mobile search - Mobile Marketing Association

Transcription

MOBILE SEARCH
AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING
PROVIDED BY ONEUPWEB®
INTEGRATED SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION + MARKETING
Marketing VOTED BEST
Excellence
AWARD
SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING FIRM
MOBILE SEARCH AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING
MOBILE SEARCH
AND IT’S IMPLICATIONS FOR SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING
Provided by Oneupweb®
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Modern marketing strategy has closely followed the development of three “screens”: television, the personal computer
and now, mobile phones. Search engine marketing and optimization have helped marketers capitalize on personal
computers. Now, those same marketers hope to apply similar strategies to mobile devices--mobile phones, personal data
assistants (PDA) and BlackBerries (combinations of mobile phones and PDAs).
Oneupweb helps marketers answer critical questions. How is search on mobile devices different from search on
computers? When will my company need to do something different to reach mobile device users? How can I start
preparing? And where can I go for help?
As with most marketing challenges, the company’s target audience influences the timeline. The younger and more hightech the target, the sooner a company will need marketing strategies for mobile devices. These companies should look
into developing websites specifically for the mobile web—the space on the internet that is comprised of WAP-accessible
WML and xHTML pages. Overall, market trends indicate that all companies will need to incorporate mobile search
strategies into marketing plans by 2007.
Oneupweb identifies trends in both usage and technology that will influence marketing strategies. Usability issues include
smaller screens, typing limitations of phone keypads and the cost of spending lots of time scrolling through mobile search
results. When considering mobile search marketing approaches, marketers will need to:
• Consider short keywords for both mobile local search optimization and pay-per-click campaigns
• Offer easy-scroll choices on landing pages
• Evaluate title tags for brevity
• Update purchase locations timely
• Incorporate short click-to-purchase navigation
Oneupweb has identified two primary groups using mobile search. Need-it-now shoppers are deadline oriented and
ready to buy. An event or situation, like buying pizza for the team after an away game or replacing a torn shirt before an
important meeting, triggers a need for a purchase in the near future. Killing-time shoppers are typically stuck at a location
waiting for something to happen and use the time to find information on purchases they expect to be making in the future.
Topics include health questions, information on business tools or investment opportunities. In addition to these users,
Oneupweb believes that consumers will invent new reasons to use mobile search as they transfer search habits from
personal computers to mobile devices.
What follows is a look at the expanding mobile search market, the technologies driving it, and the opportunities for
marketers. Finally, Oneupweb explores practical questions marketers should ask themselves to determine how to
prioritize mobile search. These questions help marketers determine if their target audience, product or service is suited
to today’s mobile search user. Expecting mobile search optimization and marketing practices to continue to change
rapidly, Oneupweb offers marketers ongoing information through its online newsletter, OneUpNews.
© 2005. All information in this document is the property of Oneupweb ® • 877.568.7477 • ONEUPWEB.COM
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MOBILE SEARCH: BY THE NUMBERS
Mobile phones have been around since 1977, when AT&T introduced its first network to approximately 2,000 customers.
Today, there are over 1.5 billion mobile phones in the world. And the mobile phones of today bear little resemblance to
their disco-era ancestors. Users today can send email, play games, take pictures, and surf the web. According to Ovum
Ltd., mobile device revenue in both North America and the world is estimated to increase steadily for the next five years.
Not only is the number of mobile device users increasing, but those users are continually trading in their functional but
non-cutting edge gear for the latest and greatest mobile technology. According to research conducted by environmental
nonprofit group INFORM, Inc., this year, there will be roughly 200 million mobile phones in use in the United States alone,
and approximately 130 million phones are retired each year. As mobile technology is improved and adopted en masse,
the content mobile users access becomes richer and more interactive. The following table shows what types of content
are available to American mobile phone users and the frequency at which users access that content:
US MOBILE SUBSCRIBER MONTHLY CONSUMPTION OF CONTENT AND APPLICATIONS
M:METRICS BENCHMARK SURVEY: APRIL 2005
Activity
Projected Monthly
Reach (000s)
Percent US
Mobile Subscribers
Change from
Previous Survey
Downloaded Ringtone
24,584
13.58%
+6.0%
Sent Photo Message to Phone or Email
14,176
7.83%
+10.5%
Sent or Received Text Message
65,362
36.11%
+2.1%
Downloaded Mobile Game
5,992
3.31%
+0.2%
Used Mobile Instant Messenger
14,355
7.93%
(-2.6%)
Accessed News & Info Via Browser
22,109
12.22%
+2.7%
According to the above research, in April 2005, 24.6 million (13.58 percent) users downloaded ringtones, 22.1 million
(12.22 percent) accessed news and information via browser, and six million (3.31 percent) downloaded mobile games.
These users represent part of the potential population who will search on their cell phones for information and services.
Furthermore, users often employ their carriers’ portals for these services instead of the web. For example, M:Metrics
found that in April, 61 percent of users downloaded a ringtone from carrier portals, while only 49 percent downloaded
ringtones from the web.
