Mobile Marketing Magazine

Droid Leads the Way for Android in AdMob Stats

AdMob has released its March 2010 Mobile Metrics Report, which takes a closer look at Android Operating System (OS) traffic in its metwork.
The report finds the diversity of devices in the Android ecosystem is increasing, driven by the launch of new devices from different manufacturers with various form factors, capabilities, and OS versions over the past seven months. In contrast, the iPhone OS runs on devices from a single manufacturer, a single form factor (until the launch of the iPad in April), and all devices have the ability to upgrade OS versions.
In March 2010, there were 34 Android devices from 12 manufacturers available to consumers, according to comments from Jeff Huber in Google’s Q1 2010 Earnings Call. In AdMob’s network in March 2010, 11 devices accounted for 96% of Android traffic, up from two devices in September 2009. The three primary versions of the Android OS all drove significant traffic in March 2010 – Android 1.5 (38%), Android 2.0/2.1 (35%) and Android 1.6 (26%). Motorola and HTC were the leading Android device manufacturers with 44% and 43% of traffic respectively.  
Highlights from the report include:

• Motorola Droid was the leading Android handset in March 2010 generating 32% of Android traffic, while the Google Nexus One drove only 2% of Android traffic.
• At least 54% of Android traffic came from devices with a QWERTY keyboard.
• Three devices – the iPhone 3GS (39%), second generation iPod touch (25%) and iPhone 3G (20%) – generated 84% of total iPhone OS traffic.
• iPhone 3GS traffic share has increased from 30% in September 2009 to 39% in March 2010. The 1st Generation iPhone only generated 2% of iPhone OS requests in March 2010.
• Total worldwide traffic in AdMob’s network increased 18% month-over-month.

You can access the full report, plus archived reports from other months, here.

Mobile Ad Spend Up 32% say IAB/PwC

The UK mobile advertising market grew by 32% in 2009 to reach £37.6 million, according to the second annual study of the market carried out by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Every quarter in 2009 showed consistent, strong growth with Q4 delivering a record display advertising spend of £5.5 million – an increase of 28% over Q4 2008. The study also identifies Entertainment & Media as the biggest mobile advertising category, a long way ahead of Telecoms in second place. 
Here are the highlights of the report:

• Mobile search was the fastest growing format – up 41% to £20.2 million and a market share of 54% compared to 50% in 2008
• Mobile display – which includes banners, text links, tenancies, pre- and post-roll video and in-game advertising – grew by 24% to £17.4 million and a market share of 46%, compared to 50% in 2008.
• Spend on banners and text links was 26% year on year to £14.6 million
• Tenancies were up 17% year on year to £1.4 million
• Other formats, including display advertising within SMS/MMS, were up 26% year on year, to £1.2 million.
• The top five display advertising categories in 2009 were Entertainment & Media (61.5%); Telecoms (14.7%); Finance (8.1%); Consumer Goods (3.2%); and Government, social and political (2.7%).

Jon Mew, the IAB’s Head of Mobile says: “While market conditions saw many advertisers reduce their investment and testing on mobile, these findings paint a positive picture of a compelling new advertising medium. Mobile is an effective, highly targeted and complementary advertising channel. Signs are that 2010 will be important year as confidence and budgets increase.”
But  PwC’s Eva Berg-Winters points out that: "A successful year for mobile has been underpinned by mixed performances. There were two distinct approaches from advertisers and publishers. They either cut spend or continued to invest and develop their use of mobile - with a view to come out on top following the downturn. Recent investment in mobile has significantly outweighed the budget cuts. This signals the belief that it is set to become an important medium."
The study reports on actual media spend, in order to ensure fair comparison to other media, including display advertising. Figures do not include SMS/MMS production and delivery costs, nor other mobile marketing revenues such as app production. All growth figures are like for like, meaning that the results compare companies that submitted in 2008 and 2009. 17 companies representing “hundreds” of websites, took part in the survey. The figures in the report are based on participants’ data, except for search figures, which are derived from “modelling and industry estimates”.

Mobile Commerce Study Puts the Spotlight on Search

Mobile Commerce has released a Whitepaper, ‘Mobile Search: What are people searching for and how do they search for it’. The Whitepaper addresses how this affects search bidding, natural mobile Internet and web results, and shows how mobile sites can be monetised by adding a search box.
Mobile Commerce handles over 25% of the searches coming from the 17.38m mobile Internet users via UK operator portals plus a growing number of other portals seeking to monetise their mobile assets. Having built an analytic tool in 2002 to analyse the increasing numbers of search requests and clicks, a growing element of Mobile Commerce’s core business model is the development of monetised search using paid listings, thus connecting mobile users with advertisers. This generates additional revenue for network operators (through off-portal traffic) and gives advertisers distribution. Mobile Commerce says its solution gives up to a 70% uplift in search clicks compared to a raw search engine implementation.
The Whitepaper finds that the volume of searches on mobile devices has more than doubled in the last 12 months, and cites figures from the UK Mobile Data Association, showing that there were 17.38 million users using the mobile Internet in December 2008, up from 16.5 million in May 2008.
The reports says that part of the growth in search terms can be accounted for by new mobile Internet users buying flat rate data bundles and having handsets with improved capabilities that make them easier to use, plus existing users trying the search function for the first time.
The average number of searches per unique user is rising much faster. It has grown from eight searches per unique user per month to more than 13 searches per unique user in the last 12 months. This is a clear indication that once users try the search box, they continue to use it in greater and greater volume every month. This is because of changes in the behaviour of the use of the mobile phone, with users becoming more reliant on the mobile Internet.
The Whitepaper notes that a mobile phone has a much smaller text input device than the keyboard of a PC. This makes input errors much more likely. Mobile phone screens are small, so the user sees less information before there is a need to pan left or right or scroll down. This makes navigation around pages, or down through different levels on a portal, a greater challenge. Therefore, the number of searches for items/content that are already somewhere within the portal is much higher than for the PC.
Bookmarking on a mobile is much less prevalent than on the PC. Although it is possible to do, users tend not to – so they are much more inclined to use search to get to the content that they visit on a regular basis. This is one reason why ‘Facebook’ was the single most searched term of 2009.
Date and time are also strong drivers of search terms e.g. ‘The Boat Race’, ‘The Derby’ (the horserace not the city) and ‘The Eurovision Song Contest’. TV is also an influential driver of search terms and searches – ‘The X Factor’, ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Dancing on Ice’ all generate significant numbers of searches’ but only when the program is showing. These terms tend to last for a few weeks, increasing dramatically towards the final episode and then disappear until the following season. Perhaps not surprisingly, events and news are also big drivers of mobile search activity.
Mobile Commerce has a monetised search API that enables publishers to place a search box on their site. The API is configurable, so the publisher can decide on what results they want to display to produce an optimal experience for their consumers. The Monetised Search API also supports “Did You Mean” and “Also Try” functionality, which interprets requests and gives an alternative if relevant.
For ad network aggregators, the company provides a search feed, enabling ad network aggregators to offer their customers both display and search advertising. All customers have access to online reporting, and the company also supplies dynamic tag clouds, so that within a set of results for a subject like ‘games’, a list of the most searched games can be displayed, making it easier for users to select a game that they are probably familiar with and that other users have been searching for.
You can access the Whitepaper in full here.

Mobile Subscriber Numbers Hit 4.7bn

The global mobile market grew by almost 200 million subscriber connections in the fourth quarter of 2010 to reach 4.7 billion by year-end, according to the latest Wireless Intelligence report, ‘Quarterly World Review: Q4 2009’. Asia-Pacific remained the world's largest region, accounting for over 45% (2.1 billion) of global mobile connections, mainly due to strong growth in India and China. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 62% of the net new connections added in the quarter. 
In total, 192.8 million mobile connections were added in Q4 2009, an annual rise of 16% and up 4% on a sequential basis. GSM connections accounted for 80% of total connections, while WCDMA and CDMA accounted for 10% each. Prepaid connections accounted for 73%, while postpaid (contract) connections accounted for the remaining 27%. Wireless Intelligence calculates that total global mobile penetration reached 69% by year-end.
The quarter also saw the launch of 30 new mobile networks, including the first two networks based on the next generation Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile standard.
"2009 was a positive year for the mobile telecoms industry and one that saw it outperform global economic trends," says Joss Gillet, Senior Analyst at Wireless Intelligence. "Nonetheless, the fact that developing countries account for half of the world's connections today demonstrates how mature markets are reaching capacity. From Europe to the Americas, the prospects for the year ahead depend on how quickly mobile operators can boost revenues generated by data services. By contrast, in regions such as Africa and the Asia-Pacific, many price-sensitive markets require investment to expand 2G and 3G networks, which have been delayed by the global recession. In such a challenging competitive environment, time-to-market is more critical than ever to sustain growth and differentiate from competition."

Regional Highlights
Asia-Pacific (2.1 billion connections, 45% of global total) - The world's two largest mobile markets – China and India – were responsible for the majority of growth in the Asia-Pacific region. India surpassed half a billion connections during Q4 2009, adding 53.4 million net additions and closing the quarter on 525.2 million connections. Indian growth is linked to the fact that many existing operators launched their networks in new circles (service areas) in the quarter, while new market entrants also appeared. Meanwhile, China added an average of 9 million net additions per month during 2009, ending the year with a total 726 million connections – 16% of the worldwide total. Chinese 3G connections reached 10 million by year-end. Third-placed operator China Telecom is doing better than expected on the back of bundled deals, and is doing especially well in 3G, helping it catch up with its two larger competitors.

Western Europe (519 million, 11%) - Connections growth in Western Europe improved in the second half of 2009, following a slow start to the year. However, the number of operators reporting negative quarterly net additions increased in Q4 2009, with TIM Italy having a particularly bad quarter. On the plus side, revenue from 3G data services is growing is most markets, which is beginning to have a significant effect on data ARPU. Notable network launches in the quarter included three HSPA+ launches in Finland (DNA), Spain (Telefónica) and Switzerland (Swisscom), as well as the first two LTE network deployments in the world launched by TeliaSonera in Oslo (Norway) and Stockholm (Sweden) in December 2009.

Americas (504 million, 11%) - The Americas region grew by 11% in the quarter to exceed 500 million mobile connections by year-end, reaching 86% market penetration. Brazil still accounts for one third of connections in the region, and grew its installed base by 16% in 2009 to 176 million connections, adding 8 million net additions in Q4. Mexico and Argentina are the second- and third-largest markets adding 1.7 million and 1.5 million connections, respectively, in the quarter. However, many markets in the region are approaching high levels of maturity, which has seen operators look to data services in order to gain revenue share. Regulatory initiatives (including taxes and mobile number portability) also affected operators in many regional markets. 

Eastern Europe (480 million, 10%) - Eastern European operators continue to show signs of market slowdown. The region is showing signs of a high level of maturity, reaching 120% market penetration in the quarter, and mobile connections growth is mainly driven by replacement and multiple SIMs. The region passed the 480 million connections mark by year-end, representing a 7% annual growth rate – way below the world average of 15%. There are promising signs in Eastern Europe of strong 3G connections growth, though future progress in this area will depend on extra network investment by the large operator groups in the region, many of whom scaled back such investments in 2009.

Africa (464 million, 10%) - Nigeria remains Africa’s largest mobile market with total connections reaching 73 million by the end of 2009. The addition of 4.1 million connections in Q4 2009 made it Nigeria’s strongest quarter for a year. Over half of these net additions were gained by market-leader MTN, which reached 30.8 million connections. In South Africa, SIM card registration (introduced from August 2009) has had a significant impact, with Q4 witnessing a second consecutive quarter of connection losses in excess of 1 million.

USA/Canada (309 million, 7%) - The US market witnessed its strongest quarterly connections’ growth in three years by amassing 5.9 million net additions in Q4 2009. Market-leader Verizon ended Q4 2009 with 91.2 million total connections following net additions of 2.2 million, the operator's highest pro forma net additions since Q3 2008. Second-placed AT&T reported 2.7 million net additions – the operator’s second-highest quarterly total ever. AT&T’s figures were boosted by the completion of its acquisition of Centennial Wireless in November, which added 863,000 connections. In Canada, Bell Mobility (BCE) and Telus Mobility launched their shared HSPA/HSPA+ network in November, which they claim is four times larger than market-leader Roger Wireless ’ HSPA+ footprint.

