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Mobile Internet Usage and Advertising – Case Studies & Research Findings
A quick post for anyone interested in Mobile Internet usage and the mobile advertising paradigm:
Online Publishers Association – Going Mobile Report (.pdf)
Some very interesting conclusions drawn. The comparisons between US and European users contains some very useful info. Of most interest to me is the breakdown of what content mobile users consume, personalise, and pay for.
A few extracts:
As a Texan (and a an American to boot) I find it funny that the weather and sports are to the two big categories for us, while the Europeans are only half that. We are a rather self-centered lot and are “Amusing Ourselves to Death” (which incidentally is the title of a book from 1985 about television destroying our “culture”). We also don’t really care about what happens outside our borders. It’s the lowest number for us on the graphic. Our health concerns cause us to see an epidemic around every corner, while the commercials for WebMD and all the various health insurance companies are starting to get annoying.
Of isolationist, egconcentric, money-hungry, and hypochondriac the only quality shared in equal proportion with Europeans is money-hungry.
Comment by Justin — March 13, 2007 @ 4:09 pm
Hi Justin
It’s curious the differences between US and European users. One thing that I found odd on both sides was the lack of comparison shopping and review sites. Maybe I’m being daft, but I would have thought that a mobile based product review app would go down a treat. I know I wouldn’t mind having access to reviews when I’m purchasing certain products.
One step further would be to integrate a review service with the newer barcode reading apps to automate the whole shebang. Now that would be nifty I reckon.
Comment by Richard Hearne — March 13, 2007 @ 8:55 pm
I actually read a review the other day about putting barcode readers in cell phones, the idea being that you could scan a barcode with your phone and be taken to reviews for that site as paid service. Sounds like a good idea but I don’t know how many people would actually buy into it. I guess Consumer Reports is the best company to offer that service.
Personally, I think that the people who actually research their purchases do so online beforehand with something that doesn’t charge by the minute, then with an idea of two or three options go to a store to compare them physically (if they don’t just buy it online right then). I’m one of those people who doesn’t research purcases like I ought to, and it seems to me that the majority of people are like that. They want a TV so they go to the electronics store and see what’s available, using the salesman to do all their research for them. Can be effective, but can also be very dangerous. As a former salesman, I know most of them don’t actually have the buyer’s best interest at heart. They just want to make their commission and move on to the next one.
Comment by Justin — March 13, 2007 @ 9:38 pm
Conclusion is to make site about weather optimized for mobiles and add a lot of ads
Comment by Tourist — March 15, 2007 @ 9:22 pm