The Open Mobile Summit is only a day away and – if you can somehow manage a ticket – I suggest you head on over. There are just over 50 seats left and the line-up of a whopping 70 speakers, includes senior execs from major players including Google, Yahoo, Nokia, Spotify, Admob, Ogilvy, AKQA, the BBC, MTV, FT.com, Opera, Vodafone, O2, HTC – and the list goes on. A special highlight: the first public appearance by Alberto Torres, the former McKinsey consultant who has recently been appointed head of Nokia’s MeeGo smartphone operating system.

Kudos to Robin Batt, my esteemed colleague and the executive producer of this conference. Robin fully understands that doing business -and making money- in an Open Mobile world will require new thinking and business models. The caliber -and variety- of speakers from across the mobile business ecosystem that she has brought together for this event will undoubtedly deliver attendees some answers and useful advice. MSG is proud to support Open Mobile Summit as a media sponsor. I won’t be able to attend this event – but I have already booked my flight for the next Open Mobile Summit (San Francisco, November 8-9) and suggest you do the same.

INTERVIEW WITH ALISA BOWEN

To promote this event and give you a preview of the hot topics on the agenda, I caught up with Alisa Bowen, Senior VP consumer publishing at Thomson Reuters, who will speak tomorrow on the future of publishing in a three-screen world. Alisa oversees the sales, marketing, product development and operations for the company’s Web, Mobile and IPTV propositions in 12 languages and 17 markets globally.  From the start mobile has been at the top of her agenda, so I used the opportunity to ask Alisa what makes her so sure mobile is so powerful.

Among the highlights:

CONTEXT MATTERS: Thomson Reuters is sharply focused on the business professional, a customer segment that is increasingly mobile. “We need to do a world class job of providing them with the information they need wherever they are, whatever context they’re operating in and on whatever device is most convenient to them.  Thomson Reuters provides intelligent information which means both information that you can make real business decisions on, but it also means information that it contextually aware.” Moving forward, that means much more intelligence built into the services. “It’s essentially just beginning.  I think contextual awareness we’re seeing begins with location awareness…but I think there is tremendous opportunity in the future for the technology to become so much more sophisticated, to understand what your mobile consumption habits have been, and then customize your applications around that.” Alisa envisions a linkage between technology and context resulting in services that “know” our moods or the appointments in our calendar and then uses this insight to serve up relevant information.

READING & RELATIONSHIPS: “We spent a lot of time last year researching how business professionals were using mobile devices and what we discovered was that there is no generation gap. There’s been a seismic mind shift in terms of people’s adoption of mobile technology.” But it’s more than just information access on the fly; Alisa says mobile also has to help them connect with their peers in new ways. “For many of our professionals, their jobs are now much more about managing relationships.” They need information but they also need to be “a part of a community internally within [their] own organization and externally within [their] own client base.”

MOBILE VS DESKTOP: It’s not a case of “either or” – it’s a matter of creating content that harnesses the best of both. “In previous eras of our mobile strategy, there was a tendency for us to try and cram everything that somebody would use on a desktop onto a smaller screen.  We’ve seen the light, so to speak, and I think we understand much more clearly that the mobile information consumption is not just the same stuff on a smaller screen.” This recognition has prompted Thomson Reuters to “split a desktop companion product from what we call task-oriented, bite-size applications that are very focused on executing a specific task. In the case of consumer media, that’s news awareness, browsing and reading, and so we’ve developed applications that just do that superbly and they don’t try to do everything else.”

APPS & ROADMAP: Alisa is predictable tight-lipped about the details, but hints that apps such as the News Pro for iPad is a prime example of where things are going. Video is another focus, which is why the company’s financial services division recently released Reuters Insider. “It’s an extremely innovative new video platform for financial professionals; it aggregates content from third parties but also showcases Reuters’ world class financial reporting on video.  It has a number of interesting usability features and functions and essentially allows users the ability to create their own channel by dragging and dropping — from their desktop and from their iPad and from their iPhone — different video clips that fit their profile.” In addition, the service provides a transcript of the video content in “almost real-time” and allows users to search those transcripts and jump using touch gestures to the specific place in the video that contains the relevant keywords they’re interested in following.

ADVERTISING & M-COMMERCE: “I think customers have some cultural sensitivity to paying for the content. But they’re not just paying for the content, so my plea to publishers is to understand that balance between content and experience. One without the other is worthless, but both together is extremely powerful….I think it’s up to us as an industry to make of it what we can and I think you will see advertisers follow in and marketers follow in behind that.” But it’s not just about stock-standard banners and ad units we know from the Internet. “I think the [iPad] platform is a canvas for much more creative and rich advertising and marketing experiences [such as video].” So how can publishers make real money? Alisa is bullish about the potential for the iPad, in particular, to drive sales of real stuff.  “I think that we forget sometimes that the iPad platform represents 125 million users with their live credit card details entered into a store, one click away from buying real stuff. I think that is incredibly powerful….I think if publishers can think about how to harness that opportunity around commerce for buying real goods and services, as well as virtual ones, then that’s a pretty interesting space that I don’t think is being well discussed yet.”

My take: Publishers and media companies are well-advised to embrace mobile. But they must also factor our “state” into the equation. Thomson Reuters has created robust services that effectively split the desktop chores from the task we have to perform on the move. Mobile optimizing content is not about whiz-bang stuff; it’s about understanding what we want to do and providing us the tools (information and access to our communities) to do it well. I was also struck by the sharp focus on video moving forward (for both rich advertising and exciting content presentation). Will video be the next big thing? A tough one to call (and fraught with bandwidth issues we also need to consider). Nonetheless, this bodes well for an announcement we can expect soon: the launch of the industry’s first mobile video ad network. I’ve signed up for a pre-briefing and will report back once it’s prime time.

Listen to the podcast here. [15:07]

EDITORS NOTE: MSearchGroove (MSG) – named a top 50 influential technology site by Konector – provides its platform to showcase select events that set the bar. In addition to standard media sponsorships, MSG produces interviews and podcasts free of charge for select event partners to boost promotion and create buzz. Contact me directly (peggy@msearchgroove.com) to explore ways we can collaborate to make your event stand out.

Next in the series: An interview with Paul Reddick, Handmark CEO, in the run up to M-Publishing, the premier mobile publishing event (London, June 1) organized by James Cameron and the team at Camerjam.

In brief:

It’s encouraging to see a much sharper focus on mobile search and a growing realization among mobile operators, content providers and publishers/developers that there is a lot more to mobile search than the universal model we know from the online Internet. Mobile phone form factors push companies to develop new mobile search services that deliver us relevant results in tune with our intent and context. All the better if these services make use of features and functions such as voice recognition, image recognition, location-awareness and Augmented Reality.

Another development that makes search essential is the avalanche of apps and app stores, and the drive by all the players in the ecosystem to make these content and services storefronts a commercial success. Case in point: Apple’s decision to snap up Siri, a voice-activated digital personal assist that takes the concept of search to a new level (allowing us to find not search!)

OPEN CALL FOR MOBILE SEARCH FIRMS

Regular readers will recall that I have tracked mobile search from the start (hence, the name MSearchGroove, following on the popularity of my industry-first report on the mobile search and content discovery space).

My background and passion also allow me to connect with cool companies in the space such as Taptu, the first mobile search company to index the Mobile Touch Web; Expertmaker, a mobile search company in stealth mode that allows us to refine our search parameters in real-time; GetFugu, a company that combines search and image recognition to help people find local businesses and navigate to their website; and Aisle 411, a company at the sweet spot between mobile search and inventory management. (Check out the bnetTV video interviews I conducted with Carl Freer, GetFugu founder, and Nathan Pettyjohn, Aisle 411 Chairman & CEO.)

I look forward to including these and more cool companies in my keynote presentation to the European Commission. The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, which is part of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, has organized an exploratory expert workshop titled “Exploring the Future of Mobile Search” to discuss the innovation potential in mobile search. The workshop will take place in Ghent, Belgium (June 9), during the 9th Conference of Telecommunication, Media and Internet Techno-Economics.

Timed to this event I will also kick off a new series on MSG profiling mobile search newcomers and innovators. If you are a mobile search company and want to be included in my ongoing work and upcoming series, then please contact me directly (peggy@msearchgroove.com).

DATA POINTS

With search at the top of the business agenda, the timing is excellent to recount the key takeaways of several recent mobile search reports.

MOBILE COMMERCE & MOBILE SEARCH: Mobile Commerce (MC) – which handles over 25 percent of the searches coming from U.K. mobile operator portals and other sources – recently released a report summarizing the trends it observes based on the search queries it “sees” per year.

Among the findings:

• The volume of searches has more than doubled over the last 12 months. MC reports an increase in mobile search usage from 125 million queries to 250 million, in part due to the jump in the number of people signing up for flat-rate data bundles to surf the mobile Web. The number of searches per unique user also shows an increase. The total has grown from 8 per month to 13. (Granted this is not the frequency of use we know from the online Internet, but it is an indication that users are gravitating to the search box on portals as they become more familiar with the mobile Web.)
• The position of the search box is critical. MC’s data confirms that the higher the search box is placed on the portal, the more people use it. It’s not rocket science, but it does show that there are very simple ways to significantly increase the use of search. Even stating that search is free of charge (as Orange has done on its Orange World Portal) can boost usage.
• Tag clouds are useful shortcuts. Many use search instead of bookmarks to reach sites and destinations quickly (which is why Facebook was the single most searched term of 2009). MC tells us that displaying tag clouds containing the most popular search terms is another way to increase searches and drive results.
• Date, time and current events drive searches. No surprise here – but you can follow Steve Page, MC founder, who shares the top search terms and trends via his Twitter feed (@sjspage).
• Internet destinations and giants (Google, Facebook, YouTube) are top search terms. In addition to this information and analysis (summarized in this earlier post on MSG) MC shares how subjects are searched, reminding advertisers that they must bid on many related terms and tag their mobile pages correctly to ensure their results are high up in the natural search results for the terms.
• Are local terms also local searches? Google may have recently claimed that 33 percent of all searches on mobile have a local context, but MC is less convinced. It shows that searches such as “Manchester” are more about local soccer teams (Manchester United) than the city. Of all location searches, 55 percent include either a city or area name, 17 percent have a point-of-interest, 15 percent use a full zip code and 13 percent have a partial zip code.
• Search shortcomings can be avoided. Transcoding is not the only way to mobilize sites. Advertisers should build versions optimized for device types. (Taptu indexes sites that are touch-friendly and built from the ground up for access via touchscreen devices, for example.) The intelligence behind the search boxes could also be better. MC’s road test of search on Nokia Ovi reveals that it delivers games results for pac man – but not for pacman. Android Market suffers the “same shortcoming.” (BTW: This could be solved with a simple “Did You Mean” response to clarify the search term and the searcher’s intent.)

Source

The bottom line: MC has brought together a lot of insights about what people search for and how they search for it. Mobile search isn’t perfect, but volumes are increasing, and so is the pressure on providers to deliver a better experience. And it’s not just about mobile operators any more. The rise of the app stores means publishers and the 75 app stores are well-advised to develop mobile search strategies to deliver people the apps they want – or at least relevant results.

* * *
ARE APPS BEATING SEARCH?: This insightful post from GigaOM draws from a Broadpoint AmTech note and asks if apps are poised to disrupt the standard online search model. The Broadpoint report says search engines derive significant revenues from commerce-related queries (searching for “Amazon” or “eBay”) and suggests that warns that the growth in the usage of mobile apps that take people directly to destinations could be bad news for Google & Co. “If users get in the habit of simply using the Amazon app to search for products or a Fandango app for movies, then Google would be seriously impacted,” the report concludes.

Source

The bottom line: Mobile apps cover the bases to bypass search engines when the purpose of the search is navigational (using the search box as a shortcut) and commercial (looking for a product on Amazon by searching for Amazon first, for example). Sebastian Rupley, who wrote the post, reminds us that Google can likely read the writing on the wall, which is why the search giant is so interested in the “spread of Android-based phones, many of which emphasize its tools and applications, and steer users into its search/ad ecosystem.” It will be interesting to see how all search engines react to the onslaught of mobile apps that make finding and buying stuff with our phones a no-brainer.

