Tag Archives: wireless industry

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Alcatel-Lucent helps bridge the gap between mobile operators and advertisers

Mobile providers are well positioned to be enablers to ‘conversational marketing’ for major advertisers and brands, and to generate new profit streams if they automate and standardize language, formats and inventories. Advertisers look to mobile operators—and their relationships with subscribers—as an ideal channel to engage with consumers.

Mobile Internet usage ramping up in Southeast Asia

Internet users in Southeast Asia are shifting away from desktop PCs, according to Tommaso Del Re, head of mobile and business development of Yahoo Southeast Asia. “The next wave of Internet users in the region will be predominantly from mobile devices,” he added.

Where Does Mobile and Social Fit With B2B E-mail?

Where does the social networking world fit in the B2B e-mail marketer’s plan? If you build it, will they come? Is Facebook or Twitter the right fit for your brand? Will your customers find value in your cross-channel engagement efforts? This holiday season shows that cross-channel marketing is a growing part of a standard B2C e-mail-marketing plan. Friends-and-family offers that typically were announced only in e-mail are now a staple of Facebook and Twitter posts. More retailers are sending SMS notices to alert customers when high-demand products are back in stock.

BIA/Kelsey forecasts US mobile advertising to reach $2.9B in 2014

Mobile advertising revenues in the United States will grow from $491 million in 2009 to $2.9 billion in 2014, according to BIA/Kelsey’s U.S. Mobile Ad Revenue Forecast. This growth represents a compound annual growth rate of 43 percent. The forecast comprises advertising placed in mobile search, display and SMS. “Key findings are the overall growth in mobile ad spending, and the degree to which that growth will involve location targeted ads,” said Michael Boland, senior analyst and program director of BIA/Kelsey, Santa Clara, CA.

Mobile marketing: Smartphones to account for 27% of sales

Over 342 million smartphones will be sold next year, according to new research, which could be good news for brands using mobile marketing. Brands which use mobile marketing may be buoyed by the news that smartphones are expected to account for over a quarter of all sales in 2011. This is according to Telecoms & Media, which predicts that over 342 million smartphones will be sold next year, New Media Age reports.

2011: The Year of Mobile Breakthroughs for Media

It may be premature to say that mobile has revolutionized the way people consume entertainment and news, but it is certain that mobile has changed the way we communicate. It’s instant, portable, and personalized.Next year will bring some big breakthroughs for traditional media in the mobile world. Already we are starting to see headlines that reveal some of mainstream media’s high-level investments in mobile content and distribution.

Mobile subscriptions in Middle East to cross 300m

Rapid expansion in Iran and Saudi Arabia will power Mideast growth as markets mature. Dubai: Mobile subscriptions in the Middle East are on track to cross the 300-million mark in 2014 after crossing 200 million in third quarter of this year, an industry expert said. “Iran is the single biggest mobile market in terms of subscriptions followed by Saudi Arabia.

Mobile Advertising Expected to Continue on Solid Growth Path

Companies hoping to make their way with mobile advertising should already be on board for the amazing ride. According to a TechCrunch report, this market is growing like gangbusters and shows no signs of stopping. Reports from BIA/Kelsey show that the U.S. mobile advertising revenues are expected to grow from $491 million in 2009 to $2.9 billion in 2014.

Telkom Kenya to Invest 5 Billion Shillings in Network

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) — Telkom Kenya Ltd., a unit of France Telecom SA, plans to spend as much as 5 billion shillings ($62 million) next year expanding its network in the East African nation, Chief Executive Officer Mickael Ghossein said. The company, based in Nairobi, will increase mobile-phone base stations to 1,100 by the third quarter of 2011, compared with 650 now, Ghossein said in an interview today.

Survey: Gen Y Prefers Mobile Internet

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) – A new survey by browser maker Opera states that Generation Y is more likely to browse the Web on a mobile phone than a desktop or laptop computer. Information Week said 51 percent of respondents between 18-27 years old in the United States use Opera Mini more than a computer. That is low compared to most other countries.

Mobile Advertisers Leverage Social Media

Social media, as a post-click campaign action, represented 26% of the mobile campaign actions in October 2010. The top advertisers on the Millennial network from the finance, automotive, entertainment and retail verticals leveraged the social media platform to drive further brand engagement, as well as lead generation.

