Innovative Mobile Applications from SingTel

SingTel, the leading mobile operator in Singapore, has launched three innovative mobile applications to simplify the task of shopping and make it a lot more enjoyable experience for its subscribers.

Go! Shopping is a location based application that lets people find their way through the busy shopping malls of Singapore. It gives people access to indoor maps of various shopping malls in the country. With this app, people can find the details of particular stores at the click of a button. They can even save the details for future references.

Price Pal is a barcode based application that lets people find and compare the prices of various products easily. All a customer needs to do is scan the product barcode using his cell phone camera. The app will immediately display the prices of the product sold in various retail stores. This helps people compare the offers of various retailers and make an informed purchase decision.

Property Buddy is an application that gives valuable real estate information for people. If a customer needs to get a list of properties for sale or rent, all he needs to do is point his mobile phone camera towards the direction of the properties he wants to search. The app will display a list of for sale/for rent properties available in the area and their transacted prices.

SingTel has stated that these applications will be available free of cost for its subscribers. It, however, adds that it plans to generate revenue with the help of advertising. It says that the apps will come with standard in-app mobile ads that people will not find too intrusive. It also gives its customers the option of receiving targeted ads based on their preferences. These ads, however, are meant only for people who are interested in disclosing their preferences. The rest, who are not interested in the offer, can continue to enjoy these apps with limited ads.

Categories: All things mobile phones, Mobile Applications.

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US Mobile Display Ad Spending Likely to Exceed $1 Billion in 2015

ABI Research’s recent report says that mobile advertising spending on display ads in the United States is likely to quadruple in the next few years. The amount spent on mobile display ads, which stands at just over $300 million now, is expected to exceed $1.2 billion in 2015.

Neil Strother of ABI Research says that a survey conducted by the firm in February revealed that 28% of mobile users use the mobile internet facility regularly. He says that the percentage of mobile internet users has increased phenomenally in the last 14 months, which is a great sign for the mobile advertising market.

The report, based on the inputs from a number of mobile marketers, technology vendors, mobile network operators, and advertising agency executives, says that there has been a steady increase in the amount allocated for mobile ad campaigns by companies. Industry insiders say that they have been seeing year-over-year increases of 25%-30%, which is unprecedented when you consider the fact that the industry is still in its infant stage.

Marketers use different types of ads like mobile display ads, text message ads, in-app ads, search ads, and video ads to reach their target audience. They rely on simple text message ads to reach people with low end phones that lack advanced features like mobile TV, internet, audio, and video. On the other hand, they use a variety of rich, multimedia ads to reach people with smartphones that come loaded with advanced features. Statistics show that smartphone penetration in the US is just about 20% now. As this number increases, we can expect a huge surge in the number of mobile ads served across the country.

One of the important signs that indicate a bright future for the industry is the entry of big players like Apple and Google. So far, the industry has been dominated by independent ad networks like Millennial Media, Jumptap, and Greystripe. Google’s acquisition of AdMob and Apple’s acquisition of Quattro Wireless, however, has changed the scenario completely. It shows that the idea of using the mobile phone as an advertising medium is slowly getting mainstream acceptance, which is great news for anyone is related to the mobile advertising industry.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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The FTC Approves Google’s Acquisition of AdMob

It has finally happened folks. The United States Federal Trade Commission has approved Google’s acquisition of AdMob. While this is something that we all knew would happen, there is an unexpected twist to the story. The approval was made possible because of Apple – Google’s arch rival. Incredible, don’t you think?

The FTC was reluctant to approve Google’s $750 million acquisition of AdMob because of just one reason – it thought the move would give Google an edge over all its competitors and make it a monopoly in the mobile advertising market. It thought the deal would make Google too big for any competitor to take on. Apple’s acquisition of Quattro Wireless in January, however, changed everything.