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Mobile Information Market Share in Western Europe,
By Segment, 2007
Enhanced
19%
Text
37%
Browser
20%
Multimedia
24%
Source: Yankee Group, March 2003
052092 2003 eMarketer, Inc.
www.eMarketer.com
This diagram is an estimation of the mobile information market share in Western Europe by the year of 2007. In this
diagram, “browser” refers to online browsing. “Enhanced” refers to pictures, wallpapers, ringtones, games, videos, and
more. “Multimedia” refers to animated icons, animated jokes and small videos. This table could be taken as a legitimate
reference for the North American market due to the homogeneity between it and Western Europe.
Teenagers specifically account for a large and growing segment of the mobile market. Not coincidentally, teenagers are
also highly interested in entertainment-based content. NOP World, a well-respected global research firm, finds that 40
percent of U.S. teens age 12-14, and 75 percent of U.S. teens age 15-17 have owned a mobile phone. Overall, 16 million
young people ages 10-18 own mobile phones, and the number is still rising. As this market ages and enters the workforce,
Oneupweb expects these young adults to branch out beyond games, ringtones and other entertainment-based content and
rely increasingly on mobile search for both consumer and business purposes.
Mobile Phone Ownership among US Teens, by Age,
2002 & 2004 (as a % of respondents)
12-14
13%
40%
15-17
42%
75%
February 2002
Source: NOP World, March 2005
063494 2005 eMarketer, Inc.
December 2004
www.eMarketer.com
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A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE “MOBILE WEB”
Mobile search is the act of using a mobile handheld device (phone, PDA, or BlackBerry) to search for content. Conduits for
mobile search include mobile-specific portals, directories, and search engines. Each may return results from the web at large, or
from the mobile web specifically. So what, exactly, are we talking about when we speak of this thing called the “mobile web”?
The mobile web consists of web pages that are designed specifically for display on mobile devices. Due to their limited
capabilities (relative to standard computers), mobile devices access and render web content using the specialized
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). WAP is separate and distinct from the Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that
computers use to access HTML pages. As such, WAP browsers can only access pages that are written in xHTML
(eXtensible Hyper-Text Markup Language) or WML (Wireless Markup Language). WAP 1.x browsers access only WML
pages, while WAP 2.0 browsers access both xHTML pages and WML pages. The mobile web is the universe of content that
is written in WML or xHTML.
While some new mobile devices are HTML compatible, HTML pages are not considered part of the mobile web because
they are not accessible via WAP 1.x or 2.0. WAP is the current global standard for mobile internet applications and
browsing. WAP offers functionality similar to HTML web browsers, but is designed to accommodate small browsers with
limited memory, as well as low bandwidth connections to the internet. The below image illustrates how WAP functionality
has improved over time:
WAP 1.0
Black & white screens
Simple graphics
WML, WAP stack
• Service pricing based on
browsing time
• Set up times of 15-30
sets to first page
WAP 1.2.1
Color screens
GPRS
• WAP Push: click to access
• Cookies
• Service pricing based on
actual use
• Instant connectivity
(<3 seconds to first page)
WAP 2.0
xHTML mobile profile/WAP CSS
TCP/IP stack
• Better graphical content presentation
& control capabilities
• Easy to make content optimized for
different terminals
• Improved branding opportunities
• Caching, faster services
• Fast download of large files
• End-to-end security
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OTHER MOBILE WEB TERMS
The evolution of markup language for mobile browsing has included HDML, cHTML, WML 1.x, xHTML, and WML 2.0. (Key
terms are included here with additional definitions in Appendix B — The Glossary.) The following diagram portrays the
relationships between mobile markup languages.
Relations Between Markup Languages
HDML
XML 1.0
WML 1.X
HTML 3.2
COMPACT HTML
HTML 4.0
iMODEL HTML
XHTML 1.0
HTML for Mobile
XHTML BASIC
XHTML MOBILE
PROFILE
WML 2.0
= XML Languages
XML = Extensive Markup Language
HTML = Hypertext Markup Language
HDML = Handheld Device Markup Language
Openwave
WAP Forum
W3C
DoCoMo
HDML (Handheld Device Markup Language): Openwave’s (formerly phone.com) proprietary language, which can only be
viewed on mobile phones that use Openwave browsers. It came before the WAP standard was created. HDML has been
replaced almost entirely by WML and xHTML.
WML (Wireless Markup Language): A language used to specify content and user interface for WAP devices, supported by
almost all mobile phone browsers around the world. The WML 2.0 specification defines WML 1.x compatibility extensions,
which are used to achieve backward compatibility instead of implementing full WML 1.x functionality.
Wireless Markup Language (WML)
WML
WML 2.0
WML 1.X
XHTML
Mobile Profile
WAP CSS
Extensions for
WML 1.X
Compatibility
xHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language): A hybrid of HTML and XML specifically designed for net device displays.
