Archive for the 'Mobile Search' Category

I went to the Mobile Marketing Forum in NYC a couple of weeks ago, and ever since, I’ve been desirous of, and wondering how to monetize a mobile website. Obviously, it needs to be WAP enabled, and written in a language like xhtml.

One of the mobile ad networks thought very highly of the Walled garden strategy within a category. Mobile users typically don’t like typing websites into the browser. So, this strategy keeps them within their topic of interest, and due to limited time of a business traveller (typical demographic), will either convert or leave the mobile web session.

So, I decided to choose Chocolate as my mobile topic. Perhaps, I can enter into an arrangement with a local chocolate store similar to an affiliate agreement.

So, now to choose my mobile domains. I decided to use the .mobi extension. But, needed to buy a few domains.

To assist me in choosing which mobile domain names to buy, I used the Wordtracker keyword generation tool. Then I pasted the Wordtracker results on a Spreadsheet. Added a column for the domain. Then, concatenate the two columns. I created this simple spreadsheet to use as a Domaining Tool.

Next, I pasted the cocatenated results on a Notepad, and removed the spaces using the “replace” feature. If you follow these steps, now you’re ready to see if those domains are available. Go to a bulk domain buying tool. I used the Go Daddy Bulk Domain Registration tool.

You can further strategize your decision on what to purchase by the number of searches on the keyword provided by Wordtracker.

I haven’t decided how to use these domains yet. Chocolate, Software, Ringtones, Wallpaper, Games, and Music are all options. The thought crossed my mind that they could be used similarly as MFA (made-for-adsense) sites. Or, to actually sell chocolate gifts. Here are the domains I purchased:

CHOCOLATEBUNNIES.MOBI
CHOCOLATEBUNNY.MOBI
CHOCOLATECAKERECIPES.MOBI
CHOCOLATECOOKIES.MOBI
CHOCOLATEDREAMS.MOBI
CHOCOLATEFOUNTAINS.MOBI
CHOCOLATEHEAVEN.MOBI
CHOCOLATEJESUS.MOBI
CHOCOLATEMILK.MOBI
CHOCOLATEPIE.MOBI

I know…they don’t seem like really great domains. Of course, the good ones were already taken. So, I chose these based on monthly keyword searches, and the premise that the mobile site should be easy to find, and remember. This is similar strategy as non-mobile sites. Use short memorable URL’s. Pehaps use a .mobi domain rather than something like: wap.mysite.com, or .com/wap. Of course these mobile sites should be treated like any other site, and optimized. A Mobile website Optimization is essential.

According to Telephia, the size of the Mobile Internet Population is 34.6 Million. Most downloads on Mobile are from ringtones, wallpaper, and music….not chocolate. But, I’m targeting a niche market. The busy business traveller, or busy mom, student or anyone with a busy lifestyle on the go.

If you already have a great website, you can mobilize it. However, mobilizing a site does not mean compressing current content to fit a smaller screen, or detecting the useragent and serving a version of the site based on it. Most long pages of content are a nuisance on the Mobile Web. Instead, mobile design requires matching user needs with the content that is directly relevant to their mobile goals. A few short sentences with links. That’s all that’s needed. Think of the mobile user as having a 30 second attention span.

When it comes to deciding on which language to code your site, you can choose among four different language technologies. You can code a mobile Web site in XHTML, or develop a comparable application using Flash Lite, Java ME, or the .NET Compact Framework for Windows-based devices. Java applications that reside locally on a user’s mobile device speed interactions because they only rely on the network for data. Adobe Flash Lite, can give users access to client-side data that can be accessed even when network connections get dropped. I personally like xhtml for it’s simplicity and search engine friendliness. And, make sure the code is 100% valid.

Once your sites are up…Drive traffic to your site. You can use ad networks for text & banner buys on a CPC, or CPM basis. Also, use search engines like Google to create a mobile adwords campaign. Enpocket states that mobile CTRs are higher than those in most online campaigns.

Use a call-to-action through banner ads, and search… to your WAP enabled site that could feature downloads, screen savers, viral ’send to a friend’ and other options.

