Econsultancy recently held an interview with AdMob’s European MD Thomas Shulz, in which he spoke about the mobile advertising market, ad formats, consumer acceptance and the affect of iPhone on the industry.

AdMob is a mobile advertising marketplace that offers solutions for discovery, branding and monetization on the mobile web. It connects advertisers with publishers, allowing advertisers to target ads to mobile websites and, more recently, through iPhone apps.

Excerpts from the interview:

Speaking about AdMob and its reach, Thomas said that currently AdMob has a network of more than 6,000 mobile sites and applications and target and reach customers on their mobile phone in more than 160 countries. He also said that AdMob reaches more consumers on their mobile phones through our publisher network than any of the major internet portals or search services in the world, and this is just the beginning.

“We continue to see a steep increase in the number of brand and performance advertisers running campaigns on AdMob’s network, with especially strong demand for iPhone inventory. In September 2008, AdMob ran more than 25 campaigns for brand advertisers including CoverGirl, Toshiba, and Comedy Central.”

Sharing his thoughts on what type of advertisements produce the best results, how these ads can be targeted and how receptive is the consumer today, Thomas said that ads that take advantage of the mobile context and capabilities produce strong results. Advertisers want the ability to target specific groups of consumers for a campaign. Moreover, consumers are receptive to advertising on their mobile phones, if it’s done the right way. The CTR varies from campaign to campaign, however, Thomas said that the UK average on AdMob’s network is 0.9% for text and 1.25 -1.75% for banner.

Commenting on the success of iPhone and the opportunities it has provided to mobile advertising, Thomas said,

“The iPhone clearly demonstrates how mobile advertising is evolving to become a rich, interactive environment for advertisers to engage with consumers. Advertisers want to reach this valuable audience of consumers on the iPhone and are looking for a partner with the quality reach, scale and technology necessary to help them take advantage of the unique capabilities and context of this device.”

Other key highlights from the interview:

• Ads on AdMob’s iPhone network get, on average, triple the CTR of the rest of the network. The iPhone ad formats take advantage of the context and capabilities of the device.
• We are seeing businesses across a wide variety of categories embrace mobile advertising, this includes mobile phone manufacturers and carriers, publishers and portals, entertainment brands, autos, and retail and CPG companies.
• AdMob recently worked with Toshiba to reach tech-savvy consumers and offer answers to their computer questions from Toshiba. Toshiba ran banner and text ads in the AdMob network targeted to business travellers. Toshiba also targeted AdMob’s iPhone network with canvas ads. In one month, AdMob delivered more than 40,000 clicks to Toshiba’s mobile site and more than 1,000 users engaged with their iPhone expandable canvas ad.

“Mobile advertising will continue to grow, albeit at a potentially slower rate given macro economic trends. The number of monthly ad requests in the AdMob network tripled from 1.6 billion in September 2007 to 5.1 billion in September 2008.”

To read the full interview with Thomas Shulz, please visit the Econsultancy blog.

Source: Econsultancy

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Direct Response marketers want mobile advertising to become a reality, higher conversion rates and the ability to make campaign changes on the fly. These are some of the top wishes that marketers have in the coming year. Ignite Media Solutions, a company that delivers a comprehensive direct response solution through phone,Web or mobile, has announced the top wish list items for direct response marketers. The list has been compiled by the experts at Ignite Media Solutions, based on their continued discussion with partners and customers.

 
The top 10 in the wish list include:

1. Higher conversion rates
2. Increased ROI on every campaign
3. The conversion of shoppers into buyers across every channel
4. Increased effectiveness of media buys
5. Ability to make campaign/offer changes on the fly
6. Mobile advertising to become a reality
7. Unbelievable results when marketing to house database
8. Unlimited campaign budget
9. Finding consumers with a propensity to buy
10. Connecting the right offer with the right consumer

"At this time of the year, direct response marketers are trying to make their holiday campaigns more effective than last year and exploring new ways to make every campaign in 2009 a rousing success," said Michael Ferzacca, CEO, Ignite Media Solutions. "Shoppers are savvier than ever and demand the ability to purchase what they want, when and how they want it. Direct response marketers need to make every campaign profitable by reaching consumers where they live and shop, be it by phone, TV or the Web."

