Tag Archives: mobile industry

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Mobile advertising will generate $1.2B in 2011: study

A new study from eMarketer predicts mobile advertising will generate $1.23 billion in the United States this year. The forecast also expects mobile advertising in the U.S. to reach $4.4 billion by 2015. The growth comes as mobile advertising gains steam as an effective way to target consumers thanks to the growth in smartphone and tablet ownership.

Numbers Forecast Booming Mobile Ad Future

The message at the Borrell Associates Local Mobile Advertising Conference in Chicago was a simple matter of proliferation: Ubiquitous mobile users pair up with growing local advertising dollars spent, close to 20% of that headed online. Media analyst Gordon Borrell projected that by 2015 up to two-thirds of local advertising will be served up on mobile.

Cross-media measurement is Holy Grail of mobile: IAB

In order for brands and retailers to allocate more of their marketing budgets to mobile, measurement and reliable methodologies to understand audience behavior and ad effectiveness must be put into place, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. According to the “State of Mobile Measurement,” study released by IAB, fragmentation, unclear standards and technology problems have held mobile from reaching its full potential. In order to get up to par, marketers have to create common measurement standards in mobile.

Smartphones, Mobile Internet Set Stage for Increased Mobile Ad Spend

By the end of this year, eMarketer estimates, 38% of US mobile users will have a smartphone and 41% will use the mobile internet at least once each month. These developments mean an increase in the opportunity for mobile advertising—and an increase in spending. eMarketer forecasts that advertisers will spend nearly $1.23 billion on mobile advertising this year in the US, up from $743 million last year and set to reach almost $4.4 billion by 2015. This includes spending on display ads (such as banners, rich media and video), search and messaging-based advertising, and covers ads viewed on both mobile phones and tablets.

How mobile advertising, content and commerce is changing Brazil

Emerging markets have experienced strong economical growth in the past several years, and four of the top five mobile markets are emerging markets: 1. China, 2. India, 3. U.S., 4. Russia, 5. Brazil. According to Anatel, the Brazilian regulatory agency that oversees wireless carriers, Brazil leads in terms of Latin American mobile penetration: Brazil 92 percent, Colombia 88 percent, Chile 75 percent, Argentina 72 percent and Mexico 63 percent.

Adidas campaign points to effectiveness of multiscreen advertising

Sportswear brand adidas ran a video-centric ad campaign across online, mobile and tablet devices. Carat is adidas’ agency of record. Carat tapped Google to extend the brand’s message to digital. “We partnered with Nielsen to measure the incremental impact of multiscreen advertising,” said Johanna Werther and Ben Chung, both part of the Google Mobile Ads Marketing team at Google, Mountain View, CA, in a blog post.

Global Web Ad Spend to Rise 33% by ‘13

Global internet advertising expenditures will rise about 33% between 2011 and 2013, according to [pdf] an October 2011 forecast from Zenith Optimedia. Internet ad spend is expected to total about $72.5 billion USD this year and reach $96.4 billion in 2013. Total global ad spend, forecast at $460.3 billion for 2011, is expected to grow about 11% to about $510.6 billion in 2013.

Apple’s mobile market share climbs in September

Apple’s iOS once again dominated the mobile OS market share picture in September, according to new data from Net Applications. The enterprise application maker and web monitoring company found that iOS accounted for 54.65 percent of mobile market share, up from just over 53 percent in August. The numbers mean that Apple’s iOS devices (including the iPod touch, iPhone and iPad) together make up more than half of all web use originating from mobile devices.

Mobile media needs ‘solid metrics’, says IAB

Cookies are unreliable; server logs are stymied; the ecosystem is fragmented and privacy concerns loom large – none of which changes the fact that mobile advertising needs a standardised set of measurements, according to a new IAB paper.

Mobile taking up increasing portion of consumers’ down time

Ad agencies that are designing digital marketing campaigns may reach more consumers if they include a mobile aspect to the mix, findings from a new survey suggest. CA Technologies commissioned a study that found due to the prevalence of mobile devices, users of smartphones and tablet computers are taking the usual “dead time” – the equivalent of about five and a half weeks – and using it more productively.

