THE EMERGING ADVERTISING WINDFALL

There is an Internet and mobile advertising conference underway, so these days the city is full of tech and Ad guys from all over the world. I was part of an interesting forum headed by the Yahoo team on where they felt mobile advertising was heading. I entered the meeting with some bias thanks to recent news of the pummeling Yahoo has gotten from the likes of Icahn and Microsoft, but I left feeling rather elated and encouraged about their future in the business. Of course, any good management team can sell just about anything to anyone, so I am reasonably more optimistic but not about to put my money in the Yahoo pot.

Yahoo is quite entrenched in Asia (hence Microsoft’s interest) offering services that I would classify as moderately interesting. They have a system that places banners on the different sites that you visit on your phone, promising correct placement and in some cases, a fun and interactive experience. They have little spider- bots (I don’t speak nerd) that make sure that when a topic is searched, your company is placed first when browsing online. You pay when consumers click on your link and you can bid for the price of your link placement (very efficient). Lastly and what I find most interesting, they have a platform that develops an online system that is both advertising and operations related. Ex:

Citibank signs up with Yahoo, whenever “bank” is searched online, Citibank comes up and gives the customer easy links to signing up via phone, SMS, or online. If I was browsing my online stock page, I might see a banner for Citibank that drops down into a video with links to learn more or speak to a representative. If I was searching for a new home-- I might see the Citibank link to “home loans and how to apply.”

These online systems are based on user profiles and demographics, which means that they can determine where and when to be placed-- which makes it RELEVANT for the consumer. When you are browsing the net and its world of information and junk, relevant can make all the difference.

Now, all of this is not new, but in the last few months it has become easier for companies to access/understand and consumers to use. As mobile phones get faster and easier to manage. As these websites improve and look better on our smaller screens. As individuals trust and become accustomed to going about their day to day lives through their mobile phones—this mobile advertising future looks all the more lucrative.

Will this mobile net, which needs to be developed and designed differently from the Internet, be the future for advertising? Absolutely. We are going to live in a world where road warriors of today with their blackberry’s and high speed Internet connection become the majority of the public. We will be accessing our stocks, buying homes, canvassing our vacations—all on the go, whether on our computers or phones. The millions of Iphones sold is testament to the fact that good hardware and good software when paired can move generations of technological dinosaurs. If the Iphone gets any better, i can see my 89-year-old grandmother trading in her Treo—and that will be quite the feat.

So if mobile online is becoming a reality, what is going to happen to all of these WAP sites, SMS based services, the voice based Ad-Phone? Technology is leapfrogging forward and a lot of very large invested companies are going to find them without a market. That is unless they can adapt and change.

I'm quite pleased with these developments. I love technology and I enjoy making my life more efficient (its the logistics blood that runs through me). Even at the expense of my eyes (getting worse), my fingers (getting worse) and my “moments of Zen: (getting less). I think a world of information at your fingertips can only be a good thing. It makes the business landscape a lot more competitive and challenging.

THE EGG HAS HATCHED

EGG is an innovative company similar to Chikka, though facing fewer internal obstacles these days. Primarily a CP, this buyout must work out very nicely for them as the industry has been shrinking quite rapidly. It is not so much their fault as the fact that the market went in a different direction. The content required to entertain subscribers these days lies well beyond the traditional CP offerings of RBT's, News updates, Games, etc.

EGG's fate does not interest me as much as the deliberate move by Globe to expand its service offering by encouraging this buyout. Gerry Ablaza stated that: “globes strategy is to drive growth through expansion in adjacent spaces such as mobile content creation and distribution.” I think it is canny that he did not mention that this move by EGG has also opened up a number of possibilities for Globe to generate additional advertising revenue—the direction of the vast majority of mobile companies. With Globe acting as the content provider, developer, and telecommunications company, they are positioned to develop and support multiple platforms for their corporate clients.

I remember reading a few months ago about CURE and Mindshare and all the fantastic services that Smart was looking to offer its corporate consumers. Many months later, not much if anything at all has hit the market…I think that they are finding that it is quite difficult to merge the needs and expertise of content providers and advertising firms with what is best for Smart. There are just too any technologies, proprietary software and corporate clowns trying to protect their own little turf to the detriment of the whole. This move by Globe is the first right step in the industry and I would bank that many will soon follow. TELCO has realized that all of the billions they have spent on infrastructure and hardware, can be paid back much sooner with a little horizontal expansion. Who better to create and develop services for mobile consumers and corporate clients than the telecommunications company themselves?

