Archive for the ‘Mobile Technology’ Category

Tamome CEO shares his vision of mobile & technology with launch of his new business

Posted: November 16, 2012 in Ad Industry, Advertising, Affiliate Marketing, Affiliate Networks, Affiliates, Digital Display Advertising, Digital Marketing, Display advertising, Industry News, Information communications technology, M-Commerce, Marketing, Mobile Ad Networks, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Affiliate Networks, Mobile Affiliation, Mobile Developers, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Search, Mobile SEM, Mobile Technology, Performance Advertising, SEM, SEO, Tablets, Tamome, Technology, Technology Evolution, Technology Theory, Wireless Technologies
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Tamome – Mobile Affiliate Advertising Marketplace launched by Founder & CEO Christian Louca

www.tamome.co.uk

Calling Partnerships

As Founder & CEO of Tamome I announce we are open for partnerships within the mobile affiliate advertising market sector.  The Tamome team have been quietly building our technology since February of this year and we are now live with major clients.  We are looking to extend partnerships with advertisers, affiliates, publishers and app developers. The time has come for the birth of mobile affiliation, a massively overlooked market segment that warrants some attention.

We have strong ambitions to drive this froward;  with all our knowledge, insight, motivations, passion and general love of the industry we hope to disrupt the market through creating exciting opportunity for all our partners and partners customers alike.  We invite you to participate in the next generation of mobile advertising.

A little bit of vision

With smartphone and tablet penetration accelerating across the globe and with more and more people using this as their means to stay connected with the world; always on, always connected and always with us.  This has become the preferred method of; communicating with friends, family, colleagues, TV Shows, entertainment,  finding out what is happening in the world, sharing content on a global scale in seconds,  navigating our way around the worlds cities and towns, letting our utility suppliers know how much we owe them, staying in touch with what is important to us, researching, understanding perceived value of anything through to buying digital goods, products or services and making payments.  It is no wonder that in such a short period of time where this is happening right in front of our eyes, we still cannot even begin to imagine where it will take us in the future.

Technology is so powerful; it has allowed the human race to advance in ways that were just simply not even conceivable before its time. ‘Before its time’…I am not sure what I mean by that.  Since technology has been around longer than the human race.  It seems strange even writing that; but I believe the reality of technology starts with life itself and the evolution of the world that we know and live in today.  Mobile technology is just one element of a whole world of biological and non-biological technology evolutions.  Non-biological evolutions need a creator, a creator can exist because of biological evolutions.  Make sense?  I think ‘technology’ is an almost impossible thing to define but I think we have to split this in these two pieces.

Biological Evolution of living technology

‘Technology that were Creators’

Biological evolution of the Human Race

Non-Biological Evolution of non-living technology

with the biological evolution of technology that were creators

‘technology that was created’

Technology that was made by technology that were creators

So it should be clear now that mobile sits within the Technology that was made by Technology that were creators space. Why is this important?  We need to understand the context of the bigger picture rather than just looking at mobile.

Technology evolution depends on its creators.  That is you and I. Creators evolve according to their natural evolution (remember we are biological technology).  Now the lines start to blur because you could ask ‘are we evolving according to the technology that we are creating?’  Anyway, another time for that one.

We have since life began carved, manufactured, developed, created concepts of technology to ultimately make our existence on earth enriched, easier and healthier.  The internet has enabled us to put all our thoughts, ideas and concepts all into one place, like a giant brain.  Thanks to mobile technology this brain is now accessible to us all across the connected world like being on a drip.  We can open it and close it as and when we feel.  Its always there, its always on but we are in control as to when we use it to make our days enriched, easier or healthier.  This is the power of mobile and why like no other industry it is growing at a rate that we have never seen before anywhere else in our time.  I am proud to be part of such an amazing evolution of technology and communication  that is simply extraordinary.

Christian Louca

Guardian mobile site drives mores unique browsers & traffic than apps & tablets combined but where is the engagement?

Posted: May 17, 2012 in Digital Marketing, Industry News, Information communications technology, Internet, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Applications, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile Platforms, Mobile Technology, Online, Publishing, Publishing Industry, Tablets, Technology, Uncategorized, User Experience & Usability
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Deutsch: logo der tageszeitung the guardian

the guardian (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It has been some time since I first remember trying to sign The Guardian to the YOC media network, sometime in 2009.  From memory at the time, 4th Screen were selling around 1 million page views per month.  I have posted below the latest figures from their site**, that figure now stands at 6.2 million and generates more unique browsers and monthly page views than their iOS, Android and iOS tablet apps combined.  These figures are somewhat surprising but not because their mobile internet has the biggest pull,  rather that their mobile traffic has only 6 fold in 4 or so years and all their mobile channels are not generating significant page impressions.