Ignite works with hundreds of direct response clients to capture consumers at the point of response and ensures that advertising programs are fully actionable and measurable — across media and channels. As the only integrated solution for DRTV, online, mobile and more, Ignite offers seamless implementation and reporting.

The days of advertisers controlling how consumers respond are gone, with consumers now dictating when, where and how they choose to buy. This shift has created a more fragmented audience,increasing the cost to acquire a new customer while advertising costs increase or stay the same.

Direct response marketers are now forced to look beyond traditional media to make advertising programs more effective and capture response on marketing campaigns across phone, TV and Web. With budgets being slashed and consumers making more prudent purchase decisions, direct response marketing professionals have an extensive wish list of their own this holiday season.

Source: Ignite Media Solutions

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According to a recent article on AdAge, advertisers will have to pay less now for mobile advertising as ad rates are falling, with mobile cost-per-impression (CPM) ad rates hitting single-digit pricing in some cases. The main reasons for this fall is not only the weak global economy, but also an onslaught of inventory coming online as more brands beef up their presence in wireless. The proliferation of handset applications and mobile applications for social media are also cited as the major reasons for the drop. With consumers spending more time on their increasingly advanced phones and more focus on mobile as a promotional medium, mobile ad inventory will witness an explosive increase. Games and iPhone applications currently command a sizable share of the new mobile inventory.

Citing industry executives, AdAge reports that mobile CPMs, or the cost to reach 1,000 consumers, have reached an average about USD 15 compared with the average earlier this year of USD 20 to USD 25. Pricing is beginning to normalize as the earlier CPM rates of USD 40 to USD 50 CPMs are almost our of the window.

“It seems to be part of a steady decline rather than a single event that sent CPMs tanking,” said Eric Bader, managing partner of Brand in Hand, which buys mobile media for brands such as Procter & Gamble, General Mills and Esurance.

Industry Maturing

Industry experts reason that as the market matures and as more advertisers leverage mobile, the market will adopt a more normalized pricing as compared to the arbitrary pricing seen earlier. A broad range of CPMs will be offered that vary in their targeting granularity of the campaign.

“The industry has matured quite a bit in the last couple of quarters to become a more efficient marketplace,” said Lars Albright, VP-business development at ad network Quattro Wireless. “One of the trends we’re seeing is that the range has expanded and you can have everything from a low CPM all the way up to a mid-30s CPM.”

On-Deck Ads are Still Costlier

Some categories, including targeted placement on a wireless provider’s deck that accesses the mobile web, still command a premium and pricing for high-traffic, category-leading weather, news and sports channels has stayed firm has remained consistent at USD 14 to USD 16. Advertising executives also add that applications that are able to focus on demographics and location can still fetch prices as high as the mid-USD 30s.

Moreover, branded players do not always demand high CPMs and less-branded and less-established sites will also come with a lower asking price. One advertiser told AdAge that a major media site offered him USD 2 CPM buys, while others say social-media sites now offering up oceans of inventory are likely to be pricing their CPMs below USD 5.

Mobile Vs. Online

“In the online world, there’s the long tail of medium and small publishers, and in mobile that’s developing as well,” said Eric Eller, senior VP-marketing at Millennial Media. “I think it’s that long tail that doesn’t have enough brand equity to stand on its own. Most of it is aggregated into performance networks, which is sold on a CPC [cost-per-click] basis.”

Gene Keenan, VP-mobile strategy at Isobar Global, said those new to mobile looking to do their first run-of-network buy are likely to be paying anywhere between USD 10 to USD 15. That’s a significant premium to what Mr. Keenan said he pays on average, and it’s partly because he gets “sweetheart deals.”

AdAge also reports that despite the fall in mobile ad rates,  mobile impressions are still costlier than online because the relative lack of clutter in the medium helps to deliver better returns. Mobile enjoys a higher click-through rate (CTR) of about 1.5% as compared 0.15% for online.

Impact of Economic Slowdown

Most mobile ad executives also believe that CPMs are stabilizing and should hold steady through the coming quarters. However, Mr. Bader predicts that the gloabl economic slowdown will have an impact of the demand, which will lead to a price decline.

“2009 should see some erosion in demand, some cuts in budgets and therefore a drop in average CPM,” he said. “Our clients happen to be among those who see economic downturns as an opportunity to keep spending and grab market share when competitors are falling out. We’ve been working with some clients on strategies for how to use lower advertiser demand to get great deals.”

