Digital Business Strategy Marketing Management » Mobile / Cell / LBS / SMS

ebaydevcon08 Chicago: Skype Developer Roadmap

David Dalka — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:19:49 +0000

The following is my live and raw blogging of Peeter Motskula’s from Skype’s session:

Skype: Enabling Conversations

If you put all of the time spent talking on Skype put end to end you would end up going back to the start of human species.

Skype is a thriving ecosystem 190+ hardware devices, 10,000 developers, partnership with world class companies.

Skype Developer Program (SDP) Vision:
More delighted users doing more with Skype
A vibrant ecosystem of external innovators
Supporting the long tail or outside innovation on the Skype platform
Growing selection of SDKs
Clear route to market

Where We Are Today:
Public Client API
Skype Extras Framework
Support Resources
Software Certification

Next Step: Software Certification Update
Focusing on a few really important issues
Much easier to understand and follow
Shorter test rounds

Coming Up: Next Version of Skype for Windows
Redesigned user interface
User and partner feedback is important
Extended beta program
API overhaul will follow

Later On: API & Extras Program
- Multi-Layer API
Core Functionality (cross-platform)
UI integration (platform-specific)
- Distribution and Management:
Extras Gallery
Extras Manager
Blacklist and Whitelist
- Backward and forward compatibility

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White Paper…Query Suggestions for Mobile Search: Understanding Usage Patterns

David Dalka — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:45:49 +0000

Bill Slawski wrote up a nice review of the Google paper on mobile search…definitely good analysis to a nice research piece on the most perplexing bottleneck – mobile data input.

It’s my expectation that interest in innovation in the text input, voice input or even new forms of shortcuts will accelerate in the near future as it’s a critical area to create an optimal user experience while increasing frequency of usage and monetization potential.

Are you aware of companies doing interesting work in this arena?

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Net.Finance 2008 – Retail Mobile Banking at Wells Fargo: Eskander Matta, Senior Vice President, Internet Services

David Dalka — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:42:43 +0000

Mobile phone penetration in the US is now 95%+ and data plan penetration is now 50%+

Modalities:                             Usage   Capable phones
Texting                                        50%     100%
Mobile Browser,                         25%     >60%
Downloadable Application        17%      >60%

Application download cons are pretty significant – carrier control, downloading, device management, etc

Browser cons – sign-on, complex navigation, lack of awareness

SMS text message cons – Simplistic UI, Security, Plain Text

Distributing services in the mobile ecosystem requires a highly complex series of relationships.

Wells Fargo and external research shows that there is adoption interest.

Most frequent uses presently: checking balances, fund transfers and activity monitoring

Browser usage presently 2.5 times per week, 66% active users (last three months)

Text banking – 83% of all mobile banking enrollees are including the text banking service. Sending 19 text messages a month overall, becoming more engaged with the accounts overall.

Mobile Contactless Pilot with Visa…

Mobile delivers strategically – when, where, why and how?

What is the potential value?
Customer retention, reducing servicing costs by controlling call center calls, reduced risk and fraud, customer acquisition and usage revenue (P2P, Panic Play, Mobile Contactless, etc)

Security order: SMS, Browser, Application

Mobile customers slant towards a desirable demographic overall due to the very fact they are heavy mobile users.

Future state is for SMS, application and browser to be ubiquitous and the three will be tightly integrated.

Well Fargo is trying to build usage of the channel, not charging for the service at this time. Getting techno-savvy users so servicing has been minimal.

Reaction: I’m highly impressed with the full deployment of SMS, Browser and Application download models as they will be fully able to determine which best meets customer needs based on actual usage data. I chatted up Eskander afterwards and he’s a joy to speak to.

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2008 Mobile World Congress Barcelona (MWC08 – formerly 3GSM)

David Dalka — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 03:22:23 +0000

I once again find myself here in Chicago instead of in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress.

The conference tag appears to be MWC08. I must make it to this event someday as I must experience the crush of 100,000 attendees.

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Robert Peck – Bear Stearns: Mobile Spectrum Auction C Block Results Likely To Be Delayed

David Dalka — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:32:31 +0000

Robert Peck and his research team at Bear Stearns has been doing an amazing job of explaining, tracking arcane information and sending out brief snippets regarding the ongoing FCC mobile spectrum auction process. The volume of information they are tracking is both significant and lacks immediate transparency as the bidders are not immediately named.