According to the W3C, xHTML represents the first major change to HTML since HTML 4.0 was released in 1997. In fact,
the latest version of HTML (Version 4.1) forms the basis of xHTML. xHTML adds modularity and enforces strict adherence
to language rules. As a result, xHTML brings clean structure to webpages, which is especially important given the small
screens and limited power of mobile devices. W3C is recommending xHTML for all future web development for desktops,
as well as mobile handsets and other devices.
xHTML BASIC: A mobile version of xHTML 1.0. xHTML Basic is designed for web clients that do not support the full set
of xHTML features, such as mobile phones, PDAs, pagers, and set-top boxes.
cHTML (compact HTML): A pared down version of regular HTML. cHTML is dichromatic, and does not support JPEG
images, tables, image maps, fonts, background colors and images, frames, or style sheets. cHTML was created by Japanbased DoCoMo Ltd. for use in i-mode devices, and it has been fading into obsolescence as xHTML gains acceptance and
replaces cHTML.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): A feature of HTML that gives both website developers and users more control over how
pages are displayed.
Openwave v7
Openwave 6.2.2
Both Openwave browsers above incorporate CSS, but render it differently. Version 6.2.2 reflects the look of a computer
browser with more fidelity, while v7 features more consideration on usability.
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DELIVERING CONTENT TO MOBILE DEVICES
Statistics on markup language adopted by mobile browsers from 1999 to 2005 —Nomura Research Institution
WAP/xHTML Browsers VS. Other Browsers
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
1999
2000
2001
Other
2002
2003
iMode
2004
WAP/xHTML
2005
WAP
The above diagram shows the penetration of WAP (1.x) and WAP 2.0/xHTML browsers. WAP mobile browsers are the most
pervasive browsers used on mobile phones and other handhelds. However, most of the web pages on the internet are
written in HTML. So how does web content become available to WAP/xHTML browser users?
PROXY SERVERS/GATEWAYS
Wireless carriers, browser developers, or other proxy/gateway providers help translate HTML pages into standard WML
or xHTML. For example, an Openwave 6.2.2 browser user must go to the Openwave gateway for translated pages. Google
provides mobile browsers with search results in WML or xHTML, and translates web pages “on the fly” to WML when the
user clicks on search results. Some gateways exist to process web pages and compress them into a more streamlined or
readable format for handhelds, such as Opera’s Formula 1 accelerator.
WEB PAGES DESIGNED IN WML AND XHTML
This would theoretically eliminate the need for proxy servers and gateways that translate HTML pages.
MOBILE DEVICES THAT USE HTML COMPATIBLE BROWSERS
One option is a “fake” HTML browser that automatically renders HTML as xHTML. Openwave v7 is one such browser.
Real HTML compatible mobile browsers are mainly available for PDAs and high-end cell phones. Instead of an all-in-one
browser, the BlackBerry is equipped with two different browsers - one for HTML, and one for WAP.
*A typical mobile device that uses an HTML compatible browser.
SEARCHING THE MOBILE WEB
Mobile search used to consist solely of SMS (Short Message Service), which provides simple information on weather,
flights, stock quotes, etc. based on text message requests. Similarly, MMS (Multimedia Message Service) provides
ringtones, wallpapers, animated icons, and small videos upon request. Now, mobile search results are collected from
numerous databases and indices, which are generated by spiders that crawl the mobile web. These collections consist of
WAP sites with content similar to SMS and MMS services, or are filtered from www-centric real-time feeds, like Google and
Yahoo!, drawing upon their huge database of local search webpages.
Mobile Search
Online
Mobile Web Search
Web (Internet)
Based Search
Searching the mobile web returns only WAP pages. Although Japan
and western Europe have well developed mobile web indices, the
world is short of quality WAP sites in general. Most WAP sites are
poorly designed, underused, unstable and limited in their content and
service.
There are WAP search engines that index the mobile web (a list of WAP
search engines can be found in Appendix A). Most don’t work well
due to the volatile nature of the current mobile web—there are many
outdated and dead links. And most WAP site crawling technologies are
underdeveloped. Almost all search engines that index the mobile web
rely on manual submissions to build their databases. There are some
new WAP site search solutions being developed, which we will discuss
in reference to the SEM opportunities.
PAGE 8
Internet search usage on cell phones and handhelds has been gaining momentum and rising fast in the past year. Search
engine giants Google and Yahoo! have developed customized search interfaces for cell phone users based on their huge
internet webpage databases. At the time of publication, there are four main forms of internet search and information
retrieval over cell phones and hand-held devices:
WAP BROWSER DEPENDANT: HTML webpages are converted to xHTML or WML pages for WAP browsers. Google is currently
providing such service. Other companies such as AOL and SearchGuy are also experimenting with this service.
HTML BROWSER DEPENDANT: Service providers customize search interfaces (and lists of results) for hand-held devices,
but do not convert HTML websites for WAP browsers. Yahoo!’s web search for mobile devices is an example. Only devices
with HTML browsers or HTML compatible browsers (mainly PDAs and high-end cell phones) can be used.
SEARCH ENGINE LOCAL SEARCH INDEXES: Search engines generate databases for special purposes based upon their
own huge HTML webpage pools, and they supply results from these databases to WAP browsers. Google and Yahoo!’s
respective Local Search engines are examples of this type of service.