On a side note, I briefly came across a discussion on WiMax the other evening. I'll need to do some digging around, but if WiMax does find itself implanted in major cities, how will telecommunications companies respond?

WiMax simply put, is WiFi on steroids, where broad areas like cities or countries are connected with high-speed Internet. Its been making some headway these days in the more technologically progressive countries-- even The Fort in Taguig! With Internet connection on demand and my road warrior of a Nokia Communicator linked to Skype, I would rarely need to make a traditional phone call. That is one less ultra Platinum globe and VIP China Mobile consumer to gouge. Think of the paradigm shift.

THE DUST IS SETTLING IN CHINAS TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY

Presently hopping between HK, Shenzen and Beijing there has been a good flow of information on the recent buyouts by large Chinese companies. Mostly from irritated traders on the Hang Seng, who will be making all their money back in the coming weeks.

A subscriber breakup of 297 million for China Telecoms, 258 million for China Unicom and 425 million for China Mobile is certainly a better alternative to the present, fragmented, telecommunications industry in China. This wave of buyouts was forced on the local companies by the government as it works to strengthen the telecommunications industry in the most populated country in the world.

This is all well and good as it is the right step to take if the government wants to have a balanced and competitive industry. Of course, with a subscriber base at almost double any of its competition, China Mobile is the 800 lbs gorilla. Let us see how things roll out when the much baited 3g licenses are released. It is a fairly level playing field, one that will give the underdogs a fighting chance.

I am just glad that there seems to be some sort of agreed upon result from the last few months of negotiations. All of these grand industrial steps have been slowing thins down for the other players in the industry. It will be nice to get some attention again.

THE THIRD SCREEN

A mobile version of the Internet is a topic that has been popping up in casual discussions and some of the sites I have been reading. This is not the same as you squinting at your mobile phone, trying to browse ESPN.com, this is a whole new internet for the mobile device and it carries the moniker: “Third Screen.” Let us put aside the depressing WAP of the 90’s. This is an experience that will be powered by content, applications and information, accessible through your smart phones. My present knowledge on this subject is spotty at best, but let us chew on the idea a bit:

The Internet is marvelous. I do not need to expound further. Yet how many of us actually browse the Internet on our mobile devices with ease? Statistics say that 10% of all mobile phones are smart phones—but who are we fooling, probably 8% of these smart phones have speeds of access match the Cebu Pacific refund hotline. When you partner this “siesta” velocity to the tiny screens most smart phones sport (I Phone and E90 aside), mobile surfing is really more of a way to look busy when you are not or at best, kill time between meetings.

The Internet of the 21st century is a far cry from what we had back in the 90’s. Today we are bombarded by a rich experience of data, photos, information, music, and advertisements. The whole system is calibrated for home/work PCs and will continue to expand and improve through technology. It also helps that the world is allowing more and more of this Internet to enter our daily lives, some of the content I see out there is just embarrassing (but we all enjoy clicking on it anyway!).

I feel that mobile technology will always be a step behind, primarily because the development of our mobile phones are hampered by industry ceiling set for size and selling price. If for the foreseeable near future the mobile Internet as a subset of the much larger PC Internet will be noticeably inferior—why not approach from another angle?

I will assert that for most professionals, we would rather move around our tight schedules for a little, uninterrupted web time on a computer, then attempt to browse on the go. There is just more that you can accomplish in an hour of Internet time behind a powerful computer, than you can in 3 hours on a phone. Already I find my poor eyes benefiting from the larger and brighter screens on new computers.

This “Third Screen” as an article I read on Adage mentioned, will develop a new Internet rather than a subset of our existing one. New brands not just an extension of old brands. A world where barcode scanners like the one on my Nokia can be used to scan products and access information through the web direct to our phones. Perhaps social networking sites will be seamlessly integrated, where we might correspond with our network by scrolling down our contacts list and clicking on a name. Like for many things in life, software adoption depends on ease of use and presentation, not just by merely existing.

Of course, these are just conjectures. Most companies have not even made a full shift to the Internet, what more a Mobile net. I cringe when I think of all the expensive programs that are currently shuffling old media to new media (think of WSJ and WSJ.com). However, it is an interesting step towards the future and one that is not as far fetched as you might think.

