China, India leads global surge in mobile Web usage

Mobile Internet penetration continues to gain foothold as an increasing number of users around the world take to its convenience, despite concerns over privacy and data security, according to a new report by KPMG. The number of survey respondents adopting mobile banking transactions worldwide more than doubled to 46 percent, compared to the previous study conducted 18 months ago in late-2008. Consumers who turned to the Internet to buy goods and services also surged from 10 to 28 percent.

Anger greets Google-Verizon proposal for routing Web traffic

Google on Monday reversed its long-held support for pure “net neutrality” and joined Verizon in calling for new laws that would enable Internet providers to favor some Web services over others. That touched off vehement protests from consumer groups that support network neutrality, the principal of ensuring all people have equal access to all websites. If the Google-Verizon proposal goes through, it would “kill Internet freedom,” says Justin Ruben, director of the advocacy group MoveOn.org.

Singapore-based marketing expert sees rapid growth in RP mobile ads

MANILA, Philippines – A Singapore-based marketing expert said he expects rapid growth in mobile advertising in the Philippines in the next five years as more companies place their advertisements through the emerging medium. Rohit Dadwal, managing director of the Mobile Marketing Association in Asia Pacific, also said the Philippines is among the trend setting countries in terms of implementing an effective approach to improve consumer privacy in the mobile advertising domain. “(Mobile advertising) is 60 percent effective than the traditional media,” Dadwal told The STAR. Asked if the booming industry will affect the advertising revenues of the traditional media such as newspapers, Dadwal said: “Theoretically they will not suffer…even The Philippine STAR, which has its print edition, will get into the mobile industry.”

Mobile commerce market worth $2.5B and growing

The mobile commerce market is worth $2.5 billion today, and will grow four times in the next couple of years, according to a panelist at the eTail 2010 Social media & Mobile Commerce Summit. Retailers should focus on developing mobile commerce services to reach the growing number of smartphone users, because the market for mobile sales will increase dramatically in the next few years, according to panelists.

Email Dominates Mobile Web Time

Email, portals stay ahead of social networking—at least on mobile devices. Social networking has become such a staple of online activity in the US that, according to Nielsen, internet users spent more time on social networking sites and blogs than doing any other activity in June 2010. Games, which came in second, took up less than half as much time. On the mobile internet, however, more traditional activities still reign. Email dominated the mobile picture even more strongly than social networking did the desktop: If all time spent on the mobile web was condensed into a single hour, US internet users would have spent 25 minutes in June checking email. Portals would have received another 7 minutes, with social networks not far behind.

Internet advertising industry cracks $2 billion mark

New figures showing the Australian internet advertising industry has cracked the $2 billion barrier is yet another sign small businesses must pay more attention to online marketing, one industry expert believes. The latest Interactive Advertising Bureau Online Expenditure Report, compiled in tandem with PricewaterhouseCoopers, reveals total online ad expenditure came to $2.04 billion for the year ending June 30, 2010. The figures also show spending came to $552.5 million in the June quarter of this year, representing a 22% year-on-year increase from the same period in 2009. The study shows general display advertising grew by 11%, followed by classifieds at 9% and search and directories at 16%.

Gartner: Worldwide Mobile Device Sales Grew 13.8% in Q2

Worldwide mobile device sales to end users totaled 325.6 million units in the second quarter of 2010, a 13.8% increase from the same period in 2009, according to Gartner. Smartphone sales to end users accounted for 19% of worldwide mobile device sales – or  61.6 million units -  a 50.5% increase from the same period in 2009. Average Selling Price Drop. Although the mobile communication devices market showed double-digit growth this quarter, the study also noted that average selling prices were lower than expected and margins fell. The reasons for this, it concluded, included a stronger dollar, a depreciating euro, and intense competition. Biggest Share. Nokia, Samsung, RIM and Apple held the greatest market share, Gartner found.  For Q2, Nokia’s mobile device sales to end users reached 111.5 million units and a share of 34.2%.

Local Business Search via Mobile Up 14%

Consumers looking for local business information are increasingly turning to their mobile devices: The number of people who accessed Internet business directories on a mobile phone reached 17.3 million in March 2010, up 14% from the same period a year earlier, according to a study by the Yellow Pages Association (YPA).

Online ad spend to exceed P1 billion in 2010

Online advertisement spending is expected to exceed P1 billion in 2010 from 2009′s P500 million. According to Jose Noledo, President of the Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP), the lowering costs of Internet connectivity devices and the steady increase in Web users are major factors in the anticipated 100% ad sales increase. In the past, advertisement sales for online media had always taken the smallest pie compared to traditional media options like television and radio. “The biggest driver of connectivity is price in an emerging market like the Philippines. Every year, the cost of connectivity and the devices to connect to the Internet have gone down,” Noledo told host TJ Manotoc on ANC’s “The Rundown.

Mobile Marketing Expected to Surpass Internet Marketing

At the eTail 2010 social media and mobile commerce summit, it was estimated by industry insiders that the mobile commerce market is currently worth approximately $2.5 billion and that number is expected to double each year for the next several years. According to Scott, president of Weblink Marketing, all of the current indicators point to an explosion in the Mobile Marketing world. As Scott said, “When two of the most successful companies in the world are both vying for the same mobile advertising network, you better take notice”

Indian mobile handset sales to reach 138.6 million in 2010, says Gartner

Mobile device sales in India are forecasted to reach 138.6 million in 2010, an increase of 18.5% over 2009 sales of 117 million units, according to Gartner, Inc. The mobile handset market is expected to show steady growth through 2014 when end-user sales are expected to surpass 206 million units. The Indian cellular market is dynamic with new carriers and many new local mobile device manufacturers entering the already crowded mobile device market.

Mobile data traffic almost triples year on year

Global mobile data traffic almost tripled in the past year, growing ten times faster than voice traffic, according to statistics released by Swedish vendor Ericsson on Thursday. The firm said that, based on measurements it has made of real network traffic around the world, global mobile data traffic stands at 225,000 terabytes per month as of the second quarter of 2010. Earlier this year the firm reported that total data traffic exceeded total voice traffic in volume for the first time in December 2009.