Middle East (261 million, 6%) - Turkey ended 2009 with 62.9 million connections, maintaining its position as the largest market in the Middle East region despite a decline of 918,000 connections in the last quarter and 3.1 million year-on-year. The quarterly decline was led by market-leader Turkcell, which reported its fourth consecutive quarter of negative net additions with a loss of 600,000 connections. In Iran, the second-largest market in the region, MTN Irancell reported strong connections growth in Q4 with net additions of 2.6 million, enabling it to increase its market share to 40%.
The new Wireless Intelligence report Quarterly World Review: Q4 2009 is available to registered members and select members of the media. For more information send an email to: [email protected]

Orange Sees 3-fold Increase in Mobile Data Usage Among SMEs

The last year has seen a phenomenal rise in the use of data on mobile devices, according to the inaugural ‘Business Index’ from Orange. Usage is up an average of 150% on the previous year across Orange’s entire business customer base, with SMEs (small and medium-size enterprises) seeing the greatest leap – up 290%. Business Index is a new report from Orange which provides a snapshot on business trends within the mobile market, and how data use continues to explode in businesses of all sizes.
Anthony Keyworth, Director of Products at Orange UK, says the huge increase in mobile data usage has been driven largely by the rise in popularity of mobile email and web browsing from mobile devices.  “Without a doubt, 2009 was the year of mobile email,” he says. “With more Smartphones on the market than ever before, accessing email and browsing the web have never been simpler. In particular, small businesses have truly embraced Smartphones to help them stay in touch, whether this is in the office, out with a client or on the way home. Now, when a customer is looking for the right phone, email is at the top of their requirements. In 2010, we expect this figure to grow even more.” 
Keyworth adds that while email drove most of the increase in mobile data usage continue to be a key driver during 2010, Orange is also expecting to see mobile applications for businesses to thrive throughout this year.
“We are already seeing increasing demand for solutions that allow remote workers to transmit data directly back to head office, as well as growing use of office apps and CRM solutions via Smartphones,” he says.

Zavvi Attracts 10,000 New Customers With Sponge Mobile Campaign

Entertainment retailer Zavvi.com has attracted over 10,000 new customers with a re-launch mobile marketing campaign.
The campaign, created and executed by mobile marketing agency Sponge, encouraged people to text in and enter a draw to win £1,000. All entrants received a unique code sent to their handsets to obtain a £1 discount on any order placed on the Zavvi.com website. Posters throughout the tube network in London promoted the competition.
Over a one-month period in December 2009, 24,000 discount codes were issued, with over 19,000 redeemed, generating over £150,000 of revenue and adding more than 10,000 new customers to Zavvi.com's database.
Zavvi, which folded on the high street last year, re-launched online in November under new owners The Hut Group. The company appointed Sponge to increase consumer interaction with the Zavvi.com brand, and to drive people to the website. Sponge, which specialises in mobile marketing campaigns, high-end mobile websites and apps, also worked closely with Zavvi.com to use social media and offer forums to publicise the campaign.
"Sponge over-delivered in terms of creative planning of the project, and the quality continued throughout the campaign,” says The Hut Group Commercial Director, Richard Chapple. “I'd recommend the company to any retailer looking to penetrate the m-commerce space."
Over 10,000 campaigns by some of the biggest international retailers and brands have run across Sponge’s TG3 platform, resulting in hundreds of millions of interactions with consumers.
“Using a simple mechanic to engage Zavvi.com’s audience was key to the campaign,” says Sponge Chairman, Alex Meisl. “By offering an easy-to-enter promotion, which was quick and cost-effective to set up, Zavvi.com successfully generated a significant number of new customers in a short timescale at a low cost.”

Study Finds Smartphones Threaten Operator Profitability

The increasing popularity of smartphones is threatening mobile operator profitability, according to new research from WDSGlobal. The company cites research from Yankee Group that notes that a combination of expensive subsidies, fixed data tariffs, complex service set-up, and high support costs mean it can now take up to 16 months just for carriers to break-even on a subscriber.
WDSGlobal's own research found that consumers are increasingly looking to connect their Smartphones to their Internet, email and social networking accounts out-of-the-box. However, problems in setting up these more complex data services on Smartphones means that, on average, Smartphone support transactions take 30% longer to resolve than feature phone transactions (source: Nielsen).
The WDSGlobal survey of 1,000 UK consumers, carried out in March, found that almost one third experienced set-up problems with email; 21% experienced problems setting up the Internet on their device; 18% had problems with MMS. Almost 10% of those who ran into problems did not try to find a resolution, choosing instead to abandon, while 27% of respondents did not find any of the support options available to them to be effective.
 “It’s something of a perfect storm,” says WDSGlobal Vice President of Marketing, Tim Deluca-Smith. “The cost of selling and supporting Smartphones is significantly higher than it is for the traditional feature phone segment. Operators are therefore keen to ensure their subscribers maximise the advanced revenue-generating features of Smartphones. Unfortunately, a large percentage of consumers are struggling with the advanced functionality of the Smartphone, and are defaulting back to more familiar voice and SMS services. Combine these conditions, and it’s clear to see how operators’ margins are quickly being eroded.”
Smartphones already represent a third of all handsets sold, and are expected to overtake feature phones by the end of 2011, according to Nielsen. This consumer demand is driven by the desire to access a wide range of advanced content and services. However, this shift into the mass-consumer market creates problems for carriers – around half of people questioned make a purchasing decision based on price, which in turn has led carriers to heavily subsidise Smartphones.
“Consumers are being sold on the idea that smartphones can deliver complete connectivity, keep you entertained and offer exciting apps. Get it right and operators can build highly-loyal and highly-profitable subscriber bases. Unfortunately, the out-of-box experience can be very different,” adds Deluca-Smith.

Placecast Report Looks at Mobile in Retail

US-based mobile marketing firm Placecast has released a report titled ‘Retail Goes Mobile: Finding New Consumer Connections Through Mobile Devices’. The report, authored by by Kathryn Koegel, President of Primary Impact Research, focuses on the use of mobile marketing within the retail sector.
The report looks as changes in media consumption, including the shift from print to digital media with wireless access. It also considers the pros and cons of different mobile marketing tactics in the retail sector, and looks at the texting phenomenon.
“Mobile phones now have consumer penetration rates that surpass the Internet, and marketers need to grasp the implications of ‘go-anywhere media,’ which is what mobile phones represent,” says Koegel. “Consumers use their phones to do everything from research products to check competitor retail pricing – even from within store locations.”
Earlier this year, Placecast announced the launch of ShopAlerts, an opt-in program which delivers messages about sales to consumers as they enter a ‘geo-fence’ surrounding a physical location. A Placecast ShopAlerts case study, which is included in the Retail Goes Mobile report, found that 75% of users found messages somewhat to very useful, and that 73% would definitely or probably use ShopAlerts in the future.
Most recently, Placecast announced its Match API (Application Programming Interface) a free tool that enables location content providers and location-based application developers to refer to a location in any number of ways, and validate that those references resolve to one true location on the planet. The implications that ShopAlerts and Match have for the retail ecosystem are numerous, says Placecast, including an increased focus on improving location-based services and attracting marketing spend.
The report is available as a free download here.

MMA/Lightspeed Research Shows Mobile Giving On the Up

In the wake of the recent earthquake in Haiti, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and its research partner, Lightspeed Research, have released the results of their latest ‘Consumer Briefing’ reports, which looks at mobile giving in the UK, French and German markets, and reveals that people are increasingly turning to mobile as a way of quickly donating to a cause. Following the disaster, 23.4% of all UK, French and German people surveyed donated to the Haitian Earthquake relief efforts. Of these donors, 21.4% pledged money via text, and 7% by visiting a charitable website from their mobile device. This total of 28.4% of donors using mobile to give money to Haiti demonstrates a clear trend towards its emergence as an important and instantaneous new way for people to help victims and charities.
France emerged as the market most likely to use mobile for charitable donations, with 30% of all donors choosing to text their financial support, making this the most popular way of contributing. Germany was a close second, with 26% of all donors using text – a strong choice behind PC-based donation.
The inclusion of donations made via a website accessed from the mobile device into statistics made mobile the most popular way to contribute in both France and Germany. Although UK consumers showed that they had a way to go until they caught up with their European counterparts, with 9% of all donors using text and 8.6% visiting a website from their mobile phone, UK mobile consumers described themselves as the most likely to donate by mobile in the future, with 19% stating that they were very likely or likely to do so, followed by the French at 16% and the Germans at 11%.
The report provide insight which will improve market understanding of consumer feelings towards using the mobile device for accessing charitable donation services and will help in the design and development of these services. A number of practices were identified that would encourage greater rates of donation via mobile in the future across the three markets. These included guaranteeing that mobile numbers would not be retained or used to contact the consumer again without their permission; making it clear how much of the money pledged actually goes to the charity; and not fixing the amount a consumer is able to contribute, so that the decision is theirs.
The report, which is available to MMA members, highlighted several other key findings. In all countries, it was the younger population that donated more via text, although this trend was more pronounced in the UK than in France or Germany, where there was less difference between age groups
There is no significant difference in popularity between genders, except in France where more females than males donated via text. When asked about previous charity campaigns, the results showed that both French and UK consumers reported relatively high levels of prior experience of texting as a means of donating or responding to ads. 16% of French and 14% of UK respondents indicated they had experience of texting donations or replying to ads, compared to 6% of German respondents
“The research shows that donating to charities using mobile phones is now popular, and with the high penetration and usage of mobile, this medium could provide an attractive new opportunity for charities to fundraise,” says Ralph Risk, Marketing Director, EMEA, at Lightspeed Research. “To help encourage more people to contribute, charities still need to educate people about how they can donate, while at the same time re-assuring them that the money will go to the nominated charity and that their phone numbers will not be used without their permission.”

Mobile Map Use Increasing, says comScore

comScore has released data from its MobiLens survey that shows a 68% increase in the use of mobile mapping and direction services across Europe in the last year. In February, more than 21 million mobile users age 13 or older in the EU5 countries (UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy) used their mobile handsets for navigation. 
The highest growth among EU5 countries was seen in the UK, with an 86% increase to 5.7 million mobile map users. Italy remains the second largest market for mobile mapping and direction services with 4.9 million users, but has experienced the slowest growth (53%) versus one year ago. Germany ranked third with 3.9 million mobile map users, followed by France (3.5 million) and Spain (3.1 million).
Among those who accessed maps via their mobile devices for the three month period ending February 2010, most (68.2% ) accessed those services in a car or other vehicle. 35.3% of the total users accessed the services while using public transport, and 27% did so while walking, running or cycling. Mobile subscribers using handsets with advanced positioning technology, known as assisted GPS (A-GPS), are more than 8 percentage points more likely (71.7%) to use maps in a vehicle than those without (63.9%). The largest difference can be seen among those who use map and direction services on public transport, with 41.5% of A-GPS users have accessed the services compared to 28% of non A-GPS users.
“The higher incidence of A-GPS usage in cars suggests that the superior speed and precision in these devices are being used for more than just identifying locations – they are being used as full in-car navigation systems,” says comScore Senior Analyst, Alistair Hill. “That these services offer similar functionality to premium services without the significant price-tag has certainly contributed to their early success. Mobile mapping services also have potential for integration with other location-aware services, such as mobile social networking applications that provide links to friends and insights on surroundings and, subsequently, offer great promise for the location-based advertising market.”

Android Suffers in Smaato Ad Metrics Report

Mobile ad optimization firm Smaato has released revealed its latest metrics, looking at the global, mobile advertising market in terms of clickthrough rates and ad network fill rates.
The figures reveal that Android has been enjoying huge success in terms of clickthrough rates in South-east Asia, but on the global front, it has dropped by around 50%, and now stands in fifth place in Smaato’s  CTR (Clickthrough Rate) Index, with Symbian retaining top spot and feature phone handsets claiming second space. The metrics are based upon 36 mobile ad networks and over 4 billion ad requests served in the Smaato network of more than 3,300 registered mobile publishers in March 2010.
The performance of different operating systems in March shows Symbian’s lead decrease slightly, as feature phone handsets and Windows Phone make significant increases. The CTR Index ranges from 35 (Blackberry) to 156 (Symbian), compared to February where the spread was from 51 (Blackberry) to 147 (Symbian). The Index consists of the average CTR of all devices and this number is set to 100.
Android has suffered the most in the latest metrics, with a drop of almost 50% as its global CTR Index fell from 110 in February, to 58 in March. This is the second consecutive month that Android has dropped. Feature phone handsets have been building momentum since the first Smaato Metrics Report in December. Each month, they have made consistent gains on the competition in the CTR Index, from 84 in December, to 91 in January, to 107 in February and now at 123 in March. Symbian’s lead has shortened in the CTR Index table, but it remains the OS to beat with regards to CTR performance in mobile advertising. Apple remains consistent across February and March (89).
Smaato’s metrics highlight the performance of mobile ad networks globally, and also measure the fill rate, which is defined as the percentage of ads delivered per ad request, and varies by different factors, such as country, device and content type.
 The fill rates of the global top 10 ad networks, increased from February to March. The best performing mobile ad network in the Smaato worldwide Index had a fill rate of 93% in March 2010, an increase of percentage points compared to February. Despite the increases across the board, the average for worldwide ad network fill rate performance remains steady at 28% (from 29% in the previous month), with six of the top 10 ad networks performing above this average. Smato says that this data helps to prove that an ad network aggregation system can help partners achieve the best possible return and the highest possible fill rate, across the globe. 
The average fill rate of mobile ad networks in the USA rose to 41% in March, improving from February’s average of 35%. Five of the top eight ad networks performed above the average, and the US average fill rate remains significantly higher than the global fill rate of 28%. In line with the global fill rates, the top US ad networks experienced significant increases from February, with the strongest network’s fill rate rising from 78% to 94%.