QUICK MOBILITY AND THE INDUSTRY NEWS 05/05/08

Goodbye Microsoft
High fives went all around as the elated Yahoo board celebrated Microsoft’s withdrawal of its bid. I suppose this was expected as Yahoo was dragged kicking and screaming to the negotiating table, by the much larger and strategically logical Microsoft—I do not think they even got to the dirty details of the merger! It was always on a more superficial level.

Steve Ballmer released a letter to Yahoo which outlines the coming difficulties for this Web 1.0 staple: ““This would effectively enable Google to set the prices for key search terms on both their and your search platforms and, in the process, raise prices charged to advertisers on yahoo.”

Coupled with the loss of good personnel and the inherently weak position of Yahoo in the market, I hope Jerry Yang’s protective nature over the company he started, includes a brilliant strategic plan for the next 2 years (Aren’t emotions supposed to be kept out of business?). Otherwise, we will probably see the return of Microsoft. Well, one can always hope.

Mindshare Event
Good, it’s about time that the RP starts looking in this direction more actively: (http://www.inquirer.net/vdo/player.php?vid=710)

Social Networking Sites For Business
Rapleaf a social web search company has a study that shows that men are more likely to use social networking sites for business—and not to a small degree. This includes sites like Friendster, Facebook, Myspace, Belbo, Etc. I am still trying to get a copy of this study. I need to get on the ball with this—I hardly use my Facebook, what more network for business on it.

QUICK INDUSTRY NEWS (04/06/08)

Yahoo drags, Ballmer irked
“It has now been more than two months since we made our proposal to acquire Yahoo! at a 62% premium to its closing price on January 31, 2008, the day prior to our announcement. Our goal in making such a generous offer was to create the basis for a speedy and ultimately friendly transaction. Despite this, the pace of the last two months has been anything but speedy.”

t seems that Steve Ballmer is showing his claws as Microsoft loses its patiences with Yahoo. April 26, 2008 is the day we will all be waiting for. If Yahoo has not answered (favorably), Microsoft will take its offer to the shareholders at what I would guess would be a reduced purchase price. For Yahoo, I am still curious as to why they think they can hold out for better? They were not doing doing well before the offer nor were they strategically placed to challenge Google. This Microsoft bid was the best thing that might have happened for the board, who will be able to leave semi-gracefully, before getting clobbered further by their competition.

What I am sure has become a major concern for Microsoft is the new anti-monopoly law being put into place by Beijing. Yahoo is quite invested in Alibaba and since a major factor behind the Microsoft/Yahoo merger is the Chinese Market, I wouldn't be surprised to hear further aggressive statements coming from Microsoft, as they work to complete this merger expediently.

The end of 1 year multiple entry visas to China?
I received a call today from a friend in HK complaining about the new regulations being imposed on foreign businessmen in China. He read an article stating that 1 year, multiple entry visas would no longer be issued. Aside from being a major revenue boost for China, it also minimizes the number of foreigners that enter the country (they have been at this for a few years). This is going to hit a lot of businesses, specifically the small and mid sized entrepreneurs. Business in todays world necessitates travel. China requires a greater attention to relationship building than most. I am sure many of us old China hands have our own little stories of how weak local relationships have led to missing shipments, delayed licenses and similar “irritations.” Worded in a more direct manner-- you want to do business on the mainland, you make sure you are there to eat and drink with the local government, sing songs with the company management, and pace the floors with the factory workers, or you may be in for quite a ride. Guanxi and restricted visas do not go well together.

FOCUS MEDIA NIPS THE 800 POUND GORRILLA

Focus Media and China Mobile have been dealing with serious public backlash these last few days. Any company that can rattle an 800 pound gorilla like China Mobile deserves some attention. Presently, success stories in China involving hundreds of millions are not as uncommon as one might think. Contracts and licenses are still reliant on close relationships, whether nurtured or blatant-- like token board seats and “partnerships.”

Focus Media was started by a young entrepreneur, whose connections and adept assessment of the local market, has resulted in all of the LCD screens you see in the many elevators and building lobbies throughout cities like Beijing and Shanghai. These screens play expensive advertisements that are justified by the fact that millions of Chinese have nothing to do but stare when riding overcrowded elevators. Clever. Lucrative.