P&G reviews mobile marketing devices

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Procter & Gamble is reviewing its multimillion-dollar mobile marketing business, which entails responsibilities for several of the packaged good giant’s brands, according to executives familiar with the matter. Brand in Hand, P&G’s mobile agency for the last several years, is not participating.

‘Brands using Quick Response barcodes’ as mobile marketing tool

The use of Quick Response barcodes as a mobile marketing tool is becoming more popular, one commentator has said. An increasing number of brands are opting to use Quick Response barcodes (QR codes) as a mobile marketing tool, one expert has said. Jonathan Morris, editor of What Mobile, said that using smartphones to scan QR codes is gaining momentum with tech users.

Mideast Mobile Market: Mobile subscriptions in Middle East to cross 300 million

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Rapid expansion in Iran and Saudi Arabia is seen to power Mideast growth as markets mature, according to Informa’s report published over Gulf News.

Mobile subscriptions in the Middle East region are on track of hitting at 300 million by 2014, after marking 200 million in the third quarter. Industry expert, Matthew Reed, said Iran leads as the biggest mobile market in terms of mobile subscriptions with an unbeatable hit of 66 million subscribers, while Saudi Arabia ranked second (42.9 million subscriptions). Saudi Arabia is considered the most valuable mobile market in the Middle East with more than $11 billion (Dh40.50 billion) revenues in 2010.

The Palestinian market also recorded the fastest growth of mobile subscriptions with an increasing 56% this year to September-end. This mobile penetration rate in the Middle East, according to Reed, is expected to reach at 93.9% this year and 125.5% in 2015, respectively.

Report said that Afghanistan and Iran, with comparatively low penetration rates, will drive subscription growth in the region.

In terms of revenue per user, the Afghanistan has the lowest average, followed by Yemen and Iran. Reed said Afghanistan is expected to have annual compound growth rate of 10.41% in the next 5 years, followed by Iran (10.16%), Lebanon (9.61%), and UAE (4.7%).

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Research finds Nokia still dominates mobile in Africa

India has sent a clear message that it is watching Africa closely, especially after the impressive US$10.7-billion move by Indian telecoms giant Bharti Airtel to take over Zain Africa’s mobile operations in 15 countries. Speaking recently at Kenya’s technology centre, iHub, Ankit Rawal, head of African advertising for mobile advertiser inMobi, spent some time explaining why Africa is at the centre of mobile’s global growth, backing it up with solid research.

Mobile Ad Spending Up Nearly 80% in 2010

Mobile has broken through to reach the mainstream of digital advertising in 2010, according to US ad spending estimates by eMarketer. This year, US mobile ad spending will be up 79% to reach $743 million, eMarketer forecasts. That growth will slow somewhat to still-dramatic double-digit rates as spending hits over $1.1 billion in 2011 and more than $2.5 billion by 2014.

Mobile to become a $1 billion business in the US next year

Mobile is red hot this year, but it still won’t be a billion-dollar ad business in the U.S. until 2011, according to new eMarketer estimates. According to a new report, U.S. mobile advertising spending will reach $743 million this year, up a whopping 79% from $416 million the year prior. Mobile spending will cross the $1 billion mark in 2011 with sustained growth, though at slower rates.

Mobile Consumers See Value in Advertising

More than a third say mobile ads serve ‘important purpose’. A recent study by mobile ad network InMobi andcomScore uncovered some good news for marketers: Consumers are getting more comfortable with seeing ads on their mobile devices. Of the nearly 4,400 US mobile phone users surveyed, 38% felt mobile ads “serve an important purpose,” while an additional 25% stated they are getting accustomed to viewing mobile ads. While 10% of respondents described themselves…

Apple Dominates US Mobile Device, Phone Markets

Apple led all mobile device and phone manufacturers in US market share during August 2010,according to Millennial Media Mobile Mix data. Apple Shines in Market Share. Apple was the leading mobile device provider in the US in August 2010, taking a substantial 28% of the US market. Samsung followed a distant second with 15% market share. In other noteworthy developments, Motorola passed RIM to become the third-largest mobile device manufacturer in the US in August 2010, holding 14% market share to RIM’s 11% market share.

Going mobile is the new digital mantra for businesses, people

The Internet has gone mobile and businesses that don’t join the trend risk being left behind in a world that will see the majority of Internet traffic on mobile devices rather than desktop and notebook computers by 2013. It represents both challenges and opportunities for businesses, but it’s a shift that is being ignored by many organizations that are failing to realize their customers are leaving them for their more mobile-savvy competition, according to Jonathan Carrigan, product development manager at CBC and co-found of Mobcom, a multidisciplinary speaker series on the implications of mobile computing.

