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Mobile Advertising in 2008Communcation Service Providers are restructuring their business models business models to back the surging demand for mobile content. Over the past few years, users have been willing to pay premium prices for business productivity tools and entertainment. However, just as voice services became marginalised through aggressive competition, so too is content now coming under pressure. This is driving CSP's to look to mobile advertising as a way to subsidise lowering prices for content. Research released March 4 2008, by The Nielsen Company showed that 23 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers have been exposed to advertising on their phones in the past 30 days. Nearly half of the 28 million data users who recall seeing mobile ads in the past month say they responded in some way. The Nielsen Mobile report is generally bullish in outlook for mobile advertising, it does temper its results with only 10 percent of data users surveyed supporting advertising on their mobile devices as acceptable. According to Jeff Herrmann, vice-president of Mobile Media at Nielsen Mobile, "We see an increasing trend of consumers willing to trade off and receive advertising to gain more -- and better -- mobile content," ...."Successful mobile marketers will meet the challenge offered by consumers by engaging with them in a way that adds value to the mobile user content experience."
Report TakeawaysThe key information contained in the report include: Teenagers were the most likely segment to recall seeing mobile advertising (46 percent compared to 29 percent for all data users). 26 percent of those who saw an ad responded at least once by sending an SMS (define)text-message SMS was the most popular ad response. Click-to-call was sited by 9 percent. 32 percent said they're open to receiving mobile advertising if it lowers their bill 13 percent are open to advertising if it improves the media and content available. 14 percent are open to mobile advertising as long as it's relevant to their interests. Overall, there has been a big increase in the number of data users who recalled seeing mobile advertising, up 38 percent [58 million] from the last report [Q2 2007] at 42 million subscribers.
Mobile Content Industry PlayersYahoo, Google and Microsoft all have major mobile advertising initiatives. Microsoft recently expanded its mobile ad platform using technology it acquired with the purchase of ScreenTonic and aQuantive. Yahoo recently launched its Mobile Publisher Services - designed to support publishers and advertisers in 19 countries boost the distribution and money-making potential of content on mobile phones. Google has made a number of mobile-related acquisitions - stronly supporting the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium aiming to make handsets more open to independent developers. |