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Mobile Ad Growth: Let’s talk about consumers

By Ryan Fritzky | November 8, 2007

Mobile buzz has reached record highs over the last few months.

The mounting buzz comes from varied sources, including bulging forecasts ($5.08B by 2012), Google’s Android announcement, Yahoo! distribution deals, and of course the iPhone. It seems my blog reader is cluttered with mobile.

Along these lines yesterday I came across some interesting comments made by Yahoo! mobile chief Marco Boerries on Yahoo!’s mobile approach and the potential short comings of Google’s strategy:

“The race is going to be who builds the biggest arsenal of partners and numbers of page views.”

“Google risks being distracted by technology rather than being focused on advertising revenue, the lifeblood of both Internet players.”

Are partners paramount to mobile success? Absolutely. Similar to any advertising network distribution partners are key growth drivers. And of course page views drive graphical revenue. However, in these comments and many others in recent weeks it feels like something is missing.

As the mobile saga continues, we must remember that like any great product or application, consumer satisfaction will set it free. You can put whatever you want on my phone but I will not use it more than once if it doesn’t entertain me or make my life easier.

Google is the number one brand in the world. Yahoo! is the most popular destination online. The iPhone is the most recognizable phone on the market. And all of it made possible by products that bring tremendous utility and value to users.

Ad growth will follow consumer utility. Even in mobile.

Topics: Mobile, Advertising |

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