This morning he pointed out that the D auction block is well it’s minimum and will likely be re-auctioned. What is significant about this is that the results of auction 73 can not be shared until all of the blocks are completed. Here is the exact text of what Robert Peck sent out this morning (emphasis added):

GOOG – 700MHz – How D Block Impacts Google…. Auction 73 completed its Round 35 bidding yesterday – results are posted on FCC website. We have previously alerted you to the fact that the PWB regional bids on all 12 regional licenses add up to $4.75B, higher than the $4.71B on the nationwide package which was entered in Round 17. Hence, the original bidder on the nationwide package is Google or another carrier, that bidder no longer has the obligation to purchase the spectrum. Industry advisers think Auction 73 could rap up as soon as the next two weeks.
However, we also want to point out that there are 5 blocks of spectrum in this auction and the 4th one (the D block) is currently set at $472M, below its $1.3B reserve. Many assume that this block will NOT meet the minimum reserve and will need to be put into Auction 76 to be re-auctioned. While this does not DIRECTLY impact Google or other block bidders (those blocks will be locked in at the end of the auction 73), it does INDIRECTLY impact Google in that no Auction 73 results can be disclosed until all 5 block are complete. This means that investors may be significantly delayed in learning who won the C block, as the only timeline deadline statute for the FCC statute in this auction is for all of the spectrum must be over and the money collected by June 30, 2008

Knowing Robert as I do, he probably wishes that they would have put this whole thing on Ebay.

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Yahoo! Launches Go 3.0 Beta, New Open Mobile Widget Platform, and Mobile Homepage

David Dalka — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 18:11:26 +0000

Yahoo! Go has several exciting announcements that are launching today:

· Yahoo! Go 3.0 beta:
o New features include:
§ Enhanced user interface, optimized for the mobile phone
§ Improved performance
§ For the first time, consumers will have access to third-party widgets from leading publishers through Yahoo! Go.
o Yahoo! Go 3.0 also includes display advertising from Yahoo!’s major global advertisers. Consumers will be able to interact with these ads by clicking to call the advertiser directly or to learn more about the offer.
· New Open Mobile Widget Platform:
o The platform is an open environment for deverlopers to create mobile Widgets for instant access by millions of consumers.
o Widgets created on the Mobile Widget Platform will be available to consumers from various starting points, including Yahoo! Go 3.0 and Yahoo!’s new mobile homepage.
o The platform will enable developers to write code once and publish their content across Yahoo!’s mobile network, allowing accelerated delivery of a feature-rich mobile experience.
o The platform will enable consumers more control over their experience, as well, by providing the functionality to add and delete Widgets at any time.
o Full-featured SDK for developers to be introduced over the coming weeks.
o Third-party Widget launch partners include, eBay, MySpace, and MTV.
· Redesigned Mobile Homepage
o New features:
§ Completely redesigned and engineered mobile interface from the ground up.
§ Homepage centers around intuitive navigational structure where consumers can tailor content according to needs, interests and location.
§ Available to consumers in the United States on high-end mobile browsers, which are included in devices such as the Apple iPhone, sever Nokia Seies 60 devices, including the N95, and select Windows Mobile devices. Availability across additional devices and countries to come in the near future.
o Key features:
§ Personal Vitality and Status Updates: Provides an at-a-glance update of what’s new since the last visit – including recent emails, Flickr photos from your friends, upcoming calendar appointments and status of Messenger contacts – without moving away from the home screen or logging into a separate application.
§ Customizable Content: Offers a collection of mobile content modules – or Snippets – that provide previews of the user’s favorite content – news headlines, weather conditions, etc – whatever the user wants. In many cases, Snippets are extensions of mobile widgets and can be used to launch a full-featured widget built on Yahoo!’s Mobile Widget Platform.
§ Quick Links: Customizable links at the bottom of the page, providing fast access to the Yahoo! features or sites across the Internet that consumers use the most. Consumers can easily add and remove Quick Links as they desire.

That’s alot to digest! Will 2008 be the year mobile breaks through?

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Tmobile Coverage Map Presently Inaccurate in Chicago

David Dalka — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:14:15 +0000

I presently can not get a good signal at my residence, yet Tmobile is showing an inaccurate map my area saying the coverage is the best they have. Well let me tell you, I’ve missed calls where the phone has not rung at all in the past few weeks – that is not excellent coverage or 5 bar signal strength.

I’d like to see this problem fixed by Tmobile preferably (or the map updated) no later than December 28, 2007.