* * *

FACEBOOK DOMINATES: We all know that social networking is the number one activity on mobile. A recent ComScore report reveals that search queries on the social networking site (online) grew by a whopping 48 percent between February and March 2010. In its study, which is based on 15.4 billion core searches in the U.S., ComScore also found Google leads with 65.1 percent of the market, down 0.4 percent from February. It was followed by Yahoo, Microsoft, Ask and AOL. Microsoft showed a 7 percent increase after adding mapping and other features.

Source

The bottom line: Read between the lines and this bodes well for social sites and social search via mobile. Facebook, which has more than 400 million active users, is exploding when it comes to search (up 48 percent) on the Internet. Only a matter of time before this trend spreads to mobile, our preferred way to connect with our social networks and information about people who matter most to us on the fly. Meantime, Tech Crunch points out that search growth is slowing. The post concludes: the slowdown “may also be an indication that the search industry is maturing, and the next leg of growth may not kick in until people start searching on their mobile phones in a significant way or something else gives people a reason to search even more than they already do.”

* * *

TAPTU TOUCH WEB REPORTS: This week Taptu releases the fourth in its series of reports analyzing the Mobile Touch Web. To make sure we are all on the same page and to set the stage for the next report findings, here’s a summary of the key takeaways.

• The January Report defined the Touch Web (and the ecosystem emerging around it) and concluded that the Mobile Touch Web had arrived full force. According to the company, which indexes touch-friendly sites and destinations, there were around 326,000 touch-friendly sites in January compared with a total of 180,000 apps across all app stores.
• The February Report takes this a step further, offering a breakdown of the sites that make up the Mobile Touch Web. The report emphasized shopping and services, a major subset of this new Web. In total Taptu counts approx. 83,000 Mobile Touch websites devoted to shopping and services. Why is this significant? Shopping and services accounts for about 26 percent of all sites. The same category accounts for less than 4 percent of apps in app stores. Taptu concludes that commerce is a chief focus on the Mobile Touch Web and will play an important role in its evolution.
• The March Report takes an in-depth look at the Government and Non-Profit sector and its growing presence on the Touch Web. The report highlights some of the leading services from Education institutions such as MIT, the Haiti disaster relief effort from the Charity sector and various local and federal government agencies that are using the Touch Web to reach a mass audience. A surprise: a large number of religious organizations embracing the Mobile Touch Web (a whopping 72 percent of all sites in the Government & Non-Profit segment are faith-based services).

Source: You can download all Taptu reports here: http://taptu.com/metrics/

* * *

AUSTRALIA STATS: This post draws from new Nielsen research to provide numbers on mobile search usage in Australia.

• 73 percent of mobile Internet users conduct searches, compared to 38 percent accessing email and 14 percent checking social media sites
• The figure (73 percent) of people using mobile search was just 30 percent a year ago
• 43 percent of total Australian mobile phone owners have Internet-enabled handsets, though just 29 percent use their mobiles to access the Internet
• Search came out on top of activities conducted on mobile Internet; checking the news and weather, emails, maps and directories, and social networking were also cited as common mobile activities

The report also includes some insights into mobile social networking and the top handsets.

Source

The bottom line: Great to have country-specific stats. Although mobile Internet usage has a way to go, there is a tendency among users to use mobile search to explore all the exciting content at their finger tips. Makes sense that we start off by transferring our online experience to mobile.

Disclaimer: Taptu is an MSG supporter and client.

First, a round of thanks to all the companies and individuals that have reached out to become part of  The Mobile Movement, a coalition of entrepreneurs, humanitarians, artists, academics and other industry leaders committed to bringing mobile capabilities to non-profits.

In the last weeks since the launch several members of the advisory board (which includes MSG and Laura Marriott, consultant and former global President of the Mobile Marketing Association) got together for the first board meeting in Boston to evaluate and prioritize the flood of requests from non-profits and companies.

It was also an honor for my post on our launch and mission to be chosen “Post Of The Week” by the Carnival Of The Mobilists (and COM host Holly Kolman).

HEALTHCARE IS THE FOCUS

The positive feedback to The Mobile Movement is overwhelming, and we are encouraged by the number of organizations resolved to reach millions more people in need by leveraging mobile devices, networks and innovative applications they will create in partnership with social entrepreneurs.

Healthcare is a prime focus and we have already received several requests from non-profits interested in harnessing mobile to offer early cancer detection services, for example. An interesting application in discussion is a location-linked early detection service that would allow people to input their zip code to find the nearest clinic offering these screening services.

MEDIA SPONSPOR FOR MOBILE CHARITY EVENT

Clearly, mobile is becoming a strategic focus for an increasing number of non-profit organizations and charities.

The timing couldn’t be better for an event exploring how the charitable sector can leverage mobile and this is precisely the focus of Empowering the Charitable Sector with Interactive Technology (May 27, London), an all-day knowledge seminar organized by AIME (the Association for Interactive media & Entertainment).

MSG is proud to be a media partner of this worthwhile event, which will feature presentations, case studies and panel discussions based around an editorial agenda that brings together charities, advertising & marketing agencies, service providers, broadcasters, industry bodies and mobile operators.

Attendees will learn, first hand from established charitable organizations and their supporting partners, how to put together multiple platform solutions which maximize the potential for all kinds of charities to connect with the public and collect donations on a massive scale, while benefiting from lower overheads.

The event will also include a number of networking opportunities throughout, such as coffee and tea breaks, lunch and possibly a small exhibition space for companies to showcase products and services.

It will also bring charities new to using mobile together with experts in an environment to share ideas, contacts and key learnings.

SPEAKERS & TOPICS

In an increasingly ‘connected’ world, interactive platforms such as the web, TV, mobile and social media offer the charitable sector opportunities to drive higher revenue generation and public engagement at lower costs.

This event looks as the key areas that charities should be focusing on in order to maximize their fundraising activities and get the most out of their investment in digital platforms.

Confirmed speakers include:

• Caroline Lien, Head of Interactive, Comic Relief & Sports Relief
• Jim Manis, President, Mobile Giving Foundation
• Chris Ward, Director Join1 Goal Organization
• Daniela Martimo, Director, World Society for the Protection of Animals
• Simone Schmidlkofer, President, Cause2Connect
• Mike Short, Honorary Chairman, Mobile Data Association
• Doug Laughlen, Director, Local Giving Organization
• David Ryder, Director, y6Media Ltd
• Darren Parker, Business Development Director, BT Agile Media
• Robert Thurner, Commercial Director, Inventivated
• Rob Weisz, Commercial Director, Mobile Interactive Technology
• Rory Maguire, Head of Payments, 3
• Roger Craven, Managing Director, Vir2 Ltd
• Paul Swaddle, Marketing Director, WIN PLC

Case studies include:

Comic Relief/Sports Relief
Save the Children
Unicef
Leonard Cheshire Disability Organization
World Society for the Protection of Animals
Just Giving Organization
DEC

Key topics include:

• Text Donations – tax and revenue share implications
• Maximising Direct Response using WAP, SMS, Web and Email marketing to achieve optimum outcomes
• Enabling a standardized charitable giving process across MNO platforms
• Understanding the practicalities of data segmentation
• Text and Email Alerts – CRM and data management
• The role of apps and Social Media Integration
• Online fundraising –key points for success
• Legislation – Opt outs, black and grey listings
• Other platforms available for fundraising – IVR, Red Button
• Driving consumer engagement to support your mobile, online and social media strategies
• What does the future hold?

Pricing: AIME Members & attendees from the charity sector (GBP 75.00), non members (GBP 99.00)

So, register as soon as possible to ensure your place. And here’s a link where you can book your place today.

REGISTER HERE

Disclaimer: Peggy Anne Salz is member of The Mobile Movement advisory board.

In brief:

Blyk — the company that launched the world’s first ad-funded MVNO in the U.K. in 2007 and then moved to operator partnership model in 2009 – is back with its first commercial launch and consumer-facing service. The direct-to-consumer, pre-paid mobile services offer is branded Blyk and offered in partnership with Vodafone in the Netherlands.

Following the blueprint of the business model it pioneered in the U.K., Blyk offers free text messages and calling minutes (1,000 SMS and 1,000 free Blyk-to-Blyk minutes) to youth (and then some since the demographic is 16- to 29-year olds) in return for accepting a set number of SMS/MMS mobile ads per day. Once again, Blyk requires users to opt-in from the start and chose the advertising channels they want to receive.

To ensure that users aren’t just opting in to receive perks, the Dutch service requires users to top up every three months and update the information. This permission-based approach – delivering users advertising related topics such as fashion and sports that they agreed to accept in the first place – helped brands achieve high response rates on campaigns they delivered to Blyk’s profiled audience in the U.K. Overall, Blyk says it delivered campaigns on behalf of over 2,000 brands and reached an average response rate of 25 percent.

As Pekka Ala-Pietila, CEO and Co-founder of Blyk, explained in this earlier interview, the only part of the puzzle missing back then was scale. Put simply, media buyers wanted to reach more youth than had signed up for Blyk’s service in the U.K. This is why Blyk made the move from an MVNO model to a partnership model where it now focuses on providing mobile operators a managed mobile advertising service and delivering advertisers a greater reach.

BLYK IN NETHERLANDS & BEYOND

I caught up with Pekka following the launch to get an update on the U.K. services (offered in exclusive partnership with Orange) and the overall outlook for mobile messaging and advertising.

Here is a summary of the key points:

Mobile advertising formats: Predictably, Blyk is bullish about the outlook for advertising delivered using a mix of SMS and MMS. However, Pekka sees opportunities beyond messaging that spill into app advertising and notifications. “We believe messaging is the paradigm. It will win and find its way into other multiple formats such as notifications in apps, which are also push, and instant messaging.” No matter what flavors of messaging emerge, Blyk will remain “platform and transport agnostic.” He adds. “We can use W-LANs and email to give us the breadth if we need it.” As far as formats go, messaging will dominate, followed by search and in-app ads.

U.K. and beyond: Pekka was tight-lipped about stats and details, but has promised to update MSG at a later date (together with Orange) on progress in the U.K. That update will include APRU numbers that Blyk achieved during its time as an MVNO. Meantime, Pekka is “very pleased” with the partnership with Orange (where Blyk is not a consumer-facing service) and Orange’s overall strategic view of mobile advertising. The Monkey offer, the Orange service that draws from Blyk’s mobile advertising model, is a “different offer and constellation” but the results to mobile advertising campaigns are similar. “We are seeing similar results although the set up and model are different. We anticipated this. So, we can report the results and response rates are at the high level we reached at Blyk – as MVNO – and now as partner to the mobile operator [Orange].

Increasing competition: Blyk may have been one of the first, but – as I show in my upcoming report on permission-based for GigaOm PRO — a slew of companies have since staked their turf delivering, enabling and brokering permission-based advertising. How will Blyk continue to differentiate? Pekka said the rise in the number of rivals confirms that messaging is where the action – and the business – is. “We are rolling out the right services in the right sequence of countries and this will generate results, allowing us to move up the learning curve quickly and ahead of the competition.” India, the largest youth market, is next on the list.

Blyk proposition in the Netherlands: In addition to the free texts, “attractive rates for mobile Internet, roaming and other benefits” are planned. One example could be a members program that rewards members for recruiting friends/peers to use Blyk. The service is branded Blyk and the focus is on growth through minimal marketing budget and maximum impact. Pekka noted that Blyk’s grassroots marketing campaigns in the U.K. had achieved a net advocacy rate similar to Facebook and YouTube. It plans to follow a similar blueprint to recruit members in the Netherlands.

RANDOM ACTS OF FREEDOM

Which brings us to my chat earlier today with Eric Kip, MD for Blyk Netherlands. He couldn’t give me numbers but he did let me in on the details of the company’s “random” social media approach designed to deliver very deliberate results. As Eric put it: With more than 50 MVNO brands jockeying for position Blyk had to go for “small events with big impact.”