HTML COMPATIBLE MOBILE BROWSERS: HTML compatible mobile browsers work almost the same as computer browsers
and can access HTML search pages and search just like computer browsers do.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON COMMON MOBILE SEARCH TERMS, PLEASE SEE APPENDIX B —THE GLOSSARY.
MOBILE SEARCH ON GOOGLE, YAHOO!, MSN & OTHERS
GOOGLE:
Google draws its search results from over 8 billion web pages and a billion images, and uses its proprietary algorithm
to deliver relevant search results. With its on-the-fly translation system, Google formats HTML web pages to fit handset
screens. In addition, Google offers international adaptability in more than 25 languages.
Google offers mobile users web search, image search, and local search for xHTML browsers. For WML-only browsers,
Google features search results from both the world wide web and the mobile web, the latter consists of WAP sites only.
WEB SEARCH: Google’s web search for mobile devices produces the same list of results that PC users see, except that the
display is customized for WAP/xHTML browsers.
>
ENTER YOUR SEARCH QUERY
SELECT THE DESIRED RESULT BY
SCROLLING THROUGH THE RESULTS
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WML INTERFACE (when mobile web is chosen, search results are restricted to WML sites only)
>
SELECT THE MENU OF SEARCH
OPTIONS BY SELECTING THE LINK
UNDER “GOOGLE”
>
CHOOSE THE TYPE OF SEARCH
THAT YOU WANT TO CONDUCT.
ENTER YOUR SEARCH TERM.
LOCAL SEARCH (XHTML): Similar to Google’s web search for mobile devices, local search returns the same results that
PC users see, except they are rendered for WAP browsers. Google enables cell phone users to search for stores and
businesses in a specific area. Users can click on any of the local results to get maps and directions.
>
IMAGE SEARCH (XHTML): For each query, three image results appear per page. Once a link is selected, Google reformats
the webpage for phone screen.
>
ENTER YOUR IMAGE SEARCH
QUERY AND SELECT “IMAGES”
SELECT THE DESIRED IMAGE BY
SCROLLING THROUGH THE RESULTS.
PAGE 11
SEARCHING THE MOBILE WEB (XHTML): Besides being a sub-search interface of Google’s WML interface, the function is now
also integrated as the fourth option in its top xHTML interface. The difference is that the results are presented in xHTML.
>
SELECT THE DESIRED RESULT BY
SCROLLING THROUGH RESULTS.
ENTER YOUR SEARCH QUERY AND
SELECT “MOBILE WEB”
FROOGLE: In addition to the HTML Froogle, there is also a mobile version: http://wml.froogle.com, which only supports WML
1.x. However, result listings are text only and do not link to relevant shopping sites.
YAHOO!:
Yahoo has search functionality similar to Google. Its internet search for mobile devices also features local (WAP), image
(WAP), and web search (HTML).
LOCAL SEARCH: Same as Yahoo! Local Search results, but rendered for WAP browsers. Similar to Google, local search can be
used for finding restaurants, entertainment venues, and businesses. With search query and location input, Yahoo! produces
a list of businesses or services with addresses, phone numbers, and other pertinent information.
>
PAGE 12
IMAGE SEARCH: Image results are displayed upon query and can be scrolled.
>
WEB SEARCH (HTML): The important feature of Yahoo!’s web search is Search Shortcuts, which automatically provides
direct links to relevant information, bypassing the need to scroll through results lists. Here are some examples:
>
>
>
This feature is only available for HTML-enabled browsers.
Mobile search listings are closely related to the escalating local search market on the internet today. The search result
listings for mobile local search are exactly the same as those of local search on a computer.
MSN:
MSN attempted its “search near you” function on its HTML interface but recently removed it, apparently due to its rather
awkward algorithm used for this functionality.
So far, MSN has not powered its WAP portal with any mobile search functionality. However it does have an index of the
mobile web in Japan, where the local mobile web has millions of WML web pages.
OTHERS:
AOL: AOL has begun beta testing its own mobile search service (http://www.aolmobile.aol.com), which offers full internet
search queries, information on local interests, and shopping destinations. The service is based on transcoding technology
that adapts web pages to the dimensions of small mobile screens.
SEARCHGUY.COM: SearchGuy Mobile also converts web pages to a simplified format compatible with handheld devices
and touts this ability as a key difference in its technology. SearchGuy believes it is especially valuable for business
travelers and young cell phone users.
Many mobile search services are more akin to upgrades of SMS (Short Message Service, or text messaging) searches,
and provide services like white and yellow pages, address look-up, weather, driving directions, and maps. These services,
which base their offerings on their own or partners’ databases, include MSN Mobile, AOL’s mobile portal, YP.com’s mobile
web, YellowPages.com, Infospace Mobile, and others.
ANSWERS.COM: Answers.com offers a specialized mobile search service, which aims to provide dictionary, encyclopedia,
and translation service for query terms. Although only a few companies currently provide real internet-wide web search for
WAP-based devices, the growing number of local search services means that mobile device users will be able to access a
combination of key information sources.