Mobile internet stats round up

Mobile use in Japan, Europe and USA (comScore). While 75.2% of Japanese mobile users accessed ‘connected content’(meaning they browsed the internet, accessed applications or downloaded content) from their mobiles, the same figure for the US was 43.7% and 38.5% for Europe. Japanese mobile users were more likely to use their phone’s browsers and apps, with 59.3% of Japanese mobile users accessing browsers in June and 42.3% using apps.By comparison, 34% of US and 25.8% of European mobile users accessed the mobile internet, while 31.1% in the US and 24.9 in Europe used apps. Europeans were the biggest users of SMS, with 81.7% sending a text in June, compared to 66.8% of US and 40.1% of Japanese mobile users.

Mobile Navigation Users Increase 57 Percent Year-Over-Year To 44 Million

New data out from Berg Insight suggest the number of mobile subscribers using a turn-by-turn navigation service or application on their handset grew 57 percent from 2009 to 2010, reaching 44 million users worldwide. Showing substantial growth, the subscriber base is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.1 percent to reach 195 million users worldwide in 2015. The research attributes the proliferation of GPS is nearly all mobile phones sold these days, combined with attractive prices for the strong growth. In the US, where GPS handset penetration is above 70 percent, navigation services for mobile phones has already reached about 8 percent of the total mobile subscriber base.

US telcos bring down mobile internet bar

The US mobile revolution looks like it might be stalled by telcos ending their unlimited access schemes.
US Telco Verizon is moving away from its “unlimited access” schemes following the other big supplier AT&T. According to Digital Trends, Verizon Wireless wants to offer a restricted, less expensive data plan for its smartphone users Verizon customers will get a connection for $15 but will only be allowed 150MB of data access. If a user exceeds this arbitrary limit, a 10 cent charge is added for each additional megabyte.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Seven Significant Trends in Mobile Usage

Understand the landscape and how it’s changing. With mobile penetration in the US estimated by eMarketer at nearly 80% this year, and the increasing sophistication of handsets, there is a mature mobile market with a critical mass of users increasingly receptive to marketing and content. As the space becomes more important for marketers’ efforts, they must keep pace with the changing scene.

Nokia slams critics with redefined mobile strategy

At Nokia World in London the handset manufacturer shared its vision and strategy as it unveiled a new line of smartphones and new initiatives to help Ovi developers monetize their applications. The 2010 edition of Nokia World is already unique in Nokia’s history due to the recent appointment of Stephen Elop as the new CEO and the resignation of Anssi Vanjoki, currently executive vice president of Nokia’s Mobile Solutions unit. Needless to say there is lots of speculation about Nokia’s future.

Consumers expect more immediacy from mobile than email: ExactTarget exec

Immediacy is what differentiates mobile marketing from its email counterpart, according to an ExactTarget executive. While the two channels are complementary ones that should tie together in multichannel campaigns, the campaign that simply mimics an email strategy in mobile will fail. Marketers should adjust their tactics accordingly, said R.J. Talyor, director of product marketing at ExactTarget, Indianapolis.

Can new CEO save Nokia from mobile oblivion?

Mr. Elop currently heads Microsoft’s business division and previously held senior executive positions in a number of United States-based public companies, including Juniper Networks, Adobe Systems Inc. and Macromedia Inc. Nokia’s manifold challenges include its smartphone business, which has a relatively uncompetitive platform—Symbian—that is losing out to Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. “The key issue here is user experience,” said Nick Jones, Egham, Britain-based vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “Apple and RIM have shown that owning your own platform can be valuable, but it must be a platform people want to use, so one thing Steve must do is fix the platform strategy.”

Mobile data consumption continues to accelerate: study

Mobile data penetration rates are expected to reach 80 percent by the end of the year, according to Validas research. The mobile software provider examined data consumption from more than 74,000 consumers’ wireless bills for its “Wireless Data Consumption, Analysis and Trends, 2009 – 2010” report. The research indicated that the number of mobile owners using data in some form jumped about 15 points, from 35 percent to 50 percent, between the end of 2009 and the midway point of 2010.