Venturing beyond screens and into your mobile handsets, the article I was forwarded read: “Chinese authorities said Monday they are investigating complaints that millions of cell phone users were spammed with unwanted text messages from advertisers...the uproar over what China's media has dubbed “Text-message gate” has drawn apologies from a major advertiser and the country's biggest mobile phone carrier.” This spam hit more than 200 million mobile phone users through China Mobile and China Unicom. Wow. That is 4 times the total mobile subscriber population in the Philippines.

So, what exactly is the problem here, spam messages are common in other countries? Well, for one, my guess is that Focus Media used the profiles garnered from one of their other existing services (Screens, Online, and a few others). That is a big deal and one that the rest of the world has not been able to address. Just who owns your information?

I have invested in the Mobile and Advertising field because I feel that information, specifically, personalized information, can change the Mobile Phone and Computer into a completely different experience for the subscriber. It can become a gateway for advertisers to give that personal touch, One that is welcomed by the consumer because it is both entertaining, relevant and interesting. Your life can create this personalized bubble-- at least with regard to how the world interacts with you.

SPAMMING does the complete opposite. It turns the Mobile Phone and your computer into a source of irritation. What really goads me is the fact that first impressions count. Look at how China Mobile and China Unicom have reacted: stronger rules and regulations; limiting Focus Media's gateways. This company has made it that much harder for the rest of us to operate. The public is now up in arms, complaining about the privacy they expect (they do not realize their profiles have been used in many other forms for many years). They feel cheated—violated. As the effects of this ripple outwards, you will find other telecommunications companies taking a similar stance. I do not blame them, the best way to protect the consumer is to design rules that weed out all but the most promising and value added services.

For Focus Media, its a big drop in their share price and a less lucrative future. For the rest of us, it is the start of the battle between how far we will allow advertising companies to go. the information is out there and in their hands, we will just have to see whether it becomes the interactive and personalized future that I would like to see? An annoying, “pop up” windows experience? Or that small and balanced, middle ground...

STARBUCKS SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE

My Starbucks Idea: A new social networking site that allows consumers to post ideas online. Similarly the Seatte based company will be able to inform consumers via their Ideas in Action blog. It is nice to see my favorite coffee company taking steps to improve their dismal performance through web 2.0, regardless how boring this whole plan of their sounds. I personally do not see why I would want to read the Starbucks blog, nor can I think of anything to post on the social networking site other than: 1) Lower your prices 2) Give me free internet 3) Pad your chairs. Maybe if I enter these comments a few hundred times it will hit home.

Recently Starbucks has been making some international changes. I have noticed in Shanghai that they are upgrading their coffee machines to one that will deliver a more uniformed taste. Of course, until this change is completed and the Baristas are trained, I am forced to keep bringing back my watered down latte for an extra shot of espresso (free of charge). I have also just read that Starbucks will go back to grinding coffee in their stores as it improves the aroma.

Well, being proactive is certainly better than sitting around and watching your share price drop.

NEW BILL MAKES IT ILLEGAL TO TRACK ONLINE INFORMATION

Richard Brodsky has proposed a bill that makes it illegal to trace and categorize information on internet users for advertising purposes without consent. I am not well versed on current US laws, but I would expect that this will soon enter the mobile field. What exactly defines the "user information" in this bill and what are the parameters on consent? This will have a large impact on both web 2.0 and mobile 1.0 as both rely heavily on user profiles to generate accurate advertising demographics. Which pay the bills! As a digital medium, the sharing of information across many platforms is exactly what makes these industries interesting to brands and advertisers. The world is changing, information is out there and becoming more and more accessible. I do not believe that user consent is enough to protect the consumers information. Lawmakers will need to devise creative bills to address the varied and flexible nature of these industries.

One thing is for certain, this is just the beginning. In many countries, laws governing the new services and applications of the web and your mobile phone have not been created yet. With developers rapidly firing out new software, this is going to be a sensitive topic for the next year or two.

AT&T AND VERIZON WIN THE BID

The WSJ reports: "AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless, dominated the bidding at the government's recent auction of radio spectrum. Putting them in a commanding position to roll out advanced wireless internet services to consumers in coming years." Verizon took 109 licenses, with 227 for ATT. This spectrum is free and clear for all entrants, and with both companies eating up roughly 80% of the total $ made by the government on this bid, we can expect high speed internet applications to hit American shores 2009 and up. This will make mobile TV a viable possibility, as there will be enough bandwidth to handle the size requirements.

