Archive for March, 2010

Local Search powers 30% of all Mobile Searches

Google this week shared some very powerful and persuasive data about local search on mobile phones and devices. Diana Pouliot, Director of Mobile Advertising, Google, Inc, shared with those in attendance at the CTIA Wireless Conference Mobile Marketing & Advertising forum that 30% (one-third) of all Google searches on the mobile web are about some aspect of the searcher’s local environment.

Paul Feng, Google’s Mobile-Ads Group Product Manager, expounded on Google’s efforts to make the search giant’s advertising reach as “local as possible”. Some efforts underway include developing new ad formats. Feng suggested further tweaking of those formats in the near future – changes that may even involve new forms of user interaction, including navigation. “We think of location as a hugely important signal.”

And Google is admittedly hard at work optimizing advertising platforms for the increasing pertinence of “local-intent” in a substantial chunk of all mobile searches. Google, however, isn’t along in its efforts. For example, this week Yahoo’s sales reps are “going after big companies with outlets that advertise in local newspapers and on regional radio stations and Web sites.” The marketers referenced include Dunkin’ Donuts, Burger King, Pizza Hut, State Farm Insurance and Home Depot.

The mobile industry seems to agree: analysts are now forecasting and predicting that location-based mobile spending will top $4 billion in 2015. That’s up from just $34 million spent just last year.

Mobile Marketing and Mobile Advertising center on location, location, location. Certainly already a very familiar concept in real estate marketing and other industries that base it’s value around location including: billboards, channel position on cable channels, online marketing (above or below the fold), land value, store traffic, etc.

Bottom Line: Local Intent will drive mobile marketing and advertising.

March 25, 2010 in Blog   |   1 Comment

5 Billion Text Messages sent/received each month in the US. Mobile Messaging continues to show enormous uptake in SMS and MMS.

The Wireless Association (CTIA) today announced at it’s semi-annual conference its semi-annual survey results. Mobile messaging continues to grow in both text messaging (SMS) and multi-media messaging (commonly referred to by some as picture messaging or MMS).

THE HIGHLIGHTS
SMS/ Text Messaging Stats:
According to the survey, text messaging (SMS) continues to grow at an unprecedented rate: more than 822 billion text messages sent and received on carriers’ networks during the last half of 2009—amounting to almost 5 billion messages per day at the end of the year. During the 2009 calendar year, there were more than 1.5 trillion text messages reported on carriers’ networks.

MMS / Multi-Media Messaging Stats:
Wireless subscribers are also sending more pictures and other multimedia messages with their mobile devices—more than 24.2 billion MMS messages were reported for the last half of 2009. That’s more than double the number from the previous year, when only 9.3 billion were reported for the last half of 2008 – a growth of over 250% year over year growth. The growth in messaging take up is also fueling mobile marketing growth and adoption of mobile marketing by companies of all sizes.

Device Growth & Increase Data Connection:
There are now more than 257 million data-capable devices in consumers’ hands in the US – up from 228MM at the end of 2008: 50 Million are smart phones or wireless-enabled PDAs and nearly 12 million are wireless-enabled laptops, notebooks or aircards.

As of December 2009, more than 285 million wireless connections. This represents a year-over-year increase of more than 15 million.

“With wireless connections now equal to more than 91 percent of the U.S. population, mobile broadband is pivotal to ensuring all Americans are ‘digitally literate’. CTIA’s survey results show the wireless ecosystem is constantly reinventing itself, and other industries, to be more productive and efficient” said Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA -The Wireless Association. “Mobile broadband will increasingly play a vital role in people’s lives.”

People Still Making Calls:
Other highlights included wireless customers using more than 1.12 trillion minutes in the last half of 2009, up 38 billion from the last half of 2008—and breaking down to 6.1 billion minutes-of-use per day. Wireless service revenues for the last half of 2009 amounted to almost $77 billion—up from a little more than $75 billion in the last half of 2008.

The CTIA Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey results were released at International CTIA WIRELESS 2010. For more survey information, please visit: http://www.ctia.org/advocacy/research/index.cfm/AID/10316

POSTED: March 23, 2010 (LIVE FROM CTIA)

March 23, 2010 in Blog   |   2 Comments

Mobile Ticketing to grow to 15 Billion by 2014 (Juniper Research)

Juniper Research released its latest report on mobile ticketing and predicts that by 2014 nearly 15 billion tickets will be delivered worldwide to consumer’s mobile devices.

Juniper categorizes mobile ticketing into three major segments that cover most of the ticketing applications in the following categories:

• Transportation including Air, Rail and Bus
• Sporting Events, including sports at the club, national and international levels, as well as major international sporting events such as the Olympics and World Cup.
• Entertainment & Events, including live music, theatre, ballet, comedy, cinema, night clubs, museums & galleries & trade shows.

The Juniper report shares that mobile ticketing is being adopted the fastest in the transport sector through SMS, bar codes and apps offered by mass transit, railways and airlines. It predicted mobile ticketing would be more widespread in Cinema’s, Concert halls and sports stadiums by 2014.

The report also stated that in 2009 the majority of mobile ticketing transactions where in the Far East and China. While Europe’s contribution in 2009, of 17% is mainly due to advanced transport ticketing systems in Scandinavia. But the report predicted that Europe would be the leading region by 2014.

March 15, 2010 in Blog   |   No Comments