Mobile Gaming Set For Growth, says comScore

comScore has released the results of a study on mobile gaming highlighting the potential for growth in the mobile gaming market, despite a 13% decline in the number of US  mobile gamers during the past year. This overall decline was driven by a 35% decline in mobile gaming among feature phone subscribers, who represent approximately 80% of the market, which contrasted with a sizeable 60% increase in the number of gamers using Smartphones.
“Although the number of mobile gamers has declined in the past year, there is reason for significant optimism about the future of this market,” says Mark Donovan, comScore SVP Mobile and Senior Analyst. “As the market transitions from feature phones to Smartphones, the dynamics of gameplay are also shifting towards a higher quality experience. As a result, we can expect to see a profound increase in adoption of this activity, both in terms of audience size and overall engagement.”
The inevitable ascent of the mobile gaming market depends not only on Smartphone subscribers’ higher propensity to play games on their mobile devices, but also their heavier gaming activity across nearly every dimension,” says comScore. Smartphone subscribers (47.1%) are three times more likely than feature phone subscribers (15.7%) to play games on their device at least once a month. They are more than five times as likely to play games almost every day, and far surpass their feature phone counterparts across various methods of game play.
Smartphone subscribers also install significantly more games on their devices, with 27.3% having installed at least one game, compared to just 5.6% of feature phone subscribers. A third of Smartphone subscribers with games have more than five games installed on their phones, while less than 1% of feature phone subscribers have that many games installed.
“Smartphones offer a more accessible and compelling mobile gaming experience that is enabling adoption of this behavior, even among consumers who have not traditionally been gamers,” says Donovan. “Marketers and advertisers ought to be paying close attention to the opportunity this presents for reaching consumers in new and engaging ways in a cross-platform environment. The potential for highly creative marketing efforts is exciting.”
Smartphone subscribers are more likely to play mobile games than feature phone subscribers across every gaming genre. The genre with the highest penetration among Smartphone subscribers is Arcade Puzzle games at 12.9%, followed by Card games (11.9%), Word/Number games (11.4%) and Casino games (7.6%). While casual game genres have higher penetration than hardcore genres (Sports, Racing, Action/adventure, First-person shooter), the hardcore genres exhibit significantly higher adoption among Smartphone subscribers. This finding, says comScore, highlights the importance of the Smartphone medium in driving adoption of higher quality gaming experiences.

Opera Mini Downloaded 1m Times on App Store Debut

Opera’s Mini mobile browser has got off to a flying start in the Apple App Store, with iPhone users downloading the app more than 1 million times on the first day of its availability in each market. Opera Mini is currently the number one iPhone app in the 22 featured Apple App Stores, as of 8am CET today. According to Apple’s download count, Opera Mini has been added to 1,023,380 Apple devices.
“Today, iPhone users have a choice, and, as the numbers show, they are eager to explore new and faster ways to surf the web on the iPhone, especially during heavy web traffic,” says Opera Software CEO, Lars Boilesen. “With any widely available and frequently downloaded Opera product, we are appreciative of all the feedback we are getting, as it helps us to continually improve our product and better meet the needs of our users.”
 

GetJar Celebrates 50m Facebook App Downloads

Independent app store GetJar has revealed that  more than 50 million people have downloaded Facebook’s mobile app from GetJar in the past six months. With GetJar’s App Download Page (ADP) and Mobile Site Shortcut (MSS), people are able to download the app, which gives them a fast and easy shortcut to access Facebook’s mobile website with a single click from their phone.
“With more than 400 million users around the world, people are increasingly looking to stay connected through Facebook from their mobile device,” says Alison Rosenthal, Head of Mobile Business Development for Facebook. “GetJar has helped us bring the Facebook mobile experience to millions of people, regardless of their mobile platform, phone model or carrier.”
GetJar provides a free Mobile Site Shortcut (MSS), which is a small application that launches any phone’s native web browser and redirects it to the appropriate mobile site. The MSS is global, easy and cost effective and appears in GetJar’s store as if it was an actual application people can download. Companies get global distribution and reach without having to develop unique applications for different operating systems. When downloaded, the MSS appears as an icon on the user’s phone, providing them with one-click access to the brand’s mobile website. Companies with an MSS on GetJar include Facebook, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google.
App Download Page (ADP) works by providing mobile developers and content owners with a simple mobile webpage that can be linked to their mobile website. GetJar hosts a mobile web page so the company doesn’t have to worry about supporting multiple mobile device platforms, models or carriers. When a person clicks a link provided on the company’s own mobile site, they are redirected to that company’s ADP on GetJar. The person’s mobile device is automatically detected and they can download the appropriate version of the company’s mobile application for their phone from GetJar. If no application exists, GetJar can provide the free Mobile Site Shortcut (MSS), which will work across a wide range of devices regardless of the platform they are running on. Companies using ADP include Flirtomatic, Facebook, Photobucket and Fandango.
“In the recent Chetan Sharma Consulting Report commissioned by GetJar, we saw that apps downloads will increase from 7 billion in 2009 to 50 billion downloads globally by 2012,” says GetJar CEO and Founder, Ilja Laurs. “Global brands will realize that although applications provide users with a rich and engaging experience, to maximize their reach, they need to complement their offering with a mobile web experience that cuts across handset and operating system fragmentation. As the Wal-Mart of mobile apps, GetJar is committed to providing these content owners with a one-stop shop to distribute both their apps and mobile sites across any platform, handset, carrier or country to help them reach this goal.”

Frost Predicts Mobile Broadband Boom in Central & Eastern Europe

Economic recession and restrictive market regulators’ policies, especially in terms of mobile termination rate (MTR) cuts, have been the most negative factors affecting the mobile telecommunications market in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. Mobile telecom operators facing revenue decline from traditional mobile services have started to focus more on mobile broadband development. Although CEE markets differ considerably in terms of mobile broadband penetration, technologies, and network coverage, the common point would be significant market growth expected within the next five years.
That’s the conclusion of new analysis from Frost & Sullivan, ‘Mobile Broadband in Central and Eastern Europe’, which notes that the market earned revenues of €1.1 billion (£716 million) in 2009, and forecasts this to reach €5.2 billion in 2014. The service penetration is expected to grow from 2% to 10% within the forecast period. 
“Due to relatively low overall broadband penetration, mobile broadband will be a complementary rather than supplementary service to fixed broadband in CEE countries,” says Frost & Sullivan ICT Research Analyst, Edyta Kosowska. “Therefore, mobile broadband operators should initially focus on improving the service quality through sufficient network upgrades, as customers expect the same download speed and data download limits as from fixed broadband Internet. Only when (that has been) achieved, (should) the operators should follow Western European players’ strategies and concentrate on developing (a) wider range of value-added services (VAS).”
The Frost & Sullivan study assesses the status of mobile broadband in five CEE key markets: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Slovakia. The analysis is based on key performance indicators, and looks at the way that different mobile broadband technologies are evolving in those markets. The technologies considered are: code division multiple access (CDMA) revision A and revision B; flash orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (Flash OFDM); high speed downlink packet access (HSDPA); high speed packet access plus (HSPA+); mobile worldwide interoperability for microwave access (Mobile WiMAX); and long-term evolution (LTE).
“Most of the market participants start mobile broadband service development from large cities’ centres, where they can count on relatively quick return on investment,” says Kosowska. This move is still economically justified, as the highest demand comes from people with increased mobility needs, such as company workers and students. However, in the near future, growth potential will be mainly visible within rural areas, where overall broadband penetration remains relatively low. Therefore, focusing on this target group can be a worthwhile consideration.”
To find out more about the study, send an e-mail to [email protected] with your full name, company name, title and contact details.

Report Looks at the Mobile Retail Opportunity

Juniper Research has released its report, ‘The Mobile Marketing & Retail Opportunity’. The report finds that the value of the mobile retail market is anticipated to exceed $12 billion (£9 billion) by 2014, driven by one-to-one marketing and the rapid proliferation of Smartphones.

The mobile retail sector is defined as comprising mobile coupon redemption values, smart poster fees and advertising expenditure. The report finds that the sector will initially be dominated by coupons, but notes that mobile advertising expenditure will exceed coupon redemption values by 2013, as digital adspend is increasingly transferred into the mobile space.
The study offers analysis of key players and their recent product launches, along with discussions on the evolution of the mobile retail market over the next five years. It notes that for brands and retailers, mobile offers the ability to change campaigns quickly (for example by time of day), and crucially, the ability to track the success of a campaign, together with customer acquisition rates. Other drivers are that usage of the mobile in a live shopping situation can be particularly effective, for activities such as product price comparisons.
The report is aimed at all those seeking to optimise their spend on the mobile channel, including retailers seeking to enter the mobile space, digital marketing agencies, advertising networks, vendors and operators. It includes analysis of case studies in each of the major mobile advertising distribution channels, including SMS, MMS, in-content downloads, idle screen, Mobile TV, mobile Internet, on-portal advertising and Augmented Reality. Forecasts include mobile adspend per subscriber, smart poster download and product fee values, together with the total size of the mobile retail opportunity, all split by eight regions up until 2014.
The report examines how much the mobile retail market is worth, and what it will be worth by 2014. It also considers which mobile coupon campaigns have been most successful, and explores the key strengths of mobile as a retail channel. Finally, it considers the extent to which mobile retail has been impacted by the economic downturn, and asks in which regions mobile retail is likely to be most successful.
There’s more information about the report here.

Indonesia Dominates BuzzCity Ad Index, but UK Rising Fast

Mobile media network BuzzCity has released the results of its Global Mobile Advertising Index for Q1 2010. The Index tracks activity across BuzzCity’s network of over 2,000 publishers worldwide. The data, gathered over the three month period from January to March, reveals a 38% increase in the number of ads served in the BuzzCity network over the previous quarter.
Indonesia, India, the US and S. Africa continued their dominance among the top five and were joined by Canada for the first time. The UK also demonstrated strong growth, with approximately 230 million ads served over the three month period - an increase of 114% on the previous quarter.
The top 10 most active countries in were:

1. Indonesia: 2.9bn ads served (+38% on Q4 2009)
2. India: 1.1bn (+71%)
3. US: 465.2m (+54%)
4. S. Africa: 357.9m (+15%)
5. Canada: 238.9m (+68%)
6. UK: 229.4m (+114%)
7. Saudi Arabia: 162.3m (-15%)
8. Norway: 131.1m (+92%)
9. Nigeria: 125.7m (+47%)
10. Malaysia: 116.2m (+14%)

“During Q1, a total of 32 markets each delivered monthly traffic in excess of 10 million impressions per month,” says BuzzCity CEO, KF Lai. “This demonstrates the continued advertiser interest in mobile Internet advertising, and with many of the campaigns now being run through experienced agencies, we are starting to see a more constant and structured investment in the medium. We are also starting to observe a greater investment in mobile from brands outside the mobile content sector, most notably among operators.
“With the increase in affordable high-end phones and greater public awareness of the mobile web, 2010 has also driven a rise in the volume of global mobile traffic. This increase in volume and continued advertiser interest has meant publishers can expect better returns as a greater variety of advertisers get better acquainted with the media. This is a trend which we predict will continue to fuel the rise of the mobile advertising industry during 2010.”

Opera Passes 100m Users, Launches on iPhone

Opera Software has revealed that Opera browsers are now used by more than 100 million people worldwide, with 50 million users on Windows, Mac and Linux computers, and another 50 million using Opera Mini on mobile phones, plus a smaller number using Opera browsers on game consoles, TVs and set-top boxes.
“Opera’s record growth shows that we are on the right track, and that as user needs grow, we are growing right along with them,” says Opera CEO, Lars Boilesen. “Opera for Desktop delivers the fastest browsing experience on the planet, with a visionary approach to features and a user-friendly design.”
Separately, Opera has announced that Opera Mini has been approved for iPhone and iPod touch on the Apple App Store. Opera says that Opera Mini will be available as a free download within 24 hours, depending on market.
Opera Mini enables fast mobile Web browsing by compressing data by up to 90% before sending content to the device, resulting in significantly improved page loading. The company says that Opera Mini users will notice an uptake in speed, especially on slower networks, and that surfing the web with Opera Mini on iPhone and iPod touch will help users save money because of its data compression capabilities, particularly when used while roaming. 

Distimo/MEF Report Looks at Apps in Emerging Markets

Distimo, the mobile app store analytics company, and the Mobile Entertainment Forum (MEF), have announced a strategic partnership that includes the publication of a new report on the emerging markets in the Apple App Store. The emerging markets covered in the report are Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, with data from the US included for comparison purposes.
The major findings of the report are:

• The most popular applications are priced higher in the Emerging Markets than in the United States. Average prices have decreased in both regions however, since December 1, 2009.
• Applications in the Navigation and Medical categories are most expensive in the emerging markets, as in the US. The average price of the most popular applications in the Finance, Medical, Navigation and Reference categories is higher however, in the emerging markets than in the US due to a multitude of expensive applications that are only popular in the emerging markets.
• Games are more popular in the US than in the emerging markets. 56% of the most popular applications in the US are games, compared to only 29% in the emerging markets. The difference is even larger when it comes to revenue generation: 54% of the highest grossing applications in the US are games, compared to only 17% in the emerging markets.
• Instant messaging (IM) applications are among the most popular applications in the emerging markets of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Examples include WhatsApp Messenger, Live Messenger and Easy IM Free.