How to measure QR codes to determine customer behavior

As QR codes gain traction in the United States and marketing departments embrace the technology in new campaigns, the need to measure their success becomes even more important. Once you take the plunge and add QR codes to your printed materials, implementing procedures to measure the code’s success is the next step. With the right software, it is possible to track how many scans a code receives, the location the scan took place, and even the time of day the scan occurred. Here are a several ways companies can measure the QR codes they include on their marketing materials to determine customer behavior:

Nielsen: Android Users Click The Most Ads, Followed By Windows Mobile And iOS

Nielsen today released a new study in conjunction with the AppNation conference in San Francisco regarding users who click ads in the various mobile platforms. Again, Android comes out a winner with roughly one-third of users having clicked on an in-app ad.  Surprisingly, Windows Mobile came in second with 29% of users clicking in-app ads, followed by Apple’s iOS at 26%.  Rounding out the top five, Palm came in at number three with 22% followed by Blackberry at just 15%.  ”Other operating systems” came in at number five with 24%.

The Influence of Mobile on Social Marketing’s Future

Mobile platforms and location-based networks could take social marketing to the next level. As the increase in smart device ownership helps put the mobile web in the pocket of more and more Americans, mobile will play a greater role in all forms of content consumption—including social media.  US marketers surveyed in June 2010 by PRWeek and MS&L Group believed mobile social would have important consequences for their brand.

What Marketers Can Learn from Global Media Trends

Making sense of worldwide shifts in media usage and ad spending trends. The global advertising and media industry has been going through massive changes in recent years, between the inexorable shift from traditional to digital channels and a recession that damaged markets around the world. To help marketers make sense of the often-conflicting data and shed some light on the trends that will have the greatest effect on their business, eMarketer collaborated with Starcom MediaVest Group to produce the “Global Media Intelligence Report.”

Research and Markets: China’s Mobile Advertising Market Grows in 2010 – Big Brands Take Action

This report is an update to “China’s Mobile Advertising Market: Sales-Oriented Ads First, Brand Ads Second” published in June 2008. The Chinese mobile advertising market has changed considerably since Chinese operators launched 3G services in May 2009. This report analyzes the impact of these changes. The network upgrade to 3G at the end of 2008, the increasing base of mobile Internet users, and the development of the mobile network have together created a growing market for mobile advertising.

Indian youth to spend $9 bn on mobile Internet by 2012

The operators in India definitely have a reason to focus on data services. According to a report by mobileYouth, the operators will earn $7.7 bn from data usage by youth in India. Also, the spend on mobile Internet by the young population in India will cross $9 bn by 2012. The report throws light on some very interesting facts about the mobile usage trends of the young mobile users in the country. The report says, the Indian youth are increasingly using their mobile handsets to access the Internet. For 75% of Indian youth, their first exposure to the Internet is most likely to be through mobile phone.

7 key trends mobile marketers need to know: eMarketer keynote

NEW YORK – An eMarketer analyst revealed seven key trends that mobile marketers need to know during a keynote address at the digiday: Mobile conference. Noah Elkin, senior analyst at eMarketer, New York, offered up the following list of trends shaping the mobile marketing space: No. 1 Mobile usage has become pervasive.

 ABI Research: Mobile Internet Usage And Mobile Broadband Technology Continuously Growing

According to the ABI Research report, approximately c of the world’s population will subscribe to mobile-broadband services and due to the increasing Internet-surfing smartphone users it will boost to 1.5 billion in 2015. Mobile Operator and mobile providers are starting to capitalize the increasing revenue growth in mobile broadband services, according to a new report.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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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.

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Baidu’s Answer to Android And The Mobile Market

Baidu, the ten-year-old leading Chinese search engine firm, is developing a new mobile operating system, like Android or Windows, the Chinese media reports. What does this mean for the smart phone and mobile search/apps commerce market in the People’s Republic of China? Earlier this year, Motorola’s announcement that its Android smart phones for China Unicom will embed Baidu as its mobile search engine was lost in media reporting regarding Google’s issues in China.

AdMob CEO: Apple not enforcing ad restrictions

Despite putting a scare into AdMob and its customers with its new policies on third-party ad networks, Apple has not yet enforced those policies, AdMob’s CEO confirmed Tuesday. Omar Hamoui, founder and CEO of Google’s AdMob division, said it has been business as usual for AdMob’s ad network customers seeking to place ads in iPhone applications ever since Apple inserted language into its iPhone Developer Agreement in June that appeared to kneecap adnetworks owned by anyone competing with Apple in mobile computing, such as AdMob parent Google. “They haven’t been enforcing (the new regulations) yet. We’re very appreciative of that,” he said at the MobileBeat 2010 conference here.

