MobiTMS - TMS: Suite of Internet Mobile Services -

Advertising in Europe Softens, and More Goes to the Internet

2008-07-16T04:54:00.000-07:00

By ERIC PFANNER, Published: July 14, 2008, NY Times Blog

PARIS — Not long ago, European advertising executives seemed confident that they could ride out the storm in the United States economy and the global rise in food and energy costs.

Now, they and the media owners who rely on their business are worried that European marketers will slash ad budgets, as many of their counterparts have already done in America.

“Definitely, if our clients suffer from higher petrol costs, spending is going to be affected,” said Valérie Accary, president of CLM/BBDO, an agency based in Paris owned by the Omnicom Group. “So far we haven’t seen it, but the second half is a big concern.”

ZenithOptimedia, a media buying agency that is part of Publicis Groupe, recently downgraded its forecast for ad spending in Western Europe, saying it would grow by 3.7 percent this year — barely more than the inflation rate. That is still better than the 3.5 percent growth expected in North America, but a reduction of two-tenths of a percentage point from the previous forecast, issued only three months earlier.

That may not seem like a large revision. But the new numbers mask bigger shifts in spending, as advertisers allocate more of their budgets to the Internet, cutting their allocations to broadcast and print advertising.

“If you’re in some of the traditional media in Western Europe, you’re not going to see much growth over the next year or so,” said Jonathan Barnard, head of publications at ZenithOptimedia in London.

Among the big European markets, analysts say Britain and Spain may be most at risk, as their economies slow sharply in response to housing slumps. France and Italy are also showing softness, while Germany is holding up after a wobble early this year.

For some individual media owners, feeling the combined effects of the shift to the Internet and the economic downturn, an ad recession has already arrived. Trinity Mirror, a British newspaper publisher, said last month that advertising had fallen 12.6 percent in May and June.

Analysts at Citigroup issued a warning last week about advertising prospects for several big European television broadcasters, including ITV in Britain and ProSiebenSat.1 in Germany.

While some analysts had speculated that marketers would reduce spending on the Internet in a downturn, deeming it experimental and nonessential, the opposite seems to be happening. In Britain, for instance, Internet ad spending will rise 32 percent this year, according to ZenithOptimedia, a sharp revision from the agency’s previous prediction of a 26 percent gain.

Internet advertising is benefiting because it allows marketers to track the effects of their spending, something that is more difficult to do in other media. Agencies that create advertising, like CLM/BBDO, are feeling the effect.

“Clients are saying, ‘We don’t want big ideas, big projects,’ ” Ms. Accary said. “It’s about messages that are effective and right to the point.”

Online advertising during a recession: 5 key trends for ad-based startups

2008-07-14T18:08:00.000-07:00

On Andrew Chen Blog

"recession advertising"

Ultimately, the dynamics here are complex and uncertain, but here some of the key trends worth watching if you're an advertising-based startup:

Accelerating movement of offline to online ad spend
Brand areas weak, direct response will be less affected
Weak areas to watch: Video, social networks, communication, etc.
Rise of direct-to-consumer revenues?
Timing is everything

1) Acceleration movement of offline to online ad spend
advertising spend is already shifting online from other types of media.
In brand advertising, dollars are moving from TV onto high-quality publishers on the internet. An article from AdAge last year articulates this theory:

Many analysts now agree that when marketing budgets come under pressure in a stressed economy, those sectors that can best document their connection to ROI, such as search-engine advertising, are far more attractive to corporate chiefs than other kinds of less-trackable traditional advertising.
.........

2) Brand areas weak, direct response will be less affected

For companies that are focused purely on brand advertising, there will still be hits in budget as the typical reactions - a flight to quality, a flight to metrics - affect brand-oriented startups.

.......

3) Weak areas to watch: Video, social networks, communication, etc.
Unfortunately you need to be at a critical mass point to be relevant to agencies - and of course, this bar can be expected to rise over time in the case the economy is sputtering. Why spend a dollar with a no-name publisher when you can buy premium inventory for relatively cheap CPMs?

......

4) Rise of direct-to-consumer revenues?
In the case of a long period of recession, another key opportunity will be for brand-oriented properties to transition their businesses into direct-to-consumer opportunities, but its very very hard job.............

Of course, virtual goods fits into this as well, but you all knew that.

The difficult part about these approaches is that unlike ad-based models which allow you to monetize 100% of your audience in one fashion or another, transactional revenues can usually only squeeze cash out of 1-5% of your audience - so what do you do with the rest of them? Are they just loss leaders?

..........

5) Timing is everything
particularly in new media channels like online advertising, timing is everything. The brand-oriented web properties that exist today were built in the 2003-2005 era, when brand advertising wasn't so healthy. Similarly, Google was created during a period where online ads was out of vogue, and they had to figure out a model that works.....

Perhaps the startups being incorporated this year who reach scale 3-4 years from now will be the ones that really kill the TV ad market by doing things we can't even imagine today.

All the post of Andrew Chen here

Mobile web reaches critical mass

2008-07-11T20:17:00.000-07:00

From BBC web site

The mobile web has reached a "critical mass" of users this year, according to a report by analysts Nielsen Mobile.

The US is the most tech savvy nation with nearly 40 million Americans - 16% of all US mobile users - using their handset to browse on the move.

The UK and then Italy come a close second and third in the 16 countries surveyed by the analyst firm.

Indonesia has the lowest take-up with just 1.1% of mobile subscribers using their handsets for surfing the web.

The firm believes the growth of the mobile web is a combination of increasing numbers of user friendly handsets, higher speed networks and unlimited data packages.