LOCAL SEARCH ON MOBILE DEVICES
Mobile internet users can be categorized as “need-it-now” shoppers and “killing-time” shoppers. One area of the mobile
web that is especially important to the need-it-now variety is local search. Local search enables users to find restaurants,
stores, entertainment and more based on their current location. For this type of business, being listed in mobile device
accessible local search sites is crucial.
There is no charge for business listings within Google Local, and it leaves full control of listings to the site owners
themselves. Like other Google search services, relevant content and substantial link popularity are still the most important
elements driving sites to higher positions in local search results. Google also displays “reference” links as another
important index of how local businesses are evaluated.
Yahoo! offers free basic listings and enhanced listings for $9.95/month. The free basic plan allows businesses to include
fundamental information, while the enhanced plan includes taglines or marketing messages displayed in search results,
as well as two customizable links to coupons or special offers.
Mobile providers may also offer their own portals and directory services with local search capabilities. As we’ll learn in
the next section, the competition to provide both global and local search can lead to marketing arrangements of varying
efficacy and profit.
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SEARCH ENGINES AND MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDERS: STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
At publication (July 2005), there are three primary marketing arrangements that determine how internet content is
delivered to mobile device users: carriers working alone, search engines working alone, and mobile carriers partnering
with search engines.
The first arrangement is the least practical and the least common because mobile carriers do not have search engines
that can rival Google, Yahoo!, MSN, etc. A carrier’s effort to prepare such a database for its own purposes cannot
compare to the volume of resources already available the web. Although many carriers now have directory services,
Sprint’s partnership with Yahoo! indicates that even a very successful carrier benefits from a search engine partner.
Google is an example of a search engine that, up to this point, has practiced the second model: search engines working
alone. Because so many people turn to Google anyway, there is little incentive to split the potential profits with mobile
carriers. However, it is possible that mobile users could be required to go through their carrier’s portal before accessing
the web. Carriers may also institute higher charges for surfing outside their own network of content.
Thus the third arrangement seems to be the choice of most carriers. By teaming up with a search engine, mobile carriers
can leverage the engine’s preexisting resources and technology. Search engines can also benefit by securing unfettered
access to large carriers’ subscription bases. One such arrangement is the partnership between Yahoo! and mobile
carriers Cingular Media Net, Cingular mMode, Sprint PCS and T-Mobile.
As discussed earlier, Yahoo!’s mobile-accessible content consists primarily of traditional WAP sites. Yahoo! also features
mobile search interfaces specific to its carrier partners.
Another important partnership is between MSN and Verizon. MSN Mobile has a robust, user-friendly directory of WAP
content. As of publication, MSN is still experimenting with its local search and has not yet provided a local search
interface for mobile users. Although Verizon is the biggest carrier in the U.S. (it has 25 percent of the current market
share of mobile users, according to Dominion Bond Rating Service) its partner, MSN is just now testing its local search
services, behind other industry giants Google, Yahoo! and AOL.
ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF MOBILE INTERNET CONTENT (AND ADVERTISING)
In the United States, WAP sites and the major search engines’ mobile interfaces are far from satisfactory. The mobile
web space is currently much more developed in Western Europe and Japan. The following three solutions may provide
examples of how the U.S. mobile search market will develop.
FAST mSEARCH:
FAST mSearch is a Norway-based company that provides a platform for carriers and content providers worldwide. FAST
mSearch and transfer technologies have powered many companies, including AOL, AT&T, IBM, LexisNexis, and Overture.
The FAST mSearch product is an extension of the FAST ESP technology platform, which delivers multilingual online
directory services.
FAST mSearch caters to the carriers’ need to deliver a consistent brand look and feel, and it offers a depth of relevant
content. It aggregates carriers’ own portal content with content from the online world at large. This includes formally
structured data held in FAST databases, and unstructured information held in webpages, documents, multimedia, and
the like.
PAGE 14
FAST mSearch enables personalized search based on the individual, location, and time. Mobile carriers have the
opportunity to learn a lot about their customers: who they are, their usage history and preferences, and increasingly, their
mobile shopping habits. With this history, FAST mSearch can “push” highly relevant content to requesting mobile users
and that content could include advertising. Through technologies like FAST mSearch, marketers will be able to target
mobile users based on extraordinarily in-depth user profiles.
MOTIONBRIDGE:
The France-based MotionBridge calls itself the only search engine truly designed for mobile devices. Its users subscribe to
major wireless carriers throughout Europe, such as Orange, O2, T-Mobile, and Alcatel. Its major benefit is that it provides
a unified, functional search interface instead of traditional directory browsing. When users input a brand name, common
noun, or a URL, MotionBridge returns a short list of relevant, organized links under pre-defined categories, such as
ringtones, wallpapers, local results, and news.
This solution alleviates the cumbersome task of browsing unorganized search results lists, enabling users to access
content quickly. It also enables marketers to target mobile search users through its Sponsored Links program, which is
based on a Pay-Per-Click model (similar to Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing).
