MSearchGroove

In-Brief: An evaluation of U.K. portals underlines the critical importance of keeping it simple.

Regular readers will appreciate that MSG often trawls blogs and sites for important snippets that somehow got lost between the cracks. Such is the case with this analysis from Strategy Analytics that sheds some light on the key success factors for a satisfactory portal experience and identifies the mobile operators that made the winners circle.

The end-user research report, UK Mobile Portals: One Click Access and Simple Layout Enhance Experience, evaluates the portal experience provided by leading U.K. network operators and gives Vodafone and 3UK high marks (more accurately 4-star ratings) for discoverability and usability. O2, Orange and T-Mobile all received a 3-star rating. Even though I’ve read the release, and equivalent of the exec summary (thanks to Strategy Analytics, which was kind enough to provide me with access), I can’t say I’m clear on the difference between a 3- and 4-star rating. Maybe an analyst from the firm will circle back and fill us in through a comment at this site…

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• Mobile Research, Mobile Search, Mobile Advertising, Content Discovery

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In-Brief: MSG ties up with Telematics Update for Navigation Day @CeBIT and speaks at a special session on search & advertising. Receive a €50 discount if you book using ‘1367 MSGroove’ as a special discount code. Conference organizer Abbie Badcock reports healthy attendance for the inaugural event which will feature 35+ c-level speakers from companies including Jentro, Multimap, Nokia, Nuance, TeleAtlas, TomTom, and Webraska. MSG will kick off coverage with a line-up of exclusive podcasts & interviews, so check back regularly.

Regular readers will note MSG has turned up the volume on its coverage analysis of the link between location and mobile search. We have Seeker Wireless exec Andrew Grill on board as a regular contributor and the site itself, which I’m proud to report is already an essential read for the mobile search & advertising industry, has benefited tremendously by the realization (or rather, revelation) that plain-vanilla location-based services are passé.

In fact, the concept of a killer app is passé. The Killer “Opp” (opportunity), to borrow a phrase from Yankee Group, is not location-based services. Nor is it mobile search, or even mobile advertising. Not even the much-hyped trend to mobile social networking will end up leading the pack. It will be the year of “all of the above” and competitive advantage will be based on the ability to provide a holistic and useful mix of these services that is presence-capable and context-aware.

The companies meeting on March 7 in Hannover to discuss navigation “get” this - which is why I’m excited to be both a media sponsor and speaker. The panel, chaired by well-known mobile evangelist Eric Chan, will deep-dive into the intersection between search, networking and location to answer questions including: How can smarter user intent algorithms, combined with location, improve the user experience of local search?; How can we combine advertising with proximity-targeted messages to capture user attention and clinch the sale?; and What impact will advertising models and rev-share deals have on the navigation industry?

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• Web 2.0, Location-based services, Mobile Social Networking, Multimodal Search, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Search, Local Search

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In-Brief: MSG’s reputation for quality analysis and professionalism resonates with the Thinkernet.

Another reason to reach out to me directly for a briefing. In addition to my exciting line-up of writing projects and analytical reports (which I detailed in this post), I have been chosen by the Thinkernet - Internet Evolution’s moderated blogosphere - to contribute posts and insights on the state of the mobile Web, the role of mobile search and the future of mobile social networks. (Speaking of networking, watch for some new features and functionality that will encourage even the lurkers among you to join the conversation at MSG.)

I am deeply honored by the opportunity to be a part of the Thinkernet, particularly since the email I received from the organizers tells me participation is “by invitation only - and strictly limited to an elite cadre of around 100 Internet sages, mavens, and other experts. Only true Internet visionaries will be selected for inclusion in the forum.” I encourage MSG readers to check it out (and not just because I will now be a regular there).

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• Web 2.0, Mobile Social Networking, Mobile Search, Mobile Advertising

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In-brief: Reports & metrics that matter. Companies covered include AdMob, Dentsu, Pyramid Research, Jamster & innerActive Smart Media.

ADMOB: Thanks again to Jason Spero, AdMob VP Marketing, who regularly sends me the monthly AdMob report (often before he releases it to anyone else). A highlight: The January Mobile Metrics Report (true to AdMob’s word to use its vast stockpile of data to track trends in the mobile ecosystem) shows trends in device manufacturers’ market share as defined by the percentage of ad requests in the AdMob network coming from a specific device. The graphs below show the top device makers worldwide and - in particular - illustrate the gains made by Apple iPhone in the U.S. & U.K.

