We’ve all been patiently waiting and tomorrow at 6pm (local time), the Apple iPhone is officially on the market. The Frenzy all started Monday in New York City with enthusiasts forming lines to be the first to receive their iPhone. AT&T, the exclusive carrier, and Apple retail stores plan to increase security and employee forces to deal with the crowds.
The iPhone has become one of the most hyped product releases ever it is bound to change the mobile industry. There is still uncertainty about the phones performance and cost; $499 for the 4G and $599 for the 5G models. Regardless, the phone remains the talk of the mobile world for now.
What’s going on between eBay and Google? Some reports say it’s a feud between the two online corporations, while others claim it is merely a testing mechanism for eBay to see how much of their traffic is actually being driven by their ads on Google.
eBay reportedly removed all their ads from the search engine giant and will keep them off for the next week, which could cause some interesting backlash. According to Schaeffer’s Research, eBay is currently one of Google’s biggest advertisers, generating 1% to 2% of Google’s annual revenue and spending tens of millions of dollars a year on keyword ads that generate links to eBay listings when Google users type in specific search terms.
If the feud is the true reason behind the removal of the ads, then it will be interesting to see how this affects their relationship, Google’s response and eBay’s sales. If this is merely a test to see how much traffic Google actually generates for eBay, this could be an interesting lesson for online marketers to see how effective the search engines are for their online campaigns.
On June 1st, Amp’d Mobile officially announced they had filed for Chapter 11: Bankruptcy Protection. A press release on the Amp’d site explains that with an increase in growth, the company has been unable to keep up with customer demands and is seeking government protection to help stabilize the weakening financial status of the company.
With about 200,000 subscribers, Amp’d has about 80,000 non-paying customers. With several debts, this clearly has created a problem for the company. The Chapter 11 files indicated that Amp’d owes over $33 million to Verizon Wireless and another $16 million to Motorola. Total debts are around $100 million.
So, will Amp’d be able to get past this $100 hurdle and not fall victim like ESPN Mobile did last year? It seems that while mobile users are interested in the services provided by the Amp’d and ESPN networks, perhaps the problem is figuring out a better pricing model. Mobile phone subscribers are going to continue to be reluctant to shed additional dollars for an over priced service.
Amp’d Mobile was established in December, 2005 and works with the MTV network and Universal Music Group (to name a few) as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) to proved music, videos and entertainment content to subscribers mobile devices.
Just two weeks after the merger of Microsoft and Screen Tonic, AOL announced it has officially acquired mobile ad network and management platform provider Third Screen Media. Third Screen will operate under the AOL Advertising.com division.
Third Screen Media is currently the largest mobile provider and mobile ad network worldwide. Third Screen offers MADX, the web-based mobile ad management/delivery system, and TSM which is the mobile ad network with over 100 publishers. Mobile ads can be delivered through WAP sites, SMS, MMS and mobile video.
This merger positions Advertising.com as the “One-Stop” shop for advertisers and publishers interested in mobile advertising. By taking the lead in their capabilities for online advertising, Advertising.com will combined their advertising solutions with the next levels of the mobile advertising channel and technologies.
Today, Microsoft has announced the purchase of ScreenTonic, a Paris based mobile advertising technology company. Currently the ScreenTonic’s platform, Stamp, delivers text or banner ads to mobile devices throughout the UK. The technology uses Geotargeting ad delivery and provides campaign management, billing and reporting capabilities.
ScreenTonic will become part of Microsoft’s Digital Advertising Solutions Group. Clearly, Microsoft is confident that the mobile marketing industry has a future. However, it is not clear how this affects the US mobile industry. Other rumors have surfaced about Microsoft purchasing Third Screen Media, a US based mobile advertising firm. We’ll all have to wait to see what Microsoft does next in the mobile industry.
A recent survey by comScore discussed Mobile TV adaptability, awareness, content and key purchasing motivators. The comScore report clearly indicates the early adapters to the technology are primarily tech savvy males (65%) and 35 years or younger (46%). The report also shows that 46% of the women and 54% of the men surveyed are interested in Mobile TV.
Verizon V-cast leads in awareness among Mobile TV services. Of the current Mobile TV subscribers surveyed, 43% where aware of V-Cast, 34% knew of Mobi TV and 15% for Modeo. The majority of non-subscribers, 56% of the respondents, prefer a full-show and 53% prefer general content such as news.
The survey also indicates 71% of participants are most sensitive to the cost of the Mobile TV service. Other main influencers include picture quality and screen size. Another 67% of those interested in Mobile TV would support mobile ads to receive a free subscription.
An agency stands its ground and claims to protest landing pages at Ad Tech SF this morning. A clever way to stir up dialogue about moving the professional marketing masses beyond the landing page and a one-size-fits-all optimization technique to segmentation based on user need and intent. It is time for marketers and agencies to change their approach to web development and marketing campaigns so that they become one; aligned. The post-click, segmented conversion path provides the framework for optimal user and sales relationship experience by quickly, yet skillfully, delivering relevant content and messaging. Expect higher conversion rates and more lucrative opportunities to have web and email dialogues with users who have profiled themselves based on need/want and stage.
Big news for Google! The giant announced that it has acquired the online advertising company, DoubleClick, for $3.1 billion. This acquisition gives Google access to DoubleClick’s advertisement software, as well as its relationships with Web publishers, advertisers and advertising agencies. This is a profound merger for the industry, as between them, Google and DoubleClick account for over 80 percent of the ads delivered to website publishers.
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Today, Netflix officially announced it is almost ready to move online.
Convergence of Television and Internet is getting closer and closer. Netflix puts itself in the middle to be a participant in the market of allowing users to watch movies and TV shows through downloads on their PC. Although the amount of movies is limited at this point, it is important to note that Netflix is betting its entire operating income of $40MM to gain traction in this area. We see three potential strategies here: 1) become a first mover in this space to establish the Netflix brand as an ultimate online movie and entertainment destination 2) combat Blockbusters encroaching market share for online video rentals 3) set themselves up for acquisition by one of the leading TV networks, such as Viacom, Fox, who are unable to move as quickly as the pure online shops are. We saw this with YouTube, MySpace and others.
