Google testing location-based ads

According to BusinessWeek (print edition dt April 20, 2009), Google is testing location-based advertising to drive more bang for the advertising buck. In March, Google started placing local-business ads on Urbanspoon, A GPS enabled mobile app. This app has capability to identify the user’s location and then recommends places to eat nearby. This allow Google to provide a better return on advertising dollars. In a down economy, advertisers are looking to get better return on their advertising investments.

5 LBS Apps on iPhone

Apple’s new iPhone software with the iPhone OS 3.0 update will include Google Maps integration. With this I feel there will be an explosion of location-based apps to start appearing in the App Store. This again will be followed by other app store hope-fulls like RIM, Nokia etc. There are already a few location-based apps available now and here are five that are worth a look.

uSonar (Free)

There are lots of apps available that let you keep up with your social networks while you’re on the go, but what about when you’re bored and want to find someone local to hang with? uSonar lets you know who’s around and what they’re up to, whether they are someone you already know or not. Members post “blips” about their activities and locations, then you can message them directly through your iPhone or iPod touch. Everything about uSonar is opt-in, so you’re in control of who can see where you are, or send you a message or email. You can even post anonymously if you’d like.

Loopt (Free)

If you want people outside your immediate location to be able to find you, try Loopt. This app lets you broadcast your whereabouts or send pictures to everyone in your social networks, like Twitter and Facebook. It works across all major mobile phone carriers and supports over 100 different models of phones so your buddies without iPhones can find you. It’s famous among youth of UK

Hear Planet (Free)

If you like to go sightseeing when you travel, then you’ll love Hear Planet. It uses geolocation to determine where you are, then feeds you tons of information about the area’s landmarks, famous buildings, historical sites, and more via your headphones. More than just an audio tour guide, listen while you drive around running errands and you just might learn something you never knew about your hometown.

Whrrl (Free)

Some folks love micro-blogging so much that they want to document every minute of their day. If that’s your thing, let Whrrl help. Use your iPhone’s camera to snap pictures of your lunch, trip to the market, and visit to the dentist, uploading to Whrrl as you go. You can even add text and messages if you choose. Your location and micro-stories are shown on a map, which is really neat if you happen to be around other Whrrl users doing the same thing as you. Imagine attending the IPL Cricket matches and updating the experience as it happens, while simultaneously watching someone else across the stadium do the same.

Traffic ($1.99)

This app will let you know what the traffic conditions are like in your area and display them in list form or superimposed on a map. Traffic gives you details on how severe the traffic situations are. The app automatically locates where you are, but you can enter the location of your choice so you can get traffic conditions anywhere.

Attended Atlanta Interactive Marketing Assoc Seminar on Ad Networks and Exchanges

I attended a very interesting session at the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AIMA)’s March event. The topic was “How businesses can leverage Ad Networks and Exchanges to drive sales in a down economy“. Four leading ad networks were present to show how their customers are using their platforms in unique and creative ways.

The panelists were :

Lexi Reese, Director Google Ad Network

James Fellows, VP Product Management, Platform-A (AOL)

Marc Grabowski, Executive Director, Yahoo Network Sales

Jay Sears, EVP Strategic Products and Business Development, ContextWeb/ADSDAQ

Moderator : Joel Lunenfeld, Chief Innovation Officer, Moxie Interactive 

 

It was an interesting discussion with lots of insights on internet ad networks and the success factors in internet advertising. Here are some key discussion notes from the panel discussion :

Ad Networks are growing much faster than the overall display market. Advertising is at an all time low but this offers opportunity for advertisers in various ways. The merger and acquisition market is going wild with all sorts of media, tech and ad firms buying each other across industry categories and business verticals. The ad network exchange is now called the super network.

The three pillars of the ad ecosystem are :

Technology, audience and data. All three interplay to provide a compelling ad offering.

According to eMarketer/ComScore, the highest ad network inventory is with Platform A (AOL) although this may be disputed by Google and Yahoo. The latter two follow close behind according to eMarketer.

Lexi’s (Google) presentation :-

With merger with DoubleClick, Google has seen acceleration in display ad category.

Savvier customers are turning to web. 54% customers researching products online before they make buying decisions. Reach is a key factor. With perspective to Reach, Long Tail (vast customer base) drives engagement.

Lexi mentioned that 2x more customers look at niche ad sites. Providing user with choice drives value. Transparency and Flexibility drive ROI.

Lexi gave an example where a major retailer drove down cost of online card redemption by 77% by reviewing Google reports on ad placement and success. Google is also using tools like Conversion Optimizer to determine what price leads to most conversion.