China Set for Explosive Ad Growth

While the US will still maintain a comfortable lead in ad spending in 2013, number three China’s spending will surge in the next two years,according to [pdf] an October 2011 forecast from Zenith Optimedia. China, expected to spend $26.1 billion USD on major media advertising this year, will increase that figure almost 49% to $38.5 billion in 2013. By comparison, the US will increase ad spend about 9%, from $151.7 billion this year to $166 billion in 2013. Number two Japan will also maintain its position, growing ad spend 3% from $46.1 billion to $47.6 billion.

Social Network Ad Revenues to Reach $10 Billion Worldwide in 2013

Worldwide social network ad revenues will reach $5.54 billion this year, eMarketer estimates, with just under half that amount, $2.74 billion, coming from the US market. Revenue growth is solidly in the double digits in the US, but even more rapid growth elsewhere will mean spending outside the country will account for a slightly greater share each year. By 2013, non-US revenues will make up 51.9% of the total, which will hit nearly $10 billion worldwide. In the US, social networks will make $4.81 billion from ads that year.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Mobile advertising supply continues to exceed demand: Digiday Mobile panelists

NEW YORK – Much of the discussion at Digiday Mobile focused on problems that publishers face in the mobile space such as choosing a model for the pros and cons of paid and ad-supported mobile content-monetization models impose on publishers. An executive from The Boston Globe went as far to say that monetizing the company’s mobile efforts is one of its biggest problems.“We’ve struggled to monetize content,” said Jeff Moriarty, vice president of digital products at The Boston Globe, Boston. “We broke our audience into two groups, and we realized that we were not serving either.”

Mobile payments market expected to touch $245bn: E&Y

NEW YORK: Billed as the future of banking, the value of financial transactions carried out through mobile phones has been pegged at $245 billion worldwide by 2014 in a new report by global consultancy firm Ernst & Young.  “Overall, mobile payment services are expected to reach $245 billion in value worldwide by 2014,” according to the report by Ernst and Young (E&Y). At the same time, the number of users carrying out transactions using mobile money is expected to total 340 million by 2014, equivalent to 5 per cent of existing mobile subscribers across the globe, the report said.

Ad Spending on African-American Audiences Grows 3%

Total US advertiser spending aimed at African-American audiences grew 3% between 2009 and 2010, according to [download page] a report released in September 2011 by The Nielsen Company. Data from “The State of the African-American Consumer” indicates advertisers spent $1.98 billion on African-American audiences in 2010, compared to $1.92 billion in 2009. Television advertising was the largest medium for all ad spending in 2010, accounting for $69 billion. In the first surpassed $18 billion, growing almost 9% versus the same period in 2010. Radio and magazines during this same period also saw higher ad spend levels than last year, increasing between six and 7%. Newspapers, however, saw a 10% drop.

Why retailers should engage customers throughout their entire shopping experience

By the end of the year, more than half of mobile phone users will have smartphones. Even more interesting is that 93 percent of smartphone users use their phones inside the home, according to Google. Combined with how shoppers use smartphones near and in stores, there is now a real opportunity for retailers to engage customers throughout the entire shopping process, starting at home.

Starbucks Perks Up Mobile Payments Program

In January 2011, Starbucks debuted a new way for customers to pay for coffee—through the brand’s mobile app. With 2-D barcode scanners installed in nearly 9,000 of its store locations, the coffee chain has served as a model for retailers looking to enter the mobile payments space. Adam Brotman, who leads digital strategies for the Seattle-based coffee chain, talked to eMarketer’s Lauren McKay about why the mobile payment program works for Starbucks and where he thinks the market is headed.

Mobile Media Summit Disrupts Advertising Week

Mobile is shaking up New York’s Advertising Week. The third annual Mobile Media Summit, the premiere event for mobile media, brand and advertising executives, returns to the Big Apple on October 5th to crash the party and shine a light on mobile media and advertising. The mobile ad industry crossed a great inflection point this year when it hit the $1B mark, and tablet and smartphone sales have outshined TVs in U.S. revenue. Bringing mobile to Madison Avenue, the Mobile Media Summit has the most advertisers of any mobile event in the U.S.