However, Tony Nethercutt, VP-sales at ad network Ad Mob, believes that in its current state, mobile is not a high-price elastic market. “It’s still a market where price is somewhat of a factor, but the main thing holding people back is that it’s new and more education is required.”

Source: AdAge

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The mobile marketing and advertising ecosystem is still highly fragmented and complex, which is typical for an immature industry. Many companies are trying to find their place in the value chain and get a piece of the market. Much of the activities carried out are still on an experimental stage and actors are constantly looking for new business models and services that could generate revenues. Most firms specialized in mobile advertising are relatively small, venture capital funded actors. Asif Ali, the co-founder & CTO of mobile-worx, an innovative mobility solutions firm has revealed the top 10 predictions for mobile advertising in 2009 in his blog.

Mobile-worx is head quartered in Lon Angeles (California, US) and has development operations in Chennai, India and sales and business development capability in India, USA and Malaysia. The company offers its mobile ad marketplace, ZestADZ that enables the delivery of highly targeted, location sensitive, contextually relevant mobile advertisements has reveled.

Given below are Asif Alis’ top 10 predictions for mobile advertising in 2009:

1) Mobile advertising spending will grow but this is not expected to completely stabilize. This has a few implications - VC funded ad players will go through a spending binge to justify their investment and to grow their base but will see lesser ROI. This also means players like Google and Yahoo who are much larger on the web will still maintain a low profile until probably the end of 2009.

2) Globally, Android devices might add to the hype, iPhone could be the global #2 or #3 on most networks and Nokia will still lead most developing countries including India.

3) More players are expected to enter mobile advertising in 2009.

4) Global rates for mobile advertising will continue to grow after some brief fall due to the economic crises. This is because low rates are clearly not sustainable for anyone and an average of USD 0.10 - USD 0.20 per click will be the norm for most developed markets.

5) Many advertisers will still be trying out mobile advertising through 2009. Although 2008 did see some significant activity, actual campaigns and revenues were still too low in 2008.

6) One or two players in this space might be the right targets for acquisitions so expect acquisitions especially when valuations are right now at an all time low. So expect acquisitions in 2009.

7) Mobile search might add significant traction, traffic to carrier ARPUs and mobile advertising through 2009.

8 ) Expect mobile advertising services to move beyond the regular self serve model. Advertisers are expecting more and the small budget advertisers will expect 360 degree service from mobile advertisers, thus leading some mobile ad companies to move up the value chain.

9) Developing markets like India / Indonesia will continue to grow in terms of real volumes of traffic with carriers like Airtel / Vodafone significantly gaining on that (especially in India).

10) Carriers will continue to try to experiment with mobile search and mobile advertising but will increasingly be insignificant or probably play a much more passive role in the global mobile advertising value chain.

According to a Berg Insight estimate, the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising market will grow from EUR 855 million in 2007 to EUR 6.1 billion in 2013 - at a CAGR of 38.7%. Although, the present economic downturn will restrain the mobile advertising industry as marketing budgets decrease and advertisers put their money on proven channels. Nevertheless Berg Insight believes in a positive market development, primarily in Asia Pacific and ROW.

Many of Asif’s prediction might turn out to be true. We are witnessing many venture-funded innovative mobile start-ups joining the industry. Apple iPhone has already made an impact in the industry, especially for its enriching web-browsing capability and the serve rich media ads. iPhone topped the list of mobile handsets in AdMob’s Mobile Metrics for October 2008. Many advertisers are turning towards mobile advertising, especially during the economic slowdown as they have low budgets for advertising, however still need to reach their audience. Search is always a major focus for providers of mobile advertising solutions. Google recently introduced its AdWords for iPhone and its Android-based T-Mobile G1. India and Indonesia are giving tough competition to the U.S. in terms of mobile advertising, as per the AdMob mobile metrics.

As the year 2008 moves towards its end, many industry experts and analysts have offered predictions of how the mobile advertising industry will turn out the next year. many of these predictions look almost true at the present day, whereas many are still doubtful. Only the coming year will tell how many of these predictions turn out to be true. However, one thing seems absolutely sure - the coming year will as exciting, if not more for all involved in mobile advertising and marketing.