Mobile Phone Demand Expands 14.5% as Market Fragments; Top 5 Pressured by Challengers, Says IDC

The worldwide mobile phone market continued to show signs of improvement during the second quarter of 2010 (2Q10), driven primarily by smartphone vendors and companies outside the top five leaders worldwide. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, mobile phone vendors shipped a total of 317.5 million units during 2Q10, up 14.5% from the 277.2 million units shipped during the second quarter of 2009 (2Q09).

The opportunity to help advertisers in the digital realm remains

Greg Swanson, president of Itz Publishing and co-chairman of Inland’s online committee, believes the opportunity for newspapers to grab a larger share of the dollars spent on online advertising remains huge, provided papers offer creative solutions to advertisers.  “We’re basically chasing 25 percent of the [total] digital dollars available, and we’re missing 75 percent,” Swanson said during a recent Inland Webinar.

Google cuts ties with Chinese advertisers

Google Inc has cut commercial ties with two of its Chinese advertising agents, raising concerns that the internet giant’s recent standoff with the government may scare away more domestic advertisers. The search engine ended partnerships Monday with the Universal Internet Media and the Xi’an Weihua Network, major advertising agents for Google in east and northwest China, Marsha Wang, spokesperson for Google China, was quoted as saying by China Daily Tuesday. The two are among 25 of Google’s authorised advertising agents in the country. ”

Hey marketers, consumers are moving to mobile, are you?

If you’ve been toying with the idea of moving some of your local search budget to mobile then perhaps the findings of recent research by comScore, for the Yellow Pages Association, will help make up your mind. Over 17.3 million mobile subscribers accessed business directories from their devices during March of this year, found comScore. That figure represents 14% YoY growth. Impressed? There’s more. The number of people accessing business directories at least once a week from their mobile devices also rose – up 16% YoY.

S’pore youths most wired in Asia

SINGAPOREAN youths are the most wired lot in Asia, according to survey results released on Monday, and – perhaps in keeping with their love of material goods – they are most receptive to mobile advertising. In a regional survey of 11 countries by market research firm Synovate.

Portals, Telecom Lead Mobile Advertising

Portals/directories and telecom were the top two mobile advertising verticals in Q2 2010, according to the latest S.M.A.R.T. Report from Millennial Media. Portals Top Vertical for 3rd Straight Quarter. Q2 2010 marked the third straight quarter portals/directories has been the top mobile advertising vertical as measured in terms of spending by Millennial Media. Telecommunications jumped from the number three spot in Q1 2010 to number two in Q2, swapping places with previous number two entertainment.

Mobile Video to Double Reach by 2013

$1.34 billion in revenues predicted by 2014. The population of mobile video viewers in the US will grow nearly 30% in 2010 to reach 23.9 million, according to eMarketer’s forecasts. The still represents a reach of only 7.7% of the total population and less than 10% of mobile phone users, but those numbers are set to double by 2013 and increase still further in 2014.

Are Mobile Marketers Missing Most of Their Hispanic Audience?

Low uptake among both native- and foreign-born Hispanics. At first glance, Hispanics appear highly engaged with mobile activities. A November 2009 Federal Communications Commission study found both Hispanic and black adults to be more active in a wide variety of mobile activities than their white counterparts. A May 2010 Pew Internet & American Life Project survey similarly found English-speaking Hispanic mobile phone owners more active in every content area studied than white or black mobile users.

S. Korean mobile carriers fail to follow marketing fee guideline

South Korea’s telecom companies failed to abide by government guidelines to cap mobile marketing fees to less than 22 percent of wireless revenues in the first half of the year, officials said Monday. According to the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the country’s telecommunications regulator, major telecom companies and mobile carriers spent a combined 3.12 trillion won (US$2.66 billion) on marketing between January and June, or 26.3 percent of the 11.85 trillion won in combined sales from their wireless businesses. …

Mobile internet penetration to double by 2015

According to a new report by ABI Research, the number of web-enabled mobile phones will double to make up 60% of the market, or 3.8 billion phones, by 2015. The growth of mobile web browsers is following two trends, say ABI. Smart phones carry a fully-enabled web browser, while cheaper “enhanced” or “feature” phones use a proxy-based browser such as Opera Mini, which downloads highly compressed versions of web pages and as such requires far less memory and processing capacity.