I have always been an advocate for mobile internet and I do get and understand that having an app strategy for print and digital publishers makes perfect sense.  After all, I have personally been involved in building so many for clients as such, why wouldn’t I think this.  My bigger question is why is their mobile internet site and apps not generating higher levels of uniques or monthly page impressions?  We know they have an award winning app and their paid for model seemed to work and made them a small profit after development costs.

But… why is their mobile internet site generating far less monthly page impressions in ratio to their applications? And… are their applications generating enough impressions in ratio to the unique users?

Mobile Internet

Generating 6.2 million page impressions from 2.5 million unique browsers can be averaged out that for every one customer visiting the site once a month is only generating 2.5 page impressions per visit.  I am guessing that their customers are visiting more than once a month which would mean they are generating even less impressions per visit (just divide the impression number by the number of visits).  As you can see from these states it becomes somewhat disappointing and raises some concern.  Maybe I am interpreting unique browsers wrongly as unique users, but it sounds like the same thing to me.

The iphone app is a little better…

Again applying the same principle generating 1 million page impressions from 34,000 uniques can be averaged out that for every 1 customer using the app once a month is generating about 30 impressions per visit.  Like their mobile internet users the reality is they are visiting more than once a month and therefore the impressions they generate per visit are even less.

Lets look at the rest, again applying the same methodology…

iPad app

45,113 monthly uniques generating 3.45 million page impressions equates to 1 customer visiting once a month generating 75 page impressions per visit.

Android app

11,000 monthly uniques are generating 1.2 million page impressions equates to 1 customer visiting once a month generating 110 page impressions per visit.

What does this all mean?

Image representing Android as depicted in Crun...

In summary, it shows that their Android app is generating a much richer experience than their other channels.  Or maybe Android users are just more engaged than iOS users.  We have to be careful here as their mobile internet site will have traffic from all devices but overall the statistics suggest that most of their mobile site users are less engaged than their app users.

In my experience, working with print and digital publishers it is typical for a user to generate up to 10 impressions per visit but at an absolute minimum of visiting the site or apps 2 to 3 times a week.  This would mean you would have to divide those impressions (generated by the users) by approximately 12.  In doing that, the numbers would suggest that only their Android app and iPad app are delivering a rich experience where the user is most engaged generating 9 to 6 impressions per visit respectively.  The others fall well short of this and their mobile internet site alarmingly so.

m.guardian**

A dedicated mobile site giving users access to guardiannews.comcontent any time and from any device. It is optimised for mobile screen sizes and connection speeds.

Traffic:

2.5 million monthly unique browsers
6.2 million monthly page views

m.guardian is showing incredible growth and almost doubled its traffic over the course of 2011 – growth that is outstripping total growth of the mobile internet market (+25% yr on yr).

Users are accessing a broad range of content through m.guardian with the top five most visited sections being world news, football, sport, technology and Comment is free. Comment is free alone delivers over 250,000 page views per month – an indication that users are valuable opinion leaders.

iPhone app

An award winning iPhone app featuring video, live blogs and more that is available free to users in the US.

Traffic:

34,000 monthly unique browsers

1 million monthly page views

With steady growth in unique browsers of almost 50% over the last four months, the iPhone app is another strong performer in GNM’s mobile portfolio. What’s more, the proportion of heavy users is high at just over 50%. That, combined with a strong frequency metric for user behaviour, indicates a very loyal and engaged audience.

In addition to the regular news content, users have a strong preference for football, sport and business content.

iPad app

We launched our critically acclaimed iPad app in October 2011 and since then it has been downloaded more than 500,000 times (globally). With a clean, modern design and easy navigation the Guardian iPad app is immensely readable.

Traffic:

45,113 monthly unique browsers

3.45 million monthly page views

Android App

Free to download and available from the Android market worldwide it contains the latest news, sport, comment, reviews, videos, podcasts and picture galleries from the Guardian website.