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ALATTO TRIBES:
Tribes is a product of www.alatto.com that helps mobile carriers and content portals to increase revenues they earn from
their existing content. It incorporates the ideas of viral sharing and peer recommendations. By pushing targeted sites to
mobile users based on their personal preferences, Tribes allows users to share or recommend sites to others via
SMS or email.
SERVING UP CONTENT: BANDWIDTH AND MOBILE DEVICES
Bandwidth is an important consideration when talking about web content for mobile devices. The current prevalent
global system for mobile communications (GSM) in Europe and the U.S. are second generation (2G) technologies. If
2G standards are the cellular network superhighway, third generation (3G) technologies are bullet trains offering faster
connections, load times and expanded marketing and advertising possibilities. 3G protocols include universal mobile
telecommunications system (UMTS), faster versions of code division multiple access (CDMA) systems and high-speed
downlink packet-access (HSDPA). To continue our transportation analogy, HSDPA is the warp pipe of mobile bandwidth.
The driving motivation for carriers is to make access to internet services, including advertising, more convenient and userfriendly. The more access consumers have, the more advertising the carriers can sell.
GRAPH OF MOBILE USER VALUE & CONTENT BANDWIDTH (SPEED) REQUIREMENTS:
Service Value for the End User VS. Bandwidth
HIGH
Experts on
Tap
Navigation
Map
Service Value
M-Broking
Traffic Report
M-Shopping
Auctions
Video on
Demand
Remote
Monitoring
M-Banking
Language
Translation
Emergency
Service
Shopping
Information
Video News
Music on
Demand
Rich Voice
Online
Gambling
Wap & iMode
Surf
Online Game
LOW
2G
64 Kbit/s
128 Kbit/s
384 Kbit/s
Bandwidth
2 Mbit/s
3G
SEM AND THE THIRD SCREEN
Now that we’ve covered the basics of mobile devices on the internet, let’s talk about the implications for marketers. At
the time of publication, much of the conversations on mobile marketing opportunities has centered on how to push ads
to consumers. Material has discussed the merits and downfalls of delivering spam (unsolicited advertising), favoring the
practice of opt-in content delivered to a mobile subscriber base. And a great deal of discussion covers who will earn a
slice of your marketing dollar when you do buy a mobile banner ad or deliver a message to a carrier’s mobile user.
What hasn’t been covered, and is the focus of Oneupweb’s insight, is the marketing strategy for a consumer-pull scenario.
Oneupweb asks, what are best methods for capitalizing on mobile search?
The first screen was television, initially a mass audience now segmented into such narrow niches that advertisers consider
it fragmented. Using TV, connecting with customers searching for a specific product is still serendipity: showing an ad
when the prospect happens to be sitting in front of the TV (and paying attention). Access to consumers using the second
screen, the computer, can be bisected into home and work and targeted by site content, much like the television only more
so. Using search engine optimization and marketing, marketers capitalize on the second screen and reach customers
when they are looking for a specific product or service. Which brings us to the third screen: the mobile phone. How can
marketers apply the same strategies to connect with this growing audience?
TECHNICAL ADVICE FOR WEBSITE DESIGN
The first recommendation one might expect is, “build a new web site that is accessible by mobile (WAP) browsers” To
make sure your site can be included on the mobile web (WAP) today, marketers would need to develop a WML and/or an
xHTML site (in addition to HTML sites.) While re-designing to mobile protocols may be an easy conclusion to draw, it may
not be a marketing priority for this year. Depending on your audience, marketers may be able to avoid designing a new
website by waiting until technology advances make it unnecessary.
Oneupweb believes two technology trends will converge, allowing most sites to take advantage of mobile audiences
without a major technical overhaul. For sites accessible over HTTP, webmasters are increasingly using xHTML, a language
that both WAP 2.0 and HTTP browsers are capable of interpreting (WAP 1.0 browsers can only access WML sites). Mobile
browsers are also becoming more sophisticated, learning how to interpret HTML for mobile devices more effectively. In
general, marketers should encourage web designers to use xHTML from this point forward.
A few brands and sites will need to adapt to the mobile web (WAP) and develop WML versions now. In general, companies
focused on the youth market will have the most immediate need to adapt. (see Assessing the Your Mobile Audience
Opportunity below.) These marketers will not only need to adapt the site to the mobile web (WML/xHTML) standards,
but they will also need to take a mobile perspective towards usability. Consider these technical changes to your search
optimization and paid search strategies in the near future—
• Re-investigate using short search terms for pay-per-click and local search optimization. Mobile typing is
inconvenient, so users are more likely to use short search terms.
• Landing pages should offer easy-scroll choices, like buttons saying, “Download Wallpaper.” Again, it’s a
typing convenience.
• Evaluate title tags for brevity, keeping in mind screen limitations of natural local search results.
• Updating locations is vital.