"The adoption and the experience are improving at an impressive rate," said Nic Covey, Nielsen Mobile's director of insights.

Blind spot

In the US, the number of people using the mobile web has increased from 22.4 million in 2006 to more than 40 million today.

However, the firm found that roughly 95 million Americans were paying for mobile web access but did not necessarily use the service.

"The mobile internet is often included as part of a larger mobile media package," the report said.

"Users may be either unaware or disinterested in the internet access that is provided."

This is not true of owners of certain handsets, such as the first generation iPhone.

The firm found that 82% of iPhone owners access the mobile internet, "making them five times as likely to do so as the average mobile consumer".

The second generation iPhone is released on 11 July and will come with 3G, allowing faster access to the web.

However, the most popular handset in the US for browsing is the Motorola RAZR, whilst in Europe it is Nokia's N95.

Nokia handsets are also the most popular in China, India and Russia.

The survey found that most people use the web to check email, visit social networks and carry out bank transactions.

Well known brands such as Yahoo and Google were the most popular sites.

However, the firm found that browsing habits differed between a PC and the small screen.

"PC internet users visit more than 100 domains per month, on average," the report said.

"By contrast, the average mobile internet user in the US visited 6.4 individual websites per month."

UK use was slightly less at 5.5 per month, whilst Italian users visit 8.2 per month on average. The authors attribute this to Italians using more sophisticated handsets.

Growth like this means the mobile web is now a viable option for big business, the authors said.

"Mobile internet reached a critical mass this year, offering a large and diverse enough base of users to support large-scale mobile marketing efforts," they said.

Motorola use Facebook and Friendster to go Social

2008-06-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

This post is about an interesting initiative from Motorola and its Philippine agency Ogilvy who have launched a first social application on Facebook and Friendster Media to Mobile. “Motomashup”

When The Agency contacted us to see how to develop a social application to promote a new Moto series of phones, I was immediately interested by the pitch, which was to offer Free Music, accessible on multi devices, highlighting the local music scene.

Motorola wanted to launch a new Music phone and they wanted to promote it via the offer of exclusive Mashup songs of local bands. It was really interesting because they will offer a chance for these bands to present themselves to the powerful audience of the social networks.

When we also explained to them that the rules in social networks are based on interaction and conversation they right away accepted to play the game offering a place for feedback and comments about the phone models.

At the same time the project was innovate in the sense that the application provided by MobiTMS was based around a bridge, media to mobile, offering users to send a Free SMS to friends to invite them to discover the bands … and the new Motophones… with a direct access to a rich mobile web site included in the SMS .

We will see what the consumers say about this new form of ads which provides users with value and which is based on interaction. But we can already see after the first week that the feedback is really encouraging

Motomashup application on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=20368266071

Motomashup on Friendster
http://www.widgets.friendster.com/motomashup

Some interresting posts about Social marketing

2008-06-15T03:52:00.000-07:00

We want to share with you some posts of Alexander van Elsas who explain in the first one that excepted in Search where the ad is itself the value the banners don't work on the web.

"...The only example where advertisement works right now is in search. The difference there is that the advertisement itself provides the user value. If I’m already looking for something then advertisement can actually serve a purpose. It’s what Google has perfected. There isn’t a single other example thinkable where advertisement is so effective. It is also the main reason why I believe that the true value of social advertisement lies outside of social networks. Advertisement should never, ever, interfere with social interactions between friends. It doesn’t belong there, it merely trespasses...." the post here

In the second post "Is Mobile the next advertisement heaven?" he give his vision (that we share) of a mobile ads model.

"... In my opinion advertisement on mobile will have to follow similar rules to the web to be successful:

Do not get in the way of my interactions with friends. I can’t stress that point enough. When I’m interacting with friends advertisement is trespassing.
Don’t even think you can be successful with bannering or display ads. Have you seen the size of a mobile device screen? There is no room for bannering on that. Sure, everyone tries it, but it’ll just be an annoying flashy little thing that clutters a space that is too small to begin with. If you want to get users annoyed, try using banners.
The advertisement in itself has to provide the user with value. To me that means the advertisement itself needs to be contextual, localised and personal Example. I’m in a bar with some friends and I’m showing them a picture I took earlier and posted on the web. Showing me an ad that tells me to drink Heineken beer will be more than annoying. Providing me with a bar code that lets me buy a next round of Heineken beer with a discount in this very same bar we are at is pretty cool.
The possibilities for advertisement are endless. But the point remains that advertisement works best when I’m either looking for something or planning to buy something (which is just another way of saying I’m looking for something). I might be using a mobile version of search, I might be looking at locations or maps, I might be on some e-commerce site like eBay, those are the moments when advertisement can provide both the user and the advertiser value. For the rest, just leave the user alone and let him interact. BTW I’m not discussing branded activities here, just advertisement.

Mobile advertisement may be the next big thing. But it is probably much harder than advertisement on the web. And we already suck at that (unless you are Google). It’s a pretty big gamble with high investments, high risks, and potentially high revenues. I’m sure there are lot’s of entrepreneurs out there working on it already. It’ll be interesting to see what will happen. What do you think?"

Mobile Web 2.0: Gen Y embraces mobile social networks

2008-06-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

By Al Sacco
People born between the years 1981 and 2000, or "millenials," are leading the move to mobile social networks and Mobile Web 2.0, which includes cell phone-based blogging, multimedia sharing, location-based socialization services, gaming and chat, according to new research.