The address is 1000 West Roscoe, Chicago, IL 60657 (Roscoe and Sheffield)

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Medio Systems Expands Mobile Search Marketing to Europe

David Dalka — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:54:13 +0000

I received this form Medio Systems late last night:

Medio Systems, Inc., the leading provider of mobile search and advertising solutions, today announced the availability of its performance-based Medio MobileNow™ Ad Network to advertisers and mobile publishers in the UK and beyond. A component of Medio’s complete mobile search ecosystem, the ad network maximises the latent potential of the mobile phone by targeting mobile consumers with relevant, pay-per-click ads. With the incorporation of search-based advertising in 2008, Medio MobileNow will create additional revenue streams for mobile operators, publishers and other off-deck mobile properties while offering advertisers even more targeting precision through highly relevant ad messages based on consumers’ search queries.
The Medio MobileNow Ad network has been live in the United States since its launch in March this year. The expanded network has already begun to serve ads for advertisers in the UK , Germany , France , Spain , Australia and South Africa , achieving conversion rates of up to 15% with access to over 100 million page impressions per month across an international network of publishers.

Notice that last reference, it talks about potential. This Business Week article questions the growth rates of the mobile advertising industry not reaching projections, likely due to carrier friction rather than the lack of actual potential. This is why my recent endeavors have focused on local, traditional Internet and other spaces, it appears the will to bring in the needed financial services backgrounds to take mobile search and advertising to the next level just isn’t there right now. Not because they don’t need it to go to the next level, but more likely that they can’t afford the eventual differentiation luxury under current burn rates.

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Microsoft Launches Mobile Advertising on MSN Mobile

David Dalka — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 15:29:53 +0000

Microsoft just announced the launch of mobile advertising on MSN Mobile.

I wish they would have given more details about the release instead of pointing us back to overly dated speeches on the mobile advertising subject. I would have expected to see more examples than just movie tickets.

Microsoft has the potential to lead this market with it’s array of assets if they are integrated in the right manner – see my post on Web 2.0 was NEVER a business strategy for business strategy ideas.

Maybe they will start a larger conversation on this subject once they see this post? We’ll see.

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Illinois Traffic Alert System Launches

David Dalka — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:35:43 +0000

I’m going to O’hare airport today to pick someone up, so as usual I check the Chicago area traffic page. I noticed something new in the upper right hand corner that stated IDOT free email alert system is available at http://www.iltrafficalert.com.

What you’ll find on that site is a rather revolutionary tool that allows you to set a custom alert for the expressway of your choice based on traffic speed. If the data is accurate this could be highly useful. Let’s say you normally leave to go somewhere at 6:45AM based on normal traffic. This tool apparently allows you to set up a 6:15AM alert if the road was moving below 20MPH so you could start your trip earlier. Sure this tool could still be more granular in both speed and in picking the exact section of road you want on that expressway but this trend towards a self-service, but a micro-controlled alert is nothing short of revolutionary compared to the traffic radio mass distribution model.

Chicago area commuters can now set up their own alerts here. I’d be interested in hearing about people’s usage stories and potential suggestions in the comment section, perhaps IDOT is listening.

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Google Will Apply to Participate in the FCC Spectrum Mobile Auction

David Dalka — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:53:31 +0000

My question is simply this…

Low marginal cost public relations opportunity or serious about participating in the auction?

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New York Times Article Andy Rubin Google Gadget Guru

David Dalka — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:47:32 +0000

I rarely see things like this anymore, but oh my what an amazingly well researched story by John Markoff about Andy Rubin at Google.

The article talks about the changing face of the smart phone market and you really get a feel for the history of Mr. Rubin. While the parts about Mr. Rubin’s doorbells and girlfriend dismissal methods are certainly interesting, I found the article to be lacking in one major area – his history of successfully monetizing any of the projects he has worked on in the past.

It is great reading about him as a person though and hope to see people expand on the overlooked area as time goes by.

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FCF07 – The Role of Mobile Search in Social Computing

David Dalka — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:11:58 +0000

Presenter: Charles Golvin, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research

I didn’t get around to posting this last week, these are some high points of Charles’ all too short talk:

Mobile data adoption is growing, but skews young. Many people still have not been exposed to mobile ads.

They don’t trust SMS ads. They also don’t want to pay for something in lieu of advertising. In the current state this creates contradictions.

The most interesting thing he said in his talk was when he showed Google mobile search and then stated, “I think Google imitated Yahoo! in this regard”.