The motto: “Blyk Likes Freedom, Do You?” (and how can anyone disagree with freedom??)

Eric tells me the Blyk team brings together two Blyk employees, a small agency and “students and advocates who just like Blyk,” to commit “random acts of freedom” to reward people for just being – well – alive.

Timed to the launch Blyk took over a store selling sneakers and sporting apparel, closed the doors and then offered the people inside a free pair of sneakers. “The idea is to enrich people’s lives with actions and excitement they wouldn’t expect.”

For the twenty-something crowd, the Blyk team plans to reward people in coffee shops with lunches and perks. “We’ll just pop up and pay for their lunch.” Other campaigns will revolve around free movie tickets. Eric is even mulling over whether to make it all into a game and encourage youth to guess where the band of Blyk do-gooders will show up next…

My take: Reams of research (including the research I conducted for Mobile Advertising Research U.K., a research project endorsed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) to expertly document the state of the mobile advertising industry in the U.K.) suggest that permission-based advertising is at the center of a virtuous cycle for all stakeholders. People opt-in, choose their advertising and – in the process — volunteer personal information. Brands and advertisers then use these insights to deliver advertising the people who most likely want to hear their message in the first place. It’s early days, but high response rates speak volumes. Display advertising appears to be different because it is one-way not two-way. Permission (in the form of opt-out) may quiet privacy concerns but the principle lack of a brand conversation (a text exchange that asks people if they like what they see and factors their answer into the marketing response) doesn’t let brands get quite as close to people as they would like. More about that in my upcoming GigaOM PRO report on permission-based advertising models.

In the meantime, Blyk’s launch shows progress and proves the permission-based model has benefits. But even more interesting is Blyk’s decision to go for small “events” with big impact. Because the business is people-focused (as permission-based advertising is), it makes good business sense to connect with people directly at the grassroots level. It is not social marketing – it’s the way all marketing of services in this space (and beyond) will have to be.

Disclaimer: Blyk is an MSG supporter and has authored a series of sponsored thought leadership columns examining mobile advertising strategies and business models.

In brief:

The overwhelming positive response to Europe’s first-ever Augmented Reality Business Conference and Developer Camp (ARBCon) speaks volumes about the new direction and vast potential of AR. The event – which was organized by my esteemed colleague Dan Romescu, an AR pioneer, to bring together companies across the emerging business ecosystem including developers, VCs and researchers. It attracted over 155 participants and featured over 30 speakers/keynotes from 17 countries.

I am pleased to collaborate with Dan to grow this event and continue this exchange on MSG through a series of interviews and podcasts with key players in this industry beginning with Dan, who will speak about the Augmented Citizen and the requirement for industry standards and a framework to ensure AR becomes a robust business with the buy-in of the people it impacts. So, what this space!

Meantime, the timing is excellent to move on to another in the “best of” selection of executive interviews from the Netsize Guide 2010.

This week the topic is AR from the perspective of Layar, a Dutch company released its reality browser application Layar last year. This mobile browser shows people what is around them by displaying real-time digital information on top of reality they view through the device camera. On top of the camera image Layar adds content ‘layers,’ which are the equivalent of Web pages in normal browsers. The platform allows customers, such as businesses, the ability to offer a range of layers, allowing consumers to see houses for sale, popular bars and shops, jobs on offer in the area, and a list of local doctors and ATMs by scanning the landscape.

Maarten Lens-FitzGerald, Layar Co-founder & VP of Distribution and Marketing, discusses the ways AR enhances reality and paves the way for real business models.

INTERVIEW WITH MAARTEN LENS-FITZGERALD

Q: Augmented Reality has been around for almost 20 years, but mobile AR exploded last year, when penetration of smartphones equipped with GPS systems, compasses and accelerometers increased. What level of interest are you seeing?

A: In the week that we launched the iPhone app we had over 100,000 downloads and we served over a million augmented views to the world. Currently, there are over 1,500 developers and over 300 layers have been published.

Q: How do you make money on Layer?

A: It’s free for the user and it’s free for the content provider or developer. Where we make money is placement. To understand this we have to understand the user experience. Starting up the Layar application automatically activates the camera. The embedded GPS automatically knows the location of the phone and the compass determines in which direction the phone is facing. Each partner provides a set of location coordinates with relevant information which forms a digital layer.

There will be lots of layers, just as there are Web pages. The problem will be discovery. We address this by allowing companies to participate in our Pay for Prominence program. When users start Layar, it starts up in the Favorites list, which is like Bookmarks on your Web browser. Those positions are for sale. The same goes for the Featured section, a section where companies can pay for placement to reach the more advanced users who come back.

Q: How do you make these layers relevant to me and my context?

A: What we serve in the Favorite and Featured sections is all based on your region. If you’re in the U.S. you won’t see the Dutch layers, for example. So, based on where you are, you select a layer and we send the request through our server to give you the relevant content. If you open up the Trulia layer to find homes for sale, you will be shown houses around your location.

Q: How do you see your pay for placement model evolving? Will you harness personalization or targeting?

A: That is how it will develop. What we do now is help content owners get on top of the stack of layers, much in the same way that Google has AdWords. We will have premium layers where companies can pay to add something to a layer relevant to their offer.

In the future, the browser will know who you are, and that you’re ready to go out, for example. Based on this the top layers you see will be layers about places to go, a lot like restaurant review guides. Some of these listings will be paid for by the restaurant owners or businesses who want to appear in the layer, the same way they advertise on Web pages, for example.

Q: You focus on advertising in this example. Is that the big growth opportunity?

A: It’s for the businesses that need to provide to their customers information right here, right now. I’m looking for a house for sale, so show me one. But it’s not just about real estate; it’s about goods and services nearby in the real world. Where is the bus station? Where can I get a taxi? Where can I get a bite to eat? Any business that has to get this information out to us can benefit from AR. And to enhance this we have added the ability for businesses to provide AR experiences complete with 3-D objects and interactivity.

Q: AR is a nascent industry. What is the value chain and how do you work with other players in your ecosystem, such as operators and brands?

A: We’re in for great ride and, as an industry, we’ll see come change and consolidation. In the end there will only be one or two companies that have the browser and the platform, and will grow from there. I see that happening and within the next six months.

How the value chain is shaping up? Actually, it’s not a chain; it’s a web and it’s all connected. On one hand, we have the users and we’re working on a better user interface to satisfy them. An example of this is our 3-D release, for which we also need new 3-D content and the content developers.

On the other hand, we have the device manufacturers that we talk to in order to get pre-installation deals and also ensure their devices work well with our software, and vice versa. Then we also talk with the carriers about where we can get pre-installed and have a unique offering with Layar.

Q: What is your vision for what AR can enable and how that will impact our lives moving forward?

A: An experience that is very core to AR is the ability to walk around and experience other worlds and walk around in a city the way it was a century ago, for example. That kind of storytelling will enable the creation of immersive experiences. It’s easy to imagine the benefit to education. It will be like being able to not just read a book, but actually visualize it. This is why we added 3-D and interactivity.

AR will also be a boost to vendor relationship management, putting the individual in control of the information they will accept based on their needs. Put another way, AR will allow people to issue a ‘Request For Proposal,‘ which businesses can answer.

Let’s say you’re looking for a table for four in a Mexican restaurant. You put that information out and people are only then allowed to see your profile and to reply to you using AR. So, a restaurant owner might pop up in front of you, saying, ‘hey, I’ve got a table and we have good food – so take a look at the reviews here on the Web and then come on over.’ If you end up going to that restaurant, then we might get a percentage of that deal. That’s a model we’re looking at.

We’re also looking at ways to benefit organizations such as the Heart Foundation in Holland. In time for Valentine’s Day we will make it possible for people to buy and display a 3-D heart in front of the house where their loved one lives, for example. The money will go to charity and people who walk around the city will see all these hearts placed by people who are expressing their love.

LAYAR STATS & UPDATE

To update the interview (conducted in late 2009 for inclusion in the Netsize Guide) I caught up earlier this week with Claire Boonstra, Layar Co-Founder.

According to Claire, the company has two major milestones to report.

One will be public in June, when Layar plans significant announcements during a press conference at Amsterdam HQ.

The other was just last week when the company launched a kind of AR app store/marketplace giving publishers on the Layar platform the opportunity to monetize their content for Android and iPhone platforms.

Specifically, publishers and developers (such as Berlitz, which was one of the first publishers to offer an AR city guide using the marketplace) can now create AR content, syndicate it on Layar’s platform and charge people a small one-time fee to access it.

The biz model: Layar is facilitating the marketplace – which uses PayPal to process the actual transactions – allowing people to buy and sell layers in the U.S., the U.K. Canada and Australia. Layar takes a 40 percent cut of the sale (compared with the Apple App Store that takes 30 percent) to pay costs associated with legal, admin and banking.

The numbers:

• Some 550 layers are live and another 2,000 are in development
• 3,000 publishers worldwide are creating AR content for the Layar platform
• 1.6 million Layar AR browsers installed and pre-installs on LG and Samsung models, as well as devices supported by Verizon and Sprint (with more to be announced “in the coming months”)

The takeaway: The opportunity: the 60/40 rev split may be more than the 70/30 we know from the Apple App Store, but this is a marketplace aimed at jumpstarting a real business for AR publishers. Making it way to do business (and enabling payments) is a value-add and Layar can extract value for it. Overall, a marketplace could bring mobile AR, which has long lagged behind desktop AR, a huge and necessary step forward.

THE NETSIZE GUIDE

The Netsize Guide – which features exclusive interviews with 28 industry senior executives at leading companies and organizations including Havas, M&S, MMA, Nokia NAVTEQ, PayPal and Sony Music Entertainment — provides unique perspectives and reveals how players across the mobile ecosystem are preparing to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities ahead.

The Netsize Guide 2010 also includes the results of Mobile Trends Survey 2010, an online survey asking +1,000 mobile professionals and practitioners across 67 countries their views on these key themes and their insights into trends that top the industry agenda, including the advance of mobile applications stores, progress towards global mobile commerce and the increasing importance of mobile across a range of business verticals.

Finally, the Netsize Guide 2010 presents detailed data on the wireless telecoms sector in 41 countries, including revenues, market shares and value-added service offerings for messaging and billing of 194 mobile network operators worldwide.

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE NETSIZE GUIDE HERE.

Disclaimer: Netsize is an MSG supporter. Peggy Anne Salz is author of the Netsize Guide 2010.

This time the Carnival of the Mobilists – the line-up of the best blogs and bloggers on all things mobile – comes to us via Holly Kolman. Holly a first-time host, who – true to her blog title – is a real mobile enthusiast brings us COM #221. Kudos for an excellent job and I hope Holly will host another COM soon (!)

The line-up of blogs includes:

• A look at the recent announcement that Japan’s four leading mobile phone makers are teaming up with NTT DoCoMo to develop the operating system for DoCoMo’s next-generation mobile phones (via Ajit Jaokar @ Open Gardens)
• The real reason why Apple iPhone sales didn’t dip (via Tomi Ahonen @ Communities Dominate Brands)
• Refreshing realism on the iPhone and app opportunities (via Carl Martin @ Mobsessed)
• A welcome reminder to designers – and everyone in mobile – that not everyone will have or wants to have a smartphone (via new COM member Belen Barro Pena
• The potential headaches associated with supporting smartphones & the opportunity for operators to wring more value from helping their customs use them in the first place (two post via new COM contributors Amdocs)
• An in-depth look at opportunities in gaming and gambling (via James Coops @MobiAffiliates)
• More need-to-know mobile stats (via Andy Favell @mobiThinking – an excellent curator of key mobile advertising facts & figures)

PLUS Post Of The Week:

Humbled that this week’s pick is my own post on The Mobile Movement. By way of background, I have joined with entrepreneurs, humanitarians, artists & academics in a coalition committed to bringing mobile capabilities to non-profits in order that they may reach millions more people in need by leveraging mobile devices, networks and innovative applications created in partnership with social entrepreneurs.