Traffic:

11,000 monthly unique browsers

1.2 million monthly page views

The app delivers a globally minded audience of opinion leaders and the most popular sections include football, Comment is free and world news.

Furthermore, over one in three are heavy users and this has steadily increased over the last few months – an indication that user loyalty and engagement is growing.

SOURCE**: Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/advertising/mobile?newsfeed=true)

One tablet generates as many website visits as four smartphones

Posted: May 16, 2012 in Industry News, Information communications technology, Internet, Mediation Platforms, Mobile Internet, Mobile Platforms, Mobile Technology, Smartphones, Tablets, Technology, Wireless Technologies
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My Comments on the below:

It is becoming harder and harder to differentiate between a smartphone and tablet.  However, there are two distinctive behaviours that will not change.  Browsing the internet ‘at home’ and ‘on the go’.  There is a certain size tablet that will mainly stay at home for the internet browsing as described in the article such as an iPad or other earlier tablet devices. In parallel, the newer smaller devices such as Galaxy Note that blur the line between smartphone and tablet lean towards being a device that access information ‘on the go’ and equally ‘at home’.  The key difference is they are delivering a larger visual experience ‘on the go’ and a larger enough experience to access the internet ‘at home’ that could be considered richer than traditional smartphones.  Maybe we should call them internetphones :)

Posted By } David Moth

One tablet generates as many website visits as four smartphones, according to data from Adobe’s Digital Index Report.

By the end of Q1 2012 smartphones accounted for 6.1% of site visits compared to 4.3% on tablet.

However, smartphones only maintain a greater share of website visits due to the lower penetration rate of tablets.

The report highlights that from 2010 through to 2011 there were 5.3 times more smartphones shipped across North America and Western Europe compared to tablets.

Adobe predicts that at its current rate of growth tablet traffic will surpass smartphone traffic within 12 months.

Within a year of its launch in Q2 2010 the iPad accounted for 1% of total website visits, reaching 4.3% of total visits by the end of 2011.

In contrast, within the first two years of the iPhone market entry, smartphones accounted for 0.4% of total website visits, taking nearly three years to reach 1% of total visits.

If this trend continues then tablets will account for more than 10% of website visits in 2014.

But Adobe’s report isn’t the first piece of research to highlight the growing popularity of tablets.

A recent survey by InMobi and Mobext found that 69% of tablet owners make a purchase on their device every month.

This highlights the fact that e-tailers need to have a tablet strategy in place.

Our comprehensive blog post, ‘tablets: the opportunity for marketers‘, has a number of tips for how advertisers should seek to target tablet users.

However, we should also be careful not to overstate the importance of tablets, as despite similar levels of engagement PCs drive disproportionately more website visits than tablets.

Adobe’s report shows across North America and Western Europe there were six times more PCs shipped than tablets in between 2009 and 2011.

Yet in Q1 2012 PCs accounted for 19 times more website visits.

The reasons for this are fairly obvious – people use PCs all day at work, and most tablet owners will also use a PC for browsing at home.

Adobe report also appears to fail to take into account the millions of PCs in existence before 2009.

Finally, the data shows that tablet users are more likely to use their device to visit certain types of websites.

For example, consumers consider tablets and PCs to be nearly interchangeable for media consumption and for repeated interactions with financial service providers.

“This suggests that consumers consider tablets to be similar to PCs for visits that are repeated, routine, involve passive consumption of content, and so on.”

However, PC conversion rates are much higher than tablet for retail and travel sites, “suggesting that consumers prefer PCs for visits involving research, comparison of alternatives, and online purchasing.”

Adobe’s Digital Index Report presents findings from an analysis of 23bn visits made to more than 325 mobile and traditional brand websites from January to March of 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Via: http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/9880-one-tablet-generates-as-many-website-visits-as-four-smartphones?utm_medium=email&utm_source=daily_pulse

 

Google Seeks Billions by Boosting Mobile Internet Speeds

Posted: April 19, 2012 in Industry News, Information communications technology, Internet, M-Commerce, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile Technology, Retail, Telecommunications
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Posted By } Olga Kharif

Google is tweaking its mobile browser and working with other companies on changing the way basic Internet technologies work. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

Like many users of mobile devices, Arvind Jain is annoyed by how long it takes Web pages to load over cellular connections.

The Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOG) engineering director is continually monitoring Internet-access rates — from hotels, offices and airport lounges around the world — looking for ways to speed things up. Jain’s mission: get websites to load over mobile- phone networks twice as quickly as they do now. Today’s times are typically 9.2 seconds in the U.S.

The goal is part of a companywide initiative for Google, the world’s biggest search-engine provider, which aims to use faster mobile Internet access to unlock billions of dollars in additional e-commerce and online advertising. When people are waiting for pages to load, they aren’t shopping or viewing ads. That’s hampering everyone from giant Internet companies to local businesses trying to reach customers.

“There’s a clear correlation between speed and the success of your online business,” Jain said.

What makes a mobile Web connection slow? In some cases, it’s the carriers’ network — say, if users can’t get 3G or 4G service on their phones. Often, though, it’s because the Web page wasn’t designed to load quickly on a wireless device. The site may have high-resolution pictures or data-intensive effects. Beyond that, Internet protocols and software aren’t always optimized for mobile connections, which can lose some of the data they transmit.

Website Abandonment

An especially long delay can cause consumers to give up on purchases altogether, and the risk is more acute on mobile phones than with desktop computers. Twice as many mobile-phone users abandon a website for reasons such as sluggishness than their desktop counterparts, according to Forrester Research Inc. (FORR) (FORR)That results in lost revenue for online sellers, as well as companies like Google, the U.S. leader in mobile advertising.

To fix the problem, Google is tweaking its mobile browser and working with other companies on changing the way basic Internet technologies work. It’s also rolling out tools that help website owners see the connection between their sites’ performance and sales. That can prod businesses to spend the money needed to speed up their services.

Faster mobile Web loads could increase mobile-commerce sales in the U.S. by 10 percent, or about $600 million a year, said Sucharita Mulpuru, an analyst at Forrester. They also could help online commerce in general: Almost half of mobile users are unlikely to return to a website at all if they had trouble accessing it from their phone, a 2011 study by Equation Research found.

Hurting Business

“There’s a big business impact to these kind of struggles,” said Geoff Galat, vice president of worldwide marketing at Tealeaf Technology Inc., a provider of website- improvement software.

Faster mobile Web speeds also translate into additional mobile-ad revenue. A 30 percent improvement in mobile Internet’s speed could lead to a 15 percent rise in ad sales, said Trevor Healy, chief executive officer of mobile-ad provider Amobee Inc. U.S. mobile-advertising spending will reach $2.61 billion this year, up from $1.45 billion in 2011, according to EMarketer Inc.

While carriers adopting 4G networks have helped speed up the mobile Internet, those upgrades won’t have the biggest impact on performance, said Craig Mathias, founder of consulting firm Farpoint Group in Ashland, Massachusetts. Improvements to servers, browsers and other Internet software are even more important, he said.

Catching up to Desktops

Google has plenty of company in trying to accelerate mobile connections. Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) (AKAM), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) (MSFT), Mozilla and a slew of startups are all focused on optimizing Web performance.

The effort could be help mobile speeds catch up with desktop rates by 2014, said Lelah Manz, chief strategist for e- commerce at Akamai. For now, wired users are far ahead. They haven’t had to deal with nine-second downloads since at least 2001, according to Akamai.

“Mobile has to catch up,” Manz said. “Your shoppers are more distracted on a mobile device, and the performance is more important. This realization has just started to hit in the last six to nine months.”

To get there, Google has been tweaking its Chrome Web browser for Android, the most popular smartphone operating system. The software will rely more heavily on artificial intelligence in predicting what Web address someone wants to visit — and then start loading the page while the user is still typing. That feature is currently available in a beta-test form, Jain said.

Web Protocols

Google also is pushing for revisions to Internet protocols, the decades-old rules that govern the way the Web functions. The changes would better handle the quirks of modern mobile networks, such as their propensity to occasionally lose data en route. A revision called TCP PRR, for example, will deploy a new algorithm that accounts for data losses and network congestion.

Another adjustment, called TCP Fast Open, will eliminate the need to synchronize the phone and the server before transmitting the data. Once the revision is adopted, synchronization will happen at the same time as the transfer of data from a website.

Google recently updated its Google Analytics feature to let Web publishers overlay the speed of their site with business measurements, such as revenue per day. That helps them see the correlation and figure out return on investment.