Offline visual codes are powerful mechanisms for simplifying mobile call-to-action. (I’d expand this to state that it will become powerful for creating an effective multi-channel strategy as many people are too focused on mobile alone.)

Mobile should eventually be abbreviated, transactional, measurable and integrated with physical world.

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Yahoo! Onesearch Adds Content and Airline Flight Time Information

David Dalka — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 16:03:35 +0000

I’ve been informed that Yahoo! Onesearch has added content starting today…

Yahoo! is giving mobile search results a boost by integrating Yahoo! Answers and Wikipedia content into Yahoo! oneSearch results (available in 18+ countries, including all of North America, the UK, a variety of other European, Latin American, and Asian countries). In recent months, Yahoo! has added to the functionality of the oneSearch experience in an effort to deliver instant answers and relevant results to consumers on the go. With this latest addition, Yahoo! is augmenting its mobile search product with community-based information from the largest knowledge-sharing community and reference site on the Web.

Of higher relevancy to me is the addition of airline flight time information via a simple query. This week I rushed to the airport only to learn that my flight would be delayed for takeoff by 90 minutes! Assuming the airline data is accurate at the time of the query this is an example of a highly useful mobile query. A query of UA 90 shows a canceled flight today. It’s great to see incremental improvements like this being made to Yahoo! Onesearch.

To try mobile search on Yahoo! Onesearch visit http://us.m.yahoo.com/

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SMXLOMO Denver – Day 2 – Show Me the Money!!!

David Dalka — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 23:31:17 +0000

Moderator:
Greg Sterling, Founding Principal, Sterling Market Intelligence

Marketing Speakers:
Ian White, CEO, Urban Mapping
Shawn Riegsecker, Chairman & CEO, Centro
Justin Sanger, CEO, LocalLaunch
Alfred Chow, Head, Yellowbook

Justin Sanger, Local Launch

I can’t help but get caught up in some of the hype. “Context galactic scale” – thanks Google. He then said, “Talking about local search in 10 minutes is like spitting into the grand canyon.” Then said a few words to get Greg Sterling to actually blush! Really funny stuff.

Tremendous opportunities in the IYPs. Local and vertical are merging. Social networking is also converging with local. What is the differentiation of these local search sites? Even within Yahoo! you have a multitude of options. SMEs are overwhelmed and confused. The mission of marketplace consolidations – our goal is to remove the complexity not only for our small businesses but for our sales forces as well. The traditional relationships

$ Cost of Traffic $$$
Content>>Proprietary>>Organic/SEO>>Paid Placement>>Paid Search / SEM

Silos and advertisers don/t mix in local search!!!

You need to be inventory agnostic…

Shawn Riegsecker, CEO, Centro

Brand marketing increases future clicks. Newspaper growth is slowing in terms of rates of growth, national advertisers are exploding this year. Next will be the regional advertisers, which now comprise less than 3% of advertising.

Ian White, CEO, Urbanmapping

? Where the hell is the money?

7FTE, San Francisco based, geo-spacial data to enable advertisers

Why and what?

Technical limitations

User behavior

Search Engine “Keyword Lockdown”

GEO IP lookup “geotargeting” SUCKS

99% accuracy country level

95% accuracy state level

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SMXLOMO – Day 2 – Introducing the Mobile Search Engines

David Dalka — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:08:04 +0000

Moderator:
Gary Price, Director of Online Information Resources, Ask.com, resourceshelf.com

Marketing Speakers:
Omar Tawakol, Chief Advertising Officer, Medio
Matthew Snyder, Header of Business Development, Nokia
Brendan Benzing, Vice President Mobile Search and Marketing, InfoSpace
Matt Tengler, Senior Product Manager, JumpTap

Gary Price, ask.com, resourceshelf.com
http://tinyurl.com/2fy249 (awesome resource his full presentation)

Omar Tawakol, Medio

Mobile is a new media and there is an assumption that Internet players will dominate, this does not make sense. People thought TV companies would dominate the Internet. None of them are. Top spenders in mobile will not be the same as TV or Internet.

Browse the mobile Internet – the searches are still early in nature – downloadables.

On handset, downloadables, information and off-portal

Search ads are perceived differently. Banners are not content. Sponsored links have the same relevancy as other engines.

Matthew Snyder, Nokia

Fragmentation of media consumption

Rise of Advertising and Mobile

Mobile as a cross-media local interactive medium is emerging

Shift to Multimedia Computer

Opportunities in mobile search

Mobile phones will have as many full browsers in 2010 as PCs!!!