James (Platform A/AOL / advertising.com) :

According to James, the challenges for an advertiser include Fragmentation, Reach, Lack of trust, Quality, Need for ROI and Results. James mentioned that ad market is highly performance oriented now and pays for performance. Platform A’s predecessor Advertising.com is the leading web display network. It has #1 reach, experience and high quality to serve advertisers. Platform A has tools like AdSonar for premium placement targetting. It also offers self-service management for advertisers which is a popular concept.

Marc (Yahoo) :-

Marc mentioned some ideas from perspective of Yahoo :

– It is a matter of reach vs frequency. Frequency is important in advertising.

– Context makes difference.

– Place where an ad is exposed matters. Yahoo ranked within top 3 in 26 vertical categories (eg Sports, Finance etc)

– Specialization is key. This is where Yahoo’s extensive partner network helps.

Jay (ContextWeb) :-

We are in Media Buying 2.0 phase. There is a concept of Fat Tail vs Long Tail of Ad audience. While most eyeballs are spread across Long Tail, 77% of dollars are in Fat Tail. Audience are leaving portals and search is becoming the default portal. There are 100,000 blogs created everyday (wow!). There are 160 million registered web domains today.  As to how marketplace is reacting to the media world now :

Google bought DoubleClick

Yahoo bought RightMedia and BlueLithium

Microsoft bought aQuantive and adECN

AOL bought Tacida and Quito to create Platform A

Agencies are busy building “demand platforms” for ads. 

 

As to what is the way these ad networks differentiate from each other :

Google – targetting

Yahoo – data. Has user attributes and their web behavior stats.

Platform A – Technology and Complete Package plus the ability to act on these factors.

 

All panelists agree that emotional aspect needs improvement in ad business. Eg Video Advertising brings up human emotional aspects.

On Mobile Advertising (the topic we love) : the panelists said that it is a new area yet to be cracked. There are massive liquidity and technology issues in mobile. Although personalization is more advanced in mobile. But really mobile is another channel for advertisers to reach their audience.

(XLRI), Jamshedpur winner of Google’s Got The Apptitude Challenge

Google’s Got the “App”titude was a challenge looking for student, faculty, and alumni leaders across India to implement Google Apps within their colleges. Google Apps Education Edition is a free suite of online products that offers students and faculty the tools to share information and ideas more easily.

XLRI had the highest usage of Google Apps amongst all the colleges that participated in the challenge. In addition, over 100 colleges in India participated & implemented Google Apps as part of this challenge.

Start Mobile Marketing or be left out…

According to a large company’s top level executive, 80% of major U.S. brands are planning to market via mobile phones in next six months. Snippets of what some companies have already started doing in US, are as follows:

Diet Coke is sponsoring a lifestyle program which will be distributed via mobile, online and outdoor.

Brands such as Procter & Gamble, Panasonic, Best Buy and Sony have turned to mobile advertising to directly target their demographics, ensuring a more cost-effective means to advertising this year.

Playboy Enterpises is launching “Interns,” its first multi-digital program developed, shot and produced exclusively for the mobile Web.

Google is expanding the functionality of AdWords to help its mobile advertising clients target and reach smartphone consumers.

IPhone users now have access to the New Oxford American Dictionary right in the palm of their hands.

Digital Doctors Connect to Patients, Info Online

it’s interesting to see these days that many doctors are actually asking for all kinds of latest technologies to connect with their patients around the world.

According to the ePharma Physician v8.0 study from Manhattan Research in US indicated that the number of physicians who use the internet and other digital technologies to access pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical-device information has jumped 20% since 2004 and accounts for 84% of the total US physician population.

The research also finds that 36% of physicians now communicate with patients online (up from 19% in 2003), and that physicians are more active than the average consumer when it comes to new media.

Some of the highlisghts of the study are:

• 54% of US physicians own a smartphone.
• Google is the most popular search engine among physicians, with 91% reach among physicians searching for health and pharmaceutical information online.
• 83% of physicians watch video clips online, as compared with 34% of all US adults.
• Physicians using online communities – such as Sermo and Medscape Connect – are more likely to be primary care physicians, be female, own a PDA/smartphone, go online during or between patient consults, and be slightly younger than the average physician.

We have recently been talking to quiet a few healthcare professionals in other parts of ther world too. We see a great boost in ways in which doctors and hospitals are trying to maximise contact with the patients right from the waiting lounges of their clinics etc. Some of the ways they have been using are bluetooth broadcasting on and off premises for broadcasting all kinds of health related information on products and services etc; using SMS broadcasting for latest updates on health care events etc.

Motorola to opt for Android OS

Sources in India have mentioned that Motorola is soon going to opt for Google’s Android as operating system for its new range of phones. On the other hand, business-focused devices will be based on Microsoft Windows Mobile. The company however, will continue to use its own platform, P2K for low-end phones. The company is also looking to outsource production of some windows Mobile phones.

