AT&T is in the final stages of releasing YellowPages.com mobile for the iPhone, an innovative GPS-enabled application that combines local search with social networking capabilities, giving users the ability to search for information, share reviews and plan activities with friends, neighbors and co-workers.
According to research by Nielsen Mobile, over 4 million mobile phone users are accessing social networking sites via mobile internet. MySpace, the leading social networking site among PC users, is also the most popular mobile internet social networking site in the U.S. with 2.8 million unique mobile users in December 2007. In that same month, Facebook had about 1.8 million unique mobile users. “Consumer demand for mobile social networking may be a significant driver of mobile service pricing models, as evidenced by Vodafone UK’s recent move to offer unlimited internet access as a standard feature of its new monthly mobile price plans,” says Jeff Herrmann, vice-president of Mobile Media at Nielsen Mobile.
Mobile marketing today is at a similar point in its evolution as online advertising was at in the ’90s. While the promise of Web-based marketing was large in 1996, adoption was slow until Internet access became readily accessible and affordable. Remember the days of pay-per-minute plans for Internet access? I still have a few $400 ISP bills I’d like to forget.
Thanks to developments such as the iPhone — combined with better mobile content and services — mobile search seemed to take some major strides during the second half of 2007. The advertising potential now resembles that of the early days of the Internet in both variety of search options available and the fragmented nature of the keyword search volume. Consumers are searching for a wide range of topics and products via their mobile devices, and they’re willing to accept advertising in exchange for content and services.
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Three major players in Directory Assistance and Voice Search launched new applications for mobile DA and search use. Among the newly released applications is a human supported FreeMobile411 for Sprint phone users.
A new technology called virtualization is coming soon to a cell phone near you. Virtualization allows cell phones to utilize various mobile applications like web browsing, social networking, or gaming on one operating system as opposed to separate operating systems on separate phones.
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Despite Limbo’s recent release of the Mobile Advertising Report Q1 2008 stating that consumer retention of mobile ads is up 20% from a year ago, marketers are still hesitant to use mobile marketing according to Advertising Age.
Of the 219 million U.S. wireless subscribers, just over 30 million are on data plans, according to M:Metrics. That means more than 86.1% still use mobile devices primarily for talk, which isn’t optimal for mobile marketing; most mobile-advertising tactics require subscribers to have pricey data plans. The mobile web “isn’t a great experience, and it’s not generating enough demand,” said Julie Ask, a Jupiter Research analyst. In a recent Jupiter study, lack of audience topped the list of reasons marketers said they were not using mobile marketing.
A recent increase in the percentage of cell phone users who can recall a brand they saw an ad for via mobile phone suggests a rise in the popularity of mobile search. This reiterates the idea that mobile is one of the fasted growing local search mediums around. It also proves that mobile advertising is increasingly becoming an effective way to reach consumers and even influence their buying decision.