Publishers Slow to Take Advantage of Mobile Sites

More than two in five mobile users will go online from their phones each month, eMarketer estimates, but many websites have been slow to make their content available in mobile-optimized formats. Research from mobile site detection API provider Company Data Trees found that in January 2011, 14.32% of the top 10,000 sites on Alexa had a mobile version, and 14.67% of publishers (defined as websites with advertising) had one. The percentages have grown since then, to around 24% and 26%, respectively, as of September.

Mobile ad revenue in Canada up 93% in 2010

Mobile advertising revenues in Canada grew 93% in 2010 to more than $52-million, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada. The Top 10 earners accounted for 82% of total net revenues in 2010. The ad placement and spend category grew 105% over 2009, driven primarily by search advertising at $17.1-million, and mobile display and sponsorship at $15.6-million.

Mobile Wallets Move Closer to Reality

The potential for mobile payments is huge. Globally, consumers make trillions of dollars in credit and debit card transactions each year. Migrating just a small percentage of that spending to mobile-based transactions would be a lucrative opportunity for the companies that facilitate it. The mobile payments market is difficult to size in its nascent state, and research firms vary widely as to the dollar figures involved. But they agree on one thing, as eMarketer’s new report, “Mobile Payments: Moving Closer to a World Without Wallets,” notes: dramatic growth.

Singapore most IT competitive APAC market

SINGAPORE–Strong investments in human capital, particularly IT employment and enrolment in higher education, have helped Singapore emerge as the No. 1 Asia-Pacific market in terms of IT competitiveness, and third globally, a new report revealed. The Business Software Alliance’s (BSA) Global IT Competitiveness Index, which was released Tuesday, noted that besides Singapore, six other Asia-Pacific countries–Australia, Taiwan, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Hong Kong–made it on the top 20 list, too. The region’s strong showing proves that investments in IT do pay off, said Roger Somerville, senior director of government and policy for BSA Asia-Pacific.

China market: Mobile phone users grow to over 940 million in August

There were 940.09 million subscribers of mobile communication services in China as of the end of August 2011, growing 1.10% on month and 14.22% on year, and 94.12 million, or 10.01% of them were 3G users, according to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The August number accounted for 68.8% of the country’s population (user density). As of August, there were 288.80 million subscribers to fixed telecommunication services in China, translating into a user density of 21.7%. In August, mobile phone subscribers in China sent 73.29 billion short messages, averaging 2.53 short messages per phone number a day.

Africa Mobile Market: Subscriptions hit an impressive half-a-billion record

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Mobile industry in Africa soared even higher with an undisputed record of 506 million mobile subscribers (or half-a-billion) obtained on this year’s third quarter, according to UK-based research firm Informa Telecoms & Media.

The report said Africa accounted for 10% of the world’s mobile subscriptions, considered to be one of the world’s fastest growing regions in terms of subscription volume increasing to 18% over the year to September.

Along with this report, the Informa Telecoms & Media provided strong forecasts of 265 million mobile broadband subscriptions in Africa by 2015 – a huge increase from current figure of about 12 million – and that will account for 31.5% of the total of 842 million mobile subscriptions that the continent will have in the next five years.

Mobile-Money Services

Mobile-money services are also predicted to acquire an estimated 360 million users in the continent by 2014. The mobile revolution, according to the report, which has swept through Africa, has made a mobile telephony widely available although there are still substantial under-served markets – such as in rural areas in which mobile penetration is typically below 10%.

Submarine Cables

The arrival of new submarine cables on both the East and West African coasts over the past 18 months has given the continent good level of international connectivity for the first time, and is reportedly to bring great opportunities for data services.

Terrestrial backhaul, however, is feared to become the next bottle-neck and must be extended if the benefits of the new connectivity are to be made widely available. According to the report, such concern has confirmed the fears of telecom experts on how to make the ‘more people’ benefit from the abundant submarine cables and broadband opportunities they bring.

Broadband Penetration

In the first quarter of 2010, the household broadband penetration rate in Africa was just 2.5%. Hence, report said, African broadband will have a long to go if it is to emulate the mobile revolution that has swept already through much of the continent.

Key Industry players

In the past year, big change has seen in the line-up of key players in the African mobile market with sale of Zain Africa (one of the biggest pan-African players with 15 operations in the continent) to Bharti Airtel of India.

With Airtel’s conquer, IBM came into the scene to provide and manage the technology base of its operations in Africa – and that is expected to revolutionize the continent’s communications. A major network expansion plans in the region are also set by Airtel.