Five major types of mobile social networks dominate the landscape, according to market research firm In-Stat, which released the report:

* SMS messaging networks
* Friend/community networks
* Personal content networks (photos and blogging)
* Location-based social networks
* Dating networks

he total number of global mobile social network users will jump from 525 million this year to 975 million in 2012, an increase of more than 85%, said In-Stat analyst Jill Meyers, who authored the report

With the worldwide smart phone market expected to expand by more than 30% each year through 2012, it's not surprising that global usage of mobile social networks and other Mobile Web 2.0 technologies, many of which require Internet-enabled smart phones, is predicted to rise accordingly. (Mobile Web 2.0 technologies include social networking sites and applications optimized for use on mobile devices, blog services, photo- and video-sharing sites and programs, location-based socialization services and more, In-Stat said.)

This rapid uptake of mobile social networking will lead to a boost in associated advertising revenue, which will equal $1.5 billion in 2008, according the report. But that increase may not be as large as one might expect, Meyers said. Meyers doesn't expect related revenue to grow nearly as fast as the number of mobile social network users.

"[Revenue] probably won't be much higher than $2.2 billion by 2012," she said. "Social networking advertising hasn't been doing as well as expected. This is not to say that the potential is not there -- it is. I think the problem so far is that there isn't an effective way to measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns and that the advertisements being run on social networking sites aren't particularly relevant for the market they are reaching. "

Juniper Research Ltd., another technology market research firm, estimates the total global market for all Mobile Web 2.0 in 2008 -- including mobile social networking/user-generated content, mobile search and mobile IM -- will be around $5.5 billion. That number is expected to grow more than 400% to $22.4 billion in 2013, according to a report published by Juniper this month.

A few examples of existing mobile-specific social networking sites are [ZYB, MocoSpace and Mig 33. Social network leader Facebook also offers a mobile application for popular smart phones like the iPhone and BlackBerry, as does Twitter.

And as Facebook and Twitter's popularity with business users demonstrates, mobile Web 2.0 is not restricted to consumer use. IBM also recently announced that its Lotus Connections blogging and social network software for enterprises will run on BlackBerry smart phones.

Currently, the largest markets for Mobile Web 2.0 are the Far East and China, Western Europe and North America, Juniper said. However, significant growth is expected over the coming years in developing regions like India, South America, Africa and the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the remaining parts of Asia, with these regions collectively eclipsing the current leaders by 2014, according to Juniper.

Untargeted Ads Turn Off Social Net Users

2008-05-12T23:58:00.000-07:00

By Eric Newman

Social networking is all about linking people with common interests. For most, brands are a part of those interests. So much so that 56% of respondents to a new survey by online marketing consultancy Prospectiv, Woburn, Mass., said their social networking experience would be better if marketers pushed more targeted ads.

Sixty-two percent of the nearly 800 online social network users polled in March said they'd be interested in offers from their preferred brands.

The problem is marketers are failing to provide social net users with information and offers about products they want to use. The vast majority of respondents (87%) said very few or no ads matched their interests or preferences. About 54% of participants said they never respond to an ad they see on social networking sites.

"These users want, and welcome, information about new products, savings and other offers, and they're clearly stating that if the ads were more targeted and relevant, it would be worthwhile to them," said Jere Doyle, CEO of Prospectiv.

Why is there a disconnect? Brands too often consider social network campaigns as an extension of their mass media campaigns, so the creative isn't properly tailored for the medium, said John Paulson, president of interactive agency G2, New York, a member of WPP and a partner agency of Grey Worldwide. Brands "are treating the space like they would another, traditional content site. That doesn't work."

Another issue: There is a surplus of ad-space inventory not managed by the sites themselves that accounts for untargeted messages, per media buyers. Plus sites are not mining enough data from consumers to provide deeper targeting.

Jeff Berman, president of sales and marketing for MySpace, said the site has made great strides in this area. TJ Maxx and Target, for example, have reached consumers based on an expressed interest in fashion or a musical genre. Those efforts have netted "performance increases of up to 300% when compared to standard demographic targeting, and we're still just in the early stages of optimization."

On Facebook, a wedding photography agency, Bella Pictures, greatly boosted its business by placing ads for a photo-package sweepstakes on the profiles of women who had listed themselves as being engaged.

Mike Murphy, Facebook's vp-media sales, said increased targeting of ads benefits not only the brands and the users, but also the networking sites themselves. "The perception is that advertising is a cost that users pay to experience a free site. But the more that we can do to reduce that perceived cost, by providing targeted and relevant advertising, the better."

enewman@brandweek.com

Social Networking Going Mobile, Nielsen Finds

2008-05-09T19:05:00.000-07:00

By Jason

A growing number of mobile phone subscribers worldwide are taking online social networking to the streets, research conducted by The Nielsen Company reveals. The findings, released by Nielsen Mobile, a service of The Nielsen Company, show that the U.K. leads Europe in mobile social networking on a percentage basis -- with the U.S. boasting comparable numbers.

In the U.K., approximately 810,000 mobile subscribers, or 1.7 percent of all mobile subscribers in the country, visited social networking websites on their mobile phones in the first quarter of 2008. That reach percentage was twice as high as it was in other major European markets-though similar to the U.S., where 1.6 percent of all mobile subscribers (4.1 million in all) accessed social networks via their phones in December 2007. For more details on mobile social networking access by country, see the chart below.

