Mobilizing sites could be the key in future

Mobile surfing, surfing the web on mobile phones, has been on the rise lately. It has been assessed that around 14% of mobile users surf the web regularly and this number will increase sharply over the next few years. Now, mobile internet is not an alien term to most of you guys and you’ve been hearing this quite often, right? But the issue I’m going to bring up is something different. It’s about the traffic generated by mobile surfing.

A recent report from Nielson says that a lot of companies have seen an increase in their website’s traffic on an average of 13% due to mobile surfing. This is an incredible number, to say the least.

The report also says that some websites had a pretty sharp increase in traffic as a lot of mobile users tend to surf those sites on the go very regularly. Can you guess what kind of websites they’re talking about? It’s a no-brainer. Weather sites and entertainment sites are the most accessed ones via mobile internet and the traffic to these sites increased by 22% due to mobile surfing.

In case of other websites, the increase in traffic has not been drastic, but noticeable nevertheless. However, the report says that this will change soon as more and more people are now accessing the net through their mobile phone.

In my opinion, this brings up the topic of mobile websites again. The question of whether or not a company should have a mobile website has been asked many a time, but there has not been any satisfactory answer. However, I’ve always claimed that mobile websites can change the way you connect with your customers and can actually help you interact with your core user base better. Now, this report reflects my thought too.

Just imagine, if you found out that more than 30% of your site’s traffic came from mobile phones, wouldn’t you be hard-pressed to mobilize your site to make it easier for them to access it through their mobile phones? Also, viewing a standard website on a mobile phone, as I’ve said many times before, can be a clumsy experience sometimes. A mobile site with a mobile-friendly interface which loads very quickly will make it easier for mobile users to access it via their mobile phone. This, in return, can result in an increase in your site’s overall traffic.

While this idea might be applicable for all websites, it’s absolutely necessary for some websites which are regularly surfed by mobile users. Entertainment, travel, weather, movies, maps, news, and banking sites are the most popular websites among mobile users and mobilizing these sites is a great idea.

The content of this report is not surprising for me at all, for there have already been instances where I could sense the immense potential of mobile sites. In case you’re new to this site, I urge you to read this, this, and this. In my opinion, this is a glimpse at the future. The question is, are you ready?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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Could Google Android come up with ad-funded “free mobile phones”?

Imagine you have a mobile phone

1. that can replace your PC

2. that costs you absolutely nothing, not even connection charges

3. that takes mobile surfing, mobile music, mobile video, and mobile connectivity to a whole new level

Does it sound like a scene from a sci-fi movie? You bet it’s not. I’m talking about the possibility of a Google Android based phone. Surprised? Don’t be. This isn’t some kind of a prediction for the New Year. This is what John Bruggeman, Chief Marketing Officer of Wind River Systems, a leading Linux software provider, has stated in his latest interview in technewsworld.com.

He says, “If I can get a lot of what I get through the PC free or low-cost through one of these mobile devices, the only real difference is the size of the monitor, keyboard and mouse. Isn’t there an opportunity in two, three, or four years that I might say, “I don’t need that PC and all that complexity, cost and so forth. I might just use my mobile device for almost all of the things I do online?“

This metamorphosis is happening right before our eyes now. I mean, gone are the days when mobile phone was meant for communication alone. Take a look around you – Nokia N95, Apple iPhone, Windows Mobile devices, and so many other phones which offer almost everything that a PC offers. Soon there will be a stage where people will prefer their mobile phone to a PC, as the mobile is always with them and they don’t have to go searching for a PC every time they go out somewhere.

He also adds, “There might be revenue that’s derived through connectivity, but increasingly we’re seeing the big money around the monetization of advertising attached to search, advertising attached to specific content, and advertising attached increasingly to mobile location and presence. I don’t think that the extreme is that improbable, that the actual connection price would go down to zero. I could have a mobile phone and pay a $0 monthly fee. The ad revenue is where the real dollars are here, as well as all the location-based value that you can do.”

This is where I see the possibility of mobile advertising turning the mobile phone industry on its head. Earlier, this thought would have been dismissed out as an improbability as there is no way you could have a “free” phone without having someone to bear the charges. Mobile advertisers are ready to bear the charges now and the idea of a “free phone” seems a possibility that can happen sooner than later.

Technically, an ad-funded phone is a win-win proposition for both the advertiser, handset maker/carrier, and the consumer. The advertiser gets what he wants – his product/service reaches his target audience, that too on a one-to-one marketing basis. The handset maker/carrier makes money from the advertiser, so he gets what he wants. And finally, the consumer is more than satisfied with what he gets – no charges for premium services or connectivity, all at the cost of getting ads on his mobile phone.

I personally think this would be the best possible way for mobile industry to go forward. It’s high time the anti-mobile phone advertising group gave it some thought. What do you say?

Categories: Google.

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Apple in 2007 - A review

Apple iPhone was without a doubt the most anticipated product of the year 2007. The hype that preceded iPhone was so enormous that I think even Apple wouldn’t have expected it, considering the fact that it was a newcomer in the cellphone market. When launched, Apple iPhone simply broke all the records and went on to sell a whopping 270,000 pieces in just about 30 hours of its release. Windows Mobile 6, which was launched a few weeks before the iPhone was nowhere in the picture.

It got good, positive reviews from the market and Apple was more than happy. It was even named the “Invention of the year” by Time magazine. Though it started off really well, iPhone has managed the sales figures of around 1.39 million pieces later this year, which reflects the fact that the sales has actually slowed down considerably. There could be two reasons for this – firstly, Windows Mobile 6, though a silent contender in the market, has sold out a lot more than the iPhone in the market and secondly, Google came up with Android and took the market by storm. I’ve already stated how Google Android could mean the end of iPhone’s dominance in the market. Still, Apple expects to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008 and considering its sales figures all over, I think it might be an achievable target.

As far as cellphone advertising industry is concerned, Apple iPhone means good news as it has the potential to take mobile surfing experience and mobile video experience to a whole new level. With more and more smartphones entering the market, cellphone advertising could become a lot more effective, as surfing on your mobile phone will become a lot easier and it will in turn make it easier for the advertisers to reach out their target customers through mobile web pages.

Categories: Apple iPhone.

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