On Monday I will update you on our recent advisory board meeting and the exciting projects in the works, as well as details about a new Knowledge Sharing event focused on mobile charity. (Disclaimer: MSG is aligned with the aims of The Mobile Movement and Peggy Anne Salz sits on the board of advisors.)

COM #220

Tsahi Levent-Levi over at Radvision steps up to host COM #220 – a vibrant mix of posts and insights that fits with the excitement that comes with the celebration of Israel’s Independence Day. Pay special attention to the post-even coverage and videos around this centerpiece event looking at the impact of technologies on our life and work in 2025. Another destination not to be missed: The Wadi – a new site/blog dedicated to the Israeli hi-tech industry. For links and details check out Tsahi’s blog post here.

Other posts included in the COM:

• A look at what iAd really means for the mobile space (via Carl Martin @ Mobsessed)
• How (and why) targeting can potentially increase conversions (via James Coops @ MobyAfilliates)
• An analysis that outlines the extent to which Android really is open source and the gaps that may alarm you (via Andreas Constantinou @ VisionMobile)
• Why mobile is the Here, the Now and the Future (via Antoine RJ Wright)
• A welcome roundup of stats showing why Asia will dominate in mobile (via Any Favell @mobiThinking)
• The security shortcomings associated with using Wi-Fi hotspot connection (via Martin Sauter @WirelessMoves)
• How Indian operator Idea Cellular is building a business on Pretones, content people can listen to while they call someone on their mobile phones (via very welcome COM newcomer Nikhil Pahwa)
• Musings on a possible Twitter business model that will likely become reality soon (via Ajit Jaokar @ Open Gardens)
• Tsahi’s own ideas on what videochat on the iPhone may be like

NOTE: Tsahi didn’t pick a Post Of The Week – so allow me to direct your attention to Andeas’ expertly researched and written post on Android. A real eye-opener!

COM #219

Although many of us tweeted our best wishes, a round of thanks to Antoine RJ Wright for hosting the COM #219 on his birthday. A gift to us all on his birthday is a summary of posts that set the bar.

These include:

• Management, tracking and targeting tips for your mobile campaign (via james Coops @MobyAffiliates)
• A rant about the Nexus (and all smartphones) with humor that reminds us what really makes a good user experience good (via “Mr Fat Fingers” Tsahi Levent-Levi @VoIP Survivor)
• Do companies really have a mobile strategy when all they do is launch an iPhone app? (a thoughtful post via Martin Wilson @ Indigo 102 – look for his more in-depth column on MSG soon)
• A look at what Apple results and sales really say about iPhone’s ongoing popularity (via Tomi Ahonen @Communities Dominate Brands)
• What does version 4.0 of the iPhone OS mean for developers? (via WIP Connector)
• A walk through the main points of Open Mobile (a book project I am proud to have edited) and a look at the 35+ mobile trends highest on the radar (via Ajit Jaokar @ Open Gardens) BTW: Ajit’s submission was chosen as Post Of The Week – all the more reason to read the post and download his book.
• A recap of Bible Tech (via our host Antoine RJ Wright)

COM #218

Carl Martin makes his debut as host of COM #218 and does a great job. We hope he returns to take the honors soon.

Meantime, here are the posts that made the line-up:

• A look at Nokia Bots: four mini-apps that bring new intelligence to our mobile devices –or do they? (via Antoine RJ Wright)
• MSG’s own analysis of why barcodes have a lot of mileage in the enterprise and beyond
• Must-read data points and details contained within the updated Global Mobile Data Market report (via Chetan Sharma)
• Mobile forecasts and milestones for 2010 (via Tomi Ahonen @Communities Dominate Brands)
• App promotion basics and a helpful list of companies, destinations and resources (via James Coops @ MobyAffiliates
• Are smartphones just PDAs by another name? (via Tsahi Levent-Levi @VoIP Survivor)
• A little phone geek fun (via Terence Eden)

COM #217

Martin Wilson takes the helm for COM #217 and leads us through an eclectic mix of posts and promotions people in the mobile industry need to know.

The line-up includes:

• Details on the forthcoming Mobile 2.0 Europe 2010 event (via the ever-active Rudy De Waele over at the new event website)
• An overview of the top developments and trends at CTIA (via Chetan Sharma)
• What is location really and where is the business value (via Martin Wilson and his guest column on MSG)
• A solid argument for the money – and the excitement – in Mobile 2.0 mashups that analysts might be missing (via Volker Hirsch @ Volker On Mobile)
• A discussion of affiliate marketing as a new and potentially much more lucrative way to monetize apps (via James Coops @ MobyAffiliates)
• An attempt to answer the question: when do apps make business sense (via PSFK, a New York City-based trends research and innovation company)
• A study of mobile commerce and a look at whether it is best suited to an app or a full-fledged mobile website (via Carl Martin @ Redweb)
• The decision my Mozilla to put its Windows development on hold (via Tam Hanna @ TamsPPC – the Windows Phone Blog)
• Are operators are confusing themselves and the market when it comes to defining (and understanding) mobile data? (via Declan Lonergan @ the Yankee Group)
• A podcast chock-full of highlights specific to the U.K. mobile market (via The Fonecast)
• To what extent can/does mobile education empower students to overcome a variety of physical and mental barriers (via Judy Breck’s guest appearance @ Handschooling.com)
• The inside track on BlackBerry’s popularity in the Middle East & a few surprising cultural causes (via Russell Buckley @ MobHappy)
• Expert advice to help you make the most of the Android G1 and Magic’s Limited RAM (via Dennis Bournique @ WAP Review)

COM #216

Tam Hanna hosts COM#216, a brief but appreciated summary of the top blog posts of the week. The On the heels of the industry-first report of the app market size and value, several posts choose to focus on the continuing app phenomenon.

Posts that made the line-up include:

• Highlights and data points from the milestone app report released by Chetan Sharma (via Chetan Sharma’s AORTA blog)
• A different perspective on the same report with additional insights and a podcast with GetJar, the number one independent app store worldwide (via MSG)
• An outreach from Verizon Wireless to developers (via WIP Connector)
• A comprehensive post that serves as a mobile marketing guide to Japan (mobiThinking connects the dots in observations made by Japan expert Christopher Billich)
• A hard and fair look at Adobe’s Flash mobile strategy (via Guilhem Ensuque @ Everything and the Mobile Software Universe…
• Why the 2.0 version of PayPal’s iPhone application could become one incredibly disruptive technology to the banking and credit/debit card industries (via Antoine RJ Wright)
• A run through a map app allowing people to reserve a parking space for their car (via Coldtags Suite)
• A look at mobile data charges and why transparency is just a part of the discussion (via Ajit Jaokar @ Open Gardens)
• A real life story reminds us of the collateral damage that can be caused by the wrong information when it spreads like wildfire via social media (via Dr. Jim Taylor @ Mobility Digest)

Again, no Post Of The Week was chosen. The app report is by far the most important industry news/trend. However, Jim’s thoughtful recount of a real-life incident illustrating how social media can ruin lives has my vote.

As he concludes: The story “demonstrates how the reputation and perhaps life of an innocent person can be summarily ruined as a result of an equally innocent, yet misconstrued, occurrence, poor due diligence and decision making on the part of people who should know better, and, ultimately, the power of social media.”

NOTE: If you want to submit your post to be considered for the weekly line-up by the COM host, then email your link by Sunday to mobilists@gmail.com. If you want to host a COM, then contact me directly (peggy@msearchgroove.com) Everyone is welcome to submit their post for consideration. Of course, there is no guarantee that all posts will be included in the final selection.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

* * *

Mobile phones – and specifically text messaging – are central to the lives of everyone everywhere on this planet. This is the message that came across loud and clear in this well-written analysis in the New York Times. To drive home this key point the article recounts how people in emerging and developing markets are using their simple mobile phones and SMS text to improve their lives, conduct commerce, transfer money, record and share sermons and even oversee elections.

Mobile has become the truly universal technology and text messaging – a flavor of people-powered communication discovered quite by accident by ordinary individuals eager to connect using their mobile phones – has become mobile’s first and truly universal language.

Granted, we increasingly use our mobile phones to explore the wealth of content on the mobile Web or browse the assortment of applications in our chosen device or mobile operator app store. But mobile is and remains central to our lives because we rely on it to connect with the people who matter most.

Put simply, texting is embedded into our mobile behavior.

Rafts of recent surveys show teens would rather text than speak, and even more have turned off their voicemail as a rule to show they mean it! Some five years ago Mizuko Ito, a cultural anthropologist at Keio University in Japan, observed in her book, Personal, Portable, Pedestrian, the emergence of “tele-nesting,” the practice–especially among youth in Japan, and now everyone everywhere –of staying in touch through a steady stream of text messages. In the West Alan Moore, author and founder of the Engagement Communication Consultancy SMLXL, reminds us that we are a “WE SPECIES,” individuals who are part of, and belong to, a bigger whole. Our messaging behavior reflects this enables us to achieve our ultimate goal: to (co-)create and share the narrative of our lives that adds meaning and value to us and everyone around us.

The simplicity of ordinary phones and the fact that people everywhere can use them to send and receive text messages opens up a world of opportunities. It also paves the way for global innovation that allows companies and startups everywhere to harness simple text messaging to achieve extraordinary results.

We’re already seeing evidence of a new breed of messaging services. And this is surely just the beginning. From life-simplifying reminders to life-saving medical advice, people around the world – particularly in emerging markets – are using text to connect, communicate and interact with companies, brands, medical doctors, government authorities and clergy – and the list goes on.

SPEAK TO US

The emerging markets may have a greater reliance on text messaging, but our appetite for messaging – and the value we receive on top of the text messages we send and receive — is growing.

This is the key finding of a recent survey of the U.K. market by Dialogue Communications, a mobile messaging and mobile payments company. It reveals more than 67 percent of respondents want more messaging in their lives.

According to the findings, respondents would welcome reminders and alerts via text for everything from medical alerts to bill payments. People said they wanted to move away from postal reminders because it’s convenient, reliable, easy to store and on a phone for future reference and simple to synch up with the calendars they already have on their mobile phones. (Again, messaging – all messaging – should be permission-based.)

And let us not forget the important fit between text and marketing, for all the reasons I have outlined above.

Destinations such as Mobile Marketer and Mobile Marketing Magazine document the success of messaging campaigns daily. Brands and agencies harness text to connect with consumers (an even more effective approach if the advertising is opt-in, of course). From soft drinks that use text messaging to deliver brand messages and links to downloadable content and perks, to large U.S. chains that cleverly use text messaging to deliver product vouchers and drive customer loyalty, the press is chock-full of case studies that underline the central position of text in marketing and advertising.

But we should not limit ourselves to just these. Paul Berney, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Managing Director Europe, has also said on several occasions that mobile CRM and mobile commerce loom large on the horizon as the next big opportunities for brands, agencies and all their partners.

I would take it one giant step further: messaging lays the groundwork for a much deeper – and potentially lucrative — exchange between a wide array of companies, advertisers and institutions, and the people who want to hear what they have to say. Brands want a dialogue with their consumers. What better and more effective way to achieve this than messaging?

Messaging in the proper context adds real value to our lives.

MORE MESSAGING MILEAGE

I have therefore identified three other scenarios where rich messaging – the mix of text and image we know from mobile advertising campaigns we have facilitated at Blyk on behalf of brands – could add significant value for everyone involved, including consumers.