Akamai, meanwhile, is working with Ericsson AB (ERICB), the world’s largest maker of wireless networks, to develop special technology that carriers can use to provide priority Web access to users of retail websites, Manz said. The technology will become available in the U.S. in 2013, she said.

Fewer Requests

In March, Akamai released the Aqua Mobile Accelerator, a technology that sends multiple packets over the mobile network at the same time, cutting down on the number of repeat requests.

Startups are plunging into mobile Web optimization as well. For the past two months, CloudFlare Inc. has been testing a feature called Polish, which automatically goes through images on websites and ensures they are compressed correctly. Mobile- app maker Onavo Mobile Ltd., makes sure images only load when users scroll down to the part of the Web page where the pictures would be visible.

For retailers, such technical advances can’t come soon enough. Said Jonathan Johnson, president of retailer Overstock.com Inc., a Web discounter based in Salt Lake City: “The longer purchasers have to wait, the more frustrated they get, and the more likely they are to leave the site.”

Via: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-19/google-seeks-billions-by-boosting-mobile-internet-speeds#p1

To contact the reporter on this story: Olga Kharif in Portland, Oregon, at okharif@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Thomas Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

Looking for permanent PHP developers #recruitment #mobile #advertising

Posted: February 27, 2012 in Ad Industry, Advertising, Affiliate Marketing, Developers, Information communications technology, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Developers, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Platforms, Mobile Technology, Recruitment, Technology, Telecommunications
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Hello everybody,

We are looking for several permanent developers with the desire and skill to build our new mobile venture. If you fulfil a significant portion of the desired skills and experiences we’d like to hear from you.

Knowledge and understanding of the web and mobile market is a must have.  If this sounds of interest please let us know and we can send through full details.

Kind regards,

Christian

New Mobile Venture (Stealth Mode)

Founder

Google Ventures’ Rich Miner talks about the mobile revolution

Posted: September 13, 2011 in Industry News, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mobile Applications, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile Platforms, Mobile Technology, Technology, Venture Capitalism, Wireless Technologies
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Google Ventures announced recently that it is investing inAstrid, a task management app, and Crittercism, an SDK that helps provide customer support for mobile.

Google Ventures’ partner Rich Miner made the announcement during VentureBeat’s fourth annual MobileBeat conference. (We have a separate story withmore details on the Astrid investment.) We’ll be posting more on those companies throughout the day.

After the announcement, Miner answered the question on everyone’s mind: Where’s the Android fund? Kleiner Perkins has its Apple-focused iFund, but neither Google nor venture firms have anything similar for Android startups.

“I think the time has gone by,” said Miner. “It’s now all about mobile.”

The proof is in the pudding, er, funding: Astrid and Crittercism are both mobile companies.

Miner has a front seat to watch mobile phone market growth. He became a partner of Google Ventures after Android, the mobile platforms company he co-founded, was acquired six years ago. He has over 25 years of experience growing businesses with innovative communications and interface-intensive applications. During his early years at Google, he helped lead the development of the Android platform and ecosystem. Prior to Android, Rich was a Vice President at Orange, where he led R&D activities in North America and was an original principal at Orange Ventures when it was founded.

Miner recalled his early days at Google six years ago, when Android was “treated as a separate startup.” The company was self-funded when Google picked it up.

“It was Larry [Page, Google co-founder] who latched on first. He was our champion. He shared our strategic view,” said Miner. He says he was impressed that Page, his co-founder Sergey Brin and then-CEO-now-chairman Eric Schmidt understood the mobile industry. It was important for Android to have support and flexibility right from the start, and those ingredients are necessary today.

“There were skeptics about Android all the way through last year,” said Miner. “There has been a tipping point.”

That tipping point happened in the last six months, he explains. As a VC, Miner’s goal has always been to make money, and Apple’s App Store makes money. Up until last year he was recommending companies focus on iOS. Now, he says, Android is “on a rocket ship.”

Another hot topic: Where is Google going with Chrome?

Miner believes the line between Android and Chrome has been drawn: Android is for mobile, while Chrome is for desktop and laptop environments. The theme is that Google understands the open platform. Miner also believes native apps and HTML 5 both have their place. Android, however, supports both for the times you want or need to go offline.

Via: http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/12/google-ventures-rich-miner-on-the-mobile-revolution/

BOMBSHELL: Google Buying Handset Maker Motorola Mobility For $12.5 Billion

Posted: August 15, 2011 in Handset manufacturers, Industry News, Information communications technology, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mobile Handsets, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Phones, Mobile Technology, Smartphones, Technology, Telecommunications, Wireless Technologies
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Huge!