“We’re delighted to welcome Distimo as a member and strategic partner,” says MEF Executive Director, Rimma Perelmuter. “The partnership represents a ‘win-win’ for both parties since it gives Distimo a great platform to share their unique analytics with MEF’s member companies, while enhancing membership value through exclusive market insight. Distimo’s first MEF report offers our members a fascinating snapshot of App Stores across the Middle East, comparing and contrasting the results with data from the United States.”
The full report is available exclusively to Mobile Entertainment Forum members.

ZTE Reports 2009 Growth

ZTE Corporation says that it experienced impressive growth in 2009 in its wireless terminals space. According to iSuppli, ZTE shipped 60 million wireless terminals, including more than 40 million handsets and 20 million data cards in 2009. More than 70% of all ZTE shipments in 2009 were to international markets, in line with the company’s aggressive global growth strategy.
In wireless terminals, ZTE’s shipment of 60.17 million units represented a 33% growth over 2008. In 2009, ZTE began to break into the three major high-end markets including Europe, N. America and Japan, partnering with the top global operators in the wireless terminal area, including VDF, T-Mobile, Verizon, Telefonica, Orange, H3G, Telenor, TIM and Sprint.
For its handset business, ZTE says it has made great strides in Europe and N. America, shipping more than 40 million units globally in 2009. ZTE has invested heavily in the research and development of Smartphones over the last six years and says it is focused on providing customisable 3G/4G handset solutions that meet the needs of individual carriers. The company is one of the few manufacturers whose Smartphone portfolio encompasses a wide range of operating systems, including Android, Windows Mobile, Linux, OMS and BMP.
ZTE’s data card business experienced 200% growth in 2009, with 20 million units shipped. The company has deployed data cards with 240 carrier customers in 106 countries. According to iSuppli, Chinese companies have over 80% share of the global data cards market. ZTE has a 35% share of the global market and a 40% share of the China market.

Men Dominate Orange Mobile Data Usage

Orange has published its sixth Digital Media Index (ODMI), a detailed report offering insight into how digital media is consumed across its mobile network. The latest findings reveal that whilst the consumption of mobile data continues to increase, there are interesting differences between men and women on what they use their handsets for.

Mobile Social Networking
The popularity of social networking sites continues to soar, with men more likely to spend time, and view more pages, to keep up-to-date with friends’ news, status updates and pictures. As well as accounting for 64% of unique users, men also view 33% more pages than women on social networking sites overall. Almost 2 million Orange customers now use their handsets for social networking, generating over 1 billion page impressions on social networking sites each month

Mobile Internet
Men use their mobile phones more regularly than women to keep up-to-date with the latest sporting news. This explains why Saturday is the most popular day for customers to use the mobile Internet, as men check out the latest football scores on their mobile whilst on-the-move. Sport updates are also driving mobile Internet traffic, with men accounting for 57% of customers accessing Orange World, Orange’s mobile Internet portal, Orange World, which attracts over 3.4 million unique users per month.

Mobile TV and Video
Sport is the main driver for Mobile TV viewing, and is more popular with men than women. In total, sport accounts for 50% of Mobile TV content consumed, with Sky Sports 1 being the most popular Mobile TV channel, attracting 24% of users.
With increasing Smartphone adoption, more people than ever before are experimenting with new services. It seems that men are leading the way – accounting for 75% of mobile videos and 71% of Mobile TV clips purchased.

Mobile Gaming
Whilst mobile gaming is enjoyed by both genders, the report reveals that men like time-related challenges such as Tetris, whereas women prefer strategic games with less time pressure, such as SIMS and Monopoly. Orange customers downloaded nearly 650,000 games in the three months covered by the report, with Sunday the most popular day for downloading games

SMS/MMS and Mobile Data
With an average of 63 million SMS messages sent every day by Orange customers, texting remains as popular as ever. The report reveals that women send more text and picture messages than men to keep in touch with friends and family. Also, the difference between the numbers of picture messages sent between men and women increases with age – with women over 60 years old sending 48% more than men in the same age group.
The consumption of mobile data also continues to grow, with over 5.34 million customers now using Orange 3G mobile handsets and/or dongles, and over 435,000 gigabytes of data being used each month.
“As this is the sixth issue of our Digital Media Index report, we were keen to delve deeper and offer an insight into how customers use their mobile handsets,” says Deborah Tonroe, Head of Entertainment and Information at Orange UK. The report shows that users really are using their mobile handsets for more than just voice and text.”

Text Donations Raise £3.4m for Sport Relief

Mobile donations of £1, £5 and £10, powered by Mobile Interactive Technology (MIT), contributed £3.4 million of the £31.6 million raised so far by Sport Relief 2010.
This year’s Sport Relief campaign is the first time Comic Relief has used a £10 text donation mechanic. All text donations made by the public have benefitted from 100% out-payments thanks to mobile network operators waiving their usual fees. All the money donated will be spent by Comic Relief to transform lives – both here in the UK and across some of the world’s poorest countries.
The BT Sport Relief Million Pound Bike Ride, which saw various celebrities including David Walliams, Miranda Hart and Davina McCall cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats in just under 82 hours, generated £700,000 via £1 and £5 mobile donations
The Thomson Sport Relief Water Ski Challenge, which saw Christine Bleakley water ski across the English Channel, raised over £900,000 in £5 text donations from viewers of The One Show
And Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man, which documented Eddie Izzard’s staggering run of 43 marathons in 51 days around the UK, raised £1.1 million in £5 text donations from viewers of the documentary on BBC 3 and a repeat on BBC 1.
“I would like to say a massive thank you to the mobile industry and HM Treasury for their continued support,” says Sport Relief Operations Director, Caroline Lien. “Mobile has proven to be an extremely popular channel for us, as it appeals to a wide audience demographic, and enables an instant donation at various price points. I’d also like to thank MIT’s Client Services and Operations team for their help and dedication throughout the campaign.”
The first of the text donation services opened on 29 January, and the £1, £5 and £10 services have been utilised for various fundraising activities for Sport Relief. All services closed at midnight on Wednesday 31 March.

Vodafone Tops Kaizo Advocacy Index

The results of the latest Kaizo Advocacy Index show Vodafone leading the way among UK mobile operators, with the network increasing its score considerably, thanks to a raft of positive coverage around the launch of the iPhone on Vodafone. A poor perception of network coverage and quality of customer service affected the majority of mobile brands’ scores, however.
The biannual Kaizo Advocacy Index measures the online reputation of 20 major brands across four sectors: Mobile, Airlines, Food and Software. In the Mobile sector, Vodafone scored 38%, followed by Orange (1%), O2 (-5%), 3 Mobile (-19%) and T-Mobile (-26%).
Vodafone topped the sector and, indeed, the entire Kaizo Advocacy Index, alongside food brand Del Monte, on the back of the availability of the iPhone on its network. The operator went some way to eradicating the problems that led to a 0% score in the last report, whilst improving customer satisfaction and introducing well-received new products and services. The release of the iPhone on the Vodafone network has put O2’s domination of the product to an end, prompting comments on Twitter such as “Can't wait to switch my iPhone back onto Vodafone”.
“Association with a strong brand clearly helps a brand’s online reputation, and Vodafone has seen this with the iPhone,” says Kaizo Managing Director, Rhodri Harries. “Overall, though, the sector suffers, as we all rely so much on our mobile, that when there is an issue, it is a high priority for us, and one which we will be vocal about. With many brands still feeling the effects of the downturn, social media is playing an ever-increasing role”.
T-Mobile was the biggest loser in the mobile sector, moving from first to last place with a decrease in score of 35%. This was due to customer service issues and poor reception, particularly with mobile broadband. With comments such as “finally getting rid of T-Mobile, of course they are messing up this as well” a regular occurrence, Kaizo says that mobile brands must do more to deal with customers efficiently, in order to avoid the levels of frustration currently being vented online. 3 Mobile also fared badly, with similar issues to T-Mobile. leading to a decrease of 24 points.
Orange received a similar number of positive and negative comments, which neutralised its overall online reputation. Positive coverage was generated through the pending release of high definition voice calls, while negative content surrounded poor customer service, and fears that a merger between Orange and T-Mobile will evoke a leviathan of both their problems.
Poor signal was an issue for O2, as well as negative comments following several instances of its network crashing. 3 Mobile received more negative coverage in this report than in the last. Overall, however, this was recouped by the quantity of positive comments it received. These consisted of information about new offers and services, such as the implementation of Twitter.
While Vodafone and Del Monte performed the best across all sectors researched, brands with the worst scores included Ryanair, Easyjet and T-Mobile.

Apple Ships 300,000 iPads on Day One

Apple says it sold over 300,000 iPads in the US as of midnight Saturday, 3 April, though as this figure includes deliveries to channel partners, in addition to deliveries of pre-ordered iPads to customers, and sales at Apple Retail Stores, it’s not clear from the release whether all 300,000 have actually been sold out to customers. Apple also announced that iPad users downloaded over 1 million apps from Apple’s App Store and over 250,000 ebooks from its iBookstore during the first day.
“It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world—it’s going to be a game changer,” says Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. “iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad.”
The iPad launched in the US on Saturday, and launches in the UK at the end of the month. 

Report Analyses Prospects for Mobile Web 2.0

Juniper Research has released its ‘Mobile Web 2.0’ report. The study forecasts that the value of presence-based mobile Web 2.0 services will increase to more than $6 billion (£3.9 billion) by 2012, finds our new report published this week. An increase in Smartphone penetration in developed markets, allied to rising global usage of both on-net and off-net mobile IM (Instant Messaging) will help to drive this trend, the report says.
Juniper notes that Web 2.0 has been the catalyst for renewed growth in the mobile industry, comprising Presence – SMS-based presence (alerts) and server-based presence services; Geolocation – services that enable users to share location details with other users, third-parties or applications, collaborate with those nearby, and exploit local knowledge; and the Social Web – including social networking sites, user generated content, and a variety of sub-categories including blogs and dating
The report finds that monetising mobile Web 2.0 services is still posing a challenge across the mobile value chain. Nevertheless, it concludes that opportunities exist for service providers across a range of business models, ranging from subscription-based services to ad-funded solutions.
The report includes a series of practical recommendations for mobile web 2.0 players, as well as a detailed SWOT analyses for ODMs (original device manufacturers), mobile network operators, service providers and media & technology owners.
The report includes forecasts and analysis of ad spend on mobile presence-based services, together with operator-billed IM & VoIP revenues, as well as user numbers, usage levels and the proportion of users who pay for services. The report also includes forecasts for the retail costs of SMS and MMS, along with the total global ad spend on mobile Web 2.0 services ,split by social web, dating and presence. The study analyses the major strategies of a number of players across geolocation and presence, focusing on the primary growth areas for mobile web 2.0, including VoIP & IM.
There’s more information about the report here.

Online Ad Spend Up

The UK Internet advertising sector increased revenues by 4.2% to £3.54 billion in 2009, up from £3.35 billion in 2008, despite a decline in total UK advertising, according to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PWC) bi-annual ad spend figures. The study also reveals that the second half of 2009 was healthier than the first, with online advertising spend increasing by £25.6 million to£1.78 billion between July and December. During the first half, it accounted for £1.76 billion. Records show that, since the dot com crash of 2001, Internet ad expenditure registered growth every year during the noughties. From £153 million in 2000 to £3.54 billion in 2009.
In 2009, the Retail and Consumer Goods categories leapt ahead to become two of the biggest spenders in online display, as marketers increased online advertising budgets. Search, video and affiliate marketing also experienced strong growth. One of the biggest gains was in paid search, which grew by 9.5% like-for-like to reach £2.15 billion, representing 60.7% of all online ad spend, compared to 59.3% in 2008.
While online display spend saw a 4.4% decline between 2008 and 2009, the market picked up as the year wore on. Between January and June 2009, display was worth £334.6 million in real terms, which increased to £374.7 million between July and December, taking total 2009 spend to£709.3 million, or 20% of the online market, compared to 19% in 2008.
Within display, online video was a success story, with a 140% increase in pre- and post-roll advertising, to £28.3 million.
Affiliate marketing rose by 38.2% to £72.6million, but online classified spending fell 5.3% to £677.4 million, down from £715.2 million in 2008. Classified accounted for 19.1% of all ad online spend in 2009, compared to 21.4% in 2008.
“In 2009 the advertising industry was hit hard, but online has proved itself a winning medium, capturing a greater share of marketing budgets,” says IAB CEO, Guy Phillipson. “In the past year we’ve seen some real success stories, as search passed the £2 billion mark, and online video advertising experienced spectacular growth. And with sectors such as Retail and Consumer Goods increasing their spending on the Internet, we can look forward to a healthier 2010.”
The IAB and PwC are due to release mobile ad spend figures for 2009 on 27 April.