1. AMS (Application Messaging Services): The heightened interest in ‘apps’ presents advertisers and mobile operators worldwide a new opportunity to deliver consumers a message they would appreciate in this context. We are witnessing the advance of services linked to reminders or alerts that connect with the mobile phone features and functionality to remind users us of birthdays, appointments and other important dates/events. Consumers have indicated that they would opt-in to receive these messages. Surely, this provides a perfect platform on which to deliver a related message or branded utility. And this could be so simple for handset manufactures. All they need to do is build on top of the functions they have already embedded into many phone models.
2. LMS (Location Messaging Services): The rise of travel advice and social media network services such as DOPPLR and WAZE point to a much larger trend: our willingness to receive messages about what’s nearby. From points of interest to traffic jams, consumers desire more information about their surroundings and have granted their permission to receive push messages that provide this detail. Again, this presents companies and mobile operators with an excellent opportunity to deliver a related and relevant commercial message. Done correctly this exchange might even lead to a transaction that consumers could perform using their mobile phones. The potential for mobile operators – the trusted keepers of our location data in the first place – are huge.
3. VMS (Value-Added Messaging): Here we are talking about real value to the consumer because these messages enhance and improve their lives. Mobile education and mobile health are two obvious examples. A global market survey of 3,000 consumers in six countries (500 each in Brazil, USA, Germany, South Africa, India and China) conducted by management consultancy McKinsey & Company suggests that mobile health (m-health) opportunities in 2010 could be worth between $50 and $60 billion in 2010, a finding that has prompted mobile operators – and the GSMA – the professional organization that unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem — to step up initiatives. According to the research, the vast majority of respondents were interested in the following services: PhoneDoctor, a service that would allow people to call to speak with a qualified physician for remote diagnosis and advice, and HealthWatch, a SIM embedded biosensor watch that monitors vitals, and is connected to emergency services. It is easy to imagine how companies – through sponsorship and commercial messages — could align with these services to deliver related information, offers and real value to people everywhere.

Clearly, our messaging behavior powers of a wide variety of use cases and scenarios. What’s more, as a WE SPECIES we have come to expect – even demand – a two-way conversation with the companies delivering messages to our phones.

From bank statements to medical advice, from appointment reminders to public opinion polls, from location-linked services that tell us what’s nearby to mobile CRM services that ask us if we are satisfied with the service we just received at the checkout, messaging impacts people’s lives and lifestyles at all levels.

It also paves the way for new business models and combinations of models that harness push, permission and personal context to benefit companies across the ecosystem and – most importantly – consumers.

I have identified three areas of new messaging opportunities where companies, provided they apply the same rules of engagement, can reap tremendous benefits and build long-term customer relationships built on trust and respect. I expect to see much more innovation in this space –and I welcome it wholeheartedly. If you are thinking about new opportunities in messaging or have an application success story to share, please reach out to me directly to continue the dialogue. After all, two-way communication always produces the best results. (antti.ohrling@blyk.com)

* * *

Antti is the Co-Founder of Blyk, the messaging media that works with mobile operators to link young people with brands and other stuff they like. He has over 25 years experience as a senior manager in branded goods, retail and wholesale, TV& film and advertising industries. Antti is also founder of Contra Advertising Group, today part of Touch Worldwide. He serves as Chairman of Contra China, an advertising agency specializing in mobile and social media marketing based in Beijing. In addition, Antti is a Fellow at the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Art, Manufactures and Commerce) in the U.K. and a regular speaker at lectures on innovative business strategies and brand issues worldwide. For more information about Blyk, check out the company profile and explore the collection of customer case studies.

Disclaimer: Blyk is an MSG supporter. This is another in a series of columns by Blyk examining mobile advertising strategies and business models.

In brief:

After months of researching my chapter contribution to an upcoming book on marketing to Digital Natives, it’s increasingly clear that mobile advertising companies – and their view of “consumers” needs — must evolve.

Mobile is a fiercely personal device and people – particularly empowered Digital Natives – want content and advertising on their terms. (I purposely mix content and advertising here because they are becoming one and the same thing.)

Another shift in the marketplace: our requirement to have a say in the content/advertising we are willing to receive. This came through loud and clear in the research/interviews I conducted for Mobile Advertising Research U.K. 2009 project, a research project endorsed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) to expertly document the state of the mobile advertising industry in the U.K.

Among the findings (based on 1,000+ consumer online responses and 20+ interviews with operators, enablers, agencies, and brands): only 32 percent of the 1,000+ consumers surveyed had a positive attitude toward receiving advertising messages on their mobile phone. However, that number rose to 64 percent, provided people were properly “incentivized,” and 70 percent if they were incentivized and “in control” of their mobile advertising experience.

Connect the dots, as an increasing number of mobile advertising companies and ecosystem companies have begun to do, and it’s clear that the capability to provide permission-based mobile advertising (with an easy opt-in/opt-out option) could become table stakes.

MOBILE PIONEERS

Companies such as BuzzCity’s myGamma and gofresh’s itsmy.com, mobile social networks turned mobile social ad networks, need little convincing. They made the strategic decision in 2007-08 to allow their verified members to choose the channel of advertising they would accept. Of course, this wasn’t just out of respect for the individual member. Opt-in also allows advertisers to better target their key demographic (example: sports enthusiasts with sports ads) and ensure members who receive a marketing message actually listen.

In my own mobile advertising road test/white paper (PDF) on behalf road test on behalf of Bango, a provider of mobile analytics solutions and MSG supporter, showed that this was indeed a plus for my own campaigns. In fact, I gave BuzzCity the highest marks overall because its opt-in allowed me to deliver effective mobile advertising. (Happy coincidence — I have an interview with BuzzCity CEO KF Lai next week and gofresh’s Vince Staybl has also just reached out to me from his NY trip to offer me a pre-briefing on some significant news, so watch this space.)

JUMPTAP CONSUMER INTELLIGENCE

Jumptap, a provider of mobile advertising solutions that also operates a major mobile ad network, aims to tackle these shortcomings. The company announced this week that is will implement a new feature in mid-year (translated: by end-June) that “enables mobile consumers to manage their own profiles for a more personalized brand experience.”

The focus is on permission-based advertising and on putting the consumer (individual) at the center of their advertising experience. In a nutshell, the feature will enable visitors to participating websites in Jumptap’s ad network to chose the mobile advertising content that interest them – and the choice to opt-out of the process altogether. (Specifically, all publishers in the network will be able to participate. Participating publishers will need to include a link to Jumptap’s profile manager.)

What’s the user experience?

People can choose from a variety of some 29 advertising content categories, including automotive, careers, chat & email, entertainment, finance, fitness, food & drink and games, as the slide below illustrates.

What’s at work (and how) in the background? And how does Jumptap avoid potentially presenting the same people with the same ads?

JumpTap operates a premium mobile advertising network with a penetration of approx. 50 million unique visits a month in the U.S. alone.

Predictably, Jumptap’s IP, which includes patented technology, mobile search algorithms and proprietary know-how around targeting and relevancy (which I have analyzed in this post), plays a huge role in delivering people mobile advertising they will likely find relevant and useful. The company counts unique visitors based on “distinct IDs we get from carriers, cookies, request headers and device IDs.” This can vary across network. “In instances where we don’t have a unique ID, we estimate the number of unique visitors based on page views/unique user that we see elsewhere in the network.”

INTERVIEW WITH PARAN JOHAR

Armed with this background I caught up with Jumptap CMO to learn still more about the nuts & bolts of this ambitious solution and what is says about the company’s wider mobile advertising strategy.

Q: Jumptap is one of a growing group of companies sharply focused on putting the consumer at the center of the mobile advertising ecosystem? Why is this important and what do you offer people?

A: What we’re now seeing is a new wave of mobile advertising right, with the focus on customer intelligence and really putting the customer at the forefront of the mobile advertising ecosystem. Many companies got lost and focused on other constituents: operators, publishers and advertisers. They are all important people, but we are putting the customer at the forefront of the mobile advertising ecosystem, and the way we’re doing that is allowing them to manage their own profiles in a really simple format. This also drives the relevancy of ads.

The concept of is revolutionary but because everyone else has been trying to satisfy other constituents. By driving customer intelligence you’re going to see a higher engagement rate. If you see a higher engagement rate, you’re going to see advertisers who are getting better ROI. If they’re getting a better ROI, you’re going to be able to charge them more. If you can charge them more, by default, you get a better publishing yield so you’re really taking care of all these other constituents by focusing on your core audience, which is the customer, and driving the customer intelligence.

Q: Other companies have a similar approach. And just last week Alcatel-Lucent broke on the scene with a mobile advertising solution that is the subject of a larger report I am currently writing. In it I argue that permission-based advertising is a good fit with messaging because you build a conversation that – in turn – can improve the customer data. But your focus is display….

A: Yes, it’s only about display and it’s not about behavioural targeting. What this is about is empowering consumers to choose their category of interest. That’s one component of the data that will drive the delivery of relevant advertising. It goes into the user profile. And then there might be a component related to context, a component related to carrier data, a component related to publishers’ data – or a keyword from a search. All these are components and the ultimate goal is to drive consumer relevancy through this focus on consumer intelligence– and the better we can understand our mobile ad network, the better we can serve relevant ads to consumers.

Throughout this process three things are critical. One is full-transparency. Two is respecting their privacy and making sure all this data is completely anonymous. And third is preference. We’re allowing them to tell advertisers ‘these are my categories of preference.’

Q: What’s the roll out and what are plans beyond the iPhone?

A: That’s a great question. We’re rolling this out at the end of Q2, and you’re going to get a link to a Beta site where you can go in on your iPhone – or any device – and just scroll through and change categories of interest to suit you. It’s incredibly simple. The idea was to keep it as simple as possible.

Q: It it’s for all handsets from the get-go?

A: It is for all handsets and all advertisers. It’s on iPhone and on mobile Internet, so it’s going to be limited at first. But, as it rolls out, it’s going to obviously develop [momentum]. The goal is ultimately to drive more relevant advertising to everyone on all handsets.

Q: I mentioned that other companies have placed some form of permission-based advertising at the core of what they do. Take BuzzCity. BuzzCity even surveys its members and shares this anonymized information with advertisers to help them target their audience. From an initial look at Jumptap is different because it offers the data to third-party publishers. This would perhaps be the differentiating factor. At the other end of the spectrum there is Alcatel-Lucent’s Optism solution, [a solution that harnesses permission-based advertising – specifically, text messaging – to improve targeting.] So, there are other flavors out there…

A: No one else is doing this the way we are. It is absolutely one of our key differentiators. We also have 80 percent of the carrier business in the U.S. AT&T works with two sales partners, right? One is Jumptap and the other is Yahoo. Needless to say, we’re in good company.

We also have the broadest IP portfolio of any mobile ad network. And we have our pay-per-lick performance marketplace that allows users to bid at a keyword level, category, handset or carrier. We’re the only ones who have all of that.

You bring up the mobile social networks such as BuzzCity. I think it’s a little bit different within a social media construct. That is one component that can be added to the user profile, certainly. But remember we are not taking a siloed approach. It’s not just contextual, not just consumer category information, not just behavioural, not just carrier information. It is all of these components aggregated across multiple forms of data to drive relevancy. That’s our consumer intelligence.

Q: Another part of this might be that you are a neutral network. You belong to a group of ad networks – including the likes of Millennial Media and inMobi – that is not in the Google or Apple camp…

A: I think that’s a great way to break out the marketplace now and there are three groups, so to speak. There’s a lot coming from Apple that I agree with — and there’s a lot that I don’t. On the one hand, Steve Jobs came out publicly and said that mobile advertising sucks and that he has this goal of driving relevancy right to his network. That’s something we applaud. It’s very much in line with our strategy of customer intelligence, so that I think is dead-on.

The piece I don’t think is dead-on is his approach. He’s almost creating a walled garden for himself, almost an AOL of the mobile Internet. Advertisers really don’t care where their ad runs. They care about reaching their audience, not the device. iPhone happens to be the sexy thing right now, but Android will be the next sexy thing – and it [Android] is already is starting to catch a lot of that limelight.

Imagine you were a TV buyer and you had to buy a 30 second TV spot and you had to be cognisant of whether your audience is watching television on a Samsung, Sony or Pioneer TV set. And then you had to worry about whether they were watching it over cable, satellite or a dish network. And then you had to customize your creative accordingly. And so on. It doesn’t make for an efficient marketplace and that’s where I think Apple is missing the boat a little bit. They’re becoming a walled garden in advertising, which I think is not good for the mobile advertising ecosystem in the long term.

Q: Finally, where is the excitement?