 

Mauritian Market: Mobile communications market to reach $271m in 2016

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The Mauritian Mobile Communications Market is reported to earn $271m in 2016 backed by impressive high disposable income and vibrant tourism industry, according to business research and consulting firm Frost and Sullivan.

mobile4Frost and Sullivan Research Analyst, Mervin Miemoukanda, emphasized that the key drivers in the country’s communications market are high disposable income, a vibrant tourism industry, the increasing demand for mobile broadband and multimedia, and the diminishing costs of handsets.”

After the country has earned revenues of $174m in 2009, an equivalent to 89%, analyst said it showed near saturation in its mobile communications market paving a way to intense competition among mobile operators to retain consumers while acquiring new ones.

The firm added that the situation would lead mobile players to improve the quality of their services with consistent infrastructure investments. Read more

TheTMSway Weekly Radar on Mobile Marketing and Business

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Research and Markets: Tips, Tricks & Techniques for Mobile Advertising – What Marketing Executives Need to Know to Capitalize on Mobile Ads

In Tips, Tricks & Techniques for Mobile Advertising, ExecSense examines what marketing executives need to know to capitalize on mobile ads – everything from smartphone apps to interstitial advertising to traditional mobile direct marketing methods such as SMS or MMS messaging, as well as new opportunities such as the iPad.

Advertisers to find new ways to target consumers via mobile Internet

SINGAPORE : Advertisers need to find new and more interesting ways to reach out to regional consumers via mobile internet. In a survey, Internet search engine Yahoo said as much as half of the mobile users in emerging markets in Southeast Asia are surfing the web using their phones these days. More people in countries like Indonesia and Vietnam now have mobile phones to log onto the Internet. And they are using them to access the Internet because of factors like attractive tariffs, more 3G networks and affordable data plans. Mobile Internet penetration in Indonesia – the largest and fastest growing online market in Southeast Asia – jumped to 48 per cent from 22 per cent last year. In Vietnam, mobile Internet access nearly doubled to 19 per cent.

Samsung, Verizon Lead the US Mobile Subscriber Market

According to a new report from comScore, Inc., covering the three-month period ending April 2010, the leading mobile phone maker in the US market was Samsung, which accounted for 22.1 percent of the market. Moreover, the report, which was aimed at the mobile subscribers market, shows that Verizon Wireless was the leader in the carrier area, with market share of 31.1 percent.

Retail sales via mobile internet forecast to more than double in three years

Mobile phone users bought nearly £123million of goods in the UK in 2009 using their smartphones, according to a new report, and this figure looks set to more than double in the next three years. As total online retail spending in 2009 was £21.2bn – or a market share of 0.6 per cent – this means that by 2013, mobile internet sales could reach £275million, or the four per cent of the overall market, claim analysts Verdict and Ovum, who have released a joint study.

Smartphone Usage Set to Dominate Hong Kong Mobile Market

Hong Kong consumers are at the forefront of global smartphone usage. Almost half (48%) of respondents in Hong Kong own a smartphone, more than double the global rate of 23%. “Until fairly recently, smartphone or PDA phones were owned by a very specific group of consumers – mainly tech geeks and business ‘road warriors’”, says Marc de Lange, Director – Technology Sector. “But in the coming year, Hong Kong will reach an important milestone as more than half of all mobile phone owners start to carry a smartphone in their pockets.”

What politicians can learn from mobile marketers

The Obama campaign used SMS, mobile internet sites, apps, mobile video, mobile advertising and Interactive Voice response to get its message through to a previously disinterested, disaffected or disenfranchised electorate; clearly to great effect. It was thought that the Democrats’ use of mobile would change modern political campaigning forever, with political parties everywhere switching to copy them.

Mideast accounts for 5% of world mobile market

The Middle East accounted for five percent of the global mobile telecoms market last year, according to a report released on Wednesday. Last year, the mobile telecoms industry was worth $846bn, down slightly from $848bn in 2008, according to a report by market research firm Dataxis Intelligence. The Middle East accounted for five percent of the global market, or around $42.3bn.