Where was Google in all of this? I would not be surprised to hear that they have already crafted some sort of a partnership with these telco companies. With their upcoming android and the huge online possibilities that are brought forth by the results of this bid, Google has a lot to gain.

QUICK NEWS (Mobility and The Industry- News and Interests) 03/17/08

Solar Paint
Scientists work to develop photo-voltaic paint. This in effect is a type of solar cell paint, which would complement and in many ways, revolutionize our current concept of solar power generation- namely, big, expensive panels! (Link: http://www.techotic.com/paint-yourself-a-solar-panel.html) Interesting direction to take as I assume it requires a smaller up front investment and holds a greater possibility of being used mainstream in developing countries, where political will may not be particularly strong. Just how much energy can be stored in this manner remains to be seen, but like the saying goes: every little bit helps.

Interestingly enough, I just read in the latest Technology Review that scientists are working on a more advanced version. This dye-sensitized cells are a light-absorbing dye. Unlike the "paint application" abovem, these dyes can be absorbed into just about anything. Clothing, windows, tents, etc. The production of these dyes would also be cheap. Much cheaper than photo-voltaic applications.

Not too bright for Beijing Olympics
"Whether intentionally or unintentionally, some kind of cultural genocide is taking place." broadcast by the Dalai Lama from his home in India. There is an non-confirmed number of 80 people dead floating in the air. The situation is being handled in a strongly Chinese fashion, aka: fly swatting. Beijing has a long history of tolerance with dissidents...(Taiwan, Tiananmen) and this controversy is fueling unrest with the Muslims in the Xinjiang region of China. I would say that things are looking more and more prickly for Beijing.

$1,500,000,000 Digital Advertising Boost
GM is planning on spending half of its 3 billion budget into digital marketing. This basically means online, mobile and gaming advertisements. Interesting to watch more and more companies head in this direction. GM is an industry giant and one whose actions are closely monitored by plenty of American companies. We can expect more of this sort in the coming months.

QUICK MOTORING NEWS 03/17/08

Tesla roadsters go into production
Mar 17th and the Tesla roadster goes on for regular production. They estimate a product run of around 600 roadsters for 2008, with an estimated production capacity of around 100 roadsters a month. great for the environment. I still think they are ugly.

BMW expands during a recession
BMW plans to invest $750,000,000 in its Spartanburg, USA plant. This focuses on the X3, X5, and X6 models. I wonder if this is really a good move by the Bavarian giant, especially when Toyota is limiting its US production, Chrysler is downsizing plants, and GM... well, they have been slicing away for years. There is a recession coming. Americans are losing their homes and in some cases (Bear) their savings, is it really wise to expand now?

TRACKING BLOGS

Nielsen will be conducting research examining "the correlation between bloggers and the boxoffice."

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3ib8b5060e33b9624e538db7cb8376b0e3

Its about time that we had some numbers verifying the impact of bloggers, soon I would like to see the same research applied on many of Web 2.0 regular players. This will make it significantly more interesting for advertisers and VAS providers alike.

FREE ONLINE ADVERTISING

"Nothing is ever free in life." A maxim that my mother dutifully drilled into my head as I was growing up. Yet, from the perspective of companies like Toyota and Doritos, free online advertising is what they have been benefiting (or in the case of toyota, will benefit) from.

Doritos has a clever little campaign which touts a tag line of: "You make it, we play it." Creative consumers can turn in their Doritos advertisement, the web public will vote, and the winner will be broadcast for all to see. Similarly, Toyota is running an interactive project for its Corolla where one of its attributes will be sketchies: short and funny videos that will be posted on YouTube.

For both these brands,they actively engage artists and fame seekers alike to develop entertaining content that can be used to promote their products. It can be argued that the 4 million Toyota is paying to promote this online campaign, as well as the prize money given by Doritos does not make this a "freebie." However, I would like to point out that they not paying for the content and accessing the web through free sites, so they are not really paying for the platform ether. Resulting in a pittance of a total expense for the coverage garnered. In television terms this would mean you are not paying for both the production costs and broadcasting costs.