The acquisition of Quattro gave Apple a strong chance to dominate the mobile ad market. Moreover, an increasingly large number of people are using Apple iPhone and iPad to access the web on the go. So, the FTC decided that Apple’s deal with Quattro Wireless, coupled with the fact that the company has a significant presence in the smartphone market, will definitely mitigate the dominance of Google as a mobile advertising powerhouse and approved the latter’s acquisition of AdMob.

The FTC, in its own words, admitted that the decision was very difficult to make as the parties involved in the deal (Google and AdMob) are two of the most powerful mobile advertising networks in the world today. The regulators were worried about antitrust issues, which is one of the main reasons why they did not approve of the deal right away. The deal between Apple and Quattro Wireless changed their opinion and overshadowed their concerns. As a result, Google can now breathe a sigh of relief.

This, in my opinion, is the best thing that could have happened to the mobile advertising industry. Apple, which recently released the iPad, is poised to become a dominant force in the market and Google, with its Android OS, is already making waves in the market. As of now, the top players in the market include Apple, Symbian, Blackberry, Android, and Microsoft. The AdMob deal, however, gives Google a definite edge over its competitors.

The deal has made Google the largest mobile advertising network in the world today. As some of you already know, AdMob recently served its 200 billionth ad and serves, on average, 8.5 billion mobile ads every month. The company has its presence in more than 160 countries and has some of the biggest companies in the world as its clients. So, Google is all set to become the most dominant player in the market. Its competitors have their work cut out. It should be an interesting battle.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google, Apple.

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Symbian’s Mobile Ad Click Through Rate Better than Apple OS

A recent report from Smaato says that Symbian users are more likely to click on mobile ads than Apple iPhone users. The report discusses the click through rates for mobile advertising campaigns in the U.S. for the month of April 2010. It says that the number of clicks generated by the Symbian smartphone platform is 2.7 times more than the number of clicks generated by the iPhone OS.

This statistics might come as a bit of a surprise for many, as most people are under the impression that the Apple iPhone is the undisputed leader of mobile ads. What is even surprising is that Apple is not even in the second position. It is in the fourth place, as feature phones and Windows mobile phones take the second and third place respectively. Google Android suffered nearly a 50% drop in its click through rates during the period of February 2010 to March 2010, which pushed it down to the fifth position. What this means is that no other operating system comes even closer to the click through rates of Symbian, which is backed by the world’s biggest mobile phone maker – Nokia.

The way I see it, this report from Smaato debunks the myth that Apple OS is the holy grail of mobile advertising and Symbian is an aging platform that no one really cares about. While the possibility of Apple reclaiming the top spot cannot be ruled out, it is still interesting to see Symbian performing so much better and exceeding everyone’s expectations.

In the coming months, this competition could only get more intense. Apple is all set to redefine the world of mobile advertising with the iPad and Symbian is all set to release its revamped mobile library – Symbian ˆ3. It should be interesting, don’t you think?

PS: You can download the report from this link.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Nokia, Apple.

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Blyk Launches Operator Network in the Netherlands

Cell phone advertising firm Blyk recently launched an operator service in the Netherlands. It has announced that it has joined hands with Vodafone and will be operating on its network. If you remember, it signed a similar deal with Orange some time back. Experts think that this partnership signals the recovery of the mobile advertising market which was affected to some extent due to the recession.

Blyk sends targeted mobile ads to its subscribers in exchange for free call minutes and free text messages. It calls itself a ‘mobile network for young people’ and targets people aged 16-29. People who subscribe to the service will get targeted ads from various brands including Nike, McDonald’s, Electronic Arts, and more. They will, in exchange, get free talk time and SMS credit.

Blyk has also announced that it is interested in fast growing markets and its next launch, not surprisingly, will be in India. Entering India, a country with more than 300 million mobile users, can be a great opportunity for the company to grow. The company already has an office in Delhi. While it has not revealed any further details, it is said that the launch could happen pretty soon.

Blyk, as some of you might already be aware of, is known for its highly targeted mobile advertising campaigns. If the response rates of its campaigns in the past are anything to go by, it can be said that it will be just as big a success in the Netherlands as it is in the UK. Let’s wait and watch, shall we?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Blyk.

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