AdMob noted big-time growth in U.K. requests and impressions. A whopping 19.9 percent in January over December. If this jump could be linked to the long-awaited arrival of Vodafone’s lower data tariffs? Another point of interest is the activity around the Superbowl. AdMob witnessed a “significant spike” in U.S. network traffic during the hours around the championship football game. (In addition to download, community, entertainment, news & information and portals channels, AdMob also has a strong offering of sports content in its growing network of publishers.) Overall, network impressions worldwide increased 17.4 percent in January over the previous month.

JAPAN: Dentsu (via Japan’s Cellphone Edge) has released its annual report on Japan’s advertising spend in 2007. Mobile ad spending accounted for more than 10 percent (or $574 million of online advertising budgets), growing by a whopping 59.2 percent year over year. Dentsu also provided a breakdown of mobile advertising, revealing that 13.7 percent (more than $78 million) was search-based advertising.

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• Mobile Research, Mobile Social Networking, Mobile Search, Mobile Advertising

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In-Brief: Knowing the exact - or even the approximate - location of a person is just half of the battle when it comes to delivering appropriate content on the fly. Simon Wood, VP Program Management at Artilium, a provider of enhanced mobile communications solutions based around unified communications, walks us through importance of presence and his path-breaking ideas around a “semantic priority” to determine our presence and preference in real-time. Think mobile Web meets Tim Berners-Lee’s Semantic Web.

Location-based services are soooo yesterday. Now the race is on to provide a complete suite of applications built on the convergence of services as varied as location-based services, social networking, mobile search, and web 3.0 technologies. Put simply, the end-game is about offering connected multimedia experiences including information, entertainment, social networks, and navigation. [Nokia “gets” this. In fact, during a recent mobile search conference organized by Visiongain, Jussi-Pekka Partanen, Nokia’s head of mobile search, stressed the importance of location capabilities (such as GPS) described precisely how location will unite the physical, virtual and social worlds we live in. ]

But location is just part of the equation. Presence, and the systems that will manage it, will be core to location-based services and sit at the center of how we will experience and organize our lives across platforms and devices. More importantly, it will form the foundation for effective mobile advertising and services delivery.

This is the view (or rather, the vision) of Simon Wood, VP Program Management at Artilium, a provider of enhanced mobile communications solutions based around unified communications. I caught up with Simon to discuss context-aware services, personalization, presence and Artilium’s recent acquisition.

Listen to the podcast here. [9:40]

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• Mobile Social Networking, Web 2.0, Location-based services, Personalization, Mobile Search, Local Search, Mobile Advertising, Podcasts

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In-Brief: Details from last week’s Q&A with SurfKitchen and Medio covering their partnership to deliver search via the idle screen; SurfKitchen’s “next-gen” ODP strategy, plans to boost mobile search & advertising, and upcoming North American mobile operator win; Medio’s view of the competitive landscape & plans to launch self-service mobile advertising.

Regular readers will recall that I reported on the tie-up between white-label mobile search & advertising provider Medio and leading on-device portal (ODP) provider SurfKitchen last week when it made the rounds at Mobile World Congress. I wrote my analysis based on the press release (coverage here), and requested briefings with both companies. Michael “Luni” Libes, Medio Chief Architect and co-founder, responded immediately and Dave Evans, SurfKitchen CTO and widget guru, followed soon after. Thanks to my able assistants, Andrea Henninge and Bev Nicholson, I now have transcripts of both interviews that I can feature here as well as incorporate into other reports/projects in the pipeline.

To be clear, the partnership between Medio and SurfKitchen is neither exclusive nor unique in the industry (in fact, other ODPs tell me they are planning similar partnerships as we speak). However, it is a development that validates the pivotal position of the idle screen in delivering search and, more importantly, advertising. And we all have our eye on that prize…

Search & advertising + ODP is a winning combination that we’ll see more of this year. This is because mobile operators recognize they must move past using ODPs to deliver what Dave calls the list of “hit” services (such as mobile TV, music, content catalogues, and navigation) which offer limited customization but drive significant revenues. The real value is in harnessing ODPs to support a broader range of services and business models around search, advertising and personalization. (For more check out this thought-provoking opinion piece - and Dave has promised to circle back with a guest column for MSG soon.)

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• Personalization, Recommendation, Web 2.0, On-Device Portals, Mobile Search, Local Search, Mobile Advertising, Content Discovery

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In-brief: Part two of the MSG special sponsored podcast series with JumpTap, a white-label mobile search and advertising company, continues with a look at recent mobile moves from Google and Yahoo, and why operators should think twice before surrendering control over the mobile search experience to a single branded search company.

