The Digital Lookout

In a discussion a few days ago regarding mobile search marketing the stats were presented to me again about the top search phrases in mobile Internet I have mentioned in a previous post (when will mobile Internet take off?).  This obviously wasn’t news to me and I have documented my thoughts on it in the past but it did get me thinking, what is driving such a surge in people searching for porn on the mobile Internet?  What is motivating these people to search out explicit content on their 2”x3” mobile screen and are they liking what they find?

Is it simply that the mobile allows an element of privacy not necessarily afforded by the home PC? Are people using their mobiles to bypass any firewalls or tracking software which could uncover their dirty little secrets? I can’t imagine (and obviously wouldn’t know!) that the mobile device, no matter how advanced, is the best for digesting this content.  Is it just people experimenting to see whether the content is available on mobiles or are these people actually consuming large amounts of content via their mobile phones?

One thing which could be linked to the volumes of searches for adult content is the trend in mobile Internet usage by time of day.  Some of the busiest times in the week are Thursday, Friday, Saturday evenings, post pub/night out.  It would be interesting to see if the searches for “sex” and “porn” which appear at the top of the most searched keywords list coincide with the activity at these times.  Intoxicated people either succumbing to their primal instincts or merry males having a joke whilst sat in the pub.  The digging I have done on this topic hasn’t managed to bring up any usage or sign up stats from the porn industry but it would be very interesting to see if these searches are resulting in business for the industry.

Yahoo! are taking Universal Search mobile through their beta application Yahoo! One Search.  The mobile search application which must be downloaded to a compatible handset “practically reads your mind!” according to the pages on the Yahoo! mobile site.  Providing results from all Yahoo! properties including, answers, Yahoo Finance, Flickr along with Wikipedia and various news sources the application brings Universal Search to your mobile for the first time.  The categories are grouped and presented in a manageable format to make them easy to use.  I cant help but think that maybe they should concentrate on getting Universal Search right on the mainstream Internet before attempting it with mobile but I suppose maybe the simpler platform makes it easier to pull off and also the less sophisticated search terms being used means that the technology deciding what should be displayed also needs to be less intelligent.  in its present form with the need for download its usage will be limited, but I suppose it is still in beta anyway.  The main take up will come as Yahoo! starts to do deals with the networks to provide handsets with the application already built in which I’m sure will be their plan once it is out of beta and they are confident of its stability.

There were a couple of developments yesterday in the world of mobile marketing which could be seen as pretty significant. Firstly came the use that T-mobile had awarded its mobile search contract to Yahoo! following their heavy investment in mobile technology. This further adds to Yahoo!s weight in the mobile sector as they already power the search for 3 and have mobile advertising available through the Vodafone live network. Yahoo! have obviously bought in heavily to mobile marketing and are pushing hard to make it work. They possibly see it as one area where they can get one up on Google away from the search arena. 2008 could be a big year for mobile and as always, the early bird will catch the worm and if Yahoo! can become the front runner in this field they could reap the rewards.

On the same day it was announced that five of the big mobile operators are joining forces to create a measurement system for mobile advertising. Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile, Orange and 3 have formed a working group aimed at “helping ensure that mobile advertising realises its potential for the benefit of all the players involved”. What exactly this means I am not sure but Im guessing they are plannign at setting some industry standards for advertising models and options but more importantly the technology behind it. Obviously each will have their way of implementing the models and will keep some of their ideas and technologies to themselves but from an advertisers point of view it can only be a good thing as it should speed up the developments in mobile and help it actually become the viable advertising channel it has been threatening to become for the last couple of years.

There have been two new announcements in the world of mobile marketing in the last few days.

Google have announced that their Google maps tool will now be available on mobile handsets along with location pinpointing effectively making it a GPRS tool. The mobile version of maps will be able to pinpoint your location along with providing real time traffic reports, directions to a specified location, integrated search results (this is where the money is made!), and satellite imagery of a location. Depending on its usability this could be a big step forward for maps as it actually brings a bit more use and functionality to the product. It could be especially useful in central London when trying to navigate the capital on foot. It could also be the start of Google’s entry into the Sat Nav market with a little more advancement in the technology and the appropriate handset. Full details

Yahoo also announced today that the Panama platform (the latest incarnation of the advertising center) is to become integrated with mobile devices from January onwards, according to an article in NMA. This is another development in Yahoo’s aim to become a major player in the mobile advertising market and should allow them to pitch the integrated platform approach to advertisers. From an advertiser perspective if the platform truly does allow you to create and manage mobile campaigns it will significantly increase availability of this channel and enable more companies to begin trials.  I am predicting mobile to become more widespread in 2009 with more and more of the big brands embracing it as part of their digital strategy.  This means that publishers and agencies need to be preparing themselves so that they are in a position to make the most of it when it takes off.  This is exactly what Yahoo are doing with this launch.

I have been wondering recently about mobile internet and whether it will become the next big thing as it has been touted as for the past 2 years.  The thoughts have stemmed from various industry meetings with mobile suppliers to discuss their views on it, although they may have been slightly biased as they were trying to sell it to me at the time!

I was shown some interesting stats on the highest search volume terms on the web and on mobile, the main difference being the number of adult keywords showing in the list for mobile search.  Porn, sex and free porn all featured in the mobile list but not in the web list.  Also in the mobile list were ebay, msn, messenger, yahoo, facebook, myspace leading me to believe people were actually using the search function to save them typing the web address into the address bar and also making me question whether there is a market for any form of product searches in mobile at all.  The only ones which appeared in the list were those relating directly to mobile phones, ringtones, wallpapers, pictures.

According to articles I posted over 3 months ago 2007 was the year for adoption and 2008 the year for growth.  Its doesn’t appear to be working that way right now with the only real adopters being the adult sector and the mobile sector.  One person I spoke to about it referred to the current situation being like the early days of the internet, slow loading pages, little measurability and low reach.  With the rapid advances in mobile technology surely at least two of these problems will be resolved in the next 6 months but that still leaves advertisers the task of finding a suitable way of utilising mobile internet for their means.  At present they are pretty limited and with many sites not having a WAP portal and more often than not purchases will be impossible.  Will mobile marketing ever truly materialise? Ill reserve judgement on that for the time being as things move fast in this industry and the next big break through could be just around the corner, but for now, I remain skeptical.