Google to introduce its mobile advertising service in China

After its successful mobile advertising deal with Japan’s topmost mobile carrier, Google is all set to sign a similar deal in China. Google has officially announced that it will soon launch a mobile advertising service which will cover mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

While Google has made it clear that it will be partnering with Far EasTone and Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan, it has not said anything about its partnerships in mainland China.

Chinese mobile market is considered one of the fastest growing markets in the world and Google has stepped into it with great expectations. It remains to be seen if this deal can turn out to be as successful as the one it signed in Japan with NTT DoCoMo.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google.

0 comments.

Using QR codes in mobile advertising

We’ve already seen that the usage of QR codes in mobile advertising has been very popular in countries like Japan and Korea. Now, it has transcended yet another boundary and gone to Singapore.

Singapore Press Holdings has introduced this technology called ZapCodes in Singapore. With this, mobile phone users will be able to get more information on a product or service simply by scanning the ZapCode in an advertisement through their mobile phone camera. The ZapCode software, when installed in your mobile phone, will scan the ZapCode, decipher the message, and send more information to you via a WAP site. The WAP site will have more information on the product or service mentioned in the advertisement. The WAP site might have pictures, gift vouchers, discount coupons, or videos.

This technology, as I’ve always said, is way easier than the usual text message stuff that we are used to. Just imagine, which one is easier? Taking a snap of an ad with your mobile camera and getting the info in a jiffy via a WAP site or typing a code and sending it as a text message to a number and waiting for the info to come in another text message?

This technology could be particularly a huge success in the U.S., if implemented properly. According to statistics, more than 60% of mobile phones in the U.S. have in-built cameras and this makes a huge market for QR code based mobile advertising.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

0 comments.

On why mobile web is the next big thing

Sometimes, people ask me why I get excited about the future of mobile web. Well; what do I tell them? Just check this out.

There are 3.3 billion mobile users in the world today as opposed to 1.5 billion TV users and 1.1 billion PC users.

In Japan, only 30% of use their PC to access the internet. The rest, a whopping 70%, use their mobile phones to access the internet. In other words, mobile browsing is the thing in Japan now.

In South Africa, mobile data plans are very cheap and this encourages people to use their mobile phone to access the internet. In fact, South Africa is one of the biggest markets for mobile web in the world.

Click through rates in mobile advertising are roughly 10 times more than the click through rates of traditional advertising. This will encourage mobile advertisers tremendously to join hands with carriers and offer ad funded mobile content via mobile web to people.

Any other doubts?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Mobile Web.

0 comments.

Using QR codes in mobile advertising a good idea?

One of the stories that I read recently in a website caught my attention. It’s about using QR codes (Quick Response codes) in mobile advertising. Even I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time and the person who wrote that story almost stole the words from my mouth.

For those of you who don’t know – unlike other ordinary codes, the contents of a QR code can be scanned and decoded at a very high speed.

QR codes are very popular in countries like Japan and Korea but not so in the U.S. or even in Europe for that matter. In Japan and Korea, these QR codes in advertisements can be scanned and decoded by mobile phones. So, when you see an ad, you can simply scan the code with your mobile phone and it will take you to a hyperlink or WAP sites where you can get a wealth of information about the product/service mentioned in the ad.

More than 40% of mobile users in Japan use their mobile phones to scan QR codes in adverts regularly. In fact, a lot of mobile phones in Japan come preloaded with the application required to scan such codes. If not, the app can be downloaded from the internet without much trouble.

This has helped mobile advertisers a lot in Japan and Korea. Mobile users find it easier to scan codes to get information rather than having to send a text message or make a call. So, this minimizes effort on mobile users’ part and makes the job of the mobile advertiser easier than ever.

It would be great if U.S. and Europe can catch up with this technology, as it can be a tremendous opportunity for advertisers to reach out to end users without much trouble. I think this idea will get a great response from mobile users as well, as all they need to do is, take a snap of the ad with their mobile phone and get all the information they want. What do you think?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

2 comments.

Mobile phone growth in the U.S. and Asia - A perspective

When it comes to mobile phone market, not many people know that the U.S. is not the market leader. Instead, Asia beats everyone left, right, and center. Asia has been the hub for mobile phones for quite some time now and the surprising fact is, Asia leads in not just the number of mobile phones or mobile connections, but also in the kind of mobile technology that is being used.

How about this for a sample? In Japan, you can play games and fast forward through MP3 tracks with just a flick of your finger, literally. Certain mobile phones in Japan come with built-in motion sensors which let you do this at your comfort. Also, you can point your mobile phones at a big commercial complex and your mobile phone will display information about the building like what’s in there, how to get to a particular shop in the building, and even the daily special in the restaurant. This facility is available in certain models of Sony Ericsson and DoCoMo.

China has gone one step ahead and has come up with a technology through which mobile users can get live broadcasts of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The best part is, you’ll not get streaming videos that are pretty slow. Here, the signals from China’s mobile TV will be transmitted straight to a UHF/VHF antenna which is inbuilt in the mobile phones, and you will be able to get 50 times the normal bandwidth, which, needless to say, will be very quick and easier to watch.

As of now, technologies such as this are almost unheard of in the U.S. However, a lot of experts believe that the 700 MHz auction will change things significantly in the U.S. They actually predict a third network apart from Cellular and Wi-Fi/WiMax, which will make mobile phone market in the U.S. a fast growing one. Soon, people in the U.S. will be able to switch their handsets at their wish without having to change the provider. Well; we’re all waiting for that day, aren’t we?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

0 comments.

Older »