Searching for Mobile Content Models

Mobile content is getting a lot of attention lately, and many see a business model in making it easier for people to find the content they want through search engines while allowing advertisers to reach their target customers more easily using the same platforms.

“While mobile data traffic continues to grow rapidly, the increasing uptake of unlimited data plans among consumers poses new challenges in monetizing this growing data traffic,” says Nara Rajagopalan, vice president of product management at mobile Internet pioneer Openwave Systems Inc., which is in a new partnership with mobile search pure-play JumpTap Inc. to develop an integrated platform angled at just this concept. Operators will be able to use the platform to capitalize on branded search portals and advertising by enabling the delivery of targeted information from brands and agencies who want to reach mobile customers. It also leverages a 360-degree view of the subscriber to create a profile based on behavior across applications and networks. In combination with JumpTap’s advertisements and search-related targeting information, this is designed to provide a mobile advertising capability that can deliver relevant and contextual advertisements to the end user, creating more bang for the buck for advertisers and a better proposition for service providers.

The idea of off-deck content is a scary one for many operators, who would prefer to leverage “exclusive” content to hang onto their value propositions. But non-walled-garden sites are a growing force, and carriers need to learn how to integrate that reality into their business models. “As mobile consumers increasingly travel off-net, operators are looking for ways to more effectively monetize this traffic, too,” Rajagopalan says.

Enter Google Inc., which at the 3GSM show earlier this year in Barcelona, Spain, announced its first mobile operator partner. It is working with Vodafone plc to develop mobile search for subscribers around the globe, integrating the capability into a consumer service, Vodafone live! While few details were to be had, the companies did say they also will develop Google Maps for mobile, a downloadable Java application that will include maps and local listings, local search and navigation capabilities. Google offers a truncated, beta version of mobile search today, but the expectation is that the Vodafone application will be a fuller, richer experience, paving the way for the ad-supported mobile search model to be tested thoroughly.

For its part, Yahoo! says having a solid business model is not enough. At 3GSM, the Internet big brand launched the Yahoo! Go oneSearch application, designed to bring search to the mobile screen with an emphasis on one-click access. “Mobile search hasn’t worked in the past because it’s been an adaptation of PC search,” says Marco Boerries, senior vice president of Yahoo! Connected Life. Thus, the Yahoo! client is tailored specifically for the mobile environment, beginning with the fact that oneSearch results are delivered in an intuitive manner, rather than a keyword-based links format. For instance, if you search for a rock star on the mobile Web, oneSearch may return information like the musician’s official Web site, upcoming concert dates, popular ringtones, images and recent news stories. It can be used for driving directions, maps, movie showtimes, sports, upcoming events, news, weather, celebrities, images, shopping and more. Also, users can type in the name of a Web site they want to visit, and oneSearch returns the link. The application also remembers previous search terms and automatically fills in your queries when it recognizes what the user is after — and, the subscriber can type in a word at any point, from any screen, and a search box will pop up to ask if the user would like to search for that term.

Yahoo! has deals in place with device manufacturers like Nokia, Research in Motion Ltd. (RIM), Samsung and Symbian Ltd., and announced Canada’s Rogers Wireless as a carrier partner. It also will preload Yahoo! services on LG Electronics devices worldwide, and said it actively is seeking further relationships with operators, ready to be the middleman that streamlines the business model.

Boerries notes that Yahoo! has made the mobile realm a top priority. “We believe the mobile Internet is not a free commodity — it takes a lot of money to build and maintain,” he says. Referring to carrier, handset and advertising partners: “Value that gets created jointly has to be shared jointly.”

Download your free copy of our 3GSM eBook, “Where Mobile Goes Global,” at www.xchangemag.com/ebooks. This issue includes stories about:

• The Bumper Crop of New Wireless Devices
• Post-Merger Strategies of the Kings of Combo
• Great Expectations for Capitalizing on SMS
• The Latest from Google, Tellabs, Yahoo!, and Others