PAGE 17
ASSESSING YOUR MOBILE SEARCH AUDIENCE OPPORTUNITY
The largest immediate opportunity for mobile search is the youth market. Marketers targeting 12-24 year olds have the
most to gain by getting in on the infotainment value of mobile marketing. Fashions, sporting goods equipment, music,
movies, computer games, quick-serve foods and soft drinks all have immediate mobile marketing opportunities. From a
mobile search perspective, marketers should consider optimizing for brand names and using paid search strategies to
support those brand campaigns with up-to-the-minute promotions.
Other than the ringtone-savvy, wallpaper-swapping youth market, are there other target audiences using mobile search?
While the mobile search audience is small now, marketers gaining some initial experience can learn valuable lessons
about current users, which in turn will help in spotting future trends and adapting campaigns as mobile audiences grow
savvier and the technology becomes more sophisticated.
Mobile audiences are similar to local search users in that they tend to look for products and services being sold in their
general vicinity. After that, these audiences diverge in important ways.
Mobile search users have smaller screens offering less visible information. Phone keypads use different typing methods
than keyboards, which for older people may be more difficult to use and encourage shorter expressions. Usage time
accessing information is more expensive for mobile users than at home (currently) or a work (free), which also encourages
shorter expressions and less scrolling. Finally, mobile users may be distracted by the environment around them or the act
of walking somewhere.
TWO TYPES OF MOBILE SHOPPERS: NEED-IT-NOW & KILLING-TIME
Mobile audiences fall in two types of sales cycles. Either they are shopping for something they need immediately or they
are doing research for a future need during downtime. Oneupweb has dubbed these groups need-it-now shoppers and
killing-time shoppers, respectively.
NEED-IT-NOW-SHOPPERS
Mobile audiences falling into the need-it-now group are less likely to be price shopping. At home or work, a PC’s speed
and screen size allows users to compare and contrast prices, features, benefits etc. Typically, mobile users are deadline
oriented and have an immediate need, triggered by something happening right now:
Taking the team out for pizza after an away game
Realizing while traveling that an important piece of equipment didn’t get packed
Replacing a torn shirt before an important meeting
Picking up a bottle of wine on the way to a dinner party
Having two hours to kill unexpectedly and needing movie times
Needing to find a way around a traffic jam or detour
Finding a tow truck or a tire replacement
Locating an urgent care facility
KILLING-TIME SHOPPERS
The primary difference between killing-time shoppers and the need-it-now shopper is the longer length of the purchase
cycle and the ability to leave their current location. Killing-time shoppers are generally stuck where they are. Typically,
these users will have to wait until they exit the aircraft or finish their business with the Department of Motor Vehicles
before they purchase the item they researched. Marketers themselves are quite often members of the killing-time group;
think of all those business people riveted to Blackberries in airports.
PAGE 18
This group is interested in investigating new ideas, making the best use of time available and using technology to make life
easier. These users are most often gathering information to answer a long-term question or aid in an ongoing challenge.
They may continue researching later. Or they may pass along the initial information found to someone else, so that person
can continue the research.
Topics that killing-time shoppers might research are chronic health issues, questions triggered by a news story, features
of new business tools, mortgage rates, how-to information on a home improvement projects, investment opportunities or
information on schools or current business needs. Locations might include doctor’s offices; airports, busses, subways,
trains and taxis; government offices like the department of motor vehicles; retail checkout lines; car washes or vehicle
service departments and beauty salons.
Marketers recognizing a sales opportunity with either the need-it-now shoppers or the killing-time shoppers may want
to consider developing sites that are accessible by mobile WAP browsers (WML/xHTML). To prepare, marketers need to
consider search behavior research with mobile device users to gain insight into how specific target audiences use mobile
devices to search for products and services.
THE MOBILE SHOPPER OF THE FUTURE
In as little as two or three years, most companies will have the opportunity to be the subject of a search from a mobile
device. Consumers will become accustomed to the service and find new reasons to use mobile search. Think of the
psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. His studies demonstrated that first people solve basic survival
needs. As those needs are satisfied, people strive for more and more sophisticated needs of comfort and happiness.
Mobile users, too, first use search to solve physiological needs like food and shelter, finding restaurants and hotels.
Security needs follow with access to airline schedules and weather sites. Next consumers start downloading ringtones to
fit their personality or to show off their membership in a group (i.e. university fight songs; latest hip hop loop; Theme from
Mission Impossible) and satisfy belongingness needs. They download photos of their kids for wallpapers—symbols of love.
Cognitive needs? News and research.
Following Maslow, we can expect humans will find ways to use mobile phones to solve even aesthetic needs, finding
symmetry, order and beauty. For marketers the priority will be to adapt our websites for mobile search to be there in time.
As Oneupweb looks at the mobile market projections, the growth trend should encourage marketers to begin planning for
mobile search as early 2006.
Today’s mobile technology matches the processing power of personal computers of the mid-1990’s at 100 times less
electrical power, says a recent Newsweek article. Globally, there are three times as many mobile devices as there are
personal computers, already. Clearly these devices are competing with home computers. Furthermore, Oneupweb
expects technical design advances in screens, keyboards and search engines—even speech recognition. These advances
will increase the amount of visible information and make it easier to get that information. Mobile providers will be
motivated to provide these advancements at increasingly lower price points, so they can make more money on the longterm advertising potential (spam, subscriber-based/ opt-in messages or sponsored links in search results).