Nothing lasts forever, sites like Facebook and YouTube are quickly looking for ways to capitalize on these projects. We can all agree that they will be massive $$$ generators! Companies like M:Metrics in the UK are starting to show that campaigns of this sort are rapidly gaining ground on Online Adspend. For companies that are not currently engaged in similar online campaigns, now would be an excellent time to start exploring. Web 2.0 is all about creativity, flexibility, and the willingness to try new things.

QUICK NEWS (Mobility and The Industry- News and Interests) 03/06/08

Mobile Over Fixed
Wired News reports that for the first time Americans say they would have more trouble giving up their mobile phones than a traditional phone. On a typical day, 31% of mobile phone owners use text messaging and 15% use the devices camera features. More Americans are are also experiencing an increased dependency on their blackberry devices. While this may not come as such a big surprise for Filipinos, who's demographic landscape and weak fixed line services have long made the mobile phone the staple for communications. It does outline the growing change in developed countries, who have benefited from a vast expanse of wires and cables that give them connectivity through fixed lines and fast broadband connection. I am quite pleased at this short report, it clearly outlines what I believe is happening in the industry. That the present mobile phone population estimates are vastly understated. As the mobile phone becomes the communications tool of preference, we will see a surge in usage from consumers who will no longer be using their fixed lines and consumers that prefer to do the majority of their emails and web applications "on the go." Your mobile phone is the convergence of all these devices, making it a massive growth industry for advertisers and VAS companies alike.

More reason to worry about the environment
BY 2030 "Ozone pollution alone is likely to cause four times mre premature deaths per head of population than in 2000.(OECD)" And this is WITH current policies (which have undergone serious changes in the last 2 years). Maybe that Bio-Fuel deal they just signed in Washington for the Philippines will help (Hah!)

Girls are smarter than boys...
I just read an interesting article in science daily that reports that girls may yet again, be smarter than boys. Studying the different brain functions for language comprehension and fluency. There is now hard data through fMRI studies that support that girls "still showed significantly greater activation in language areas of the brain than boys." Girls it seems can process more abstract information (hence the loosely used term: smarter) than boys, who, in the scientists words may "have some kind of bottleneck in their sensory processes that can hold up visual or auditory information and keep it from being fed into the language areas of the brain."

Hmmmm. Interesting. If I cannot learn a language well through reading or hearing... osmosis? You know, not to rekindle my youth, I but I do remember kids in our class who could not retain information during classes. They were often segregated into small groups which met after school and wore finely pointed "dunce caps."

Who am I to argue with scientists (fluent in 3 languages, basic in 2). At least they were nice enough to give men some bit of saving grace, by throwing us the evolutionary card: We have evolved in this manner to allow us to "quickly recognize danger associated sights and sounds." So, I may not be able to absorb vast swaths of information, but if I see a T Rex barreling down on me, my ever evolved brain rings "DANGER!" Fabulous.

QUICK INDUSTRY NEWS 02/19/08

Network fees come under fire
A policy paper will be released late February by the AAAA and the ANA questioning the high fees networks are charging them when buying time on television shows. These fees are in the millions of dollars and remind us of the pre-digital days, where workers had to physically time, edit and insert commercials, in between shows. Considering that most programs are handled by computers with planned schedules produced well in advance, it is no surprise that networks are under pressure to relieve advertisers of "money squeezing" charges. Lets not forget that these days, marketers are becoming more and more insistent on tracking their advertising monies. Poorly justifiable expenses of this sort will soon go the way of the dinosaur.

iPaper
A document viewer that converts and streams PDF documents on to the web, for easy viewing of large files. It adds a nice touch by allowing you to read documents through a scrollable window, turning pages (like a magazine), or a slide show. Advertisers will delight in the way it seamlessly integrates googles AdSense inside each of the documents ($$$), making non web-pages monetizable. Revenues generated from advertisements are split between the Publisher and Scribd. Considering they have already received around $4,000,000 in funding from Silicon Valley, I would say this "YouTube of Documents" will only improve (www.scribd.com).