Google is buying handset maker Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in cash.

That’s a 61% premium.

Needless to say this is a gamechanger in the mobile world, as Google moves down the stack, and is no longer just an operating system provider meaning it competes directly with Apple as well as the various other handset makers who currently use Android.

What’s more, one of the biggest arguments in favor of Apple’s continued to dominance is that without a complete end-to-end “stack”, no other platform could compete with its integrated software/hardware setup.

Bear in mind that Google has over $35 billion in cash, so this answers one question about what they’ll do with it. The company still has tons more dry poweder.

Other handset makers, like RIMM and Nokia are both up pre-market on the news as the focus obviously turns to Microsoft: Is it now forced to buy one of them? Or does Microsoft benefit because the remaining handset makers (Samsung, etc.) now turn more towards Windows?

Another angle that will be scrutinized is MMI’s patent portfolio, and how that plays out.

That’s one of the key points made by Larry Page in his post on the subject:

We recently explained how companies including Microsoft and Apple are banding together in anti-competitive patent attacks on Android. The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to “protect competition and innovation in the open source software community” and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction. Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Appleand other companies.

Obviously lots to digest. Stay tuned with LIVE coverage all day at SAI.

Full press release below, and below that we’ve posted Larry Page’s Google blog post explaining the deal.

—————

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & LIBERTYVILLE, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG - News) and Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:MMI - News) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Google will acquire Motorola Mobility for $40.00 per share in cash, or a total of about $12.5 billion, a premium of 63% to the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday, August 12, 2011. The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

The acquisition of Motorola Mobility, a dedicated Android partner, will enable Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility as a separate business.

Larry Page, CEO of Google, said, “Motorola Mobility’s total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers. I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.”

Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said, “This transaction offers significant value for Motorola Mobility’s stockholders and provides compelling new opportunities for our employees, customers, and partners around the world. We have shared a productive partnership with Google to advance the Android platform, and now through this combination we will be able to do even more to innovate and deliver outstanding mobility solutions across our mobile devices and home businesses.”

Andy Rubin, Senior Vice President of Mobile at Google, said, “We expect that this combination will enable us to break new ground for the Android ecosystem. However, our vision for Android is unchanged and Google remains firmly committed to Android as an open platform and a vibrant open source community. We will continue to work with all of our valued Android partners to develop and distribute innovative Android-powered devices.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals in the US, the European Union and other jurisdictions, and the approval of Motorola Mobility’s stockholders. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2011 or early 2012.

Webcast Information

Google and Motorola Mobility will hold a conference call with financial analysts to discuss this announcement today at 8:30am ET. The toll-free dial-in number for the call is 877-616-4476 (conference ID: 92149124). The call will also be webcast live at http://investor.shareholder.com/media/eventdetail.cfm?eventid=101369&CompanyID=ABEA-3VZHGF&e=1&mediaKey=A21887C59EBAAC12F1BCF4D43C080953. The webcast version of the conference call will be available through the same link following the conference call.

———————–

Supercharging Android: Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility

8/15/2011 04:35:00 AM

Since its launch in November 2007, Android has not only dramatically increased consumer choice but also improved the entire mobile experience for users. Today, more than 150 million Android devices have been activated worldwide—with over 550,000 devices now lit up every day—through a network of about 39 manufacturers and 231 carriers in 123 countries. Given Android’s phenomenal success, we are always looking for new ways to supercharge the Android ecosystem. That is why I am so excited today to announce that we have agreed to acquire Motorola.

Motorola has a history of over 80 years of innovation in communications technology and products, and in the development of intellectual property, which have helped drive the remarkable revolution in mobile computing we are all enjoying today. Its many industry milestones include the introduction of the world’s first portable cell phone nearly 30 years ago, and the StarTAC—the smallest and lightest phone on earth at time of launch. In 2007, Motorola was a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance that worked to make Android the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. I have loved my Motorola phones from the StarTAC era up to the current DROIDs.

In 2008, Motorola bet big on Android as the sole operating system across all of its smartphone devices. It was a smart bet and we’re thrilled at the success they’ve achieved so far. We believe that their mobile business is on an upward trajectory and poised for explosive growth.