Smartphone Adoption up 32% in EU5 Countries, says comScore

New research from comScore released today reveals that Smartphone adoption in the EU5 (UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy) has grown 32% over the past year, to 51.6 million subscribers. Whilst growth can be seen across the range of monthly subscription fees, the mid- to low-tier segment is growing faster than high-tier subscriptions in each of the EU5 markets.
The UK market leads in the growth of Smartphone adoption over the past year, growing 70% to 11.1 million subscribers. France ranks second in growth with the number of Smartphone subscribers up 48% to 7.1 million.  Meanwhile, Italy boasts the largest number of Smartphone subscribers overall (15 million) but showed the softest growth in this market at 11%. Germany has 8.4 million Smrtphomne subscribers (up 34%), while Spain has 9.9 million (up 27%).
In evaluating monthly subscription fees, the high-tier segment (greater than £35 in UK  and €50 in Euro currency countries) is not growing as strongly as the mid- to low-tier. The UK  has the highest pace of both mid- to low-tier adoption (up 76%) and high-tier adoption (up 60%), followed by France (52% and 43%, respectively).
“Smartphones are generally seen as luxury devices that come with big price tags and high monthly tariffs, yet the largest segment of the market and the one demonstrating greatest momentum is actually the low- to mid-tier,” says Alistair Hill, Senior Mobile Analyst at comScore. “The growth in these tiers suggests that as Smartphones become more affordable to the majority of European consumers, their proliferation will increase considerably, and lead to a surge in mobile content and data consumption. Such market dynamics offer substantial opportunity for different players in the mobile ecosystem - from operators and manufacturers to publishers and advertisers - and underscore the importance of competing for customers now to engender long-term loyalty.”
Symbian is the top Smartphone platform in all the EU5 countries, averaging a 60.9% share of total subscribers. In Italy, Symbian has a 75.7% share, though in France, it is at its lowest, at 40.7%. Apple is second overall on 14.5%, with Microsoft third on 14.1%, RIM fourth on 8.3% and Google fifth on 2%. Apple’s share varied widely across the EU5 countries, peaking at 29.9% in France and reaching 20.5% in the UK, but registering only 7.7% in Italy and 6.5% in Spain. Apple’s share of the market in Germany is 15.3%.
comScore has also released its January 2010 benchmark data, covering the period from 1 November 2009 – 31 January 2010, which includes a review of mobile consumption behaviours and device penetration for the EU5 countries. This reveals that overall Smartphone penetration across the EU5 stands at 22.6%, while 3G penetration stands at 42.4%.
When it comes to what people are doing on their phones, the most popular activity is sending a text message (83.5%), followed by using an application, including games (33.4%); listening to music (22.7%); mobile browsing (22.2%); and, surprisingly low given the figures released by comScore as part of the Mobile Media Metrics launch in February, accessing a social networking site or blog (11.3%). 9.6% of EU subscribers had accessed news via their mobile during the period.

Get the Mobile Web Experience Right, says Yahoo!

New research commissioned by Yahoo! reveals that UK consumers are interacting with numerous screens at any one point, with a quarter of mobile media users using mobile, TV and PC at the same time, and 84% of users stating they simultaneously interacted with two screens. The research supports the view that brands wishing to engage with UK consumers need to consider all platforms to ensure awareness for their campaigns. Yahoo! Says the findings also highlight the need for the mobile Internet experience to reflect that of a PC, in order for that experience to be considered useful.
The survey was conducted by APPetite, which surveyed 2,004 UK mobile media users aged between 16 & 65, with quotas set on age and mobile network, to ensure the research represented the national average.
The research found that while mobile applications are driving usage and support brand innovation, long-term mobile engagement depends on optimised mobile Internet experiences. Furthermore, where the mobile Internet experience is poor, 44% of users blamed the brand, rather than the mobile network, stressing the need for brands who wish to engage with users online to seriously consider the quality of their online presence on mobile.
“There is now genuine consumer excitement over what possibilities mobile media can provide, and brands must quickly respond to take advantage of this,” says John Tigg, Head of Mobile at Yahoo! UK. “We believe Yahoo! is in a prime position to advise its clients on how to engage with this new enthusiasm. Yahoo! understands the interplay between established content and advertising platforms and what a brand should do to succeed in the mobile space.”

Placecast Secures Funds for Expansion

Location-based marketing firm Placecast has raised an additional $3 million (£2 million) in Series B funding from current investors, Quatrex Capital, ONSET Ventures and Voyager Capital, to expand its ShopAlerts location-based marketing service. The funding follows a Series B round of funding in November 2009, which raised $5 million.
Brands including The North Face, SONIC Drive-in and American Eagle have already run location-triggered mobile messaging programs on the ShopAlerts service. ShopAlerts delivers location-triggered mobile messages when consumers enter an area bound by a geo-fence, which can be created around any physical location. With substantial interest from retailers and large companies in the carrier, handset and digital media industries, Placecast says it will use the funding to continue to rollout its service to a larger network of retailers.  
ShopAlerts is a retailer marketing solution. Retailers leverage the technology to create their own version of the service; consumers choose the brands they want to interact with, and can opt-in online, in store, via text-message, mobile website, or a social network. Once ShopAlerts is activated, consumers go about their day and the service automatically alerts them when they are near a location that they are interested in, or when the brand is offering sales and specials. Using geo-fencing technology, the service enables retailers to talk to their customers when they are near a store, shopping nearby, or doing other things they enjoy. Geo-fences can be created around any location and are set to trigger a personalized marketing message to opted-in consumers entering the defined area on their mobile phones. Customized messages are created and delivered automatically to shoppers creating a trusted, one-to-one communication channel based on place and time. The service works on any phone.
“After seeing considerable momentum for our new ShopAlerts service, we’re looking forward to making it an indispensable solution for every major physical retailer across the US,” says Placecast CEO, Alistair Goodman.
According to a recent report commissioned by Juniper Research, the mobile location-based services market will be worth more than $12 billion by 2014. In addition, Juniper’s ‘Mobile Marketing and Retail Strategies’ report predicts that advertising will take an increasing share of location-based revenues in the next five years.
“While the mobile channel typically accounts for a very small proportion of marketing budget, we’re seeing clear indications that with brands placing greater emphasis on engagement and quantifiable measurement of campaign response rates, mobile is emerging is an attractive means of reaching consumers 24/7 with targeted, opt-in advertising,” says Windsor Holden, Principal Analyst at Juniper Research. “Furthermore, when the opportunities which location offers are factored in – tailoring advertising to where an individual is at a given time – then the value of such advertising rises considerably.”
You can see a video demo of ShopAlerts here.

Touch Leads the Way in Mobile Internet Device Growth

Mobile advertising network AdMob has released its Mobile Metrics Report for February. The report examines the growth rate of Smartphones, feature phones, and mobile Internet devices over the past year.
In February 2010, Smartphones accounted for 48% of AdMob’s worldwide traffic, up from 35% in February 2009. The strong growth of iPhone and Android traffic, fuelled by heavy application usage, was primarily responsible for the increase, AdMob says.
Although the share of feature phone traffic in AdMob’s network declined from 58% to 35% year-on-year, absolute traffic from feature phones still grew 31%. Mobile Internet devices experienced the strongest growth of the three categories, increasing to account for 17% of traffic in AdMob’s network in February 2010. The iPod touch is the top mobile Internet device and is responsible for vast majority of this traffic. Other devices include the Sony PSP and Nintendo DSi.
Highlights from the February 2010 AdMob Mobile Metrics Report include:

• iPhone OS increased its share of Smartphone requests from 33% in February 2009 to 50% in February 2010.
• Symbian's share of Smartphone requests fell from 43% in February 2009 to 18% in February 2010.
• Android increased its share from 2% in February 2009 to 24% in February 2010. 
• The top five Android devices worldwide, by traffic, were the Motorola Droid, HTC Dream, HTC Hero, HTC Magic, and the Motorola CLIQ. The Google Nexus One generated just 1% of total Android traffic in February 2010.
• Samsung, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and LG were the top manufacturers of feature phones. Top feature phones from each manufacturer in AdMob’s network were the Samsung SCH R350, Nokia 3110c, Sony Ericsson W200i, Motorola RAZR V3, and LG CU920.             

For the purpose of categorisation, AdMob considers a Smartphone to run an identifiable Operating System, a feature phone to be mobile phone that does not fit into the Smartphone category, and a mobile Internet device to be a handheld device that connects to the mobile Internet but is not a phone. AdMob has changed the format of the country pages in the February 2010 Report to include the top 10 Smartphones and additional trended data.
You can access the full report, as well as archived reports from previous months, here.

mBlox Study Finds Consumers in Favour of Mobile Banking

Mobile transaction network mBlox has released the results of consumer research that found mobile banking to have gained a foothold in the UK and US markets. The survey found that 37% of UK mobile phone users and 25% of US mobile phone users have adopted mobile banking services. The study was carried out by research firm OnePoll between 15 - 18 March 2010, among nationally representative samples of 1,798 US and 1,000 UK mobile phone users aged 16 and above.
When asked which banking method users preferred, respondents found mobile banking more convenient and easier to use than telephone banking (voice and touchtone) by a margin of three to one in the US, and by a 1% margin in the UK. Conversely, when asked about branch banking, fewer respondents selected it as their favorite method of banking, with only 2% in the US and 3% in the UK choosing it as their preferred method.
The research revealed that the greatest benefits of mobile banking for consumers (52% in the US and 46% in the UK) are the ability to “access banking services anywhere, at any time,” as well as “convenience” and “time-saving.”
 “It’s clear from the findings of this survey that consumer behavior is shifting to adopt the capabilities afforded by mobile banking,” says mBlox CEO, Andrew Dark. “We are seeing strong interest in the mobile sector from a wide variety of industries, including transportation, retail, marketing and entertainment, which shows there is an opportunity for financial services to benefit from this increasingly popular channel.”
The research also identified the services consumers are most interested in using on their mobile phones. In both countries, respondents rated as their top four services: daily balance notifications; suspicious activity notifications; fraud alert notifications; and low balance, overdraft, and credit limit notifications. US respondents also cited as a key service, the ability to transfer funds between accounts, while UK  respondents favoured the ability to view statements and transaction history.
“Consumers today want real-time, round-the-clock access to their finances and are demanding a higher level of convenience for managing such information,” says Soren Bested, Managing Director of Monitise Americas, an mBlox partner providing mobile banking and payment services to N. American financial institutions. “It’s no surprise that the ‘anywhere, anytime’ aspect of mobile banking was one of the greatest benefits found in the mBlox research, and we see SMS as a key ingredient in providing that convenience factor. Whether it be requesting an account balance or receiving a text alert notifying consumers of activity on their account, SMS provides a method of financial control.”
The research also highlighted two factors, however, that may be slowing down the growth of mobile banking services. These top two reservations were identified by respondents as “security” (33% in the US, 49% in the UK and “cost” (31% in both the US and the UK.).
“We understand that security will be a consumer concern with any banking service. For this reason, mBlox continues to invest significant sums in its data centers, processes and networks to ensure that it is on par with the latest financial security standards,” says  Dark. “With regards to cost, SMS is an inherently cost-effective solution for the transmission of information, with minimal or no cost to the end user. Our ability to facilitate the safety and integrity of consumer’s financial information is paramount and is what sets us apart from our competitors. The industry needs to work together to educate users to the secure and cost-effective nature of mobile banking services and we at mBlox intend to lead in this respect.”

Shazam Tops 1m Ovi Downloads

Mobile music discovery provider Shazam has revealed that its application has been downloaded by over 1 million Nokia users since its launch on the Ovi Store by Nokia. Shazam was the number one downloaded app on the day of launch and continues to be one of the most popular apps in Ovi Store. The app has been downloaded in over 200 markets onto over 40 different Nokia handsets. The success of the More than 50 million people around the world have used the Shazam service, which now has over 8 million tracks on its database. Comscore also recently named Shazam as the most popular mobile application in Europe.
The Shazam app enables users to identify music tracks, watch artists’ videos and other music content, and share music moments by sending Tags as a Tweet, to a Facebook mini-feed or by email. Users can also share music memories with friends, by taking and adding a photo to Tags, which are seamlessly added to the Nokia photo album.   
Shazam is available for download here. Users are provided with a 30-day free trial of the fully featured application from the first time they use it on a device. After 30 days, users can continue Shazaming for free on a limited feature and tagging basis, or upgrade to the fully-featured, unlimited usage version for a one-off fee of $4.99, €3.99 or £2.99, depending on location.