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5^th Finger, a creative mobile agency, has released a set of mobile marketing best practices “Nine for ‘09”, which is a list of ‘musts’ for marketers to achieve effective mobility planning. 5th Finger is a creative mobile agency that formulates strategies and designs engaging interactions to reach consumers living on the go. Embracing a results-focused, customer-driven approach to mobility planning, 5th Finger, a mobile agency with technology DNA, recognizes that every interaction point with a brand is a media opportunity. 5th Finger has extensive experience in program-based integration across multiple online and offline channels.

5^th Finger’s integrated mobile campaigns reflect unparalleled experience across multiple sectors from CPG and entertainment to pharmaceuticals. Operating in New York, San Francisco and Sydney, 5th Finger has spearheaded 5,000 campaigns and 300+ million consumer interactions globally.

According to 5^th Finger’s “Nine for ‘09”, below is the list of nine tips that mobile marketers should reflect on, in 2009:

1. Make progress, not noise - As marketers jump on the mobile bandwagon, they must understand the difference between objective-based mobile marketing and "just doing lots of stuff." Decide how the brand should behave in the mobile world given what the brand stands for and how their consumers engage with media and technology. Think about mobile as a means to capture data, generate leads, drive brand advocacy, build brand communities and deepen brand engagement.

2. Utilize utility - Novelty isn’t enough. Consumers are going to demand more from marketers in order to pay attention and participate. Think “mobilizing” updates and alerts, sending mobile coupons and tapping into location-based services.

3. Stay relevant – Treat mobile messaging as a two-way communication stream and engage consumers in an ongoing dialogue to create trust and affinity.

4. Give generously – Validate and reinforce the purchase decision by delivering exclusive or engaging content. Remember that content considerations for mobile are different than other media channels…so keep it punchy and contextually correct.

5. Be explicit – Think about objectives, segments and relevance before setting out. This pursuit helps to create salient connections with consumers.

6. Minimize risk - Even with the most rigorous processes and creative thinking, achieving real results often comes down to an experienced campaign management team. The team tests the mechanics and user experience to limit risk and ensure that the mobile experience is user-friendly.

7. Maximize opportunities – Every point of interaction with a brand is a media opportunity. Think about mobile holistically as opposed to a one-off and create opportunities by leveraging all available channels (on-pack, events, TV, etc). Use mobile to drive consumers to and from various parts of the media mix and then drive them to brick and mortar retail locations.

8. Monitor and optimize – Keep your eye on the results for the duration of the campaign and look for opportunities to shift media, tweak messages and hone activity levels.

9. Think outside the screen – Consider Massive’s use of text messaging as a way to drive engagement, interaction and measurement of its in-game advertising inventory. Players don’t want to have to quit their game just to visit a brand’s Web site, so they can easily pause the game, grab their cell phone and then kick off the engagement.

“People are changing the way they access the Internet. Fewer people are accessing the Internet from home and more are regularly accessing the Web via their mobile devices. As more people get access to high-speed mobile devices and the networks that support them, we’re going to see consumers demand complete integration. They’ll want to access their social networks along with micro-versions of their favorite traditional applications on a single mobile device. This will become the norm in 2009.” - Conrad Lisco, Creative Director, 5^th Finger

As more and more mobile subscribers get exposed to advertising on their phones, successful marketers and advertisers should work to reach consumers via multiple channels, including text, email, social networks, even video games.

Source: 5^th Finger (ThumbJockey)

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Mobile becomes linchpin for online advertising surge in 2009

As we quickly approach the end of the year, mobile operators and application vendors are playing close attention to the changing market. Bango Analytics has offered five predictions on changes that are expected to shape the mobile world during 2009.

1. Advertising via mobile looks a lot more appealing
Tightening marketing budgets demand more controlled spending and better value. Mobile starts to look a lot more appealing, offering attractive costs of acquisition and more precise targeting than offline or PC delivery. Brands will be able to measure mobile ROI with a very high degree of accuracy and use analytics to better deliver mobile campaigns and understand their consumers.

2. “Big Guns” in online retailing eye new opportunities in mobile
We believe that one major “e-commerce” retailer will acquire a D2C mobile content provider to expand its presence in digital content. The big guns in the online music, video and books markets will have identified mobile as an increasingly important media platform and will want to expand into this area. One implication is how such a move from a major player would threaten Apple’s position as a leading music retailer for mobile devices.

