Is Mobile Web the Future?

Ever since I started focusing my attention on mobile advertising and mobile communication, I have been hearing a lot about mobile web. A lot has been said about mobile web - How big it is going to be, how big an impact it will have on mobile phone advertising, what kind of revenue it can bring in, and how it can simply change the way we perceive our mobile phones. In short – it is considered the future.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project’s latest survey says that the mobile phone will be the primary connecting tool for people all over the world by 2020. If you notice carefully, the role of the mobile phone has changed enormously in the past few years. A decade back, mobile phones were meant strictly for calls and text messages. Now, we can take photos, shoot videos, surf the web, send and receive emails, listen to music, watch TV, transfer data, and more. The mobile phone has become much more than a tool for communication. This gets reflected on the sales figures as well.

Over three billion mobile phones have been sold by mobile companies around the world so far. Interestingly, it took them over two decades to reach the one billion mark. The two billion mark was reached in the next four years and the three million mark was reached in the next two years. Can you imagine? The time taken to sell one billion phones has diminished rapidly – from 20 years to 4 years to just under 2 years. By the end of 2008, there will be 4 billion mobile phones in the world. In other words, over 60% of the population will use the mobile phone as their primary connecting tool.

An important thing you should know is that mobile web is not as prevalent as most people think. Of these 4 billion mobile phones, only 15% are internet enabled. So, an overwhelming number of mobile users still use their phones for calls and text messages only. The reasons are not hard to find.

1. Mobile web is still out of reach for most people thanks to its cost. The data plans cost a lot and it makes people think twice before surfing the net on their phones.

2. Unless you have a smart phone, surfing the web on the mobile phone can be quite cumbersome. The user interface is not good enough and the speed is very low in most cases.

Experts predict that these things will change rapidly. Already, a lot of mobile carriers around the world have come up with flat rates for data plans which make them a lot more affordable. Also, a lot of people tend to buy smart phones these days as they have become a lot more affordable than what they used to be a few years back. Most importantly, with the advent of 3G (high speed internet), surfing the web on the mobile phone could become a lot easier.

The biggest challenge for both carriers and mobile advertisers is advertising. Advertising will be the primary means of revenue support for mobile web and it needs to be done carefully. While the mobile web could open a lot of avenues for mobile advertisers to reach the end users, they need to do it in such a way that people do not find it irritating or intrusive. How well they adapt to this new medium is something we will have to wait and see. But, the signs are clear. Mobile web is the next big thing. What do you think?

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

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AT&T to repay cellphone users in Florida

Last week, AT&T did something which was truly commendable. It accepted to repay cellphone users in Florida who got charged for apparently ‘free’ services. It joined hands with Attorney General’s Cyber Fraud Task Force which will make sure that customers are not charged unknowingly for services that they thought were completely free.

While advertising in the internet, a lot of companies come up with misleading ads which say things like ‘free ringtones just for you’ and then when the customer signs up, he is charged a subscription fee in his next bill. This is very misleading and Attorney General Bill McCollum has come up with strict regulations for mobile carriers to advertise in the internet or any other medium for that matter. Henceforth, advertisements should be in an explicitly detailed manner to make sure customers understand what they are getting into. If something is a paid service, it needs to be mentioned clearly in the ad, without misleading the consumers. Attorney General says that this will create awareness among cell phone users and help them use such services judiciously.

AT&T has decided pay back the amount charged for Florida users for ‘free services’ and has decided to pay $2.5 Million toward the movement. It will also pay an additional $50,000 to educate customers on safe internet use. The Attorney General has lauded AT&T for its active participation in the movement and has urged other carriers to follow suit.

Now, the important thing to note in this issue is that it can happen anywhere. Even in mobile advertising. You get my point? So, when mobile advertisers dish out mobile ads by the day, they need to be careful enough to provide consumers with the right kind of information without misleading them. Otherwise, there would be a similar backlash against them. Hopefully, mobile advertisers will take note of this issue and make sure their ads are not only of some use to the consumer, but also explicit enough to make him understand what he is getting into.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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