YP Talk - Newsletter Archive - Mobile Advertising Debate Heats Up (Even More)

Newsletter Archive - Tech Talk

Mobile Advertising Debate Heats Up (Even More)

07/20/2010 - There is no doubt that mobile advertising is the hot topic in media advertising these days. Rarely will a day pass without several stories, forcecasts, or research studies being released which all echo the same message – mobile advertising, in all forms, is growing quickly, and seems to have no slow down in sight, even in a tough media advertising economy.

Here’s just a brief snapshot of some of those recent news items:

RBC Capital: Mobile-search ads are poised for a boom
As smartphone use increases, advertisers are expected to increase their spending on mobile-search ads in the near future. Currently, mobile platforms account for less than 2% of paid-search ads, with the majority appearing on iPhone and Google's Android devices.

Media Post: Ad execs favor mobile media
Ad executives are sweet on mobile media, with more than half planning to increase their spending on mobile media in the next 12 months, according to the Advertiser Intelligence Report from Advertiser Perceptions. The survey suggests that spending on mobile marketing will be growing at a faster rate than other media.

Apple: Apple challenges Google for mobile search ad market
The greatest challenge to Google's predominance in mobile search comes not from other search engines, but from Apple and its army of application developers. "People aren't searching on a mobile device like they do on desktops," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said. "They are using apps to get to data on the Internet rather than a generalized search." Apple's iAds platform for in-app ads intends to capitalize on that trend.

Knowledge Networks: 40% OF Smartphone App Owners Use Them for Making Shopping Decisions
Among the findings of in the Smartphone Apps: General and TV-Related Usage, a new How People Use® report from Knowledge Networks, for those who use a smartphone with applications ("apps"), 40% refer to the apps at least "sometimes" when making decisions while shopping, and 32% already say they are more inclined to buy from companies that advertise in apps – a much higher proportion than for other emerging platforms.
The study also shows that, among app owners in the 13 to 54 age bracket:

40% say the ads are "usually relevant to my needs and interests,"

46% report that the ads generally fit well with the ad context, and

70% say ads are a fair price to pay for getting a free app. An equal proportion feel that ads interfere with their enjoyment of apps.

One notable finding from the report is that likelihood to purchase from app advertisers is roughly twice as high as the equivalent level for advertisers in two other emerging media previously surveyed by KN -- HDTV and social media.

There are however a few voices of dissent though among the “experts”:

Ex-DoubleClick chief questions mobile ad market's potential
Former DoubleClick CEO Kevin Ryan, in an appearance at an industry event in New York, cast doubt on whether the mobile ad market will ever live up to its hype.

"Even today ... there is almost no mobile advertising," said Ryan, the founder and chairman of the Gilt Groupe. Although Ryan sees ad potential in the iPad, he believes subscriptions or other kinds of pricing could offer a better model for mobile.