Mobile People launches Ad Server
"This Ad Server provides the capability to deliver targeted mobile ad campaigns for directory publishers... advertisements can be targeted to users based on time, keyword, category or location (Mobile Europe)." This service seems to promise an upgrade to the traditional yellow pages. Ex. "If a mobile user is searching for a car showroom in his vicinity the user can also be provided with car insurance results and local garages." I know that this has been something companies have been attempting to develop in the Philippines (look at how you get SMS advertisements on SM stores, when you are in the vicinity of SM). As far as I can tell, the technology is still expensive and the application by local content providers, not well integrated. A pity, because this sort of a service when integrated with the web, can really bring benefit to the consumer.

THE LASTING IMPRESSION OF MOBILE ADVERTISEMENTS

The Xperia X1 will be the first mobile phone developed between Microsoft and Sony Ericsson, to be launched 2nd quarter of 2008. With Googles mobile phone operating system well in the works and a hugely successful IPhone, it is clear that the technology behind Mobile Phones will be making a drastic shift in 2008 and the coming years. Companies are developing phones that integrate your consumer lifestyle with strong business applications. From the stocks you track to the weekly episodes of Grey's Anatomy you watch, these phones are rivaling computers in terms of importance for your day to day life.

From a Mobile Advertising perspective, technology and user acceptance is slowly developing into that dream of a lifestyle integrated and connected consumer. However, as pointed out by some detractors at the Barcelona conference; you can advertise through Mobile Phones, but how do you develop the "endearing" and "loyalty inducing" advertisements that are prevalent across print and television media? It is one thing to target users through short 3G clips, MMS blasts and Mobile clips. You can even spread the same message across several mediums through a diversified campaign (Blogs + 3G + RBT + MMS/SMS). These are all interesting and certainly well targeted advertisements-- but do they develop the connection that a rich, colorful, and audio superior, television advertisement does? Can they?

I still remember the Wendy's "Where's the beef?" campaign or Joe Isuzu's ridiculous claims, I remember the Delmonte nuns and their tomato sauce as clearly as I remember sexy, 90's Britney dancing for Pepsi. How will mobile advertisers develop this sort of an impact? With small screens, multiple running applications, and the fact that a mobile phone is DESIGNED for multitasking (consumer focus is fragmented), this will be no small feat. I'm looking forward to watching the industry progress.

QUICK TECHNOLOGY NEWS 02/10/08

Bluetooth and WiFi Connect: A collaboration between Bluetooth and WiFi functions is going to be announced mid this week. The idea is to use a single chip that combines Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities (currently your lap top runs two separate chips). This combined chip will use the low-power Bluetooth radio to pair and send small sized files. For larger transfers the combined chip will switch to WiFi radios, resulting in much faster file transfers. If they can develop a seamless connection between both functions (which they will), this chip shift will speed up the lives of many executives and students the world over. We may even get to an age of wireless computer syncing with the same convenience as syncing your mobile phone.

Social Networking Sites join forces: I found a fairly interesting bit of information surfing through the web yesterday, which brings to light the direction companies like Facebook and LinkedIn are taking. It was announced that Yahoo is planning to develop an email service that shares data with Social Networking Sites; Delver is working to develop a search engine that tracks and summarizes social network data; Facebook is introducing new services that take advantage of users' online contacts.

By sharing and linking user information with one another, they are developing an interactive and soon to be search able set of personal information on YOU. I am not sure I like the idea of being a page on wikepedia, which lists (by priority of course) all the personal information I have combined across my Facebook, Email, Blog and Friendster sites. Using the Beacon service launched by Facebook as an example, it will only be a matter of time till online purchases, Ebay bids and so forth are also linked in. Do I really want my personal data easily accessible? Advertising companies and Social Networking Sites certainly think so.

Yahoo wants more: Yahoo finds that the offer by Microsoft undervalues the company significantly and is currently wagering that a $9 per share, or roughly $12 billion added to the original offer price, will sway the board to accept. Microsoft is currently trailing in fourth place for this industry, with Yahoo second (not a close one) to Google. Considering that online advertising pretty much pays for...well... everything online, I would wager that Microsoft is going to fight for this one.

THE JOLLY VIEW ON THE MICROSOFT/YAHOO MERGER AND $44,600,000,000

Every blogger these days seems to be sharing their two cents on the Microsoft/Yahoo merger. $44,600,000,000 is no small number, I know plenty of countries that do not make that in their yearly GDP. So what is the big deal with this merger other than plenty of zeros and a battle between two, huge tech giants (Microsoft and Google).

