It seems U.S. consumers are slowly getting used to searching for information on their mobile phones. And service providers are beginning to deploy ways to cash in.
More than 9 million users reported accessing a mobile Internet search service in the last month, according to recent figures from M:Metrics, and a recent study by the Mobile Marketing Association found that half of those who hadn’t used mobile search were interested in trying it over the next few months.
Perhaps most importantly, the MMA reported that 41 percent of respondents said sponsored links wouldn’t negatively impact their use of mobile search.
Google Inc. quietly launched its first effort to monetize mobile search, expanding its successful AdWords service to mobile phones. The Internet giant allows AdWords customers to place marketing messages—including clickable links—in listings retrieved through Google’s search service. Companies can develop their own mobile advertisements and marketing campaigns, and can set daily budgets and scheduled marketing messages, paying only when consumers click the ad or call the business.
The U.S. offering follows April’s launch of a similar service in Japan. Google has applied to patent a system for click-through ad placements that determines the type of device being used and automatically takes a user to a mobile Web site or places a voice call, depending on the phone’s capabilities.
As might be expected in the early days of mobile search, the Internet giants have a substantial lead in terms of traffic. Google drew the most users in the second quarter, attracting an average of 4.5 mobile searchers every month during the second quarter of 2006. Yahoo also fared well, luring more than 3.8 million users a month; MSN Mobile saw roughly 1.1 million users while only 700,000 searchers tapped AOL Mobile’s service in an average month.
Go2 Search, a subsidiary of California-based online search company go2 Directory Systems, rounded out the top five performers, drawing more than 400,000 users per month.
Indeed, as Google and Yahoo make headlines with each step into wireless, go2 has stealthily gained traction among wireless users. The company was among the first to place ads in mobile search results, delivering marketing messages for customers including ABC Inc., American Express Co., Jamdat Mobile and Progressive Casualty Insurance Co.
Go2 operates the mobile Yellow Page directory and is available on the decks of carriers including Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Verizon Wireless. The company claims to have delivered more than 50 million ad impressions last year as traffic to its WAP-based interface increased 51 percent from 2004.
But while Go2 and its online brethren have the advantage of familiar brands and substantial user bases, pure-play mobile search provider JumpTap Inc. offers a white-label service for operators looking to deliver their own branded offerings. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company last week expanded its service with a new ad platform that supports a variety of marketing methods including pay-per-click, pay-per-call, banners and interstitial ads. Marketing firms can target users by geography and device type, and can interact directly with wireless users during a purchase.
JumpTap also introduced a search index that allows both off- and on-portal wireless offerings to be discovered during wireless searches. Mobile Web site owners can submit their sites for inclusion in the index through JumpTap’s Web site, and the product features a “spidering” component for automated delivery of Internet-based mobile content.
“What we’re doing now is optimizing where ads are being presented,” said Eric McCabe, JumpTap’s vice president of marketing. “We’re helping advertisers find the appropriate space for their type of ad.”