Embedded experience – mobilesearch.nokia.com

Medio was in this but is not now…

Discussed “active idol” concept.

Mobile is the ultimate advertising platform
- Personal however, double-edge sword
- Always-on
- Always with you serendipity
- Billing and payment is possible

Nokia Platform – syndications, syndications

Brendan Benzing, Infospace

MCore – portals, storefront, search, messaging and managed web

Has a partnership with Infogen in Israel

Accessed through – downloadables, mobile sites, www sites, vertical apps

Recently launched – Infospace Search at Sprint

Matt Tengler, Jumptap

Products
- Mobile Search
- Mcommerce, operator storefront and operator, deck search solutions
- Full “off-deck” search capabilities across the mobile web and web

Deliver ALL content that is relevant to the user and capabilities of their handset

check out ppc.jumptap.com

Carrier intention platform

The iphone was never mentioned in this session – WOW!

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Nokia Nokia Nokia

David Dalka — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 03:21:13 +0000

So Nokia won the NAVTEQ derby – assuming there is not hostile takeover counter bid. This is one of my favorite acquisitions of 2007. Why? Quite simply, it’s a highly strategic move that I don’t think many will appreciate the importance of for quite some time.

The comments at Techcrunch are not only positive – they are all highly intelligent.

Clear positives:

- Ability to drive standards

- Ability to reprice a scarce resource

- Relationship acquisition in new markets that matter to Nokia like automobiles

- Clear indicator of my belief that Nokia is determined make serious attempt at being the world’s premier mobile search and advertising engine.

Concerns/Risks/Potential Mispricing:

- Lack of execution of deal due to anti-trust concerns

- Has Google been building it’s own Navteq-like map database?

- Transformation of revenue streams to Internet and mobile models with existing partners

- Corporate culture – the differences in the culture of these two companies could not be more different – can Nokia reconcile these without difficulty or disruption?

What are your thoughts? I’d like to hear them.

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SMXLOMO 2007 – Search Marketing on Maps

David Dalka — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:21:29 +0000

Moderator:
Chris Sherman, Executive Editor, Search Engine Land

Marketing Speakers:
Alex Porter, Vice President, Location3 Media
Alan Beiagi, Director and GM, Mapquest
Michael T. Jones, Ciheif Technologist, Googl eEarth, Maps and Local

Alex Porter, Vice President, Location3 Media

Offshore Data Entry >>>Axciom, Infousa, Amacai >>>Search Engines Directories, IYPS, etc

How to incorporate into marketing? Directly submit to each engine for a free basic listing it results in an enhanced map listing.

ROI measurement:
Utilize call tracking
Employ trackable URL and coupons

Alan Beiagi, Director and GM, Mapquest

The next wave of Internet user growth will come from mobile and offline usage.

Creating experiences – friend is in Denver, you decide to get a ticket to tonight’s playoff tiebreaker. Only 15% of 233M cell owners use data services. 85% of the market to go!

Search for your destination, get directions, find parking, watch video of player interview, etc.

Is this reality? All of this is already possible but you have to reach 30 different web sites. Mapquest.

Michael Jones, Google

Showed maps, API and other ideas, visit Google Maps Mania – talk about an example he asked to stay in the circle.

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SMXLOMO 2007 Day 1 – SMX Local and Mobile Denver Keynote

David Dalka — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:51:02 +0000

Michael T Jones, Chief Technologist, Google Earth, Google Maps and Google Local Search

What and Why? Ask yourself during the conference – “Is this the right problem to solve?”

Understanding the Competition
Discreet (Privacy)
Courteous (Did you mean?)
Empathetic
Multi-lingual (Translation)
Quick Spirited (Transactional)

Concierges must know their
Hotel (Hyper Local)
City (Local)
Country (National to Global)
Colleagues (Universal Search)

In a world where the present is everything, concierges must “get a feel” for clients and their needs without fail and in a very short lapse of time.

I *REALLY* liked Michael’s concierge analogy because it showed the ideal future state with optimal characteristics.

Users might type a question…
Web page of local results

Users might ask a question
Sequence of spoken local results

Expanding definition of Local Data
Traditional –
YP business listings
Public resources
City and restaurant guides
Map-related data

Emerging Local data
User reviews
Business self listings
Neighborhood definitions
Local weather forecast
Local traffic status

Books mentioning Denver, Colorado

This 1863 GPO book sentence is a local search result

Google Geo Mission

“To geographically organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Showed some Google Earth then said – context at a planetary scale…and beyond interplanetary and galactic.

Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) Google Earth Fatal Crashes – showed maps.

Election results in France

How do you connect the last mile?
Web browser > map

Pages intersect with Map/Globe
KML Geosearch attribution - attribution is not linking!!!!

Users are the Local Experts.

SMXLOMO

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Arrived in Denver at SMX Local and Mobile!!!

David Dalka — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 22:33:19 +0000

I’m here in the lobby of the hotel in Denver where the first ever Search Marketing Expo Local and Mobile show is being held. I’m thrilled to be here to see the creation of Chris Sherman and Greg Sterling! Karen Deweese was here to greet me with a great big hug and is hard at work making last minute preparations. It’s so great to see Karen, I had not seen her since last December! The SMX complimentary Internet is already up and running to. This rocks! I’m looking forward to this cozy and focused show, it’s going to be awesome.

I haven’t been to Denver in a long time, it’s such a wonderful city. It’s a gorgeous day without a cloud in the sky. So much clean, wide open space with those mountains teasing you to want to drive your rental car westward and forget why you are here! It’s a city I certainly wouldn’t mind living in someday if I was asked to.

It should be a fun evening of getting to know some great search engine and marketing pioneers before the show starts Monday!

SMXLOMO 2007

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Mobile Versus Web 2.0 Bickering

David Dalka — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:13:51 +0000

It sounds like Scott Karp should be attending the SMX Local and Mobile next week as two of the five areas he gripes about will be covered in detail there. While his carrier and wifi complaints are somewhat relevant, the rest is unfortunately plain ignorance.

Russell Beattie is a quite a bit more blunt in his not safe for work response. His web 2.0 comment makes me chuckle in quite a few ways.

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Will You Attend SMX Local & Mobile Denver Next Week

David Dalka — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 13:49:29 +0000

I’ll be attending the first ever SMX Local & Mobile conference next week in Denver!!! Chris Sherman, who talks about why he is excited about the event in this post, and Greg Sterling have both put in a tremendous amount of work into researching and programming this highly unique and special event.

You may view the full agenda and you may still register for the event.

I arrive at Noon on Sunday (where is the Sunday pre-conference meetup – The Hyatt?) and hope to meet with as many attendees as possible before and during the event as I look forward to learning about people and seeing the demos in this soon to be revolutionary space.

See you in Denver! I’ll also have room for one or two on the way back to the airport as I’m renting a car while there.

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Google Adsense for Mobile Launches

David Dalka — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 12:50:08 +0000

Google Adsense™ for Mobile launched yesterday.

What wasn’t announced fully was if the program is different in any way than traditional Adsense. It would also be interesting to understand how Google is exactly defining mobile websites.

As people start to use it, I’m sure these issues will become transparent.

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Suburban Chicago Silicon Prairie Social Internet and Technology Mixer Thursday

David Dalka — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:42:42 +0000

Tim Courtney sent me the following note late last week, I hope to see you there….

When: Thursday, September 20, 2007 from 6:30-10:00pm
Where: Mullen’s Bar & Grill 3080 Warrenville Rd., Lisle, IL 60532

An opportunity to connect in an informal setting with like-minded people in technology; whether you’re an upwardly mobile professional, a job seeker, an entrepreneur, or a VC. We welcome everyone, including IT workers, e-commerce companies, Internet and Web 2.0 startups, mobile and mobile marketing, and B2B services.

The event is free to attend, free drinks and food will be provided. RSVP is required at http://siliconprairiesocial.eventbrite.com.

For more information see www.siliconprairiesocial.com or call Tim Courtney at 630.983.6064 or tcourtney at xnet.com.

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SES San Jose 2007 Day 3 – Mobile Search Optimization

David Dalka — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 21:45:12 +0000

Moderator:
Detlev Johnson, VP, Director of Consulting, Position Technologies
Search Engine Marketing Speakers:
Cindy Krum, Senior SEO Analyst, Blue Moon Works
Rachel Pasqua, Director of Mobile Marketing, iCrossing
Gregory Markel, Founder/President, Infuse Creative, LLC

Cindy Crum, Blue Moon Works

- Many aspects of Mobile Optimization follow Traditional SEO Wisdom
- Optimal Mobile Experience = Return Mobile Traffic = Better Results in Mobile Search Engines
- Device Independence: Traditional sites being viewed on Mobile Technology