A: We’re doing a lot in rich media. Our Unified Rich Media Platform [which I detail further down] delivers the industry’s broadest set of rich media units – for both mobile Web and in apps – all from one network. And our rich media platform is completely open. So, if you’re a rich media buyer for you plug right into our system. We work with iPhone, Android, Palm, and Blackberry. We’re an open system and we help advertisers reach their target audience.

***

MY TAKE: Permission-based advertising sits at the core of a variety of approaches and solutions I analyze in my upcoming report for GigaOM PRO, a project that has evolved from a SWOT analysis of mobile advertising solutions (including Alcatel-Lucent’s Optism and JumpTap’s solution powered by “consumer intelligence”) into a wider discussion of the business value of permission-based (opt-in).

We have ample evidence that permission-based messaging delivers positive results and response rates. A messaging approach also allows brands and other companies in the ecosystem to build on this personal profiling data (with the individual’s permission) by adding questions to refine the profile. This way, an individual who has signed up for car ads (a broad topic) might divulge that they are more into Audi than BMW and even say why they prefer one over the other. All voluntary information an advertiser would no doubt value.

Display is a different. It’s more one-way than two-way, and there is a danger of “spamming” people with repeat advertising because there aren’t enough ads in a category – or because the ad networks can’t identify unique users (and therefore gauge whether an individual user has seen the same ad already, or not). Jumptap claims to have addressed the latter with its IP, technology and techniques that allow the ad network to identify 50 million uniques per month in the U.S. alone.

This week’s announcement builds on that foundation. The focus is to increase the value and relevancy of mobile display ads. (Thus, Jumptap does not compete with companies that focus on mobile messaging and direct marketing.) To achieve this Jumptap inputs the advertising categories chosen by the individual into a much larger, more sophisticated equation that includes data from carriers, searches and some context. This covers the bases to provide people a better user experience (provided there is a good supply of ads in each category), and that should certainly lead to high advertiser ROI and publisher yields. Of course, the proof is in the numbers. We’ll have to wait a while for those. In the meantime, Jumptap’s move can be read as an important confirmation that all advertising – not just messaging – is correctly evolving to provide people more of a say in what they get.

Disclaimer: Bango is an MSG supporter with a branded thought leadership presence on this website; Jumptap has been an MSG supporter and sponsored a series of podcasts.

In brief:

Ever since expanding the focus of the Netsize Guide, an analysis of mobile trends, to include mobility in verticals such as healthcare and education, I have sharpened my own focus on ways companies can combine mobility, creativity and compassion to help organizations reach out to people in need.

A moment of clarity came during my interview with James E. (Jim) Nalley, Co-Founder and CEO, EmFinders.

The U.S.-based technology firm has harnessed mobile to provide new support to caregivers and new freedom to a growing population of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and a range of cognitive and developmental disabilities. The aim is to facilitate the rapid location and recovery of wandering or missing adults and children. EmFinders achieves this through EmSeeQ, which combines a small, watch-like, wireless device without buttons or a screen, and a location service that uses triangulation through the cellular network – and with 911 emergency response systems – to accurately determine a person’s location.

I was struck by Jim’s dedication to his work (more like his mission), stemming no doubt from his own personal experience with his father, who – like some 5.6 million other Americans — had Alzheimer’s disease. His respect for his father’s quality of life and personal freedom inspired him to develop a solution that doesn’t track individuals like a Big Brother (potentially limiting their feeling of autonomy and self-worth). Instead, the EmFinders solution is designed to give some peace of mind to the caregivers and to the families, and ensure that – if the impaired person wanders off – then the service can recover them quickly.

As Jim put it: “It’s about personal mobility and giving these impaired people and their families the freedom they haven’t had before. We’re hearing back from our customers that we’re making it possible for them to go on vacation for the first time in years because now they don’t have to be worried that their mom or dad or child is going to run away and not be able to be found again.” (For the complete interview, download the Netsize Guide 2010 here.)

LEVERAGING MOBILE FOR GOOD

Jim’s service is just one of a new breed of personal mobility services that puts people, not technology, first.

Since then I have examined the needs of non-profits and explored how they might harness mobile to extend their reach and help people everywhere. Fortunately, I was able to connect with other entrepreneurs, academics and humanitarians who share my passion.

The result is the recognition that non-profits need (and are not yet using) mobile messaging solutions to connect people to resources and essential services, and the resolve to change that (literally) for good.

Today I am proud to join with my esteemed colleagues in announcing THE MOBILE MOVEMENT Initiative and serve on the advisory board. Our mission is to support non-profits by bringing mobile capabilities to non-profits, helping them to reach millions more people in need by leveraging mobile devices, networks and innovative applications they will create in partnership with social entrepreneurs.

Carol Glennon, a founding director of The Mobile Movement and founder & CEO of Renu Mobile put it best in this press statement (distributed today via MSG and its partner RealWire): “As we launch this effort we are very fortunate to be supported by a board of advisors with experience in education, non-profit services, finance and mobile applications, as well as the compassionate creativity we’ll need to continually innovate. Together we will build a platform and services by collaborating with our non-profit colleagues enabling them to help more people everywhere mobile devices can be found.”

Members of the advisory board include:

Avis Richards, film maker and philanthropist creating short videos and documentary films for dozens of non-profits – www.birdsnestproductions.com and www.lunchthefilm.com

Cynthia Artin, managing director of Auster Capital Partners, a private equity firm and investor in telecom, software and mobile applications companies

Kevin Patrick, serial social entrepreneur and producer, founder of a new web-based exchange that brings together musicians with the causes they care about

Laura Marriott, global thought leader in the mobile marketing industry, consultant and former global President of the Mobile Marketing Association

Dr. Mary Cronin, Boston College professor of management, consultant and author of mobile and smart product strategy analyses

Simone Schmidlkofer, expert in corporate social responsibility programs, entrepreneur and founder of a Cause2Connect, global strategy and branding agency

MOBILIZING THE MESSAGE

Thousands of non-profits are not yet using mobile messaging to serve their community because they lack the technical expertise and budget. The Mobile Movement fills that gap by connecting non-profits with sponsors and – more importantly – tools (mobile texting, mobile petitioning, mobile barcodes and mobile website creation/design) to achieve amazing results. We’re keeping it simple to scale quickly and have a positive impact on the causes that seek our innovation, support and collaboration.

Thanks to Avis Richards, founding board member, lifelong humanitarian, and Founder and President of Birds Nest Foundation, a non-profit organization that produces short videos and documentaries for a wide range of important causes, we kick-off with our first campaign.

As part of a series of Earth Day events in New York City this week, her company, Birds Nest Productions, in partnership with
Earth Day Network and Earth Day New York is screening LUNCH, a short documentary film investigates the causes and the consequences of “growing up in a junk-food culture.”

Using the platform to promote the documentary, Avis says her organization can “share our stories and services with millions more people.” Moving forward, Avis will take her initiative national (in the U.S.) with the help of the Mobile Movement team.

MORE INFORMATION

The Mobile Movement was created as an organizing force around a force of nature called collective compassion. Now that we have done the hard work of building global connectivity, and are placing communications devices into the hands of billions, we commence the work of finding usefulness and meaning through applications that can help improve, extend and even save lives.

If you manage a non-profit or would like to find out more about how to get involved, then please email me directly (peggy@msearchgroove.com). And please check out our new website. (Thanks again to the phenomenal Lauren Towle!)

Disclaimer: MSG is aligned with the mission and goals of The Mobile Movement and Peggy Anne Salz sits on the Advisory Board. Netsize is an MSG supporter and Peggy Anne Salz is author of the Netsize Guide 2010.

RealWire supports MSG with a global news release distribution service (specializing in the online media and mobile) that consistently delivers reach, audience and exceptional analytics.

***

Social media is more than a trend; it’s part of our daily existence. Whether it’s tagging people on Facebook, using your new smartphone to “tweet”, blogging a review of a brand that’s annoying you or connecting with colleagues and asking for references on LinkedIn, the whole world is talking. So what have we learned? And how has an avalanche of communications channels impacted our interaction? Here are some reports that offer some answers.

BLOGGING VS. SOCIAL: What are people using and why? A recent study from Pew Research Center reports a shift in behavior that could have consequences. For one, “since 2006, blogging has fallen among teens and young adults while simultaneously rising among older adults.” As the tools and technology embedded in social networking websites change, and use of the sites continues to grow, Pew says, “youth may be exchanging ‘macro-blogging’ for micro-blogging with status updates.” The split: adults are finding their voice online through blogs while teens and young adults are going for community. Source

The upshot: In the U.S. young adults are leading the way in mobile and wireless Internet usage. The outcome is a huge reduction in blog commenting and an explosion in two-way and micro-blogging communication. Predictably, Twitter stands out as the exception with only 10 percent of 14-17 year olds tweeting. Mobile uptake is soaring thanks to the fact that a whopping 58 percent of 12-year olds now carry a mobile device (!).

***

SOCIAL SHOPPING: Here’s one even I didn’t expect. People are more open to brands that use new media to make the connection. Research findings via eMarketer from Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate, drawn from a survey of some 1,500 U.S. Internet users, indicate that social friends and followers feel more inclined to purchase from the brands they are fans of in the first place.

That’s pretty much common sense. But it’s interesting to note WHY people became fans in the first place.

Some of the top reasons for becoming a brand fan are as follows:

• 49% are customer of the brand
• 42% wish to show support for the brand
• 40% enjoy discounts and promos from the brand

Source

The upshot: Brands that are leveraging the power of social media to truly engage with their fans are walking the talk. They can count on a number of benefits from this – including improved chances of conversion.

***

MONSTER MARCH FACEBOOK STATS: Facebook is huge – period. Just how big it is (in numbers AND influence) comes across in this infographic. It’s packed with detail, so allow me to give you a few highlights.

Mobile

• Over 100 million users access Facebook via mobile
• People who access Facebook on their mobiles are twice as active as those who do not
• Over 200 mobile operators worldwide are looking to deploy and promote Facebook via mobile

International

• 70 languages
• 70 percent of Facebook users are outside the U.S.

General Wow-Stats

• Since 2004 Facebook has grown to over 400 million active users worldwide
• More than 3 billion photos are posted on Facebook each month
• The Average user has 130 friends on Facebook

Source

The upshot: Facebook is a monster but where is the money in the long-term? Having been an executive at a marketing company I have to ask myself if the anatomy of Facebook (also revealed in the infographic) doesn’t translate into more opportunities and models beyond simple ad-serving. Would Facebook users tolerate more sledgehammer advertising? Maybe some brand fanatics would and I can think of some brands that could get real value out of this approach. Will big organizations learn from the likes of Coke, Barack Obama and Starbucks? Again, it’s easy to imagine brand strategies that could copy this success. What works? I’ll keep that to myself…

The focus is expansion and what it means when Web goes mobile and mobile gets real.

At one end of the spectrum, Web giants such as Facebook, Google and Amazon have advanced into mobile. At the other end, mobile is becoming the remote control of our collective lives, blurring the barriers between our virtual and physical worlds.

Who are the players to watch and what are their strategies? Why is mobile different? And what are the requirements for a good mobile experience in this age of divergence?

These are just a few of the questions covered in EXPAND, a section of the Netsize Guide 2009 that draws from interviews with mobile pundit Tomi Ahonen and senior executives at Facebook, BuzzCity, YouTube, Coca-Cola, Blyk and Grupo Cortefiel – to name a few.

(Click here to download.)

From the increasing importance of presence and context to the emergence of new strategies to deliver empowered individuals mobile content, advertising and experiences they are likely to appreciate, the explosion and expansion of mobile in new directions was also a hot topic at last year’s MWC, where MSG joined with movers and shakers at the Netsize Guide launch party in Barcelona.

There I also connected with mobile analyst and authority Thomas Husson, Netsize CEO Stanislas Chesnais and other industry influencers to discuss the key messages communicated in this final chapter of the Guide.

(Note: These same themes set the tone for the Netsize Guide 2010, a mobile 2.0 reference work that looks at the advance of mobile into new verticals and the excitement and opportunities around mobile apps, mobile engagement, mobile commerce and Augmented Reality (AR). Netsize will launch the Guide tomorrow (Tuesday), so watch this space!)