Vishal

Revenues from mobile advertising will be higher than online…

Today I was discussing mobile advertising trends with a few friends in India. It was surprising to know that though they are from non-tech field, they understand the value of mobile advertising completely. They informed me that they are heavy users of mobile advertising and benefit from it a lot.

One of them informed that some consumer durables companies (their clients) in India are not leaving any stone unturned and deploying all sorts of mobile advertising solutions be it bulk sms marketing or bluetooth or voice push service or ivr. These companies are targeting the large crowd generating Indian religious events like Dussehra, Deepawali, Navratri, Durga Puja covering whole of North India, East India and parts some parts of West India too etc. We all are very sure that this company is going to make great reveues out of these semi-India campaigns.

I was also interacting with some Yahoo and Google company emloyees here and thgey also are tryting to explore all kinds of revenue models which can be applied in mobile space to generate revenues. Inspite of the fact that they work with 2 of the top 5 search engines in the world, they strongly believe that advertising revenues from mobile will in no time surpass the revenues coming from online world.

Vishal

gPhone or G1 – Google’s Android-based phone emerges

Well…here comes G1 – Google’s Android phone from T-Mobile USA. This is the iPhonesque phone from Google running its Android operating system and manufactured by HTC of Taiwan. Incidentally, it is also the first Android phone, Android being the Open Source Mobile Operating System being promoted by Google via its Open Handset Alliance (OHA).

G1 is available from T-Mobile USA from Oct 22 for $179 (with a 2 year contract) but the carrier is pre-selling the phone from today.

Take a look :

Google phone G1

 

Google G1 (photo by Mark Lennihan)

It looks nice. Does it compare with iPhone. It comes close but still does not beat iPhone sleekness. What about software ? We still need to see if the Android and all the Google apps loaded on it do any magic beyond the benchmark set by iPhone and its amazing software and application ecosystem. Android is supposed to create a great mobile software ecosystem similar to Apple and its iPhone environment.

For those who were holding out on buying an iPhone could take a shot at this one. But we doubt any iPhone owners out there would switch. iPhone 3G is just too good. Well we will see once we see adoption of the new Google phone. This is supposedly running the Google’s new shiny Chrome browser (actually Chrome Lite – mobile version of Chrome).

Some key Android features : openness – developers can develop application extensions to Android using its publicly available API. The G1 comes with maps, e-mail (gmail), instant messaging, music player and a camera. There is an Android Application store similar to the iPhone App Store. Google’s USP against the iPhone seems to be openness and willingness to let developers work more freely with Android as compared to the Apple’s tighter control over the iPhone application ecosystem. It could be a double-edged sword. Openness has its pros and cons. As to iPhone App Store, since its launch in July, users have downloaded more than 100 million applications for the iPhone and the iPod touch. Google has run Android developer challenge contest to get developers to create more Android apps.

For more details on G1, go to T-Mobile G1 site.

Welcome to the world of superphones. Superphone – a term informally being used for the ultra smart and ultra sleek new smartphones. This is a new world. We love this, finally mobile world is coming around with some cutting edge device and software innovation. Next we await the BlackBerry Bold – RIM’s answer to the iPhone and Google phone.

One thing is for sure. The new superphone world belongs to Apple, Google, RIM and Nokia. What about the rest ?

From a mobile OS perspective, there is a fight between Android, iPhone, Symbian, Windows Mobile, LiMo etc. Talk about fragmentation. Alas, if only developers could find a truly universal Mobile development ecosystem but without a PC-kind of monopoly.

MT

Android Market announced…

Only concern about the Android Market will be licensing, security and stability of the apps…

Google’s Android developer community has announced Android Market, a service.

Similar to the Apple App Store. As per the post on Android Developers Blog, the Android Market is an open- content system that will help end-users search, purchase, download and install featured apps and other software directly to Android-based phones and devices.

 

Initially, An+droid – based handsets will feature Android Market beta version service commercially. Google will host the content from developers with rating and feedback system. At the Android Market, the content developers will have freedom to make their content available openly unlike the Apple App Store, which has monitored and controlled membership as well as posting. Apart from that, support for free applications would also be available.

 

Only concern about the Android Market will be licensing, security and stability of the apps.

 

Android Market beta version will have free apps and also subsequent firmware update that will provision the phones for other paid versions in future.

 

The mobile operating system is really picking up now. After Apple App Store and Android Market, what next? Perhaps a similar service might be started by Symbian when it goes open-source, Microsoft for the Windows Mobile or Research In Motion.

 

Whenever Android-power handsets are available in India, developers and users will be able to enjoy the open environment of the Android Market.

 

Vishal