Novarra Champions Data Optimisation

Novarra has released the findings of a report that it says demonstrates how the rising tide of mobile web, video and app usage from data-hungry Smartphone and netbook subscribers impacts underlying network costs and capacity. With the right modelling and analysis of mobile web usage, says Novarra, operators can understand the metrics for profitability and investment which lead to reduced annual capex and opex costs. Using a cloud-based data optimisation architecture, for every 10 million data subscribers, $1.5 billion (£1 billion) can be saved annually for LTE networks, and over $5 billion for HSPA, the company says. 
According to Novarra, findings from the report show that cloud-based mobile data optimisation improves profitability for network operators by reducing delivery cost per megabyte, from $0.026 to $0.013, on HSPA and EV-DO; servicing 2-3 times more data traffic and subscribers with given network infrastructure; enabling cost-effective video services for portable devices and Smartphones; improving consumer experience through faster load times without buffering delays; and deferring costly network capacity upgrades by 18 months for HSPA networks.
The analysis tool includes a data traffic model developed using industry statistics and projections, as well as Novarra usage data from Smartphones and other mobile devices. Novarra says that a precise financial impact scenario can be generated by customising parameters including device mix, data and video usage forecast, network throughput, and equipment costs that are specific to each service provider. This aids network operators in determining how best to allocate funding and resources to profitably address the data traffic tsunami.
“Profitability from mobile Internet growth is being threatened by network congestion and the escalating cost of data delivery,” says Greg Johnson, Office of the CTO at Novarra. “We created this model because we recognise that simply upgrading the radio access network is not a timely or cost effective solution to handle exploding consumer usage patterns. It is imperative that operators take steps immediately to manage over the air data traffic, beyond the network core, which has traditionally been difficult and costly.”
Novarra’s currently provides services to Verizon Wireless, Vodafone UK, Turkcell, Telecom Italia, Hutchison Three Group and Yahoo! You can download the whitepaper here.

Red Bend Reports 2009 Growth

Red Bend Software, which specialises in Mobile Software Management, has revealed that its vRapid Mobile and vDirect Mobile software products shipped in 680 million mobile devices worldwide through 2009 from manufacturers including LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and HTC. In 2009, manufacturers shipped 246 new Red Bend-Enabled device models, compared to 137 in 2008. In addition, during Q4 2009, Red Bend renewed a top manufacturer contract and signed five new customers, for a total of 57 licensees of its standards-based, cross-platform solutions for mobile software updating and device management.
While worldwide handset shipments declined 5.2% in 2009 according to IDC, Red Bend says that market demand for it firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updating software and Open Mobile Alliance Device Management (OMA-DM) client was strong, particularly for connected wireless devices. This category now accounts for nearly 10% of devices with the company’s software, driven by operators’ need to manage all wirelessly connected devices in a standards-based, unified manner. Red Bend-enabled devices include Smartphones, WiMAX modems, netbooks and machine-to-machine (M2M) modules.
 “2009 was a very good year for Red Bend, in spite of the challenging global economy,” says CEO Yoram Salinger. “Our customer momentum, market expansion and financials were stronger than ever. We renewed and expanded key contracts, added many new customers including Borqs and Fujitsu, and expanded our relationships with two of the most respected global operators, China Mobile and NTT DoCoMo. I believe our performance will remain strong in 2010. The number of customer engagements under way continues to exceed past years, and each of our territories is forecasting growth as we expand into new products and new markets.”

comScore Survey Reveals Attitudes Towards iPad

comScore has released the results of a survey of 2,176 Internet users regarding their awareness, attitudes and opinions of the Apple iPad and other e-readers/tablet devices. Results were analyzed across age and gender profiles, as well as the “iOwners” consumer segment, defined as those owning either an iPhone or iPod touch.
Consumers were asked several questions regarding their awareness of various e-readers and tablet devices and their past purchase behaviour or intent to purchase these devices. The results showed very high awareness of the iPad out of the gate, with an aided awareness of 65%, the same as that of the Amazon Kindle e-reader. Overall, consumers have demonstrated a high level of interest in these types of devices, with between 58% and 69% of consumers having conducted online research of the top five devices. Amazon Kindle rated highest in terms of current device ownership at 6% of all Internet users, followed by Sony Reader at 4%. The iPad rated highest in terms of consumers seriously considering purchase over the next three months, at 15% of Internet users, with the Kindle at 14%.
Consumers were also questioned about which features and activities they would be most likely to use if they owned an iPad, with responses indicating that they viewed the iPad differently than a traditional e-reader. Just 37% of respondents indicated they were “likely” or “very likely” (i.e. top two boxes) to read books on the device, nine percentage points higher than those who indicated they would be “unlikely” or “very unlikely” (bottom two boxes). Nearly half indicated a high likelihood of using the iPad for browsing the Internet (50%) and email (48), while more than one third said they would use it for listening to music (38%); reading books (37%); maintaining an address book/contact list (37%); watching videos/movies (36%); storing and viewing photos (35%); and reading newspapers and magazines (345).
The results of the study also reveal that iOwners exhibit very different characteristics and receptivity to the purchase and use of digital content than non-iOwners. 52% of iOwners said they were willing or very willing to pay for newspaper and magazine subscriptions specially formatted for e-readers, compared to just 22 of non-iOwners. Similarly, 50% of iOwners who also own an e-reader said they had spent at least $60 on e-books in the past three months, compared to only 24% of non-iOwners. These findings suggest that those who are already familiar and comfortable with making digital content purchases via iTunes may have a relatively higher receptivity to making similar purchases for the iPad.
Several additional findings emerged from the research. Among these, iOwners had significantly higher awareness of the iPad than non-iOwners, with 84% of iOwners having heard of the iPad compared to 61% of non-iOwners. 22% of iOwners also indicated they had seen an iPad commercial on TV, compared to just 12% of non-iOwners.
While ownership of an iPhone or iPod touch was a strong predictor of those who have already ordered an iPad, it was not a strong predictor of purchase intent. 3%  of iOwners had already purchased the iPad, compared to 1%  of non-iOwners, but 15% of each consumer segment indicated an intention to purchase the device in the next three months.
The most important device attributes that consumers indicated they would like to have included in the iPad were the ability to use multiple applications/programs at once (43%); having a screen the same size as a laptop or desktop computer (37%); and having a built-in camera (34). Among iOwners, the percentages were substantially higher at 56, 66 and 51%, respectively.
Consumers were asked about whether they would use an iPad “instead of” or “in addition to” other digital devices, and indicated the highest likelihood of substituting for the iPod touch (37%). Despite widespread belief that the iPad might threaten netbook adoption, only 22%  of consumers said they would use it instead of a netbook.
Younger consumers indicated a high willingness to pay for news and magazines specially formatted for e-readers. 68%  of 25-34 year olds and 59% of 35-44 year olds said they were willing to pay for this content, representing substantially higher percentages than people age 45 and older.
“The tablet and e-reader market is developing at a breakneck pace right now, and Apple’s entry into the market is sure to accelerate mainstream consumer adoption,” says comScore Executive Vice President, Serge Matta.“These devices have the potential to be incredibly disruptive to the way consumers currently access digital content. While only time will tell exactly how consumer behaviour will change, our research suggests that not only will a variety of markets be impacted by the introduction of these devices, but also that there are substantial opportunities for those in the digital content ecosystem.”
The full survey is available for purchase. More details via the comScore website.

AdMob Rolls Out SDKs and Ad Management Tools

Mobile advertising network AdMob has launched new SDKs (Software Development Kit) for Android and Flash Lite platforms, and updated its iPhone SDK. The company is also launching a number of new tools to enable publishers to manage their mobile business, including a Publisher Dashboard, an enhanced Reporting UI (User Interface), a (beta) Reporting API (Application Programming Interface) and server-side SDK Controls.
In addition, AdMob has introduced an ‘Adaptive Mobile Ad Unit’. This is a banner ad unit that remains a constant size as consumers pinch and scroll through a web site that’s designed for a PC screen on their mobile device. The company is also rolling out AdWhirl for iPhone and Android applications. This is an open source mediation tool that gives the developers of more than 1,500 mobile applications additional choice and control in monetising their mobile traffic
 “Developers and publishers are building engaging services across multiple mobile platforms and need the tools to effectively monetise their traffic,” sais AdMob CEO, Omar Hamoui. “The explosive growth we’re seeing makes it an exciting time to be an important part of the mobile advertising industry. We’ve worked very hard to create innovative ways to help mobile developers achieve their goals and easily manage their business – whether on the iPhone, Android or other emerging platforms.”
According to AdMob, Android devices now account for 10 per cent of Smartphone ad requests in the UK, while the HTC Hero and Dream devices are the third and fourth top handset models. “Apple’s devices drove the creation of many new ad formats to engage and interact with consumers, and our new SDKs will ensure that this innovation continues across other platforms,” says Thomas Schulz, EMEA Managing Director at AdMob.
A recent AdMob survey found that 31% of developers in the company’s network are working across multiple mobile platforms today, while 47% said they plan on developing on more than one platform in the next six months. Other findings from the survey include:

• More than 70% of iPhone developers plan to develop for Android over the next six months and 48% of Android developers plan to develop for iPhone.
• Developers are generally satisfied with the success of their applications, with 64% rating their app “very” or “somewhat” successful. Developers were most satisfied with the iPhone platform and least satisfied with RIM.
• 58% of developers currently develop mobile Web sites.
• Many developers are new to mobile, with 49% saying they have been developing for mobile less than a year.

Report Examines US mHealth Market

CSMG, the strategy division of TMNG Global, which provides professional services, products and services to the communications, media and entertainment industries, has released a report on the state of the US mobile health (mHealth) market. According to the report, ‘mHealth: Taking the Pulse’, finds that while the mHealth market presents significant growth opportunities, when taking into account device, software, connectivity and overall service revenue streams, the market and ecosystem are fragmented, creating challenges for any single player to address the full breadth of opportunities.
"mHealth is well positioned to address the needs and evolution of the US health care delivery because it provides cost-efficient care delivery and increases access to quality health care," says TMNG Global Chairman and CEO, Rich Nespola. "The proliferation of embedded wireless connected devices and Smartphone growth creates significant transformational opportunities to deliver cost-effective and viable mobile health care options. However, broader reform of the health care industry structure is needed to reach the full potential for integrating mHealth into the US health care delivery system."
The report finds that the mHealth market will reach an estimated $4.6 billion (£3.1 billion) opportunity by 2014, but will be fragmented across many solutions and device types. mHealth is already a significant market ($1.5B in estimated 2009 revenue including fixed telemedicine solutions), and is expected to grow over the next five years at a 25% CAGR (compound annual growth rate). If certain broad health care reforms are instituted, such as pay-for-performance, CSMG believes that adoption could accelerate.
The company outlines seven key mHealth technology opportunities that comprise the market, including monitoring; personal emergency response services (PERS); telemedicine; mobile medical equipment; mobile health information; RFID tracking; and health/fitness software.
According to CSMG, four key drivers will influence the pace and direction of mHealth evolution. Firstly, mobile/connected device technology innovation will drive near-to-mid-term growth. Secondly, the appeal of mHealth will overcome short-term barriers on consumer concerns about the quality of mHealth solutions. Thirdly, health care-specific technology developments such as adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) will remove barriers to mHealth adoption. And finally, broader health care industry reform will be required to reach the full market potential.
The report is based on interviews with key stakeholders in the mobile health ecosystem, including wireless service providers, health care software and hardware specialists, insurance providers, hospital systems and physician practices, as well as qualitative and quantitative strategic analysis of emerging trends and its impact on the mHealth market.
You can see the full report here.

GPS Moving Into More Handsets, says Berg

Global shipments of GPS-enabled GSM/WCDMA handsets increased 92% percent in 2009, to 150 million units, according to a new research study from the analyst, Berg Insight. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.7%, shipments are forecast to reach 770 million units in 2014.
Adoption of GPS technology started in the Smartphone segment, where it is now essentially a standard feature on all new models. Berg Insight anticipates high attach rates of GPS in new, low-cost Smartphones about to enter the market. In addition, GPS will become more common in mid-range feature phone models during 2010. Starting next year, users can also expect gradual improvements in location performance in handsets, the company says.
“Chipset developers and handset vendors are already working on next-generation location technologies that will address the limitations of GPS when using handsets in urban canyons and indoors”, says André Malm, Senior Analyst at Berg Insight. “Multi-mode receivers that also support the Russian GLONASS satellite system will appear in handsets in 2011. By combining the two systems, more visible satellites will increase the chance to receive sufficiently strong signals to get a fix in more locations”.
Malm adds that receivers compatible with GPS, GLONASS, and later also Galileo, will not be enough to enable reliable positioning indoors. In the next decade, further performance increases will come from developments in hybrid location technologies. These fuse signal measurements from multiple satellite systems, cellular networks and wi-fi, together with data from various forms of sensors such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and altimeters.