Look for more about the Netsize Guide 2010 in the week following Barcelona, when MSG – in collabortion with Netsize — kicks off a series of exclusive content and podcasts highlighting the Guide’s key takeaways.

Disclaimer: Netsize is an MSG supporter.

Last year was one company milestone after another: Nimbuzz updated the app on iPhone, released a version for Blackberry, introduced VoIP for Android and launched Twitter for Symbian handsets. It also sealed deals to be pre-installed on the T-mobile Tap Phone in the U.S. and on the Toshiba TG01 handset offered by O2 in Germany.

To connect the dots in last year’s accomplishments and get the inside track on Nimbuzz’ next moves I caught up with Tobias Kemper, VP of Nimbuzz Inc. USA. Many thanks to Tobias for a straightforward interview and unexpected insights into the product roadmap.By way of background, Nimbuzz – winners of the Techcrunch, Webby and Red Herring awards – counts over 14 million users in 200 countries, a number growing at around 40,000 new users per day (that’s 1 every 2 seconds). It counts over one million voice calls per day (over 300 million per year).

Other podcast highlights:

PLATFORM STATS: Nimbuzz supports all the usual suspects: Symbian, J2ME, Android, iPhone, iPod touch, Windows Mobile and RIM. So what flies? “Symbian is definitely our number one, directly followed by Java and the iPhone.  We’ve only just launched a native RIM client with massive uptake….The iPhone has definitely done a tremendous amount and continues to, but Symbian is the most dominant player.”

USAGE & BEHAVIOR: There are distinct and interesting differences depending on the geography. “In the Middle East, for example, people use our products like nothing else to meet people [and] enter the chat rooms. They treat those like mini-social networks, so it’s really going beyond the technology of just making a free call….In the developed countries — Western Europe and North America — it’s all about being able to monitor your friends, having everyone in the same place, reading everyone’s status messages and being able to tap in and say ‘OK I want to get in contact with this person right now.’”

BUSINESS MODELS: Mobile marketing and advertising are candidates, but mobile CRM is highest on the radar. Even better if it involves brands. As Tobias put it: “A mobile social messaging application like ours is perfectly positioned to foster brand engagement.  It is something that we’re looking at because it’s an always on product, it’s a very intimate device that the product is based on and it is something that we are going to be exploring more in the next year.  It definitely makes sense, it has to be done right and it has to be with the user focus.”

NEW FEATURES IN THE PIPELINE: Look for some surprises and more mobile operator partnerships. Again, Tobias is understandably reserved. What we know: “There’ll be a whole bunch of features that are going to be built on top of location-based services that are being built out and become more contextually relevant.”

My take: Hmmmm… contextual relevancy is an element of a range of exciting – and potentially lucrative –services.

So, will Nimbuzz join the group of hot mobile location-sharing services that includes Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite and Loopt – to name a few?

It’s a tough one to call, but Nimbuzz could make the move.

What does Nimbuzz think? Tobias is understandably tight-lipped but his admiration for companies like Foursquare and plans to add “similar features” comes through loud and clear. As he puts it: “It’s about moving beyond the technology and doing that face-to-face meeting. [It's about] what we can do to make that easier and aid users in using that feature and making real-life interactions happen through our application.”

Communication and community are baked into the app, and a whopping 98 percent of people who use it recommend it to a friend. That keeps Nimbuzz’ marketing budget down and boosts its viral appeal. Surely those metrics lay the groundwork for a more ambitious strategy and a new ecosystem around personal recommendations of real-life places and establishments…

Listen to podcast here [15:50]

The survey also took a look at what it calls the “tech sphere of influence” – which found that Gen Xers and Boomers have more of an impact on their children’s tech habits than vice-versa. Motorola also found that nearly 60 percent of those surveyed have received customized recommendations for content or services, and almost half of them have acted on the recommendation. Source

The bottom line: The generation gap is clearly disappearing, which isn’t particularly surprising as Gen Xers age. But the stats from the Boomers underline the size and importance of that market, even though it’s often overlooked by new media firms.

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40 PERCENT OF JAPAN’S MOBILE DATA USERS ARE ON FLAT-RATE PLANS, Kei Shimada from Infinita told the Heroes of the Mobile Screen event in London recently, as relayed by Stuart Dredge of Mobile Entertainment. Shimada says this figure will grow to 60 percent in 2011, and rattled off a laundry list of other stats:

- Japanese mobile users generate 239 billion page views per month, with 60 percent of them off-portal
- The Japanese mobile content market was worth $5 billion in 2008, and the mobile commerce market generates $10 billion in revenues
- Mobile ads were worth $913 million in 2008 and are projected to be worth $1.3 billion in 2011. Source

The bottom line: While in many respects, the rest of the world has caught up to Japan’s mobile market, these figures show that in many others, Japan still leads the way.

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1.2 BILLION PEOPLE AGED 5 TO 25 OWN MOBILE PHONES WORLDWIDE, according to Graham Brown from Mobile Youth. He shared the stats in another session at Heroes of the Mobile Screen, and Stuart Dredge again came through with some detailed notes. Brown said half of those 1.2 billion live in Asia, adding that there are still 800 million Asian kids that are yet to get their first mobile. He says that by 2012, a fifth of the world’s mobile youth will be in India alone.

He also said that the average age for Europeans to get their first mobile is now 7.1 years, and that kids spend 10 percent of their disposable income on mobile – which translates to 12 times more than the entire global recorded music industry. 60 percent of kids even sleep with their phones. Source

The bottom line: Kids love mobile. And have got some money to spend on it.

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MOBILE OPERATORS WORLDWIDE CUT COSTS AND INVESTMENT OVER THE PAST YEAR, says a new report from Wireless Intelligence. Opex dropped from 60 percent of operator revenues in Q3 from 63 percent in 2008, while capex fell from 14 percent to 10 percent. The report also projects that total revenues for operators in the 30 OECD countries will fall from EUR411 billion a year ago to EUR408 billion this year, with revenues in Europe down 4.3 percent to EUR36.5 billion. Source

The bottom line: It wasn’t a good year for infrastructure vendors.

If you have an event to share, or a media partnership to discuss, then please contact Peter Salz (peter@msgblog.com). MSG also creates free pre-event content (podcasts, interviews, white papers) for select organizers in return for high-profile promotion and branding, so contact us to find out how we can work together to make your event shine.

One event we are closely aligned with is M-Days, a must-attend mobile industry event (January 28-29 in Munich) organized by 11 Prozent – Communication that counts a whopping 1,400+ attendees, making it the largest mobile event in Europe outside the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

For five years the M-Days event has been synonymous with mobile in continental Europe.

This year MSG is proud to partner with the organizers to bring the event to a global audience. The effort is already paying dividends and Carsten Szameitat, Managing Director, 11 Prozent – Communication, tells me that the exhibition is sold-out (!)

However, some speaking opportunities are still available, so contact me (peggy@msearcchgroove.com) or Carsten (c.szameitat@11prozent.de) directly.

Carsten and I are also joining together to produce a newsletter that combines the best of our news and commentary for a global audience. Our first issue will also feature an exclusive podcast interview with a keynote speaker and list the event highlights. More about in a formal announcement and press release.

To date the impressive line-up of speakers includes: Gian M. Fulgoni, Chairman and Co-Founder, comScore; Rainer Deutschmann, Senior Vice President Mobile Products, Deutsche Telekom; Colm Healy, Vice President (UK), Qualcomm; Joel Berger, Managing Director GSA & Northern Europe, MySpace; Ralf Lauterbach, Head of Consumer Architecture, Vodafone Germany; Jan-Christiaan Koenders, Director Brand Communication, BMW Group; Kerstin Trikalitis, CEO, Out There Media; Christian Lindholm, Partner and Director, Fjordnet Ltd; Ajit Jaokar, futuretext; Lars-Christian Weisswange, Director, HTC; Scott Seaborn, Head of Mobile Technologies (UK), Ogilvy Group; Martin Börner, Director of Telecom Division, Samsung; Marc Mielau, Head of Digital Media, BMW Group; Mark Wächter, “Mr. Mobile” & Member of the Global Board of Directors, Mobile Marketing Association; Daniel Euler, Managing Director, Gettings (E-Plus Gruppe); and the list goes on (!). You can find a complete list of speakers and sessions here.

And speaking of sessions, this year M-Days has doubled the number of sessions to cover an even wider range of topics. A special attraction is the Paid Content panel (how to wring value out of your digital assets).

MSG will be on-location, conducting briefings, connecting with cool companies and filming a limited number of exclusive interviews. In addition, I will moderate the panel on social media with special emphasis on social media marketing. If you want to meet up or catch up, then contact me directly.

M-days also cooperates closely with comScore, a relationship that gives it the inside track on some key data points. Carlo Longino will provide his analysis later in the week.

In the meantime, we learn from a recent press release (to promote the social media panel and sessions during M-Days) that mobile social networking across Europe is up 139 percent compared to last year. In other words, we use the mobile Internet to connect. But we also use it to find information on the fly. comScore reports the number of users browsing and retrieving news and information has increased 44 percent, with the use of news and information apps up a staggering 101 percent.

For the inside track on these trends (Gian M. Fulgoni, Chairman and Co-Founder, comScore, is a keynote speaker) and what it all means for the future of mobile, head on down to Munich for M-Days. As Harald Neidhardt, Co-Founder and CMO of Smaato (and frequent/passionate commentator on all things mobile) put in a recent statement: M-Days is “definitively the best possible start into the mobile year in 2010.”

See you there!

Disclaimer: MSG is an M-Days media partner and has joined with organizers to produce a newsletter tracking developments impacting the mobile industry.

While the iPhone OS was the leading smartphone platform on Millenial’s network, with 33 percent of smartphone share (ahead of BlackBerry’s 31 percent), Samsung was the top device maker, thanks to the predominance of featurephones. The company also said the US mobile web audience grew to 64.8 million users, and that its ad network reached nearly 80 percent of them.

The report also features a section on mobile app analytics, provided by Mobclix, which says that the iPhone App Store is the biggest on the block, with 115,000 apps, and also leads in downloads, with 100 million per month. Android Market is a distant second, with 20 million per month, and BlackBerry App World even further back in third, delivering 300,000 downloads per month.

Millienial adds that traffic to advertisers’ sites represented almost half of the mobile campaign destinations on its network in October, while app downloads accounted for about 30 percent. Source

The bottom line: Mobile web use – and the market for mobile ads – continues to grow. But don’t overlook smartphones, which still account for a huge chunk of the mobile web market.

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THE MOTOROLA DROID SOLD 250,000 UNITS IN ITS FIRST WEEK, according to GigaOM and based on a report from mobile analytics company Flurry. The new Android device, available only on Verizon Wireless in the US, has been well received by commentators, and now, apparently, by the market as well. Flurry says that the sales are more than four times those of T-Mobile’s MyTouch 3G in its first week of sales in August, but of course pale in comparison to the 1.6 million iPhone 3GS devices sold in its first week. Source

The bottom line: Is Motorola clawing its way back from the precipice? Could be – since software has long been its Achilles heel, turning to Android could turn out to be a smart choice, and one that saves the company.

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MORE THAN 3 MILLION PEOPLE IN THE UK HAVE REDEEMED A MOBILE COUPON, says Juniper Research in a new report. The analyst firm says that mobile coupons enjoy a redemption rate six times higher than traditional paper coupons, again highlighting the viability of mobile marketing to deliver results for advertisers and brands. Source

The bottom line: Mobile coupons seem like a no-brainer, if only because people are less likely to forget to bring their phone to a shop than a paper coupon! But combined with opt-in campaigns and any number of targeting techniques, they represent a valuable resource for retailers.

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THE NUMBER OF MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORKING USERS IN LATIN AMERICA AND AFRICA WILL INCREASE TENFOLD BY 2015, says a new report from analyst firm Frost & Sullivan and mobile social networking provider Colibria. F&S says the market will amount to 527 million users and be worth $2.4 billion in six years, reflecting the increased popularity of the services, but also the prevalence of mobile as an Internet channel in emerging markets. Source

The bottom line: It’s easy to predict the growth of mobile social networks, but anybody eyeing the space has to keep in mind how people in emerging markets use their mobiles and access the internet primarily through them.