What is Different About Mobile?
- Industry is in infancy
- Different bots / Crawlers
- Mobile Search Engines More Like Portals
- Many Different Browsers possible
- Slow Download Speed and Connectivity Issues

Development Best Practices
XHTML
Traditional Browsers are forgiving – Mobile Browsers are not
Infinite Combinations possible
Right Accessibility Standards Make it ideal
Avoid unnecessary code
Separate Content from design with CSS

External CSS
- Separates content from design
- Minimizes Code Required
- Decreases Load Time
- Ensures Correct Display on Different Screen Resolutions
- Allows you to specify rendering

Have mobile specific stylesheets
- One set of code, two stylesheets
- Screen first, handheld is second one in cascade
- Caveat: “display:none” to hide elements in either rendering

Use appropriate headers – HTTP User-agent, Accept and MIME types

iPhone

Google has a separate search page for the iPhone

Follow all SEO Best Preactices
- Minimize File Size
- Submit your Site to Mobile Search Engines

Testing is important
- Opera, Skeezer, Google device simulators
- Test transcoded versus non-transcoded versions of Your Site

Validate your Site with mobile code checkers…

Embrace the Interactivity
- Provide relevant Info for People who are mobile
- Include your main address in the footer
- Make Phone Numbers and Email Addresses

Move your navigation to the bottom

Gregory Markel, Infuse Creative, LLC

No longer a WAP/Mobi world

Nokia S60 and Opera True web browser

Goog-411 (live demo rendered incorrect result)

Get listed in Google Local Business Listings

.mobi is diminishing in important

Optimization is synomonous with marketing

Mobile voice search is becoming more important

Rachel Pasqua, iCrossing

iCrossing started looking at mobile in 2005

3rd screen will come first

2.3 billion mobile subscribers as opposed to 1 billion users

Summarized the iCrossing “How America Searches Mobile, April 2007” report

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SES San Jose 2007 Day 2 – AOL Mobile Search Lunch

David Dalka — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 22:59:14 +0000

Marketing Keynote Speaker Senior Product Manager Farhan Memon discussed the recent launch of AOL mobile search over a special lunch session. I was impressed by his presentation.

One thing that is quite clear is that they clearly get that mobile search is about leveraging data from other traditional web properties (which AOL has plenty of) and for this reason, I now wish to learn more about their offering and plans. Presently, they get ads from a combination of Ingenio and Third Screen Media a recent acquisition. It’s unclear what causes which ad type to show up when.

Afterwards Farhan and Scott Knowles, Senior Program Manager said they’d follow up with me in more detail, I look forward to learning more about the offering.

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FAST Lays Off 148 People About 20% of Workforce

David Dalka — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 20:57:58 +0000

As reported by Search Engine Journal and elsewhere - FAST is laying off 148 employees. Based on the last public number I have of 735 this would be about 20% of the workforce, which is rather significant.

A 23 minute audio presentation by FAST is available here in English at the bottom. There is no information on the breakdown of the country distribution of the layoffs or how this will affect mobile search though it would seem that it might cause a slowdown of this activity.

This news may rekindle the news of potential merger of FAST with Infospace.

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adtech Chicago: Tactical Search Strategies: Local and Mobile Search

David Dalka — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 22:15:57 +0000

August 1, 2007 session…

MODERATOR:
Chris Bowler, VP, Media Director, Agency.com

PANELISTS:
Warren Kay, Director of Emerging Products, Yahoo! Search Marketing (not present)

Dominic Preuss, Product Manager, Local Advertising, Google

Janice Rohn, VP of Consumer Experience, Yellowpages.com

John du Pre Gauntt, Senior Analyst, eMarketer

The most important thing about this session is that half of the people from the previous session left – it shows that people don’t understand search and understand its’ importance in the eventual mobile domination. This session was presentations and much less dynamic.

Dominic –
Local and mobile are very much the same. Google Maps changes the way that people uses maps. Google Earth has some great partnerships. Google search on the wap browser. Gmail is an important part of our strategy. It is in a single repository. Discussed local business center. Make sure your information is up to date. Coupons for Maps. Regional targeting, country, state, city and radius. Google Local Business Ads. Google Mobile Ads – shorter messaging, link to mobile website, click to call enabled, carrier targeting, markup language targeting.

