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Google is one of those things that most of us just can’t live without. At least, I know I can’t. It has become so indispensable in our lives that we find ourselves searching for something in Google every day. With everyone and their mother using Google as their default search engine, the popularity it enjoys is immense. It’s also the reason why Microsoft and Yahoo pale in comparison. So, when Google announced that it will focus on mobile phone market, a lot of people were surprised. I, for one, was surely surprised. I mean, why would a company which enjoys almost a monopoly in online search think of going into mobile phones? But apparently, Google knew what it was doing.
For long, Google has been enjoying the number one spot in online search. Yahoo and Microsoft were the contenders but ‘so close, yet so far’ was their case. But Google was wary of its competitors, especially Microsoft. Given Microsoft’s reputation to buy companies, a deal with Yahoo was almost on the cards. Steve Ballmer apparently told Yahoo board that together, they can be a great threat to the dominancy of Google and topple it easily. But the deal has not happened and Google, as of now, is still the number one. But for how long was the question. In order to sustain its position in the market, Google had to prove that it was not a ‘one product’ company. The solution came in the form of mobile web.
Why mobile web? It’s simple arithmetic. There are more than 3 billion mobile phones in the world. In just about a couple of years from now, there will be 4 billion mobile users in the world. In other words, there will be three mobile phones for every PC in this world. And to add to this, mobile camera, MMS, mobile internet, mobile video, mobile audio, and GPS – features which were considered luxury once – have become so common these days that we see these features in almost every other phone. What this means to advertisers around the world is that they have a new channel for advertising – the mobile phone.
Mobile advertising, as they say, is the next big thing and there’s billions to be made in the industry which is still in its nascent stage. We hardly go out without our mobile phones. We attend every call and read every text message we get. So, an advertisement in a mobile phone is sure to get noticed. Especially, if you can send targeted ads to people, it will have a bigger impact than traditional advertising. Add this to the fact that Google specializes in targeted advertising. The answer is simple – Google planned to enter the mobile advertising territory big time.
Out came Google Android. A platform which can probably make Google as big a name in the mobile web as it is in online search. But Google knows that this will not be a smooth ride. It will have to struggle considerably to cope with Yahoo, iPhones, Windows Live Mobiles, Blackberries, and more. But competition is something that brings the best out of everyone. Let’s just hope that this competition brings the best out of every big player out there in the market and ultimately benefits us – the end users.
Tags: advertising, Blackberry, contenders, default search engine, end users, Google, Google Android, GPS, iPhone, Microsoft, MMS, mobile advertising, mobile audio, mobile camera, mobile internet, mobile phone market, mobile users, mobile video, mobile web, monopoly, online search, PC, popularity, simple arithmetic, Steve Ballmer, targeted advertising, text message, Windows Live Mobile, Yahoo
Technorati Tags: advertising, Blackberry, contenders, default search engine, end users, Google, Google Android, GPS, iPhone, Microsoft, MMS, mobile advertising, mobile audio, mobile camera, mobile internet, mobile phone market, mobile users, mobile video, mobile web, monopoly, online search, PC, popularity, simple arithmetic, Steve Ballmer, targeted advertising, text message, Windows Live Mobile, Yahoo
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google, All things mobile phones.
Among the different options that are available in mobile advertising - which include text messaging, banner ads, mobile video, mobile TV, mobile audio (ring back tone), and mobile internet ads – text message is the most preferred and the most used form, as it is the only service available in all kinds of mobile phones. However, mobile video and mobile TV are far more engaging and effective in advertising and the only reason they are not used as often as they should have been is the poor quality of mobile videos and the low number of users with mobile phones that support such facility.
As you know, not every mobile phone is as good as the iPhone when it comes to mobile videos and mobile internet, which makes it difficult for mobile advertisers to go that route. However, according to M:Metrics, the number of people who watch mobile videos has increased steadily over the last year or two, which is an encouraging news for mobile advertisers.
According to its statistics, last year alone, some 9 million people in the U.S. watched some kind of video on their mobile phones. People are most interested to watch movie trailers, music videos, sports updates, weather reports, comedy, celebrity news, cartoons, and TV shows.
The statistics tell us a story. People are interested to watch videos on their mobile phone, but the thing that stops most people from doing so is either poor video quality or the high price charged by some of the carriers to watch videos.
Two things need to be done. First, more and more high-end mobile phones with facilities like video, mobile TV, and mobile internet should be introduced in the market, of course at an affordable rate. Second, mobile advertisers should partner with carriers to provide ad-funded mobile content like mobile TV and mobile video for free. While both these things cannot be done overnight, they will definitely see the light of the day in the coming days.
Tags: banner ads, carriers, free mobile video, high end mobile phones, iPhone, M:Metrics, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile audio, mobile internet ads, mobile phones, Mobile TV, mobile video, ring back tone, text messaging
Technorati Tags: banner ads, carriers, free mobile video, high end mobile phones, iPhone, M:Metrics, Mobile advertisers, mobile advertising, mobile audio, mobile internet ads, mobile phones, Mobile TV, mobile video, ring back tone, text messaging
Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.
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