At first, the endgame was about boosting personalization to improve the mobile operator portals (that forced us to navigate through multiple menus) and cut the clicks to content that we genuinely appreciated. Typically, operators implemented personalization tools to bubble up cool content to the idle screen, taking the hassle out of finding and buying content on the device.

Fast forward, and on-portal is no longer where (all) the action is. The explosion in the number of app stores — software applications supermarkets run by handset makers, operators and independent players such as GetJar – increases our interest in finding stuff we like, and the sheer abundance of apps turns up the pressure on companies across the emerging ecosystem to make finding cool stuff a no-brainer.

By way of background, the content discovery dilemma was expertly outlined in a recent post by Alfred DeRose, who heads Tego Interactive, a Web and mobile product and services company specialized in integrated solutions for converged businesses determined to get more out of their digital assets. Working with clients to address a variety of issues around content discovery has allowed Tego to create a series of “cheat sheets” and white papers describing the problem and offering suggestions/solutions. So, watch this space.

PERSONALIZATION FOR THE PEOPLE

Put another way, content discovery is back at the top of the agenda and interest in personalization/recommendation technologies (to expose people to apps they are likely to appreciate) is also on the rise.

I know this from my interviews with vendors and operators, and from studying a raft of recent stats confirming (through app downloads) that we do indeed want more mobile stuff than ever. However, a disturbing hole in the argument has been (until this week) a lack of insight into what the people want.

Indeed, the underlying assumption has been that poor discovery (and even more miserable mobile search, as this in-depth post from my last mobile search master class shows) frustrates us (because we can’t find what we want) and forces mobile companies (operators/content owners and now developers) to leave money on the table.

So – how serious is the content discovery dilemma, really? Are people really frustrated? And would they buy more if it was easier?

NEW SURVEY

Thanks to a new survey of 2,666 mobile users in the U.S. and the U.K. — conducted by research firm TNS Global on behalf of Xiam Technologies, a Qualcomm subsidiary providing discovery and recommendations solutions to mobile operators – we finally have some thought-provoking stats.

The key data point: 80 percent of people experience some sort of problem getting stuff. The three biggest barriers: stuff is hard to find, phone and interface issues are a pain and the content is just plain irrelevant.

MOBILE SEARCH DOESN’T CUT IT

People are relying on mobile search to discover content, with some 68 percent using search engines to find what they want. 58 percent type in the URL. But – when it comes to effectiveness – people report URLs (83 percent) and bookmarks (89 percent) are the best ways to find content. Mobile search comes in a close third. Interestingly, 67 percent said the handset manufacturer portal was an effective way to find content; 67 percent said operator/service provider portals were effective.

Overall, people complained they are unsuccessful in accessing/purchasing (!) content they want 27 percent of the time.

WOULD PERSONALIZATION HELP?

In principle, it would. Assuming it was easier to find personalized stuff, almost 60 percent would spend more time accessing content and almost 40 percent would spend more money. Would people accept customized recommendations to find stuff they like? Approximately half of people survey in both the U.S. and the U.K. would accept suggestions.

HOW MUCH MONEY CAN BE MADE

Specifically, people said they would spend over an hour a week (55 percent increase) more accessing stuff with their mobile phones and over $8 per month (148 percent increase) if finding and buying was a no-brainer.

In addition to these consumer insights, the report is chock-full with interesting stats about the type of content people download (apps lead the pack) and pay for (games); top mobile sites (service provider destinations/portal trail the likes of Google, Yahoo, Facebook and the BBC); and the gripes people have about their providers (too pricey, too difficult to use and un-cool content).

MOBILE SOCIAL FUTURE

My personal thanks to Martin Clancy, Xiam Marketing Manager, for bringing my attention to the report (in a pre-briefing) and for arranging an interview with Colm Healy, Xiam CEO, to connect the dots. Naturally, much of this analysis is reserved for my report.

However, one exciting observation I can share is the pivotal importance of “significant others” (peers, friends, like-minded people) in the content app suggestions we can expect moving forward.

As Colm put it: The space is “in the eye of the storm.” App stores up the ante and force companies across the ecosystem to focus on personalization and recommendation as means to expose people to the stuff they are likely to appreciate and – ultimately – purchase.

App stores are the place to go – but what is going to keep us coming back for more?

Colm believes that social discovery will provide that stickiness. As he puts it: Recommendations from our friends will be the way we find apps.

But the challenge is not just in harnessing rants and raves from our peers to complement personalization and drive discovery. The real work is in creating recommendations that will work across the plethora of app stores coming on line. “There are unique challenges related to app store fragmentation. If I’ve discovered a great app on an iPhone, obviously what I want to do is let my friend know about that great app. But – if they have a different phone – then the question is how to direct them to the right app for that particular phone.”

Another trend high on Colm’s radar: apps to discover apps. As Colm sees it: Smartphones are chock-full of features and functionalities — clever technology that providers could/should harness to sell us on the wealth of apps at our finger tips. It’s all about taking advantage the interface and features such as location, the compass and the accelerometer (to name a few) to help people get to apps they would likely appreciate.

My take: Personalization has been at the center of mobile since the start. First people bought content (such as ringtones) to personalize their devices. Then companies implemented technology to deliver personalized suggestions and idle-screen takeovers as a way to help people navigate the avalanche of content and cut the clicks to content. It’s work in progress. Now the explosion of app stores pushes the content discovery issue back to the top of the agenda for operators, handset makers, developers – everyone. As this report shows, people would spend more time and money accessing stuff on their mobile phones if it were easier to do. Moving forward, people will likely not only appreciate personalized recommendations (particularly if they come from their peers). They may even come to expect them.

Disclaimer: MSG relies on Tego Interactive for the creation and integration of its online and mobile destinations/strategies. Xiam has aligned with MSG to publish a sponsored series of thought leadership columns and contributions beginning in December 2009.

Smartphones now account for one out of every seven phones, and Nielsen says that Blackberry gained the most smartphone market share during the period, up five points to 19 percent. Nokia’s woes continued, with its share of the total UK market down 7 percent to 44 percent. Source

The bottom line: If only 20 percent of UK mobile users are getting online with their phones, there’s still a lot of growth left in that market for content providers and mobile marketers.

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ONE IN SIX HANDSETS WILL HAVE NFC FUNCTIONALITY BY 2014, according to Juniper Research, as use spreads outside of Japan. The company says that in five years, the value of transactions processed over NFC worldwide will exceed $110 billion, with mobile payments and retail applications (such as coupons) the most widely used applications, though ticketing (such as for public transport) will also play a roll in pushing the rollout. Source

The bottom line: It seems like we’ve been waiting on NFC for a long time, and in the west, it’s never moved much past the trial stage and isn’t readily available in handsets. That’s one problem, but another is the cost of POS equipment for retailers, who won’t want to shell out for readers and other gear unless there’s really something valuable in it for them.

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CONSUMERS WHO RESPOND TO MOBILE MARKETING ARE MORE AVID USERS OF SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES, says a new report from BIGresearch, and tend to be young men, the company says. It also adds that since its last study of US consumers in 2008, the percentage of people who don’t like to get SMS ads (66.8 percent), as well as the percentage of people who believe marketers need permission before sending mobile ads (58 percent), have increased. Source

The bottom line: With two-thirds of people saying they don’t like text ads, and almost 60 percent saying there needs to be opt-in, one message is clear: sending out blanket text ads (especially without permission) isn’t an effective use of mobile marketing.

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DESPITE THE MOBILE’S CONNECTION TO USER-GENERATED CONTENT, people prefer to watch professional video content on their handsets, according to research from Real Networks. It says that while YouTube is the most popular UGC video site on mobile, it’s eclipsed by content from pros (at least in the US), such as NBC, Fox, The Weather Channel, MTV, Comedy Central and ESPN.(Source: a Real Networks “mini-bulletin email)

The bottom line: One possible explanation for this is that users on mobile are task-focused: that is, they want to see what the weather is going to be, or they want to see a certain sports clip, and the professional content is better for that than something like YouTube. Also, the browsing and finding experience of the professionally curated content may be simpler than with many UGC sites on mobile. Or, it could simply be that many of these professional channels are accessed through a carrier portal, so they’re more prominent to users, or may work more reliably than some UGC sites.

I am honored to follow Judy as the new Keeper of the Tents. It’s also a good time to consider new directions and activities to grow the Carnival and its roster of contributors. Thanks to the Mobilists who have contacted me to wish me the best in this new role, and a special thanks to Volker Hirsch and Srinivasarao Nandiwada (nsr), who have reached out to me to help guide the Carnival through this transition period.

It’s all about new energy, new idea and new horizons — and a new phase in the development of the Carnival. If you’re a member, submit your suggestions for consideration by the group. If you’re not a member, then get involved!

Now let’s get this show on the road!

Over at Volker on Mobile Volker Hirsch challenges us to rethink what we mean by “social media.” In his view, “empowered media” is a much better term since we are literally empowered to create, capture and communicate everything around us. The question is: how should we wield this power? Fortunately for us, Volker doesn’t settle for a philosophical discussion of the issue; he uses the recent incident involving Ian, the London subway worker (now unemployed) who threatened a passenger to drive an important point home. Was it Ian’s misfortune that Jonathan MacDonald – a social media authority well-known to us at the Carnival – was nearby? Or was it Jonathan’s responsibility to capture the “rant”, publish it, tweet it and tell us all? Read and decide.

But mobile is more than a social media (or empowered media) tool. Over at mobiEnthusiast.mobi Holly Kolman draws our attention to mobile’s potential as an educational tool with the example of BuckleUp.mobi. The mobile site urges people to use their seat belts and features important related for drives on the fly. Check it out and spread the word.

A truly eye-opening post from Mark Jaffe over at Mobile Mandala based on a chance meeting with a Flirtomatic executive. Mark walks us through some surprising numbers from the source and wakes us up to the wealth of opportunities around giving people who don’t own smartphones a good user experience. Are companies leaving money on the table by catering to the high-end device crowd? Read Mark’s insightful post and decide.

And while we look for answers to these questions James Coops over at mjelly reminds us that it’s the search for apps we like in the App Store (actually all applications stores) that will likely take up the lion’s share of our time (and patience). His extremely helpful and worthwhile post (which includes a list of sources and services that assist in iPhone app discovery) provides us a how-to to navigate the confusing terrain. From social discovery tools to app review sites, his post is one to bookmark. Check it out and add your suggestions.

(For another look at the issues around content discovery and some helpful stats to put the problem in perspective, you may want to check out last’s week’s submission from Tego Interactive, a company out to tackle this issue head-on.)

Another valuable resource is a must-read list of mobile marketing case studies via mobiThinking.com. The list includes many campaigns (from a who’s who of brands and agencies) that were submitted to the Mobile Marketing Association. (The winners will be announced on November 17 at the Mobile Marketing Forum in Los Angeles.) But it doesn’t stop there. Andy Favell, mobiThinking.com editor, has invited agencies to send in their case studies, an admirable outreach that will likely turn the site into a top-notch destination for what’s new in mobile advertising. Check it out and contribute to the conversation!

And finally, Enrique Ortiz at About Mobility: A Technology & Products Weblog About All Things Mobile gives us his take on the seismic shift in the Nav market. Does Google Maps Nav — now with real-time always up to date maps and nav info, turn by turn directions, live traffic information and even street view – disrupt the market and threaten the likes of TomTom? Read on and share your views.

My pick of the week? Although the resources provided by mjelly and mobithinking deserve special mention (I’ve bookmarked both for my ongoing work in content discovery and my new mobile advertising project), Mark Jaffe’s down-to-earth post speaks volumes about the biggest challenge facing the mobile industry: it’s own inability to see the pent-up demand among ordinary people – with rather ordinary devices – for extraordinary service.

Thanks to Mark for pointing this out and let’s all work to spread the word!

Next week the Carnival moves to Mobileslate. See you there…