Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

With the Search Engine Strategies Conference and Exhibition right around the corner, I figured I’d interview one of the show’s long-time attendees Kevin Lee, co-founder of Did-it to see his outlook on the show and mobile search. Here’s what he had to say:

 Giselle Abramovich: With mobile search picking up the pace, the SES show has three panels that are dedicated solely to the channel. What are some of the most recent developments in the mobile search arena, that you feel will truly pave the way for mobile search?
Kevin Lee: IPhone clones will be key in the evolution of mobile search. The user experience must improve to stimulate usage.
GA: Did-it is a master at Internet search on the PC. Will your company be moving into the mobile search space in the next few years? Why or why not?
KL: We keep testing things and as we get success stories, we will move more heavily into mobile advertising.
GA: What are some of the challenges and opportunities in mobile search? What’s your assessment of mobile search and where do you think things are headed?
KL: The biggest challenges are scale (not large enough) and finding the appropriate way to charge for advertising.  CPC and CPM may not be right, so CP-Call or some other metric may work
GA: In regards to the show, why does Did-it like to exhibit at SES.
KL: Our audience is there.
GA: What are some of your impressions of past shows?
KL: Open discussion and a thirst for learning best practices are conducive to a great conference.
GA: What are some of the important topics you are looking forward to attending?
KL: I like to keep up what brand marketers are looking into, so I’ll pop into the sessions with major spenders represented.

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Yahoo Inc. says that it will debut its long awaited advertiser publisher exchange dubbed APEX in the second quarter this year.
At least that’s what the Internet giant’s CEO Jerry Yang told executives at the Interactive Advertising Bureau conference in Phoenix, AZ. APEX has been in testing since last summer and is designed to coordinate advertising with content, creating a more relevant experience. Yahoo says Apex will help it create cross-channel  ad campaigns in search, display and mobile. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

~Giselle Abramovich

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What will be the biggest stories in the mobile marketing world this year? SnapTell discussed the next 365 days with industry experts, its customers and partners, and came up with these 10 predictions:
1. Support for MMS shortcodes by major carriers will launch in the first half of 2008. Consumers can then quickly and easily “text” a picture to a shortcode.
2. Launch of Google’s Android handsets by carriers will foster real openness and innovation by independent software vendors and service providers alike.
3. Apple’s February release of a developer’s kit for the iPhone will bang the last nail into the coffin of closed systems.4. Carrier agnostic applications and solutions will be the big winners in this brave new open mobile world.
5. OpenID will be broadly adopted on mobile platforms first, but not until late 2008.
6. Privacy concerns regarding mobile marketing will be front and center in the news this year; campaigns that are not strictly opt-in will risk being seen as phone spam.
7. Mobile web usage will soar in North America in 2008. (The rest of the world is already wondering what took us so long).
8. Consumers’ interest in ringtones, screen images, games and other options will wane; carriers will turn to mobile advertising to replace this revenue.
9. Web 3.0 will appear on smart phones first.
10. Location capabilities will be a key area to watch in the mobile market as more phones come equipped with GPS. Providing information that consumers want, when they want it, is the key to mobile marketing success in 2008 and into the future.

 – posted by Giselle Abramovich

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If 2007 was the year of Web 2.0, then 2008 will be the year of Mobile 2.0, according to predictions made by mobile software provider Antenna Software.

In the year to come, interactive mobile applications will be taking advantage of Location-Based Services (LBS), mobile Internet, video, Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR) and presence.Along with innovation, Antenna Software also sees problems with security and management and therefore, IT departments will be seeking the hep of companies that that offer best-in-class security. Already there are suspicions that hackers are beginning to target the growing mobile market.Everyone is trying to improve the consumer experience and the better it becomes, the more it will drive acceptance. The launch of Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform are examples of richer user interfaces and more personalized, easily accessible content.Antenna Software forecasts a breakdown of the network carrier walled gardens. Recent announcements by Google and Verizon along with the rise in usage of open source IDEs is evidence of this.Mobility will be a key strategic component for software applications and infrastructure in both consumer and enterprise markets. As more players enter the enterprise mobility industry, IT will look to consolidate vendors and seek out a mobile platform that can be used across the enterprise. Vendors that can offer flexibility and scalability for mobile applications – without a custom-build and intensive IT resources – will dominate.– Posted by Giselle Abramovich

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It seems that most of the companies that exhibited at SES Chicago were search companies that have an investment in mobile as opposed to mobile companies with an investment in search. (more…)

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