Amid the excitement at last week’s Mobile World Congress, which saw the appearance of the first Android prototypes, the full-force advance of handset makers into the services space and the welcome arrival of new and lucrative mobile advertising models, one message cut through the noise and the hype: mobile operators must look for ways to generate additional revenue from the mobile Internet.

Whether this is via mobile advertising, increasing content sales, acting as a trusted gateway to the off-portal mobile Internet, or a combination of the above, the pivotal importance of mobile search and the need for mobile operators to own the experience is clear. While operators are well-advised to embrace openness and offer their users a breadth of choice that includes Internet destinations and search engines, they must also be wary of business models and schemes that could dilute their brand over time.

This is the view of Dan Olschwang, JumpTap president and CEO. MSG caught up with Dan to learn what is at stake and what operators need to consider before cutting a search & advertising deal with a branded search provider or making a move onto Google’s new Android platform. His take: The need to succeed on the mobile Internet is so great that many operators are not paying enough attention to who is giving them the “gift” of additional revenue and why they are giving it to them. Beware of the Trojan horse.

Listen to the podcast here. [11:08]

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• Mobile Search, Mobile Advertising, Podcasts

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In-Brief: I’m ready to rumble after spending yesterday in conference calls, and looking for cool companies to showcase in an exciting line-up of mobile search & advertising articles/projects for publications including the Wall Street Journal. I welcome your input and encourage your pitches.

My sincere thanks to all the MSG readers and enthusiasts who have sent me well wishes. I am on the mend after injuring my ankle (and sadly missing Mobile World Congress/ 3GSM for the first time in a long time). Fortunately, I have been able to reschedule the majority of briefings. I have gleaned quite a lot from a mix of GoToMeetings and conference calls, so I am well equipped to produce the in-depth analysis and podcasts that have become synonymous with this site.

I am currently gearing up for a long line of speaking engagements and industry events, including several mobile search & advertising workshops. I’ll post the details here closer to the dates - and I warmly invite company execs to contact my PA, Andrea Henninge, to schedule F2F meet-ups and briefings.

I’d also like to bring to your attention to an exciting line-up of writing projects and articles. The Wall Street Journal, for example, has commissioned me to write its special report on mobile advertising for CTIA (advertorial), and several other sites and publications have requested thought-leadership pieces from me on mobile search & advertising.  These are great opportunities that I would like to open up to MSG readers.

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• Posted in
• Location-based services, Mobile Search, Mobile Advertising, Local Search

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In-brief: The excitement at last week’s Mobile World Congress may be about location-based communications services and advertising, but Andrew Grill, General Manager of Sales & Business Development at location technology provider Seeker Wireless, argues that basing the delivery of contextual content & advertising on our traditional understanding of location is not enough. He offers another solution that covers all the bases.

When Peggy asked me to write a guest column for MSearchGroove, I jumped at the chance, as it gives me an opportunity to correct many of the myths surrounding location technology and make a case for zone detection - a concept that will take targeted mobile advertising to a new level.

The blogosphere is buzzing with news and views about how easily location can be combined with other demographic and customer specific information to provide a more targeted proposition for advertisers. However, the fact that location services have not yet crossed the chasm is proof that providing a location element to mobile advertising is a lot tougher than we think.

As I suggest in the title of this post, location technology has yet to really make its mark on mobile services. In short, location has been “lost” for some time, discredited by hype and hyperbole since the late 1990s. As an industry, we have only ourselves to blame.

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• Location-based services, Mobile Search, Mobile Advertising, Local Search

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In-brief: MoConDi’s one-click viral sharing gains traction. JT Klepp, MoConDi President, talks stats & strategy, and discusses the role of recommendation & reward in the scheme of things. Finally, a cool idea from an Amazon exec merits a closer look.

“Been there, done that” was my initial reaction to a service that rewards users when they recommend content to their peers. That’s basic Marketing 101. But in mobile it’s a lot harder to manage, and the virtuous cycle it creates (enabling users to share premium content in order to sell still more content) can pay off for the mobile operators and content companies that get on board. Indeed, next to social networking, viral marketing, which builds on the connections between members to potentially boost commerce, is poised to gain some serious traction in 2008.

Case in point is MoConDi’s opt-in content sharing application MeYou.

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• Posted in
• Web 2.0, Mobile Research, Mobile Social Networking, Recommendation, Mobile Advertising, Content Discovery

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