Motorola is also a market leader in the home devices and video solutions business. With the transition to Internet Protocol, we are excited to work together with Motorola and the industry to support our partners and cooperate with them to accelerate innovation in this space.

Motorola’s total commitment to Android in mobile devices is one of many reasons that there is a natural fit between our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers everywhere.

This acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform. Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. We will run Motorola as a separate business. Many hardware partners have contributed to Android’s success and we look forward to continuing to work with all of them to deliver outstanding user experiences.

We recently explained how companies including Microsoft and Apple are banding together in anti-competitive patent attacks on Android. The U.S. Department of Justice had to intervene in the results of one recent patent auction to “protect competition and innovation in the open source software community” and it is currently looking into the results of the Nortel auction. Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anti-competitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies.

The combination of Google and Motorola will not only supercharge Android, but will also enhance competition and offer consumers accelerating innovation, greater choice, and wonderful user experiences. I am confident that these great experiences will create huge value for shareholders.

I look forward to welcoming Motorolans to our family of Googlers.

Posted by Larry Page, CEO

Via: http://www.businessinsider.com/breaking-google-buying-motorola-mobility-for-125-billion-2011-8#ixzz1V6KELtUY

HOT NEWS: Apple’s IAd Mobile Business Is Said to Trim Prices as Advertisers Defect (up to 70%)

Posted: July 7, 2011 in Ad Industry, Display advertising, Industry News, Mobile Ad Networks, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Platforms, Mobile Technology
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Apple Inc.

Posted By ] Adam Satariano

Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iAd mobile-advertising business has cut rates by as much as 70 percent as some marquee clients are using rival services, two people with knowledge of the matter said, signaling the company is struggling to parlay its technology leadership into success in the ad industry.

When Apple rolled out iAd a year ago, companies such as Citigroup Inc. (C) and J.C. Penney Co. were being charged $1 million or more to run ad campaigns. Today those brands aren’t using iAd, and Apple is offering packages for as little as $300,000, said the people, who asked not to be named because the rates are private.

Even with lower prices, some advertising agencies are balking at iAd’s cost, especially because the promotions only reach Apple users. They’re turning instead to Google Inc. (GOOG)’s AdMob, Millennial Media and Greystripe, which serve a range of devices. That means Apple risks losing ground in a market that will generate $2.5 billion by 2014, according to EMarketer Inc.

“Apple’s closed ecosystem may have been interesting in the short run for advertisers, but in the long run they priced themselves out,” said Thom Kennon, senior vice president of strategy for the Young & Rubicam ad agency in New York.

Makers of applications, who benefit from iAd by selling advertising, are getting only 5 percent to 15 percent of their space filled by the Apple system, according to Mobclix Inc., an exchange for buying and selling mobile ads.

Lower Prices

Apple has cut the minimum ad purchase from $1 million to $500,000, and it’s offering agencies deals for as low as $300,000 if they bring together multiple campaigns, the two people said.

The company still has the advantage of offering the biggest selection of mobile applications. Its App Store, which provides software for its iPhone, iPad tablet and iPod Touch media player, has more than 425,000 programs. When an ad runs within an app, Apple gives the developer 60 percent of the revenue.

Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Cupertino, California- based Apple, said the company continues to sign some of the world’s leading brands.

“In its first year iAd has launched more than 100 campaigns in seven countries,” she said.

Apple also is taking steps to attract more advertising. In addition to offering lower prices, it hired a former ad agency executive, Carrie Frolich, who was the head of digital for WPP Plc’s MEC. And Apple added a new online design feature, called iAd Producer, to help agencies design ads more quickly.

Disney, AT&T

Twenty companies have used iAd in the past month, including Walt Disney Co. (DIS), where Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs is the biggest shareholder; AT&T Inc., a carrier of Apple’s iPhone; and insurance provider Geico Corp. About 50 campaigns will be joining the platform in the coming months, according to Apple.

The iAd system carried unrealistic expectations from developers and advertisers, said Noah Elkin, an analyst at EMarketer, a research firm in New York. Its biggest contribution is validating the nascent market of showing advertisements to people on their smartphones, he said.

“It has been successful in that it created a beacon for mobile advertising,” he said. “Advertising was always going to be a minor revenue source for them.”

Even if prices have come down, Apple legitimized the idea of spending large sums on mobile ads, said Krishna Subramanian, the co-founder of Palo Alto, California-based Mobclix.