3. Music becomes DRM free
Online music retailers follow Amazon and Napster’s lead and meet consumer preference for DRM free music that can be transferred effortlessly between phone and PC. Mobile phones will become the dominant platform for listening to music, boosted by their portability, the high storage capability of the latest phones and the ability to play the ubiquitous MP3 format - DRM free of course!

4. Cash-strapped consumers snip broadband landlines, use mobile data plans to access Internet
Over recent years people have started to cancel their landlines in favor of using mobiles for all voice calls. We predict users will start to cancel their fixed line broadband subscriptions and upgrade to Smartphones and wireless “dongles” to get on the internet. This consolidation will happen first in the US where nearly 20% of mobile users have a Smartphone.

5. Open access fever continues
Of the remaining proprietary players, US operator Verizon will finally open up its Brew platform in 2009, enabling it to further grow its data business with a fully realized, open Internet offering.

Apple is likely to remain closed on the back of the momentum it has built around the iPhone and its App Store. Apple solution will plateau as more mainstream, open and cost-effective content and application environments emerge, which will go on to become the Microsoft of the mobile world? Bango predicts that there will be plenty of activity in 2009 and considers it too soon to declare a winner.

Source: Bango Analytics

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According to eMarketer, mobile advertising is a huge growth area with a global compound annual growth rate of 48%. However, despite the rapid growth forecasts there are still a few industry concerns about mobile advertising.

Shaun Gregory, CEO, Blyk UK, shares his views about the mobile advertising industry, consumer preferences, content and context of ads etc., in an article in the mobile reseller magazine Mobile Today. A summary of what Shaun wrote in their blog in presented below.

Shaun believes that the various concerns related to mobile advertising, such as optimum quality and delivery through small mobile screens, lack adequate support for rich media, mobile push advertising considered spam, and choice of technology, etc. are all myths surrounding the mobile advertising space. Citing the example of Blyk, the ad-funded UK-based MVNO that has more than 2,000 campaigns to its credit in just over one year of business, Shaun writes that they have learned some valuable lessons about how to be successful in mobile advertising.

Shaun Gregory, CEO, Blyk UK

He wrote that relevance and predictability make the difference when it comes to effectively using push communications strategies. Push strategies used as an initial conversation entry point are effective as they open up a dialogue.

When it comes to advertising on mobile brands, Shaun writes, the following should be considered:

1. Put the consumer first – mobile advertising has to take basic user experience into consideration, since mobile phones are functional and personal devices.
2. Consider timing and context – one of the beauties of mobile advertising is the timing element.
3. Do not plan mobile advertising on a reach and frequency basis. Instead, build frequency through engagement, re-engagement and relevance.
4. Mobile advertising works alongside other channels as part of an integrated campaign and should be built into media plans.
5. Value exchange – I will cite Blyk as an amazing example of value for both brands and members. For brands, we offer an effective and efficient channel to create awareness, build engagement, drive sales and gather insight. For members, we offer free communication, entertainment, social currency, exclusive content and an opportunity for them to give an opinion.

Shaun further writes that mobile as a channel is key for reaching the youth market, which is hard to engage through traditional media. Mobile is the glue for connecting brands with young people, who have their phones with them 24/7. Brands, which do not have a youth-focused approach and only court high-spending customers will lose out in the long run.

To read the original article from Shaun Gregory, CEO, Blyk UK, please visit here.

Source: Mobile Today

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Terry McCabe of Airwide Solutions talks about the security issues facing mobile devices in an interview with TMCnet

Mobile devices become more and more prevalent, and there uses more diverse, as an entire industry rises around Apple’s model for the iPhone App Store and devices such as HTC’s Google Android phone and the BlackBerry Storm follow that model. According to some experts, text messaging itself will emerge as a core piece of all advertising within five years.

However, these advanced devices that that supported by open source platforms such as Symbian or Java are also prone attacks from hackers, according to an industry expert. In an interview that TMCnet had with Terry McCabe, chief technology officer at Airwide Solutions , the expert felt that the popular device’s familiar Web browser and operating system is giving hackers a leg up in finding entry points to exploit.

According to McCabe, the platforms that support today’s popular devices, such as the Symbian operating system or Java, while offering high functionality and interoperability – both major plusses – also are vulnerable to malware writers who know their shared source code.