Mobile functions that prompt user actions include click-to-call, click for a coupon, click to subscribe, click to locate, click to win, click to download, and click to buy.

The thing I love the best is that some mobile purchases (eg: ringtones) don’t require a credit card. Making it extremely easy to purchase. The cost is reflected on the customer’s next phone bill.

I had the opportunity to go to the Mobile Marketing Forum in NYC this week. I was specifically looking for a Mobile Ad Network that uses a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) model, instead of the more common CPM model. If you’re not familiar with them already…Let me introduce to you Medio.

I spoke with Rowena Wong, their Director of Marketing. This post is about what I learned.

Medio has been around for 3 years. They currently provide On-deck Search for T-Mobile, Amp’d, Verizon, and Telus. However, before I explain the details of their Mobile search product, I think it’ll behoove us to review two concepts.

1) On-Deck: Is when you turn on your phone, and are at the “start page” of your carrier. Similarly to how AOL used to try to keep all it’s members within the AOL network. The carriers provide search on their “start page”. That’s termed, On-Deck.
2) Off-Deck: Is the publisher sites. Contextually relevant text ads & banner ads on publisher sites. Similar to Google Adsense. Example at: CelluFun

Medio provides On-Deck search for Amp’d, T-Mobile, and Verizon is in the process of a test.

On-Deck looks like the mobile search results as you’re used to seeing, but the PPC ad is in top position.

I asked Rowena how they do “targeted advertising”. She said,

Our window into Search activity “on deck” can be used in aggregate to do better targeting “off-deck”.

Setting up a campaign is easy. Advertisers just register, and set-up an account.
Log-in to the self serve interface.

Advertisers choose categories, not keywords. The keywords are bucketed into the categories behind the scenes by Medio. Publishers paste Ad-serving code into their site.

Advertisers can create their text ad, or upload their banner ads.
And add funds. It’s that easy. Oh, and they have a great reporting center which provides data like CTR’s, Clicks, etc.

The targeting is predominately North American.

There isn’t a ranking of positions because the ad is only served in the top position. So, the advertisers get their ad rotated. However, their is somewhat of a Quality score for rotation which is based on CPC and CTR.

The average CPC’s on the Medio network average somewhere between 2%-7%.

Advertisers cannot see which clicks are coming from which Publishers.

The best converting demographic is a younger male audience, and business travellers. Recommended is a call to action like a “Click-to-Call”, Email submit box, etc, and then send an automated SMS reply confirmation.

Let’s start off with the size of the mobile market. You might guess that Mobile Search is not all that big. Well, compared to Web Search, that’s right. But, there is definitely a sizable market, and a audience to target.

The research firm M:Metrics provides mobile search data and demographic information. According to M:Metrics, there are approximately 11.2 million mobile searchers in the U.S. as of February 2007.

So, of that 11.2 million, who is searching on what Mobile Search Engine? After seeing the numbers, apparently the Mobile Search Market Share is very similar to Web Search.

46.7% of mobile searchers use Google.
35.4% use Yahoo.
7.2% use MSN.

Furthermore, 61.9% of mobile searchers are male, and 77.8 % of mobile searchers are between the ages of 18-44.

Roughly 26% of Mobile Searchers earn over $100,000/year.

Yahoo recently introduced OneSearch. In my opinion, it looks much nicer and is easier to use as a searcher than Google Mobile Ads. Although, as usual…Google makes it very easy to create a Mobile Search Campaign. Just log into Adwords, and create a campaign, and when creating the ad, you can choose between a: Text ad | Image ad | Local business ad | Mobile text ad | Click-to-play video ad.

Mobile Search is often used by people on the go, looking for a location, like a restaurant or movie.

Additionally, there is not a lot of competition for keyword bidding. That means cheaper keyword buys. To run a small test, it is safe to generate 20 keywords and allocate something like 1% of your Search Engine Marketing budget (Obviously this depends on how large or small your total budget is). Expect higher conversions, but just don’t expect much volume.

The mobile ad market is growing quickly, and is expected to be worth $11.3 billion in 2011, according to a recent report from Informa.