Mobile Social Networking Reach - US and Europe

% of mobile subscribers who Number of mobile subscribersaccess social networks over who access social networks the mobile Internet per month, over their phone

United States - 1.6% -- 4,079,000
United Kingdom -- 1.7% -- 812,000
Italy -- 0.6% -- 293,000
Spain -- 0.8% -- 291,000
France -- 0.6% -- 255,000
Germany -- 0.2% -- 141,000

Source: Nielsen Mobile; EU data Q1 2008, US data December 2007.

Leading PC Social Networking Sites are Also Tops Over Phones

In the U.S., MySpace.com, the leading social networking site among PC users is also the most popular mobile Internet social networking site. The site logged 2.8 million unique mobile users in December 2007. Also in December, Facebook, which has the second largest audience among social networking sites, had 1.8 million unique mobile users. In contrast, Facebook led mobile social networking sites in the U.K. with 557,000 unique mobile users per month in Q1 2008, while MySpace followed with 211,000 unique mobile users. While Facebook and MySpace.com were also among the top social networking sites in other European countries during the first quarter of 2008, MSN's Windows Live Spaces led in Italy (154,000 unique mobile users per month) and France (106,000), and ranked second in Germany (45,000) behind MySpace, which boasted 52,000 unique mobile users per month.

"Social networking is already a global phenomenon, and going mobile is the next big thing," said Jeff Herrmann, vice president of Mobile Media at Nielsen Mobile. "In the U.K. and the U.S. especially, we already see millions of users of MySpace.com, Facebook and other social networks interacting with their virtual spaces while they are on the go. Consumer demand for mobile social networking may be a significant driver of mobile service pricing models as evidenced by Vodafone UK's recent move to offer unlimited Internet access as a standard feature of its new monthly mobile price plans."Nielsen's Mobile Internet Reports are available today in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. The reports provide detailed audience measurement metrics for mobile Internet and offer insights on how mobile users are interacting with social networking and other mobile Internet content.

Facebook Apps: Why they're focused on fun instead of utility?

2008-05-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

Great post on Andrew Chen Blog

The reason there are few and little use of utility-based applications is not because users don't want to use them or because app developers don't want to develop them, or even because Facebook doesn't want to encourage them (which they clearly do). It's because the means of distribution inside Facebook are structurally biased against them.

As you know, the reason for this is simple math. The only way for a Facebook app to get any sort of distribution is to have a viral coefficient over 1. This is an extremely high barrier for any app in which inviting friends is not an inherent part of using it (or, in your parlance, in which it is not structured for "viral action").... more on the Andrew blog

MobiTMS unveil "TMS Green"

2008-04-28T05:04:00.000-07:00

TMS Green
A mobile personalized interactive coupon provide by the TMS "Media to Mobile" platform

Why Social Applications Will Thrive In A Recession

2008-04-26T06:38:00.000-07:00

by Josh Bernoff

Is a recession coming? Don't ask me -- I'm not an economist, and even the economists don't really know. But if it's anything like the last recession, advertising will plummet and experimental media will crater. (In the 2001 recession, US advertising dropped 9% and Internet advertising plummeted 27%, according to Veronis Suhler Stevenson.)

But do not panic. Things are different this time.

Here's what smart marketers should know:

It's not a tech bubble. The last recession was caused by the dot-com bubble and the terrorist attacks. There was a lot of ignorant money out there chasing illusory opportunity, and companies had overinvested in technology. This time, the precipitating event is a housing bubble, and technology spending is not irrational.

Awareness ads will lose effectiveness. Advertising (or as we often call it, "shouting") is mostly about generating awareness and reinforcing brands. In a recession, ordinary consumers like you and me aren't as willing to spend. Sure, we'll be aware of the product, but that doesn't make so much difference when you're worried about your future. Advertising is expensive and is a lot easier to cut than headcount. Many are predicting ad spending will hold up; I'm not so sure.

But social applications are about consideration, not awareness. Blogs, word of mouth, social networks . . . they're about people connecting with other people. You may resist advertising if your finances are tight, but if your bud tells you that new movie is really worth seeing or that the Gap has the cutest new tops, that's more persuasive than advertising. Basically, in a recession, the consideration phase is more important than awareness -- and that's where advertising flops and social applications succeed.

It's cheap. Social applications can be nearly free (think blogs, Ning.com, facebook pages) and even more sophisticated communities are typically $30K to $200K -- a lot cheaper than a significant sized ad campaign. After our last post, all the responses were positive. One interactive marketer from a highly cyclical company told us this:

"Budgets are tight in light of the economic conditions as you surmise, but [the budget for social applications] has not been impacted. We are still keen to move forward with our trial and have support….at this point anyway. Interactive in general has been more protected than other comms areas and saw an increase."

It's measurable. If your social application doesn't have a measurable output, you'd better get one. But if it does -- if it generates leads, or conversions, or buzz, or something useful -- then you can prove it's working. beinggirl.com is four times as effective as TV ads, Procter & Gamble told us. That won't get cut in a recession.

These same arguments apply to some other forms of online marketing, including search ads and email marketing. Those are going to be good investments in a recession. If you're smart, you'll position yourself now with proof your apps are working. Then when the ad dollars get tight, you'll be in good shape.

Click here to see what we wrote for our clients (we've made this piece of research free for everyone).

Also on this topic, see also David Armano's post on 10 ways digital can help you thrive in a recession. And an earlier Paul LaMonica post (CNN Money) featuring my old colleague Jim Nail.

