MSearchGroove

MOBILE CONTENT: Mobile content continues to have mass-market appeal but the over-thirty-something crowd prefers a more tailored offer. This is the key finding from a new survey of more than 500 U.S. consumers in four different age categories (18-24, 25-32, 33-44 and 45+) conducted by Zoomerang in July 2007 and sponsored by billing solutions provider Amdocs.The report states that 41 percent of users aged 18 to 24 and 38 percent aged 25 to 32 would be happy to spend $8 to $10 a month on mobile content.

Among other findings:

•             The majority of users (46 percent) buy content such as ringtones and wallpaper to personalise their mobile devices

•             Most 18-24 year-olds buy content for the fun of it; 43 percent are fans of multi-player gaming and 33 percent want social networking and mobile payment capabilities

•             42 percent prefer to access content linked with services featuring “helpful functionality such as providing directions and checking the weather” (this content category is a hit with the 45+ segment, with 44 percent citing this as their chief motivation for buying content – period)

Additionally, the 45+ segment is a convert to GPS and location-based services, with 32 percent ranking this mobile application as their first choice with mobile banking services ranking a close second.

A clear generation gap exists in how users prefer to buy their content. When given the choice between purchasing content using a PC versus a mobile phone, 66 percent of 18-24 year olds chose their phone. However, more than half of the 45+ crowd preferred a PC-based purchase process. (Some good news for the nascent mobile search & advertising space: Many respondents use the browser on their mobile phone to find and make purchases.)

MOBILE ADVERTISING: A study from Nielsen has painted a bleaker picture for the mobile advertising industry than many before it, but also delivered some crucial findings that the industry must take on board. According to the study (which looked at subscribers who use their phones for more than just voice, i.e. mobile internet access, gaming, SMS and ringtone purchase) a massive 79 percent of users did not view ads, 11 percent viewed but didn’t respond to ads, while only 10% interacted with mobile ads. Overall, 67 percent of mobile data users did not want to see advertising invade their content consumption.

Nielsen doesn’t leave us to guess; it’s asks the all-important why questions and gets some surprising answers. 53 percent of mobile data users ignored the ads because they were not interested in the product (I’ll say it again: context and relevancy are critical). Only 17 percent rejected the ads due to privacy concerns (less than expected, but underlining the need to come up with proper permission and opt-in schemes); 8 percent didn’t know how to interact with ads (a clear message for user education), and 7 percent blamed slow data connections. Translated: Mobile operators must speed up the introduction of flat-rate tariffs - and keep it simple!

MOBILE CONTENT BILLING: This one is a shocker. Mobile operators and content providers are losing tons of money (between 30 and 40 percent, to be accurate) due to ineffective billing systems and revenue collection schemes, according to a Mobile News report. The report also states that 3 out of 4 transactions fail off-deck, forcing operators to compensate for the loss by charging high revenue-sharing fees.

SOCIAL NETWORKING: Ipsos Insight has released a report http://www.ipsosinsight.com/pressrelease.aspx?id=3693 entitled PROFILE: Social Networker in an attempt to give us a composite profile of the typical social networker and what makes them tick. Based on 500 completed interviews in 11 countries and 1000 interviews in the U.S. among adult internet users, triers and intenders, the report documents the differences between users in the U.S. and Rest Of World.

For one, U.S. users are tech savvy. Over half of all U.S. social networkers have used their mobile device to send/receive SMS and e-mails, browse the internet for news and info, and receive digital images, compared with a range of 25 percent. [However, a considerable number (42 percent) have never visited a social networking site.] This report certainly gives the impression that mobile advertisers and content developers should be utilising social networking as a vehicle for delivering their services, but first they’ll have to get their head around their value-add. Otherwise, brand presence in these communities could be read as an intrusion in the users’ personal space.

• Posted in
• Mobile Social Networking, Location-based services, Personalization, Mobile Search, Mobile Content, Mobile Advertising

0 comments

share

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

permalink