Thank-You To Mobile Content, Mobile Search & Social Media Companies; Judging Ends Tomorrow
Just a quick note to update (and thank!) the many mobile companies who contacted me to be considered for inclusion in the eContent 100, a list of the 100 companies that matter most in the digital content industry. I was chosen to judge the categories Mobile Content, Search Engine & Technologies, Collaboration and Social Media. Round 2 of the judging ends tomorrow but, since I’ll be in London on business, I’m wrapping up my voting today.
Some initial observations: I am surprised and inspired by the breadth and quality of the companies, again sure-fire signs that the mobile search market will not be dominated by the usual suspects.
Granted, the U.S. market share of all the alternative search engines combined equals only a few percentage points. (My esteemed colleague and partner Charles Knight at AltSearchEngines counts 1,400 – 100 of which are serious players.) However, the PC is not mobile.
On a personal device other factors (such as location, context, relevancy, behavior) play in favor of a Long Tail of mobile search engines. And there’s a better chance they’ll make money since we will expect (and embrace) a vastly different mobile search experience. (Think of the companies that won the recent Mobile Search Awards and you’ll get where I’m coming from…)
Another development that stands out: The first-ever appearance of ad networks (because they have correctly opted to offer publishers super-cool tools and support), social networks and dynamic personalization companies in the nominee list.
In my view, this underlines profound changes underway in the mobile content creation / delivery / monetization value chain. But will the industry generate enough revenue to feed them all? My string of conferences, briefings and meet-ups tells me consolidation is inevitable…
More observations and impressions as I work my way through the list of top-notch companies. This year’s eContent 100 will rock!