Finally: I'm anticipating this topic might get some currency around the blogosphere and the mediasphere . . . if you want to follow the reactions, tune in to my twitter feed at twitter.com/jbernoff

28 Million Mobile Subscribers Responded to At Least One Mobile Ad

2008-04-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

by Jack Loechner, Wednesday, Apr 2

According to a new report from The Nielsen Company, twenty-three percent (58 million) of all U.S. mobile subscribers say they've been exposed to advertising on their phones in the past 30 days. Half (51% or 28 million) of all data users who recall seeing mobile advertising in the previous 30 days say they responded to a mobile ad.The bi-annual Mobile Advertising Report from Nielsen Mobile, of more than 22,000 active mobile data users, reveals that:

The number of data users who recalled seeing mobile advertising between the second and fourth quarters of 2007 increased 38% (from 42 to 58 million subscribers)
Teen data users (ages 13-17) were the most likely age segment to recall seeing mobile advertising (46% recalled seeing some type of mobile advertisement, compared to 29% of all data users)
Asian-Americans and African-Americans are more likely to recall mobile advertising (42% and 40%, respectively) than all data users
26% of those who saw an ad responded at least once by sending an SMS text-message, the most popular ad response. 9% say they've used click-to-call to respond to a mobile ad
32% of data users said they are open to mobile advertising if it lowers their overall bill
13% (18% of males) said they are open to mobile advertising if it improves the media and content currently available
14% said they are already open to mobile advertising so long as it is relevant to their interests
23% expect to see more mobile advertising in the future (up from just 15% in Q1 2007)

While just 10% of data users said they think advertising on their mobile devices is acceptable, an increasing number of mobile users appear to understand the value proposition of ad-supported mobile content, says the report

The report concludes that advertising researchers must examine the ways in which audiences are and are not willing to engage with mobile advertising, as media companies and marketers explore the unique ways they can interact with consumers supporting mobile media content through advertising revenues.

A great post this week from the carnival of mobilists

2008-04-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

Chetan Sharma posts a hugely informative End of Year (EOY) 2007 Global Wireless Data Market Update .

.... As you read this End of Year (EOY) 2007 Global Wireless Data Market update this week, somewhere in India, a new subscription will catapult India over the US as the number 2 global wireless market. 2007 was a banner year for global wireless data market. The global service revenues for the year touched $700 billion, the data service revenues were more than $120 billion, China signed its 500 millionth subscription, and both India (in feb 08) and the US crossed the 250 million subscription mark. 2007 continued to enhance mobile data’s role in the operator ecosystem with approx 17% of the revenue is coming from data services.

For some leading operators, data is now contributing up to 35% of the revenues however increase in data ARPU is not completely offsetting the drop in voice ARPU. From the true and tested SMS messaging to new services such as Mobile TV, Enterprise apps, and others, different services helped in adding billions to the revenues generated for 2007. Japan and Korea remain the envy of the global markets and the countries to study and learn from w.r.t. new services and applications. The US market has been steadily making strong comeback and for the first time exceeded Japan in service revenue generated from mobile data.........

A shift away from tight carrier control will help the mobile industry to grow!

2008-04-01T09:27:00.001-07:00

A shift away from tight carrier control will help the mobile industry to grow, according to some advertising and content providers.

Standardized advertising, a consistent experience for consumers and a proliferation of content are among the windfalls anticipated by panelists at the Mobile Entertainment Summit, held alongside the CTIA Wireless show in Las Vegas on Monday.

In the U.S., although most mobile phones have a Web browser of some kind, online content and applications in the relatively easy-to-use "decks" offered by mobile operators have to be approved by the carriers. Some content and software creators describe this as a bottleneck that effectively stifles innovation, although the carriers claim their systems are already open. Google's Android software platform, Apple's iPhone software development kit, Sprint's WiMax plan and an "any device, any application" requirement for part of the recently auctioned 700MHz spectrum all have been promoted as ways to open up the U.S. mobile market.

"Openness is just the kernel of standardization, so that ads can be standardized, so that content can be standardized, so the consumer can experience things in a common way and really assign the value that they today assign in total to the operator, to the various people in the ecosystem," said Paul Palmieri, CEO of Millennial Media, a mobile advertising firm. That, in turn, will bring more advertisers and content to mobile, he added.

Carriers are already becoming more open to outside brands controlling their own mobile offerings, said Brandon Lucas, senior director of mobile business development at Infrastructure Corp.'s MySpace. That helps consumers connect with the brands that are important to them on mobile, Lucas said. "We're very, very happy about that," he said.

"We expect there will be a lot more content available," said Angela Steele, vice president and account director at marketing firm Starcom. "More quality content means consumers will be out there more" and available to advertisers, she said. In addition, the changes should let marketers reach consumers in a different way by developing their own applications, she said.

While acknowledging some surveys have shown that consumers don't like mobile advertising, the panelists said it is welcomed if tailored to particular consumers.

MySpace can target ads to mobile users based on age, marital status, sexual orientation, ethnicity and whether they have children, among other factors. Lucas said he doesn't know of any negative feedback against its mobile ads.

"I think we've already proven out that consumers are fine with advertising," Lucas said.

AT&T keeps its advertising prices high to prevent low-grade "dancing monkey" ads that would irritate subscribers, said Matthew Hull, director of advertising services for AT&T Mobility.

Mobile advertising's moment is coming, according to Starcom's Steele. Whereas 2007 was a year of interest by many big advertisers, 2009 will be a year of action, she said. This year is a time of transition.

Reflexion about social Networks

2008-03-23T03:08:00.000-07:00

Mar 19th 2008 | SAN FRANCISCO

From The Economist print edition

....

Social networking has made explicit the connections between people, so that a thriving ecosystem of small programs can exploit this “social graph” to enable friends to interact via games, greetings, video clips and so on.