Mideast to see fastest growth in mobile data

Mobile data traffic will be the strongest in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) followed by the Asia-Pacific and North America as revenue from voice gets saturated and operators focus on alternate sources of revenue. According to Cisco’s annual Visual Networking Index (VNI) forecast 2009-2014, the MEA will witness a growth at 133 per cent CAGR followed by the Asia-Pacific of 119 per cent and North America at 117 per cent. Global mobile data traffic will increase 39 times from 2009 to 2014, as per the latest figures from the networking major. By 2014, annual global mobile data traffic will reach 3.5 exabytes per month (or a run rate of more than 42 exabytes annually).

Email marketers ‘should step up to the mobile marketing plate’

Email marketing is undergoing an “exciting” series of changes which marketers need to keep abreast of, an expert has said. Writing for Media Post, Gretchen Scheiman said the changes were being influenced by mobile and social marketing. “While these channels are both far broader than email in many respects, there is a component of each that is simply ´messaging´. That´s where email marketers need to step up to the plate and take some ownership. Both are messaging opportunities that go to an inbox,” she explained.

MMA Publishes Whitepaper On Opportunities Presented By Oversize Mobile Ad Units

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) today published a new Whitepaper aimed at providing a comprehensive overview of the opportunities presented by oversized mobile ad units measuring 320 pixels in width or larger. With the growing availability of larger-screened devices like smartphones and tablets- brands, agencies and other members of the mobile marketing ecosystem need to understand the potential of engaging an audience using larger, rich media ads that were once not available on the limited screen real-estate of feature phones and first-gen smartphones.

Mobile social networking growing in US

New figures have shown that social networking is the fast-growing category of mobile-based web use in the US. The statistics from comScore – which could be useful to those deploying mobile marketing campaigns – show 14.5 million users accessed a social networking app in April, up 240 per cent on the same month last year. Online news apps were the second fastest-growing type of mobile app content, followed by those dealing with sports information.

Mobile advertising, a revenue source for telcos

Advertising, in the operator’s share of revenue, is still a very small portion of the pie. In 2009, mobile advertising revenue worldwide was estimated to be US $2 billion. This is expected to increase over the next 4 fours. According to Madan, approximately US $1.3B came from the US and Japan itself. With regard to future projections, Madan said, “There are many estimates. They range varies from US $12 billion to $19 billion, by 2014. It is still nascent so estimates are widely fluctuating.” In the India, the market is expected to be roughly about Rs. 500-600 crores in the next 2-3 years, which means around 500-600 crores in the next 2-3 years.

Canadian Mobile Market: Mobile Subscriptions in Canada to Increase at 20%, report says

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canada mobile marketMobile penetration in the Canadian region is seen to rise steadily over the next several years, according to eMarketer’s estimates. The region’s number of mobile subscribers, as eMarketer forecasts, will increase from this year’s 24.5 million to nearly 30 million by 2014 – an increase of about 20%.

Marketers in the country are gearing up for increased usage. About one-half of those surveyed, according to Ipsos Reid, would be increasing their mobile spend this year, while another preferred to hold the spending the same as of last year.

Canada is reported as the fifth-largest source of mobile advertising requests in March 2010, with more than 554 million ads served by the network. That was up from 332.5 million mobile ads served to Canada in December 2009, a nearly 67% increase.

Mobile Internet surges in the Philippines at 5%

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Internet usage in the Philippine region has a dramatic surge from zero percent in 2009 to five percent this year. One very important factor seen to this notable growth is the attractive tariffs and demand for social networking, according to Neilsen Media Philippines’ Net Index study.

460_Map-PhilippinesIn a report published in Manila Times, the research firm said that affluent young Filipinos are expected to spend more time surfing on the Internet through mobile phones. Neilsen Media has seen this consistent trend given that the cost of mobile devices and Internet access in the region are going down.

The study has revealed as well the activities that drive to mobile Internet usage in the region with instant messaging on top of the list at 77%, followed by e-mail at 75%, and short messaging service (SMS) at 59%.

Meanwhile, the social networking sites (SNS) made it as the most popular social media activity at 53%, followed by user-generated content at 30%. Blogging and forums, on other hand, are considered the least popular activities in the region with 7% and 11%, respectively.

The Philippines has over 29.7 Internet users, and Manila is considered a home to the largest user-base Internet in the country. The study, in this effect, was able to provide a strategic picture of the country in terms of online activities, cross-media usage habits, lifestyles and psychographics to their brand preferences.