The mobile search users of 2007, 2008 and 2009 will be less and less tech-savvy than today’s users because they won’t
have to be. Consumers accustomed to using search on personal computers at home and work will easily adopt mobile
search. Additionally, consumers will expect the same level of relevance in search results on their phone, Blackberry or
PDA as they do at home.
PAGE 19
QUESTIONS MARKETERS SHOULD ASK TODAY
If a marketer answers yes to one or more of the following questions, mobile search will be an opportunity to consider in the
near future.
If a consumer uses your product, and looses it, would it be critical to replace it and difficult to find a retailer?
Do your customers use your product or service when they are outside of the home or office?
Is there a short time span (minutes or a couple hours) between the situation that triggers a need for your product or
service and a purchase?
Would your customers want to find your retail locations while on vacation?
Is establishing a preference for your product at a young age (12-24) part of your brand strategy?
Is your product targeted to young people (12-24)?
Is your product targeted to tech-savvy people?
Do people use your product in an emergency? (tire replacement, urgent care health clinic)
Mobile search optimization and marketing are changing rapidly. To keep track of developments in mobile search, please
subscribe to Oneupweb’s newsletter, OneUpNews.
PAGE 20
APPENDIX A
WAP SEARCH ENGINES
2 THUMBSWAP
MOBIL MOBILEWAP.COM
ORKTOPAS
WAPFINDER.CH
WAPJAG.COM
WAP.COM
SEEK4WAP
WAPLY
WAPPEN.NL
MOPILOT
WAPITALL
WAPWARP
WAPALL
WAPFINDER.CH
GELON.NET
MFIND
PAGE 21
APPENDIX B
MOBILE GLOSSARY
ARPU—Average revenue per user: used by carriers (Fast mSearch, MotionBridge, Allato Tribes) to describe the
increased value their platforms provide customers (Verizon, Singular, AT&T)
CDMA ONE—Code division multiple access: a cellular philosophy rather than a strict definition. There are dozens
of CDMA standards around the world. A more descriptive expression might be, “a cellular network superhighway.”
Advanced protocols would then be, “cellular network bullet trains.”
CDMA 2000—A faster, advanced protocol based on code division multiple access (CDMA)
GPRS—General packet radio service: popular wireless internet technology that is different than what is currently
technically called wi-fi. This system allows cellular networks to use idle capacity for data transmission, sometimes
even while voice data is also transmitting. It allows similar access to wi-fi, only via the cellular network. It is
considered faster than 2G or second generation, but not as fast as 3G or third generation networks.
GSM—Global system for mobile communications primarily a European standard now being supported by some U.S.
companies; GSM is the most popular sytem in the world with more than a billion subscribers in 85 countries.
HDML—Handheld device markup language: a web design language that can only be used on Openwave browsers.
HSDPA—High-speed downlink packet access: faster than 3G or third generation networks although often still
classed as a 3G process; promises 10Mbps versus two. In keeping with our travel metaphor, HSDPA must be warp
speed, if more typical 3G technologies are bullet trains.
HTML BROWSING—means a mobile device is capable of accessing HTML coded sites
MBPS—Megabytes per second: refers to the speed of data transfer
MMS—Multimedia message service: provides ringtones, wallpapers, animated icons, animated jokes, and small
videos on request.
KBPS—Kilobytes per second: refers to the speed of data transfer
SMS—Short message service: provides simple information like weather, stock quotes, sports scores, flight
information upon request.
TDMA—time division multiple access: similar to GPRS in that it allows data to travel cellular networks by dividing up
channels into time slots.
2G—Second generation: term describing the speed of data delivery to a mobile device; 2G is being replaced by 3G or
third generation devices which are from 50 percent to 500 percent faster.
PAGE 22
3G—Third generation: term describing the speed of data delivery to a mobile device; an improved platform offering
more bandwidth (50 percent to 500 percent faster than the previous technology, called 2G or second generation);
benefit to consumers is faster load time, making more complicated files like search engine results, multi-media files
and video more practical and convenient.
UMTS—Universal mobile telecommunication service: a third generation (3G) broadband packet-based transmission
of data (text, voice, video and multimedia files) to cellular receivers. Based on the European global system for
mobile communications (GSM), the major cellular standards authorities plan to use UMT systems to allow computer
and phone users to connect to the Internet as they travel. Until the new system becomes “universal”, many
products are multi-mode, switching back and forth between the slower systems and newer, faster systems. Imagine
a computer automatically adapting from dial-up and DSL as the location changes.
WAP—Wireless application protocol: similar to WWW differing in that it is designed to accommodate the physical/
graphic challenges of smaller devices with limited memory and small screens.
WML—Wireless markup language: a web design language that almost all mobile phone browsers worldwide
support; based on XML.
PAGE

mobile search - Mobile Marketing Association

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