Coming up for air

But should users really have to visit a specific website to do this sort of thing? “We will look back to 2008 and think it archaic and quaint that we had to go to a destination like Facebook or LinkedIn to be social,” says Charlene Li at Forrester Research, a consultancy. Future social networks, she thinks, “will be like air. They will be anywhere and everywhere we need and want them to be.” No more logging on to Facebook just to see the “news feed” of updates from your friends; instead it will come straight to your e-mail inbox, RSS reader or instant messenger. No need to upload photos to Facebook to show them to friends, since those with privacy permissions in your electronic address book can automatically get them.

The problem with today's social networks is that they are often closed to the outside web. The big networks have decided to be “open” toward independent programmers, to encourage them to write fun new software for them. But they are reluctant to become equally open towards their users, because the networks' lofty valuations depend on maximising their page views—so they maintain a tight grip on their users' information, to ensure that they keep coming back. As a result, avid internet users often maintain separate accounts on several social networks, instant-messaging services, photo-sharing and blogging sites, and usually cannot even send simple messages from one to the other. They must invite the same friends to each service separately. It is a drag.

Historically, online media tend to start this way. The early services, such as CompuServe, Prodigy or AOL, began as “walled gardens” before they opened up to become websites. The early e-mail services could send messages only within their own walls (rather as Facebook's messaging does today). Instant-messaging, too, started closed, but is gradually opening up. In social networking, this evolution is just beginning. Parts of the industry are collaborating in a “data portability workgroup” to let people move their friend lists and other information around the web. Others are pushing OpenID, a plan to create a single, federated sign-on system that people can use across many sites.

The opening of social networks may now accelerate thanks to that older next big thing, web-mail. As a technology, mail has come to seem rather old-fashioned. But Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and other firms are now discovering that they may already have the ideal infrastructure for social networking in the form of the address books, in-boxes and calendars of their users. “E-mail in the wider sense is the most important social network,” says David Ascher, who manages Thunderbird, a cutting-edge open-source e-mail application, for the Mozilla Foundation, which also oversees the popular Firefox web browser.

That is because the extended in-box contains invaluable and dynamically updated information about human connections. On Facebook, a social graph notoriously deteriorates after the initial thrill of finding old friends from school wears off. By contrast, an e-mail account has access to the entire address book and can infer information from the frequency and intensity of contact as it occurs. Joe gets e-mails from Jack and Jane, but opens only Jane's; Joe has Jane in his calendar tomorrow, and is instant-messaging with her right now; Joe tagged Jack “work only” in his address book. Perhaps Joe's party photos should be visible to Jane, but not Jack.

This kind of social intelligence can be applied across many services on the open web. Better yet, if there is no pressure to make a business out of it, it can remain intimate and discreet. Facebook has an economic incentive to publish ever more data about its users, says Mr Ascher, whereas Thunderbird, which is an open-source project, can let users minimise what they share. Social networking may end up being everywhere, and yet nowhere.

Is it widget (or micro site) a first sign of these social networks "coming up for air"?

VC's Say : Please, no more social networks

2008-03-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

Posted by Stefanie Olsen

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--The consensus here at the Dow Jones Web Ventures conference this week seems to be that the world doesn't need another social network.

That's considering that the advertising model for even the largest social networks like Facebook has yet to fall into place--despite that company's projected $15 billion valuation. Or that sites supported only by advertising will get squeezed in a down economy and that venture capital is cooling for Web 2.0 startups. Or, more likely, that some audiences--like CEOs or cat lovers--simply don't need their own social networks.

"If I see another business plan for a social network, I might blow my brains out," Barry Schuler, managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, said during a panel discussion this week.

....

One of the biggest problems facing social networks is to recreate the kind of powerful advertising network that Google has with its targeted search ads. Facebook tried its hand at a system that matches people's consumer behaviors on the Web with ads in the online community. But it scaled back on that program, called Beacon, because of consumer privacy concerns.

Tim Kendall, a product manager for Facebook who spoke Thursday at the conference, said that despite that misstep, advertising will eventually be social. Facebook ads, for example, can pop up when a friend signs up for a new application or becomes a fan of a band, say Dave Matthews. As a Facebook user, you might see a Tickets.com ad for a Dave Matthews concert.

"Advertising will be about leveraging the true actions that your friends take and using that as the advertisement," Kendall said. He added later the Facebook will also work on better options for brand advertising. "We'll derive a meaningful set of revenue from brand ads. We need to address that market, too."

Still, for any other small potato in the business, VCs are buying it.

"There's an assumption that the phenomenon that occurred with Facebook and the young generation is applicable against anything," said DFJ's Schuler. "Not to pick on anyone, but I'm not sure ExpertCEO will engage in the same way that others do like Facebook."

all the article here

MindShare Diversifying Into Creative Services

2008-03-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

by Joe Mandese, Thursday, Mar 13, 2008 8:00 AM ET
ANOTHER BIG MEDIA AGENCY MAY be poised to diversify into creative services. WPP's MindShare Interaction unit is interviewing creative candidates to head a new creative unit within its burgeoning digital media operations, reports U.K.-based Campaign magazine, which says the unit will rollout in London and will be headed by Norm Johnston, CEO of MindShare Interaction in EMEA, and Simon Andrews, the global digital chief strategy officer of MindShare.

The move follows similar creative services diversifications by other major media shops. In December, Publicis' Starcom MediaVest Group began integrating Pixel, a creative services boutique specializing in digital media, adding creative to its media services portfolio, and began raiding top creative executives from other agencies as part of the move.

