Is Google the real winner in the FCC auction?

Finally, the most anticipated FCC auction for 700 MHz wireless spectrum is over. Verizon and AT&T have acquired a substantial number of licenses. As I promised in my last post, I have to tell you what this means to Google.

First things first. We all know Google is clever. When people went wild with their speculations about the auction, Eric Schmidt would have probably smirked. The reason being – Google probably never intended to win the auction. In fact, even before the auction, it got what it wanted.

The open access theory was formulated by Google and FCC made it clear that the winner of the spectrum should allow their users to choose any handset they want and run any application they want on their mobile phones. In other words, even if Verizon or any other company wins the auction, they will not be able to make their subscribers use a particular mobile phone with a particular application. This leaves a gap large enough for Google to bring in its Android supported devices. Clever, isn’t it?

As we already discussed, the costs involved in running a network are huge and Google never actually intended to do that. Instead, it will make money, irrespective of who wins the auction, through mobile advertising.

Now, at the end of the auction, Google actually didn’t win any license. But instead, it made Verizon and AT&T pay big bucks for the licenses. Now, Google will be happy to introduce its Android based mobile phones with tons of applications, which people will be happy to use. So, without spending big bucks for licenses in the auction, Google will be able to make money – through advertising.

Now, is that brilliant or what?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google, All things mobile phones.

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Eric Schmidt, mobile phone market, and a few musings

In one of his recent interviews, Eric Schmidt brought up a few very good, thought-provoking points. If you don’t know who he is, click here.

Eric said that mobile computing could be the most important idea which needs to be developed in future. This argument has been put forward by a lot of prominent people and we all know the bottom line – whatever people do with their PC, they should be able to do it with their mobile phone.

He also has a valid point to back up his argument. When the PC was introduced, no one imagined that it would go on to become such a big, powerful platform. Given the speed at which world is going mobile, the same phenomenon might happen with mobile phones too. The starting point of that phenomenon, he believes, will be Google Android. Google Android, the mobile operating system from Google, has created enormous buzz in the market and later this year, we can expect to see a number of mobile phone makers coming up with handsets based on Android.

However, the most important point that caught my attention is this – ‘ubiquity of location based data’ – a phrase used by Eric. Think of the information that could be most useful to you if you could get it on your mobile phone whenever you want – traffic information, flight and bus schedules and routes, weather updates, and maps. We will soon have all sorts of such information right on our mobile phone, whenever we want.

I believe that mobile advertising and mobile phone market in general could become a much bigger deal by giving the users what they want – like the aforementioned things – rather than ads that are not targeted and irrelevant.

PS: If you had no idea who Eric is and clicked the link above, do this.

1. Come out of the cave you’re living in.

2. Get a shave and a haircut.

3. Get used to us evolved humans and try to behave the way we do.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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Mobile advertising discussion at the World Economic Forum

I’m still checking out the latest happenings at the World Economic Forum at Davos and interestingly, mobile advertising and technology is being discussed quite seriously.

Firstly, let me throw you some numbers. China Mobile adds roughly 6 million new subscribers every month; that’s right, month after month. Going at this rate, it could add 72 million mobile subscribers by the end of this year. Already, there are 3 billion mobile phone users in the world and the number is growing stronger than ever. Sounds amazing; doesn’t it?

A lot of people in the panel, including Google CEO Eric Schmidt, were of the opinion that mobile advertising could be huge. Panel Moderator David Kirkpatrick said that mobile phone is rapidly becoming the de facto internet device, replacing the need of a PC or a laptop for that matter.

Wang Jianzhou, CEO of China Mobile, seconded the opinion of Eric Schmidt that location based mobile advertising could be the future of mobile advertising. He believes that it will enable advertisers to send special, customized information that the subscribers can make use of. As I already discussed, location based mobile advertising, when implemented properly, could be a great way for both advertisers and customers to benefit from each other.

It’s really interesting to see a lot of high profile people discussing the issue of mobile advertising at a stage as big as the World Economic Forum. Mobile advertising industry couldn’t have expected a better way to kick off the new year.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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Location based mobile advertising the key - Says Google CEO

We’ve heard a lot about mobile advertising, haven’t we? We’ve seen people talking for mobile advertising, people talking against mobile advertising, and hell; even people who don’t know a thing about mobile advertising giving their opinions. Finally, we have a voice, an authoritative one that is.

Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt talked about mobile advertising at the World Economic Forum at Davos and made a few interesting points. Forrester has predicted, rather cautiously, that mobile advertising will reach the $1 billion mark in 2012. Talking about it, Eric said that mobile advertising could reach that mark very soon, in fact it could even happen next year.

Location based advertising, which is the most talked about aspect of mobile advertising as of now, has the potential to make mobile advertising far more powerful and effective than what it is right now, according to Eric. So, he was pretty bullish about the “revolution” that is mobile advertising.

Well; this has been my opinion for a long time now and finally we’ve heard it from the horse’s mouth. What remains to be seen is, how well these mobile advertisers could exploit location based advertising in their favor.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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Mobile social networking could be the future

Everyone talks about mobile advertising these days and most importantly, everyone, irrespective of their knowledge in this issue, seems to have an opinion on the same. Marketing experts world over say that mobile advertising could be huge and one of the most important reasons is the rising awareness on social networking sites.

Social networking has become hugely popular all over the world. Apart from big markets like the U.S. and Europe, the numbers from countries like India and Brazil are staggering and it only shows people’s growing interest in this phenomenon called social networking. This is why mobile advertising could be huge. Social networking, by definition, is about people that want to keep in touch with their friends and share info among them by the hour. Now, you can’t expect someone to roam around with a laptop all the time and this is where mobile phone comes into the picture. If social networking sits can be made easily accessible on mobile phones, the response would be tremendous. The mobile phone is always with you and it will help you keep in touch with your friends by the minute through these sites. Already, lots of mobile applications support this facility and you also have mobile social networking sites from Facebook and the like.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt says that mobile advertising could be twice as profitable as conventional advertising, as the ads are targeted and more personal. However, it all depends on how easy the user finds it to use his mobile internet. Now, the most important thing is the quality of mobile internet. The speed needs to be improved and the screens need to be widened in order to give the users a rich experience. As of now, surfing Facebook in an ordinary phone is way difficult than doing it in an iPhone. So, the focus should be on making mobile internet access simpler for the users. The more we see phones like the iPhone, the easier it will be for the advertisers to reach out to the end users. One thing’s for sure – the future is gonna be exciting.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Mobile Social Networking.

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