McCabe said that many in the security industry have warned that Smartphone platforms are ripe for attack – particularly when users lack awareness of potential threats and many will unwittingly ‘go looking for’ the viruses by actively downloading games or other content. The open source nature of the Symbian OS yields major benefits in terms of interoperability and functionality. However, this same operating system cuts the other way when it comes to security. Due to the shared-source code, malware writers can gain a deep understanding of the operating system.

Additionally, Java while extremely valuable in terms of premium downloadable content like games, and highly functional applications, the technology also poses a major security threat. As mobile phone users download more and more functional content, the risk that they may unwittingly also download a game or application with a hidden bit of code that could attack their phone greatly increases.

McCabe also said that while there as yet have not been high profile examples of this in the press, there is also an increasing risk posed by applications like Mobile Instant Messaging as this requires users to download a client application for use on their handset that has not necessarily been examined by their operator.

Further, he pointed that mobile malware has already evolved from annoying text message spam to snoopware that enables the hacker to listen in on conversations, install spyware that allows him to access phone logs and contacts, and send text messages and multimedia spam to other devices. The most frightening aspect about mobile malware, McCabe said, is its potential to use an infected Smartphone or other device as a proxy or gateway into an organization’s core network.

Talking about the world of hackers, McCabe said that hackers can most certainly be anywhere, and security threats are an international problem. Spam is an international problem with global SMS spam levels on the rise and operators are under pressure to maintain the quality of service on their networks to ensure satisfaction levels remain high for their customers.

McCabe also feels that the low cost of sending and receiving text messages in countries in Southeast Asia and China is one of the most important factors behind high spam levels in the region. He said that spam levels are as high as 30% in the Indian sub-continent. In the Far East, South Korea and Japan also have serious spam attacks to report - at one point in South Korea mobile spam was even higher than email spam. Comparatively, in North America, since subscribers are charged for receiving messages, paying for getting unsolicited messages has resulted in consumers chasing operators for refunds. One in four messages sent to mobile phones via email in North America is spam. Whereas, Western Europe is likely to see increased spamming due to the rise of mobile marketing. The lucrative nature of the market in Middle East makes it a good target for spammers to attack the region from outside the area, said McCabe.

To read the full interview with Terry McCabe on how spammers and hackers are threatening the mobile industry and how subscribers and mobile operators can work together to control this attack, please visit here at TMCnet.

Source: TMCnet.com

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Original article written by Cheng Wu, who is the co-founder and chairman of Azuki Systems.

As mobile social networks gain popularity, many are wondering how to ride the wave of this phenomenon. Leveraging the 3.3 billion potential mobile screens and the viral capabilities of social media, new forms of collaboration and media sharing will emerge and drive new sources of revenue.

We’ll see mobile social networking expand to build community around Web, user-generated and existing premium content – allowing users to discover and enjoy relevant content, rate and comment on high interest points, and share these elements with friends and colleagues, leading to a more vibrant, dynamic environment across both mobile and the desktop.

Today’s mobile social networks are admittedly primitive and confined to two fairly unattractive choices. Users have limited options when it comes to mobile social networks:

1. Access a mobile portal in an existing desktop community, where the experience is flat and text-oriented, or
2. Explicitly join a new mobile community in isolation.

However, the good news is that the broad availability of rich media-capable handsets is a harbinger of change, and with the increasing availability of platforms to enable interactive mobile media services. The world of mobile is also evolving into a highly engaging and interactive means of sharing personalized and relevant content.

This evolving breed of mobile phones, along with the accessibility of one’s favorite content on mobile in bite-sized chunks that provide simplified navigation, is redefining the way people interact around content services. Mobile users are actively involved in sharing this ‘snackable’ content with friends and peers, voicing their opinions in online blogs, and viewing rich media content on a small, yet highly capable, mobile screen.

Additionally, mobile social networks are starting to incorporate location-awareness and contextualization capabilities to fine-tune the mobile experience and allow for more fluid formation of communities of interest around local events, news, sports or as an interesting clip that is quickly disseminated among friends. The viral, real-time nature, as well as the inherent contextual awareness, will expand both viewership and monetization options for content publishers, mobile operators and social networking brands.