U.K.-based Aegis media, the parent of Carat, has long provided digital creative services via its Isobar unit, but recently began integrated creative as part of a full-service portfolio in some key markets, according to Mainardo de Nardis, CEO of Aegis Media Global (MediaDailyNews, Feb. 28). While Aegis creative services have focused mainly on digital media such as online display, search, and Web development, it has recently begun producing offline creative, including conventional 30-second TV commercials, and as the world of online video and traditional TV blur, de Nardis said he expects that trend to continue.

The most aggressive example of Aegis creative and media integration to date has taken place in the U.S., where the company has physically merged Carat with Carat Fusion, into a new integrated operation known internally as "Carat 2.0."

Details of MindShare's plan were not reported by Campaign, but the publication said it would likely offer "creative and content services, but may contract out production as required."

The move by MindShare, which like MediaVest still has ties to legacy creative agencies, is noteworthy, because big agency holding companeis such as WPP and Publicis historically have been loath to have their media shops compete with their "full-service" brand agencies on the basis of creative services.

Joe Mandese is Editor of MediaPost.

Future Bright for Widgets, Say Media Execs

2008-03-15T19:13:00.000-07:00

(Media Summit in New York on March 12)
Advertisers and media companies are beginning to embrace the power of widgets, particularly those thousands of mini-applications that have sprouted up on social networks like MySpace and Facebook

Those close to the phenomenon predict a robust moneymaking future for widgets, i.e. small Web-based programs or content packages that users can easily download and take with them to other sites though several basic business practices need to be established, said a group of panelists at the McGraw Hill Companies' Media Summit in New York on March 12.

In the future, content and ad portability will be so commonplace to the Web that "every consumer facing Web site will be a collection of widgets," said Eric Alterman, chairman, KickApps, a firm that produces widgets for various companies. Alterman predicted that online ad networks will essentially become distribution networks widgets, and later boldly stated that as widgets take hold "all the money on the Internet will be in that space...and traditional media will be a leader."

Right now, traditional media is still figuring out its role, said Dan Riess, vp, marketing and ad solutions, Turner. Riess said that CNN.com has had tremendous success in letting users grab mini-versions of the news site for their RSS readers or social networking profiles, but not every traditional media company has figured out how to uses widgets or how to cash them in."Right now, widgets have two values for us," he said, namely marketing and media. While marketing is easier to swallow for media companies, said Reiss, using widgets are a form of media, which need to be monetized, "gets a little trickier. It's not as clear.

"Riess acknowledged that as content becomes more and more portable, "It's increasingly hard for sites to expect users to come through your door." Yet that often means a loss of control, and often, some sort of "revenue share situation. That isn't as exciting for a media company."

The MobiTMS social application "TMS Search" (the search engine of barcodes which offer users to preview a 2D barcode and send it to his phone) can be find actually in Facebook, Bebo, Friendster, MySpace, Ning...

The decline of the mobile software industry

2008-02-28T05:10:00.000-08:00

A "really" interesting post on the Michael Mace blog "Mobile Opportunity"
Read this post and you will understand better why we (MobiTMS) develop web applications for Mobile and not native appli, and why TMS search our barcode search engine accessible via mobile browser (or social networks widgets) has more chance to develop the awareness of the QR and 2D barcodes than an application to download.

"Mobile Applications rip
Summary: The business of making native apps for mobile devices is dying, crushed by a fragmented market and restrictive business practices. The problems are so bad that the mobile web, despite its many technical drawbacks, is now a better way to deliver new functionality to mobiles. I think this will drive a rapid rise in mobile web development, largely replacing the mobile app business. This has huge implications for mobile operators, handset companies, developers, and users......
more here on the blog of Michael (read to comment as well)

TMS Search the 2D barcodes search engine now in Bebo

2008-02-18T01:38:00.000-08:00

After the launching in Facebook last week, MobiTMS continue the deployment of applications on social Networks by the launching of "TMS Search" in Bebo
Now the Bebo subscribers can easily link the web desktop to their mobile phone to save and share videos, musics and other goods with friends via Mobile. (you can try some code in the "code feed" section)

Facebook Applications

2008-02-07T23:28:00.000-08:00

"Who has never felt the frustration to see a cool video alone on a web site and unable to physically share the fun with friends? TMS offers you now a user friendly way to save it on your mobile and share it at anytime and anywhere with your friends.

MobiTMS launch today in Facebook (and other Social Networks) a suite of applications to link web desktop direct to mobile and to develop awareness of 2D barcodes and TMS services.

The first application "TMS Search" allows the preview of the mobile landing page associated to a TMS Code and 2D barcode and to send the link directly to a mobile phone. The service also offers users the ability to create their own TMS code and 2D barcode associated to a “mobilized” content or to reference an existing 2D barcode in TMS Search to increase its audience. In complement the service offers access to a feed of codes to get a direct mobile access to goods such as popular videos.

more about mobiTMS here www.mobitms.com

MobiTMS is "Completement" ISSUU fan !!