Syniverse Reports Messaging Growth

Moving an average of almost 1.3 billion messages per day in the fourth quarter of 2009, Syniverse Technologies says it continues to see significant growth of the company’s application-to-person (A2P) and peer-to-peer (P2P) message delivery across its network.
According to Syniverse CEO Tony Holcombe, the company has seen organic growth in SMS, MMS Mobile Enterprise Services (MES) messaging solutions. MES provides businesses with a way to send time- and event-based text messages to their employees, customers and partners around the globe.
“As expected, we saw an uptick of activity around the holidays,” says Holcombe. “Syniverse hit a new record when we delivered 1.9 billion SMS messages on Christmas Day 2009, up 52% from 1.2 billion just the year before. And on Halloween, Syniverse achieved a new MMS record with the delivery of 21.2 million messages, up 173 percent from 2008.”
The Syniverse MMS Interworking Gateway platform realized its most significant rise in traffic volume during the fourth quarter 2009, with a 170 percent increase on the previous year. The daily average of MMS messages delivered by Syniverse in 2009 exceeded the previous year’s record by more 128%.
MES continues to perform strongly for Syniverse, as more consumers show an interest in A2P applications, such as mobile banking. In the last quarter of 2009, Syniverse saw a 76% increase in the total number of enterprise messages delivered year-on-year. Today, Syniverse’s growing global mobile banking and financial services customer base includes six of the top 10 US banking brands, two of the top five credit card issuers and two of the top three US-based global airline carriers. Additionally, two of the top three banking institutions in India also rely on Syniverse to power their mobile banking and alerting services.
“A lifestyle that fully incorporates mobile messaging is here to stay, and Syniverse will continue to provide the support and technology needed to ensure reliable message delivery for everyone,” says Holcombe.

Out There Campaign Goes Down a Storm

In 2009, BlackBerry maker RIM launched the the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm 9500 Smartphone.
RIM and Out There Media teamed up to create and manage a mobile advertising campaign across Austria to target the under-26 year old market with the new device. The campaign ran for two weeks in August 2009 and was delivered to Vodafone subscribers via the Vodafone live! portal. Visitors to the portal were offered a free Justin Timberlake music video as an incentive to watch a short 15-second advertisement.
Over the course of the two-week mobile advertising campaign with Out There Media, the BlackBerry Storm ad was viewed a total of 140,000 times via the Vodafone live! portal. The advertisement as a clickthrough-rate of 5.5% and the Justin Timberlake video was streamed a total of 2,101 times. The conversion rate for the entire campaign was 27.5%.
“This is a great example of targeted mobile advertising in action and the fantastic results that brands can achieve through this medium,” says Out There Media CEO, Kerstin Trikalitis. “We believe very strongly in the power of reaching out to consumers directly and we are very happy to witness through all our campaigns that mobile advertising is an ideal way of doing so. Targeted and appropriate campaigns, such as this one for RIM, prove that this approach can achieve great results.”

LBS Revenues to Top $12.7bn by 2012, says Juniper

Juniper Research has released its report, ‘Mobile Location Based Services: Applications, Forecasts & Opportunities 2009-2014’. The report finds that due to a combination of Smartphone proliferation, a surge in app store launches, and new developments in hybrid positioning technologies, revenues from Mobile Location-based Services (MLBS) are expected to exceed $12.7 billion (£8.3 billion) by 2014.
The report reveals that while MLBS experienced a number of false dawns over the 2000-2007 period, improvements in handset user interfaces – exemplified by the iPhone – together with easier consumer access to an array of app distribution channels, has led to greater interest from service providers in providing MLBS applications. In addition, growth is being further facilitated by the deployment of high capacity network infrastructure and attendant increases in mobile Internet adoption, providing greater opportunities for browser-based services.
The report also notes that advertising is likely to form an increasing share of MLBS-related revenues over the next five years, and concludes that improving the user experience of MLBS on feature phones will be key in driving usage beyond the core Smartphone base. It also says that, despite the confluence of factors driving growth, deployments may still be affected by constraints including privacy and information security, while service usage will be highest in Far East & China over the next five years, with the greatest revenues coming from Western Europe.
The report provides global market forecasts for location-enabled apps sold through app stores, location-enabled apps sold through other channels, MLBS (encompassing off-board apps and browser apps), as well as mobile advertising revenues attributable to each of the above.
It also offers a detailed analysis of each of several application types, including Local Search & Information; Community Navigation; Tracking; other consumer MLBS/apps; and Business Productivity, with each sector analysed by region, channel and type of revenue.
The report considers how advances in Smartphone technology have impacted on the growth of Location-based Services; which will be the main revenue streams for MLBS; in which markets MLBS will be most successful; the likely scale of advertising expenditure on MLBS over the next five years; and how the MLBS value chain is developing and who are the main players.
There’s more information about the report here.

GetJar Predicts Fourfold Increase in Apps Revenues by 2012

Independent app store GetJar has released a report that predict that the global mobile applications market will be worth $17.5 billion (£11.5 billion) by 2012, a fourfold increase from its value of $4.1 billion in 2009. The report, commissioned by GetJar, was prepared by Chetan Sharma Consulting, and also predicts the total number of mobile app downloads to increase from over 7 billion in 2009 to almost 50 billion in 2012 – a year-on-year growth rate of 92%. GetJar notes that according to figures from the world music trade body, the IFPI, this would mean that the value of apps sold would be greater than the value of CDs sold in 2012. Given that most people under the age of about 30 barely know what a CD is, however, that’s a statistic that my not surprise many.
The report says that by 2012, off-deck paid-for apps will be the biggest revenue generator, accounting for almost 50% of all apps revenue. According to the report, in 2009, on-deck apps available from mobile operators accounted for over 60% of all apps revenue, but this will fall significantly to just under 23% by 2012. Dspite Apple’s dominance – the firm accounted for 45% of all app downloads by volume in 2009, GetJar points out that operators tend to offer must more paid app content, hence their strong showing in revenue terms.
The study outlines opportunities for both high end smart phones (such as BlackBerry and Android powered handsets) and feature phones  (such as the Samsung Instinct/Jet and Nokia X6). In 2009, 90% of handsets in use worldwide were so-called feature phones, while smart phones and data cards
The report notes that apps economies are evolving differently worldwide, suggesting a need for greater focus on developing different apps business models – as opposed to a one size fits all approach. For instance, the average selling price (ASP) for an app in N. America was $1.09, significantly higher than ASPs in developing markets such as S. America ($0.20) and Asia ($0.10). At the same time, post-2012, app downloads in developing regions such as Asia may eventually exceed those in Western regions, although monetisation of these downloads will require different business models, such as advertising and virtual currency, than those seen in developed markets.
The report says that revenue opportunities in Europe are set to soar from $1.5 billion in 2009 to $8.5 billion in 2012, while in N. America, the figure will rise from around $2.1 billion to around $6.7 billion in 2012. Currently, apps are most popular in Asia, with the region accounting for 37% of global downloads in 2009. However, while Asia had the highest number of downloads, users in North America spent the most money on apps, accounting for over 50% of revenue.
Other findings from the research include:
Advertising-based revenue models have become increasingly popular. In 2009, advertising contributed almost 12% of the overall apps revenue. However, this share is expected to more than double to over 28% by 2012 – given the high proportion of prepay users in developing markets.
The battle of the app stores is well underway - in 2009 the number of app stores leapt from eight to 38. The number of app stores is expected to further increase during 2010.
The price of mobile applications can vary from $0.99 to $999, however the average selling price in 2009 was approximately $1.90. This is predicted to decrease by 29% over the next three years, although advertising revenue derived from apps is likely to stay relatively flat.
“With the consumer appetite for mobile apps rocketing, the opportunities for developers are huge,” says GetJar CEO and Founder, Ilja Laurs. “This report signifies a battle for survival of the fittest among app stores worldwide, with app revenue and growth opportunities growing significantly. There is no way that this many app stores will survive in the long term, and while the value of the global app economy is set to be astoundingly high by 2012, we think only a few app stores will share this revenue.”

Myxer Campaign Drives 1.1m Mobile Content Downloads

Mobile entertainment site Myxer has teamed up with urban entertainment artist Quincy Jones III (QD3), for a mobile entertainment campaign that used free mobile content downloads to drive sales of DVDs.
On behalf of QD3, Myxer offered free mobile content from its site to support the  DVD launch of ‘The Carter with Lil Wayne’. Over the course of the four-week campaign, consumers downloaded more than 1 million pieces of mobile content from the documentary, including ringtones, wallpapers, and videos, which led to a 20% increase in DVD sales, helped to drive the DVD to a No.5 position on iTunes.
“While we were expecting several hundred thousand downloads of the free mobile content in the one month period, we were blown away by the fact that there were 1.1 million downloads in such a short time period,” says QD3. “It was great to have so many fans of The Carter ‘broadcasting’ and acting as our ‘DVD ambassadors’, as their phones rang. “We’re thrilled to have worked with Myxer to create such a huge impact on our sales.”
Myxer CEO Myk Willis says the campaign shows that the branding power of mobile personalization content is superior to many other forms of digital advertising. He says:  “The quality and frequency of user engagement with a mobile download, such as a ringtone or wallpaper that users seek out and carry with them for weeks, is clearly differentiated from that offered by traditional digital ads. The sustained brand awareness and viral potential of personal mobile content simply can’t be matched by short-lived banner impressions or clicks in isolation.”
You can see the free content available for download here.

Pay Per Download System Delivers Results, says Mobango

Mobango, the “social mobile application store”, says it has proof that the combination of its app-promotion service and the Mobango community of 5 million members, helps developers to be dramatically more effective in driving downloads of their apps, compared to traditional promotion methods.
The company says it has found that its Pay per Promoted Downloads (PPD) Platform is five to 20 times more effective than traditional promotion methods for applications. The PPD Platform is a bidding system that enables content owners to bid for premium visibility on Mobango, but only pay for the downloads they receive. Since developers only pay when they get downloads, they are able to generate new users at a fraction of the cost of traditional Cost Per Click (CPC) or Cost Per Impression (CPM) campaigns.
Mobango CEO Fabio Pezzotti believes the viral nature of the Mobango community adds to the effectiveness. "For a developer, if you promote on Mobango, it’s not just random users downloading your app, but a member of our community,” he says. “The various social features in Mobango mean that developers can create strong, long-term relationships with their customers."
The PPD Platform enables developers and content owners to geo-target their campaign by region and by handset, and to allocate a daily budget (e.g. $100 per day) to promote a particular app or mobile site. As developers set their maximum bids for a time period and download (eg $0.30 per download) and Mobango provides analytics to help them understand their users, developers are in full control of their success and can see the installed base of their application grow. Mobango offers PPD both on a self-service basis, and also on an ‘assisted PPD’ basis for brands and agencies.
The Mobango community has more than 5 million young early adopters, and over 1.1 million pieces of content, fully optimised for over 2,000 phones. Mobango saw a 500% increase in mobile applications downloads during 2009.

BuzzCity Survey Finds 90% of Mobile Users Have Bought by Mobile

BuzzCity has released the results of its fifth global survey investigating consumer mobile behavior. The survey focuses on the global mobile payments market. BuzzCity questioned 1,798 mobile users across the Americas, Asia, Africa, Western Europe and the Middle East on their use of the mobile as both a banking and payments device, and found that 90% of respondents had used their mobile to directly purchase products or services.
The survey examines two key themes in the mobile money market. Firstly, the use of the mobile as a platform for banking services. 47% of respondents did not know whether their banks offered banking services, and an additional 15% were aware of the offer but had not taken it up. This would indicate that banks still have some way to go in educating consumers about the availability and benefits of mobile banking services.
The second area considered was the use of the mobile platform for transactions. The survey found that although most of these purchases (68%) are related to mobile phone use, such as mobile content and prepaid airtime, users also buy other mainstream products with their mobiles. In fact, 23% have bought from online stores, paid a bill, bought prepaid utilities and made bookings through their mobile.
The survey identified three areas where progress is needed. The first is user education about mobile banking services to increase uptake. The second is the need for more partnerships between banks, operators and merchants to increase the number of products available for purchase. Finally, BuzzCity says that new services need to be developed to enable mobile transactions for those without access to traditional banking facilities
“There are clear opportunities for mobile transactions to grow as users, in this and previous surveys, indicate that they want to be able to use their mobiles to buy more goods, such as books, music, travel services, household utilities and electronic appliances,” says BuzzCity CEO, KF Lai. “Although there have been some developments in transforming the mobile into a banking and payment device, with 29% of the global mobile population still without access to a bank account and 56% without a credit or debit card, banking and mobile transaction providers are overlooking a much wider audience. The potential opportunities are huge, but the diverse challenges faced by the global mobile audience must not be overlooked. Mobile consumers have money to spend, but they must be provided with the opportunity to do so.”

Motorola Tops comScore's US Handset Chart

comScore has released the latest data from its MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the US mobile industry during the three month period between October 2009 and January 2010. The report ranks the leading mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and Smartphone operating system (OS) platforms in the US, according to their share of current mobile subscribers age 13 and older, as well as popular activities and content accessed via the subscriber’s primary mobile phone.
In the 3 month average ending in January, the US has 234 million mobile subscribers aged 13 and older, with device manufacturer Motorola ranking as the top OEM with 22.9% of US mobile subscribers. LG ranked second with a 21.7% share, followed by Samsung (21.1%), Nokia (9.1%) and RIM (7.8%).
42.7 million people in the US owned Smartphones in an average month during the November to January period, up 18% from the August - October period. RIM was the  leading mobile Smartphone platform in the US, with a 43% share of US Smartphone subscribers, an increase of 1.7 percentage points over three months earlier. Apple ranked second with a 25.1% share (up 0.3 percentage points), followed by Microsoft (15.7%), Google (7.1, up 4.3 percentage points), and Palm (5.7%). Google’s Android platform continues to see rapid gains in market share.
In an average month during the November through January 2010 time period, 63.5% of US. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile device, up 1.5%  compared to the previous three-month period. Browsers were used by 28.6% of subscribers (up 1.8%), while 21.7% of subscribers played games (up 0.4 percentage points). Access of social networking sites or blogs experienced strong gains in the period, growing 3.3 percentage points to 17.1% of mobile subscribers.