Nigeria remains largest mobile market

Meanwhile, the report noted that Nigeria has remained the largest mobile market, accounting for 16% of the continent’s mobile subscriptions, with Egypt (second), and South Africa (third).

Report said Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe together accounted for 48% of the 54 million net additions to Africa’s mobile subscription market over the 9 months to September.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Mobile Internet Content Coalition petitions FCC to promote open mobile Internet

The Mobile Internet Content Coalition, consisting of 4Info Inc., Myxer Inc. and mobileStorm Inc., is petitioning the Federal Communications Commission in support of opening up the mobile Internet. The MICC’s comments to the FCC, drafted by law firm Arent Fox LLP, take a stand in favor of providing “consumers access to the content of their choosing without improper interference by wireless providers.” The MICC also proposes that SMS and MMS also be considered under the umbrella of the mobile Internet.

How mobile is evolving the media business

The once-static media landscape is evolving with the advancement of mobile technology, giving advertisers more options. Whether it is through mobile sites, applications or the recent trend of 2D bar codes and image recognition, media brands are taking note and evolving with the ever-changing world of mobile. Publications such as Entertainment Weekly, W Magazine, Golf Magazine, GQ, Wired and Marie Claire have all integrated mobile in some aspect.

Are US carriers finally making mobile marketing a priority?

With their wireline business on the down slope and competition ramping up in the wireless space, U.S. carriers are seeking alternative revenue streams and engaging in mobile marketing like never before. However, carriers are still struggling to figure out which vendors to partner with, how much data to share, which policies to impose and which monetization models and ad units to use. In addition, the explosion of smartphone adoption has been a double-edged sword: increased data revenue but also overburdened networks and the migration of traffic from on-deck to off-deck.

Juniper forecasts retail mobile marketing to exceed $8 billion

Recent research by Juniper Research has found the mobile marketing and retail sector including mobile advertising, smart posters and coupons, will exceed $8 billion globally by 2012. The “Mobile Marketing and Retail Strategies” report found that retailers are already starting to woo consumers via the mobile channel using mobile ads and coupons, and the market for these two activities alone is expected to grow by half over the next couple of years.

Stock Market Panic Brings Surge Of Traffic To Mobile Web

During one of the largest stock market plunges in American history, Online and mobile-based financial sites were brought to their knees yesterday under the weight of worrisome investors scrambling for information and answers. Portals like Yahoo and Google Finance went down hard after news broke that the stock market was losing equity fast for relatively unknown reasons, forcing people all of the world to take to their mobile devices and computers in search of additional information.

Mobile devices set to interact with TV: Analyst

As demand for connected devices expands, Internet-enabled televisions form a category poised for growth. According to new forecasts from ABI Research, the estimated 19 percent of flat-panel TVs shipping with Ethernet in 2010 will grow to 46 percent in 2013, and connectivity is expected to become a mainstream feature. “In terms of mobile devices and the primary screen I would say there are two primary motivations for connecting or linking the two devices,” said Michael Inouye, industry analyst of digital home at ABI Research, Oyster Bay, NY.

Why brands must have a 360-degree mobile Web strategy

A 360-degree mobile Web strategy spans far beyond just a mobile-optimized site and means that brands need to tie mobile to their traditional marketing. For example, email campaigns are generating a lot of conversion traffic for sites. Including a URL to a mobile site will factor in mobile email users and provide them with a better experience than just throwing them onto a wired Web site on their device.

How retailers can leverage SMS for inventory management

One of the most recent trends on the retail scene is the private sale for inventory management, and SMS can serve as a great tool to get customers in for one. Research shows that after 60 days, an item at a retail location has about a 15 percent chance of being sold. After 90 days this number drops to just 5 percent, and that is why retailers are relying on private sales to keep inventory moving.

HBO taps SMS to build database during Mayweather-Marquez fight

HBO used SMS to drive awareness and pay-per-view purchases of a recent Mayweather-Marquez boxing match and to generate opt-ins for its own mobile VIP club.