Some basic information that we will need:
Market Value: (M: 296 Billion, G: 147 Billion). Google is 49% of Microsoft

2006 Revenue: (M:44.28 Billion, G: 10.6 Billion) Google is 24% of Microsoft

Online Advertising Revenue: (M: 2.29 Billion, G: 7.3 Billion) Google is 68% larger than Microsoft.

*A combined Microsoft and Yahoo would have 27% of Worldwide Search Share, Google would have 66%

*Zenith optimedia expects global online ad-spend to grow with 28.2%, that would be roughly $184.39 Billion spent on online ad spending (Global Ad-spend est. at 653.9 Billion). *Google has been outgrowing Microsoft every quarter since its 2004 IPO


Google is a behemoth, its actually quite amusing to read their online blog which challenges the antitrust issues with such a merger. Microsoft may have a long history of such antitrust issues but Google's ever growing influence on the industry is starting to show similar signs.

This merger is an effective and attempt by Microsoft to battle on Google's turf, especially with online ad-spend growing exponentially. Lets not forget that this fight for online advertising market share has a distinct impact on the mobile advertising industry. These are both, extremely large pools of $ that both Microsoft and Google are maneuvering to command.

Our world is becoming increasingly ingrained and I would say, reliant on our computers and cell phones. With these industries well within a strong growth curve, you can understand the speed and commitment being made by Microsoft and Google to one up each other. The future direction of the advertising world rests on these industries. The shift from impersonal to personal advertisements, from mass hits to direct, from unknown to known demographics, this will all be realized to a large extent through the efforts of Microsoft and Google to develop an effective advertising platform. Our lives as consumers will be entering an golden era of personalization.

Of course there are some major issues at stake for Microsoft. For one, Yahoo has not been doing particularly well as a business these days. As stated by Jon Fisher (one of the investment analysts): "With Microsoft paying a full price for a broken business where there's not accelerating organic growth, I can't make that work at all." With an estimated $50 billion value, this is not going to be an easy pill to swallow and it may be the stumble that Google needs to take the lead.

The synergies between Yahoo and Microsoft are good, but I wonder if they are $50 billion good? Fundamentally, both Yahoo and Microsoft suffer from a business model that is in my opinion, inferior to Google's: The Centralized Operations Model v.s. Google's Distributed Network Model. Lets not forget that the web is built primarily off a distributed network model-- which is a large part of what has made Google so dynamic and efficient!

These are some concerns that I am sure the brains of Microsoft are spending dateless nights figuring out. From an outsiders perspective, who's knowledge of the online industry is substantially meager, this merger is one that is on the right track. Google should be worried.

LIVE VIDEO STREAMING

I made a quick visit to the Yahoo Live site, which has been overshadowed in recent news by the Yahoo acquisition attempt by Microsoft. Its cute, I suppose, certainly with plenty of moneymaking opportunities. Some key issues do need to be addressed:

The site experience is lousy. Similar to Ustream, Stickam, etc. Video streams take a while to load, they are choppy and constantly crashing. Yes, this is all to improve as internet bandwidth and streaming technologies advance, but its still irritating.

The camera angles are almost ALL the same. You are looking at "heads". Granted, these amazing heads talk, dance, sing, even strip (though the sites have a genuine PG rating), but viewers are still basically watching, experiencing and interacting with some persons floating mug! This promptly led me to click on users based on their appearance... (hey, at least I don't lie about it!)

This, in my opinion, will be the key to all of this-- are people really interested in the inner lives of other people? Social Networking have shown that we do have an inner desire to interact and "network" with each other, but these sites still filter a lot of what we see and read. Streaming video takes all of the illusions we may have about the person, you see, hear and experience the individual for who he/she is. Interesting.

As the technology improves, there is no doubt that we will start seeing live streaming as a complimentary addition to websites, social networking sites, etc. Applying this technology to a more useful purpose: Imagine college interviews being done online, or sending in your video resume to a business position you look to fill. The opportunities are quite limitless as the people in our world becoming increasingly more connected.

There will always be those people that enjoy sharing themselves with others. For The Jolly Jetsetter, he will remain behind his Facebook and Second Life walls- at least for the time being.


Sites to visit
http://live.yahoo.com
www.justin.tv
www.stickam.com
www.ustream.tv