Smartphone Boom Powers Abphone Growth

A study carried out by Openwave Analytics has revealed that traffic to the Abphone mobile entertainment search engine in S. Africa reaches a third of Google’s mobile search traffic in the country. The study also concludes that content search is ranked in the top three most popular mobile Internet categories, after social networks and operator portals.
“This figure corroborates our estimations for all the countries where Abphone is present,” says Abphon CEO, Pierre Scokaert.
The boom in Smartphones has recently boosted Abphone usage. 77% of Abphone users in France, have a Smartphone (mostly iPhones), while in Great Britain it’s 74%, in S.Africa, 66%, in the US, 47%, and in India, 42%.
“Smartphone owners use Abphone twice as much as those with feature phones,” says Pierre Scokaert. “As the market share of Smartphones increases, so does usage of Abphone.”
Abphone’s ad-funded mobile entertainment search service aims to deliver the best content the web has to offer, specifically reformatted for viewing on a mobile screen. Whatever their topic of interest, Abphone users can trigger the service to create a custom multimedia portal on the fly.
Today, Abphone registers 1 million hours of service usage each month, with 1 million unique visitors, and an average of 10 visits per user. The company says the main reason for its popularity is word-of-mouth among young people.

Mobile + Online Raises Brand Awareness, says IAB

New research from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), the trade association for digital marketing, has revealed that using mobile and online advertising in combination can significantly increase brand awareness and purchase consideration.
The study, based on a sample of 875 mobile Internet users and qualitative focus groups, investigated current trends in consumer behaviour, and specifically the impact of cross-media ad campaigns on a range of brand metrics.
The IAB partnered with research agency Brand Driver, mobile agency Mobext, and financial services provider Nationwide Building Society, who ran a series of mobile and online display ads promoting Home Insurance. The campaign, which ran simultaneously over the mobile operator sites of 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone, and the mobile and web portals of MSN and Sky, found that:

• When exposed to ads across online and mobile, recognition was 43% greater than those exposed just to the online component.
• Consideration of Nationwide Home Insurance increased by 24% when respondents had been exposed to both the mobile and online ads.
• Spontaneous brand awareness was 50% higher amongst those who had seen mobile ads than those who had seen no Nationwide advertising, and increased to 114% when the sample was exposed to both online and mobile.
• Advertising across both platforms increased performance - the clickthrough rate online was 150% higher amongst those that were exposed to - and recalled - the mobile ad.

The study also identified three key trends for the mobile Internet, concerning consumer attitudes and behaviour, which the IAB says marketers should be incorporating into their 2010 communications strategies.
The first is using mobile to build brands and raise awareness. The research emphasises the fact that even in its relative infancy, mobile advertising can be a great brand-builder, raising awareness and prompting consumers to seek information. 37% of consumers stated that when they saw advertising on a mobile phone that interested them, they go to a PC or laptop to find out more.
The study also found, however, that consumers are still unsure of the cost implications of clicking through on mobile ads, with 60% of respondents still wary of clicking for this reason. However, this figure is around 17% lower than the last IAB mobile research, with KitKat, in July 2009. It is critical for brands to address this challenge by using mobile to spark intrigue or reinforce marketing messages to increase the impact of their cross-media campaigns, the IAB says.
The second trend is targeted advertising on mobile phones. The study confirmed that mobile Internet users respond better to advertising that is more relevant to their interests or intentions. Those in the purchase window for buying home insurance were 38% more likely to recall the mobile ads. In addition, for both media, the clickthrough rate was higher for those who were in the purchase window for home insurance – six  times more effective in both cases. Irrelevance was the top barrier for respondents who did not click on the mobile ad, with 48% of respondents citing this as the main reason for not clicking through for more information.
Brands across all sectors should look to complement the user’s session by looking to target their advertising based on interests or demographics, particularly as such mobile Internet techniques have become more sophisticated.
Finally, says the IAB, user experience is critical. Ads on what the user considers to be a ‘quality site’ are significantly more effective. Recognition of the mobile ads was 112% higher for those who enjoyed browsing the mobile site, and clickthrough rates were also 200% higher for those who rated the mobile site as ‘good or very good’. While mobile Internet usage may be more basic than PC-based surfing behaviour, consumers still felt that the experience and ease which which they were able to access information was of fundamental importance.
And with 18% of respondents stating that within the next year they expect to use the Internet more on a mobile than on their PC, brands need to be aware of the user experience not just on their own sites, but of those on which they advertise.
“In order for mobile to become a core part of any advertiser’s marketing mix, it’s essential that it is able to prove its effectiveness alongside more traditional media,” says Nationwide Digital Marketing Manager, Alex Bennett. “The use of industry research will be a key way of demonstrating the benefit of including mobile within a marketing plan.
“Partnering (with) the IAB on this project has provided some valuable insight into how mobile can influence the performance of other media, and the results have provided a positive case for the increased use of mobile as our digital strategy matures.”
Tim Elkington, head of research at the IAB adds: "The research shows us that mobile advertising is driving brand awareness and is particularly effective when experienced by users in a trusted and valued environment. We’ve also learnt how mobile internet consumption now fits seamlessly into users’ digital lives and how comfortable they are when switching between devices."

Study Highlights Growth in Mobile Internet Usage

The European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) has revealed the findings of new research that shows digital mobility making its way into the mainstream. Technological innovation, coupled with a diverse range of access points for consumers, is driving deeper online usage, presenting marketers with a vastly mobile pan-European audience to target and engage with in 2010 and beyond.
The EIAA’s Mediascope Europe study across 15 European markets highlights how consumers are extending the ways in which they enjoy and engage with the Internet, and its growing influence on everyday lives. With a majority of people now aware they can use the Internet via their mobile phone (48% vs. 47% last year), and a growth in wireless broadband and laptop use, the findings demonstrate how the increased diversity of Internet-enabled devices is allowing consumers to go online at any time of day and in more locations than ever before.
Overall, 71 million Europeans browse the mobile Internet in a typical week and, with almost an hour a day actively spent going online via their mobile (6.4 hours per week), ‘Internet-on-the-move’ is proving a more frequent pastime than reading newspapers (4.8 hours) or magazines (4.1 hours).
It’s the younger generation of early adopters that is largely driving this increase, with almost a quarter (24%) of 16-24 year olds and 21% of 25-34 year olds already using the mobile Internet, spending 7.2 and 6.6 hours on it respectively each week. This trend of increased consumer reach and time spent online looks set to continue with improving Internet coverage, speeds and services, the EIAA says, adding that marketers would therefore be well advised to recognise how consumers are increasingly engaging with the Internet, at more times throughout their day and across a myriad of interactive touch points, and ultimately use this insight to develop effective multimedia marketing strategies.
The Internet continues to prove a popular source of entertainment with 25% of Europeans gaming or listening to the radio online, and 32% watching films, TV or video clips online at least once a month. Among those with an Internet-enabled phone, 49% claim to receive video clips, websites or images on their mobile and 80% say that they pass on the content they receive. This suggests that those online via their mobile are both technologically sophisticated and deeply engaged - highlighting a prime opportunity for marketers to build brand awareness and peer recommendations.
Additionally, ‘Word of Web’ (which the EIAA defines as: “the developing trend of ‘word of mouth’ to ‘word of web’ or communicating online”), continues to play a central role in communications, with almost 71% of European Internet users admitting that they stay in touch with friends and relatives more as a result of the Internet. Again, mobile seems to be a big driver, with 48% of Europeans using their Internet-enabled phones for more than verbal conversation. 16% say they communicate using social media via their mobile, with 16% also using mobile Instant Messenger.
This year, the Mediascope Europe study was extended to incorporate a further five European markets in addition to the original 10. The research now includes Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey. While these markets all display very different characteristics and are at varying stages of Internet development, one trend that stands out is the speed of mobile Internet growth. This is particularly apparent amongst the larger Eastern European countries, all of which show no signs of the time-lag observed in larger Western countries when dial-up Internet and broadband connections were first adopted.
Poland tops the chart of markets that spend the most time on mobile Internet (10.3 hours per week), with Russia also appearing in the top five on 7.1 hours per week. Second and joint third places go to Italy (7.9 hours), and Belgium and Portugal (7.7 hours).  Interestingly, there are more mobile Internet users in Turkey compared to those that access Internet via their PC (21% vs. 20%) demonstrating that consumers will engage with new platforms if it makes the Internet more accessible for their everyday lives. These ‘newer’ markets such as Russia, Turkey, Poland and Portugal are regarded as rising stars, with a rapid increase in weekly Internet use expected in coming years. 
“Better devices and connectivity as well as enhanced consumer motivation all started coming together in 2009 to improve and extend the overall online experience. As a result, the Internet is now being consumed across PC, laptop, mobile and gaming devices, providing 24-7 access to digital information and entertainment,” says EIAA Executive Director, Alison Fennah. “This presents a compelling case for brands to explore and incorporate a growing number of complementary interactive platforms into the marketing mix.”
Xen Mendelsohn, Product Marketing Manager at Comverse Mobile Advertising, believes one of the most interesting findings from the research is the way in which print media is being overtaken by mobile Internet consumption.
“It seems Smartphones and mobile Internet are contributing to the decline in print media, encouraging users to catch up on news via their mobile devices on the go,” she says. She adds that all is not lost for traditional print publishers, however. 
“There’s still a huge opportunity for the publishing industry here. Look at the Guardian and Sky News iPhone apps which are incredibly popular for Smartphone users and give up-to-the-minute information no matter where the consumer is. What the publishing industry should do is see this as an opportunity to delve into mobile, while boosting their revenues.”
Mendelsohn believes that as long as mobile Internet users have a good quality service and decent display, mobile advertising could easily be tied into news information dissemination. “People can opt in or out of this, depending on whether they want a free or subsidised service,” she says. “The mobile operator is key to this taking off, as they own all the relevant information about the consumer. This will ensure all information is tailored accordingly, to reduce the risk of spam and irrelevant ads. It also allows them to offer incentives such as free or reduced-price mobile services, in return for receiving ads on your phone.
“It’s a matter of working together, publishing houses in conjunction with brands who want to advertise in a more modern and personalised way but also getting the operators involved from the word go. The options are almost limitless, it just requires cooperation.”

Golfing App Tops Chorus Paid Apps Chart

Social networking software developer envIO networks has released new user data based on activity from its Chorus iPhone Application. The Chorus January report focuses on the top10 most recommended apps within the Chorus community, as well as the top 10 free and paid apps, based on download attempts.
Since its launch in 2009, more than 100,000 users have used Chorus to keep track of what apps their friends are recommending and downloading. The community is based on shared interests and aiding the app discovery process, by making it easy for users to connect with friends, see their activities, and provide recommendations. Chorus is currently available on iPhone and iPod touch, and has recently launched internationally in 90 additional countries around the world.
Chorus users are active and engaged, with over a third of the daily users generating activity – rating, reviewing and commenting on friends’ activities. Chorus users are also incredibly social, with the average user inviting 78 friends to try out the app.
Based on the latest data, the most popular free and paid apps for January were Background Check and Let’s Golf, which took over from IMDb and DropZap, respectively. Another interesting trend witnessed in the report is that 28 of the 30 apps that made it to the list were making their debut, which emphasizes the popularity of new apps among discerning Chorus users.

The Top 10 Most Recommended Apps Among the Chorus Community in January 2010 were:

1. Fastmall
2. PrinterShare
3. ICE
4. Background Check App
5. Engadget
6. Waze: Community GPS navigation
7. Words With Friends Free   
8. pMessenger LE
9. Inrix Traffic!
10. Space Deadbeef

The Top 10 Paid Apps for January 2010, based on buy attempts, were:

1. Let’s Golf: $1.99
2. Little Runner: $0.99
3. Outside: $2.99
4. Rat On The Run: $0.99
5. Sand Garden: $0.99
6. Total Control Remote Edition : $59.99    
7. WritePad: $1.99
8. Ace Combat Xi Skies of Incursion: $4.99
9. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars: $9.99
10. Star*Burst: $1.99

“We’ve received great feedback from publishers and developers who are looking for helpful tools to help them track the hottest apps that users are downloading,” says Vladimir Edelman, VP of Marketing and Business Development for envIO networks. ”Users of the app find it very helpful as well, and we’ve seen a big increase in user activity. The average user now recommends the app to nearly 80 of their friends and downloads an average of three apps a month, which shows the tremendous power of growth through viral and social recommendations.”
envIO is developing Chorus for other leading Smartphone platforms, and is planning to announce rollouts in several new languages in the coming months.