Mobile Handsets Grow 19% in Q1

Global shipments of mobile handsets grew 19% year-over-year during Q1 2010, according to ABI Research. In total, 303 million mobile handsets shipped worldwide during Q1 2010. This puts annual global mobile handset shipments on pace to reach about 1.3 billion in 2010. Strongest handset shipment growth was seen in the Middle East and Africa (20% year-over-year) followed by the Americas, particularly the US (11%). Europe, on the other hand, is languishing with single-digit growth. It is also notable that 3G handset shipments eclipsed 2G handset shipments globally.

Facebook, Twitter Post Strong March Growth

Facebook and Twitter clearly surpassed all other major social networks in US year-over-year growth during March 2010, according to data from The Nielsen Company. In March 2010, Facebook reported 117.1 million unique US users at home and work. This represented 69% year-over-year growth from 69.1 million unique US users in March 2009. While Twitter only reported 20.1 million unique US users in March 2010, this still represented strong 45% year-over-year growth from 13.8 million unique users in March 2009. It is also worth noting that Twitter had a negligible 520,000 unique users in March 2008.

Low Ad Recall but High Response for Location-Based Services

In 2009, digital advertising solutions provider Eyeblaster set out to go beyond the click and measure user engagement with online ads according to a broader set of actions dubbed “dwell.” Users dwell when they mouse over an ad, or interact with a rich media placement, for example. The company’s “Global Benchmark 2010” report analyzed dwell metrics for billions of rich media impressions served in 2009 and found that high dwell correlated with high engagement, brand-related searches and ultimately conversion.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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The Department of Energy has earmarked $41.9 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the development of fuel cell technology. The goal is to create manufacturing and maintenance jobs for Americans who have been laid off from automotive factories and the like

Quickoffice beats Microsoft to the punch with iPhone app for Office documents

Dallas-based Quickoffice has released the first iPhone application suite that lets you view and edit Microsoft Office documents. Available for $19.99 from the App Store, it includes its own versions of Word and Excel it calls Quickword and Quicksheets, as well as file-management services


Green technologies to watch

“We are in a new era of energy innovation,” declared Daniel Yergin last week at a forum on clean-energy policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Seattle, Atlanta And D.C. To Get First Mobile TV Tests

A coalition of TV broadcasters on Monday said they plan to use Seattle, Atlanta and Washington, D.C., as test markets for digital mobile TV services this year.

Spam Harms Environment

According to a Silverpop survey conducted last year, 80% of e-mail recipients felt that spam levels were either about the same or getting worse.

Percent Mobile – find out what percentage of your visits come to you via mobile

The service that Percent Mobile offers is so simple its genius. It is a solution for online websites that tells you what % of your users came to your site via mobile.

Bango Debuts Updated Mobile Analytics v4

Bango has long been known for its advanced mobile analytics solutions, and today marks the release of the newest version- version 4, which takes mobile analytics and visitor tracking to a whole new level.

Social Email Campaigns to Increase Nearly 400% in 2009

A record number of email marketers are planning to bridge the gap between online social networks and their email marketing campaigns, and the number of social email initiatives is expected to grow 367% this year, according to new research

Poll: Today’s Society Too Dependent on Gadgets

Nearly two-thirds (65%) of Americans think that today’s society is too dependent upon electronic gadgets, and 39% do not think technology (such as mobile phones, Wi-Fi networks and GPS) really makes people more productive, according to (pdf) a recent Harris Poll

Mobile not one channel, but eight: MobileMix speaker

It was expected. Someone in the audience at the final ad:tech San Francisco MobileMix session had to ask that dreaded question: “Everyone has been saying this is the year of mobile for five years. Is it?”


B2B Magazines Expand Online

Business-to-business (B2B) print magazines have fallen on tough times. While many publishers realize they have to be online in order to survive, they have been slow to take the digital plunge as they struggle to figure out a viable online strategy.

Court of Appeal overturns judgement to privatise PCCW

The Court of Appeal has overturned the judgment of the High Court of Hong Kong to sanction the scheme of arrangement to privatise Hong Kong operator PCCW. The company is disappointed at the Court of Appeal’s decision, given the clear findings and reasons set out for the judgment of the High Court.

China Telecom picks Huawei for 3G CDMA launch

Huawei Technologies has joined China Telecom for the commercial launch of 3G CDMA networks in many of China’s largest cities and regions. Using Huawei’s equipment, China Telecom’s 3G CDMA services are now available in 52 cities