The Road Ahead

• Interactive, Snackable Content
  In order for mobile social networking to reach its potential, it needs to enable and be driven by interactive mobile content. This interactivity (in the form of rating, ranking, commenting, etc.) is key to enhancing the ‘stickiness’ of personalized and targeted mobile content in a snackable form. In addition, with the inclusion of these features, relevancy to the individual user is also greatly enhanced, increasing the likelihood of participation.
• Focus on Content, Not the Community
  To be successful and wide-spread, mobile social networking should revolve around the sharing of interactive, snackable, relevant content – and hinge much less on the sharing solely within a particular community. This new model implies cross-community dissemination, whereby group members are fluid and determined based on relevancy of said content. For this reason, it is important to keep in mind that adopting a one-size-fits-all approach for addressing social networks will be a mistake, and mobile users should not be pushed into any one particular network – but rather extend collaboration across Facebook, MySpace and other sites.
• Integrate the Data
  Mobile social networking will prove to be more about integrating mobile social data with desktop data and less about mobile specific data mining. Community data should be independent of the device that is used to access it. It needs to be a cloud resource in the Internet, accessible from all access devices including desktop PC’s and mobile handsets. Content publishers need to be able to leverage the existing content that is available on the desktop, and then have the ability to optimize it for personalized interaction on a mobile device.
• Context-Enabled Social Communities
  Mobile social networking also will involve real-time functionality and contextual awareness, with location-based services driving communication among physical communities. In that manner, and as interactive local content is rapidly disseminated, enthusiasm is generated about local happenings and local vendors, increasing the likelihood of service monetization and the overall success of mobile retailing.
• Monetize
  It follows then that mobile social networking represents the opportunity to monetize based on layered viral social activities over original content. For example, a pre-roll advertisement optimized for mobile consumption stands to be distributed to thousands of mobile users through user-initiated sharing of content on social networking sites. This radically increases CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) and drives revenue beyond a publishers own direct marketing efforts. Instead of the Web model of driving “eyeballs” to the ads, users drive the ads to the eyeballs.

There have already been some initial successes in mobile social networking that are now laying the foundation for this massive new category of advertising. By creating a more personalized experience for mobile users through contextual and bite-sized content, users naturally interact and share more through mobile mash-ups of this snackable content, involving contacts from their social networks. This creates an opportunity for viral mobile advertising where embedded mobile ads are shared along with the contextual content.

With interactive, personalized and snackable mobile content, the mobilization of fixed-Web social networks is indeed poised for growth and success.

Cheng Wu is the co-founder and chairman of Azuki Systems, which provides the industry’s first comprehensive interactive mobile media services platform, and is responsible for the company’s vision and corporate strategy. Wu is a successful serial entrepreneur and well-acclaimed industry veteran, having founded and led numerous businesses including ArrowPoint (acquired by Cisco for USD 5.7 billion), Arris Networks (acquired by Cascade Communications for USD 217 million) and Acopia (acquired by F5 Networks for USD 210 million).

Source: Mashable

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"While a slow-down in advertising spending due to the weak economy represents an unprecedented opportunity to migrate ad dollars to the mobile space, that will not happen until standardized measurement systems are in place."

Levi Shapiro, a wireless industry expert specializing in mobile content wrote an article "Mobile advertisers demand unified measurement standards" in FierceMobileContent. Mobile advertising desperately needs a unified measurement standard to help brands, agencies and publishers quantify ROI. Developing a standardized measurement system has always been a slow process for the advertising industry, right from the days the first television advertisement was shown.

The agencies themselves are very frustrated. Mobile advertising does not offer something similar to cookie tracking. Dr. Yaakov Kimelfeld, senior vice president and director of Analytics at Mediavest. believes that without unified tracking, mobile campaigns are destined to exist in some parallel world. He also believes that online criteria, like click-throughs and downloads, "play only a marginal role in decisions to increase mobile budgets. The metrics that matter vary in each case, depending on the campaign."

Lacking a shared industry measurement system, publishers of downloadable applications provide their own metrics. "Certain things, you have to develop yourself," said Treemo CEO Brent Brookler. "At this point, I won’t rely 100 percent on someone else’s metrics."

With varying pricing models and measurement systems offered by Ad Networks and solution providers, It is not clear yet which solution will emerge as the "industry standard."

Please read the full article by Levi Shapiro at FierceMobileContent, as he discusses the various measurement systems that are available to advertisers and agencies and their limitations.

Levi Shapiro, formerly of Telephia, is a wireless industry expert specializing in mobile content. He has founded three mobile media companies and sits on the boards of two others. Levi can be reached at Levi.Shapiro@gmail.com

Source: FiereceMobileContent

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