2008-02-04T03:41:00.000-08:00

MobiTMS "Season 1" portfolio

Surprise, Surprise, Social Networking Ads Suck

2008-02-04T03:27:00.000-08:00

read on tech dirt blog

The good question is whether or not social networking sites were really the big moneymakers they claimed to be.

and the good answer is that the social networking sites had done a good job in doing an "upfront" monetization, with MySpace getting a guaranteed ad deal from Google and Facebook getting a guaranteed deal from Microsoft. However, all the details suggested that on the backend things were pretty ugly. It's not hard to figure out why. Ads work on Google because people are looking for information. They do a search, and if the advertisement shows information that helps with the query, that makes everyone happy. However, when it comes to a social network, usage is quite different. People aren't looking for information about products -- they're looking to communicate with friends. In that environment, ads are seen as an intrusion -- which is the exact opposite of ads in a search world. That explains why Facebook was so focused on its Beacon offering, which was designed to try (rather unsuccessfully so far) to make an advertisement about communicating with your friends.

With all that said, I estimated that within a year, advertisers would begin to back away from social network advertising, unless some new, more effective, mechanism was found. I figured it would take about a year, because the mindset of advertisers would still be focused on just getting ads on these "hot properties" and it would take some time before they realized that no one looked at the ads. Apparently, my estimate was wrong. Brands are already staying away. At least, that was a major point behind Google missing its earnings estimates. It seems unlikely that this situation will get much better, unless social networks really do come up with a different form of advertising. They need to recognize that simply throwing up ads doesn't work any more. An advertisement can't be intrusive. It can't be annoying. It needs to be relevant and wanted.

Our feeling is that a good way to advertise on social network should be to develop attractive mini applications which are susceptible to offer a good deal to the users... stay connected to see our next announcement (soon) in that sense.

MobiTMS introduce its 2D barcodes search engine in Facebook

2008-01-28T04:39:00.000-08:00

WE have the pleasure to unveil the launching in Facebook of the “TMS Search” application, an adaptation for social networks of the TMS search engine of 2D barcodes.

MobiTMS the provider of “TMS” a (SMS 2.0) suite of tools and applications to develop D2MC (Direct to Mobile Consumers) businesses announced the launching of a suite of Social Networks mini applications to link mobile and digital media. This first application allows an access to “TMS Search” (the mobile search engine of barcode already accessible on mobile phones via www.TMSsearch.com) directly on Social network pages with a first version developed for Facebook.

The application allows the preview of the landing page associated to a TMS Code and 2D barcode and to send the link directly to a mobile phone.

The service also offers users the ability to create their own TMS code and 2D barcode associated to a “mobilized” content or to reference an existing 2D barcode in TMS Search to increase its audience of mobile users. In complement the service offers access to a feed of codes to get mobile goods.

“2007 saw the emergence of a high number of 2D barcodes companies but as the concept becomes inescapable, the number of different technologies used pushed us to think that an interoperable solution was necessary to provide the service on a worldwide level such as Facebook”, says Frederick Saurat one of the MobiTMS co-founder.

“The TMS Search application which offers an easy way to “decode” 2D barcodes (which doesn’t require the download of a mobile application, an entrance barrier broken by MobiTMS), also provides the possibility to share mobile goods with friends by uploading the content on a mobile “landing” page, create the associated TMS code and send the code to friends via a simple SMS allowing them access to the mobile goods. The size of a file such as song or video is no longer a problem for mobile users to exchange” add Frederick Saurat.

Don’t design for “mobile” - design for mobility

2008-01-25T06:42:00.000-08:00

by peterme from "AdaptivePath Blog"

In 2007, Adaptive Path conducted a significant amount of research and design work in the mobile space. Typically, we can’t talk about much of it, though the paper Rachel co-authored with folks at Nokia addresses some of it.
In discussions on designing for mobile, form factor often dominates. The devices have to fit in your pocket. They have smaller screens. They have (or don’t, in the case of iPhone) some set of buttons.
Another common theme is “they’re not small PCs.” Initial attempts at mobile design tried to squeeze the PC (particularly the PC Web experience) into the phone, which simply frustrated users.
What I’ve seen in our work is that form factor, though important, is not crucial. In fact, it might be a misleading concern. The thing that’s interesting about designing for mobile isn’t the form of the device. It’s that the device comes with you.
What we’re realizing is that the key item of concern when designing for mobile is the context in which the device is used. What this means is that discussions of “PC” versus “mobile” are misguided, because we shouldn’t be focusing on the device. We are not designing for mobile — we’re designing for mobility.
It’s helpful to contrast designing for mobility with designing for sedentariness. What we hadn’t realized until we were designing explicitly for mobility is that, in the past, we had been designing not just for the “PC,” but for a sedentary experience. We shared unstated assumptions that people would remain in one place for long periods of time, with little change in their environment. We could take advantage of this with software experiences that rewarded deeper engagement, encouraged exploration and play, allowed for more complicated interactions to achieve a goal.
A key characteristic of mobility is that the environment around the user is dynamic — they’re walking, driving, on transit, in restaurants, theaters, offices, moving from place to place, context to context. Things around them are constantly changing.
And what we as users want in that kind of dynamic environment is a highly predictable, straightforward, get-in-and-get-out software experience. We don’t want to explore cyberspace when we’re out-and-about. We want to quickly get a key piece of information, or make a key connection. We want key functionality at our fingertips.
Whereas in a static environment, we’re much more willing to explore, assess, and analyze. We’re willing to take the time, to try new things, to invite surprise, because our environment is stable and supportive. So there’s an inverse relationship between the dynamism of your environment, and the complexity of use you’re willing to put up with.
Now, the thing is, it doesn’t matter what device you use in these contexts. If I’m out-and-about, and I pull out my laptop to find an address, I want to get in and get out. And if I’m at home or at the office, and have time to relax and engage, I’m perfectly willing to get exploratory with my mobile phone.
I believe we’re missing big opportunities when we design for the device, and not for the context in which the device is being used.