been an MSG supporter.