“You can go to an automotive company and pitch a $500,000 to $1 million campaign, and it’s realistic,” he said.

Disappointing Results?

Still, iAd has frustrated some developers, which haven’t made as much money as expected, Subramanian said. They have turned to other companies to sell ad space, he said.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. is using competing mobile-adverting networks after being part of the initial group of companies to advertise through Apple, said Ed Gold, the insurer’s advertising director.

J.C. Penney, another inaugural user of iAd, also is working with other services, said Danika Berry, a spokeswoman for the retailer. Citigroup confirmed that it’s not currently using iAd as well. The companies said they may use iAd in the future.

Rival mobile-advertising companies have been luring clients by undercutting Apple on price and promoting their ability to run across multiple devices, including handsets from Samsung Electronics Co., HTC Corp. and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. – - phones that rely on Google’s Android operating system. Millennial Media also hired one of Apple’s iAd sales managers.

Limited Audience

“You’re cutting your potential audience in half by focusing on a single platform,” said Dane Holewinski, head of marketing at Greystripe, which was acquired by ValueClick Inc. (VCLK) in April. About 80 percent of the company’s advertising campaigns work across multiple devices. “Advertisers don’t care about platform. They care about audience, performance and engagement.”

The iAd system carries a level of prestige, in part because of its sleek design, said Rob Norman, CEO of ad agency GroupM North America, whose clients using iAd include Unilever NV.

“Everyone likes the consumer experience it creates,” he said. “Everyone wants to be there because they think that, possibly since television, this is one of the most elegant customer experiences.”

Still, companies must account for the cost, Norman said.

“We’d all like to stay at the Four Seasons, but not if it costs $150,000 a night,” he said. “There’s a price equation.”

Quattro Acquisition

The iAd platform was started after Apple acquired mobile- advertising company Quattro Wireless last year. It was introduced last July at the company’s annual developers conference as a way to take more interactive features, such as videos, and embed them within applications.

Apple targets ads by using data from the millions of accounts registered with its iTunes software. The pitches are made based on demographic information, along with a user’s music, movie or App Store purchases. Advertisers can choose “buckets” of users to target, based on demographics, though they can’t pick which specific applications the ads run in.

When it was introduced, Jobs said most other mobile advertising “really sucks.”

For now, many ad agencies haven’t embraced iAd as an improvement over the old approaches, said Rachel Pasqua, vice president of mobile for ICrossing, an online marketing firm. She cites the cost, time needed to get ads approved, limited size of the audience and control Apple has kept over data.

“I haven’t encouraged any of my clients towards it,” Pasqua said. “I haven’t seen a huge value proposition.”

While Apple has stumbled in advertising, its influence over the technology industry means it’s too soon to count the company out, said EMarketer’s Elkin.

“IAd may have receded in to the background, but it’s too early to assume it’s not going to come back,” he said.

Via: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-07/apple-s-iad-mobile-ad-service-said-to-cut-prices-as-clients-turn-to-rivals.html

Google Acquires AdMeld For $400 Million

Posted: June 10, 2011 in Display advertising, Industry News, Information communications technology, Mediation Platforms, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mobile Ad Exchanges, Mobile Ad Networks, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Platforms, Mobile Technology, Online Advertising, Technology
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AdMeld, an advertising optimization platform for publishers, has been acquired by Google for around $400 million according to multiple sources. The company, which launched in 2007, has raised just $30 million in venture capital from Foundry Group, Spark Capital, Norwest Venture Partners and Time Warner Investments.

This is a sweet comeback for CEO Michael Barrett. As I noted in our first post about AdMeld in 2009, Barrett was fired from News Corp. in 2008 when the division that owned MySpacefailed to meet a $1 billion revenue target. Most sources we spoke with at the time said he was the fall guy for an unrealistic revenue target to begin with, set by News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch in a previous earnings call.

Website: admeld.com
Location: New York, New York, United States
Founded: October, 2007
Funding: $30M

Admeld helps the world’s top online publishers sell their ad inventory smarter. Built and run by publishing veterans, the company provides its clients with expertise and technology to capture new revenue streams, control how they sell each… Learn More

Website: google.com
Location: Mountain View, California, United States
Founded: September 7, 1998
IPO: August 19, 2004

Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including:… Learn More

Via: http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/09/google-acquires-admeld-for-400-million/

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