Janice Rohn – unfortunately had to leave the room for almost all of her talk…

John – Technical scale is not an issue. It’s about answers not links. It’s about all the collateral as well. The pain is very high. The carriers are not supporting a cookie like feature. Cross-carrier targeting it hard. Talked about a number of challenges facing the space and the fragmentation issues. For every $1 you spend on mobile spend $2 on training your staff. If you have the most wonderful mobile experience and a lousy customer experience, it does not matter! I couldn’t agree more.

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Mobile Location Enabled Services 2007

David Dalka — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 22:13:51 +0000

While backing up files to reinstall Windows due to a virus I caught while at Blogher, I noticed that I had not posted my notes from the wonderful inaugural Mobile Location Enabled Services 2007 conference hosted by Abbie Badcock back in May. Apologies Abbie, your conference was both fun and productive.

Without a doubt, Mobile Location Enabled Services is a premier and unique event due to the variety of verticals in one place. Abbie Badcock has brought together a great mix of mobile search, mobile marketing and advertising, mobile local content, mobile social networking and a serious discussion to building the conversation regarding the resolution of the many to the realization of the potential of mobile location. I look forward to participating and driving the conversation in future years.

Symbian – Jerry Panagrossi, VP, US Operations, Symbian

The original STAR TREK Comunicator 1965-69

Fast forward to the 21st Century – PND, GPS Bluetooth, etc

1 Billion mobile phones shipped in 2006

Mobile subscribers projected 3 Billion by YE2007 and 4 Billion by YE 4 Billion!!!

Showed chart migrating from voice, data enabled then 3G phones – many with built in GPS.

Showed chart with why smart phones have high mobility and utility more than other presently available devices. Symbian believes that there is going to be mass market adoption.

Mobile Telecoms + Internet + Location Services + Automotive = Innovation

Emerging Disruptive Market Forces
Mobile Market Saturation
Open Mobile Platforms
Ad$ (advertising)

Data Services Deployment Trend
- Market Saturation
- 3G Deployment
- Service Rollout
- Smart Phone Adoption

Traditional economies are saturated with cell phones while others are not.

LBS ranks highest in consumer interest – survey Compete, Inc.

Services Segmentation – Public Safety, Consumer, Enterprise

Sports Tracker

Pixto, recently acquired my Nokia. Shows amazing technology that will categorize photos by location and combine is with relevant data about the location.

LBS Deployment challenges
- Locations indoors, underground, tunnels
- Reflection with large buildings
- A-GPS evolution
- Wifi
Database fragmentation
- Traffic updates and POIs
- Mobile data roaming – predictable billing when roaming internationally

A glimpse of the future
- Improved smartphone car communication

Trueposition – Joseph Khoury – VP of Business Development

$200 Million in Revenue, 480 employees, 100 international patents, subsidiary of Liberty Media

Incorporates all location technologies

History of company started with E911 emergency services in the USA.
Asset Tracking
Secure inter-carrier location information provider

Trueposition offers high accuracy Finder System, 75,000 Base Stations Deployed, 270 million POPs covered in the US.

High Accuracy Wireless Location System – best in class platform.

Finder System Benefits
Consistent accuracy across entire network – better than 50 meters most of the time – also incorporates velocity, heading power level signal to noise ratio.

Consumer interest – Turn by Turn Navigation

Market growth is happening again, but has conditions in a complex cross-industry ecosystem.

Drivers of LBS demand ramp up are many and they are complex.

Is getting into the business of building devices.

Mark Jacobstein, EVP, Loopt

Amazing privacy advocate, doesn’t store what they don’t need.

Monetizing Local Content for the Mobile Marketplace

Presentation was rapid fire short statements – amazingly engaging – hard to take notes on though.

Peter Friedland, Analyst, Soliel Group
Charnsin Tulasthien, Product Manager – Consumer Application and GPS Solutions, Sprint
Michael Nappi, VP of Media Development, Traffic.com
Christ Hazelton, Senior Analyst – Mobility Device Technology and Trends, IDC

Charnsin – How do we provide relevant POIs?

Michael – There are other areas to discuss in regards to bringing in advertising in context.

In regard to traffic, we brought in traffic information to you originally via alerts. The data can be brought into mobile and GPS applications. When traveling it’s an informational thing. I might be looking for more information in an unfamiliar information. These models will flourish.

Charnsin – Traffic is just another piece of information. We can provide not only alerts, but rerouting information.

Will it be the walled garden? The Google or Yahoo! approach?

Charnsin – There are things that are accessible via our phones.

LBS Advertising will users accept it?

Michael – We deliver information on an opt-in basis. Click per Route. Advertising based alerts. We own the content and vertically integrate it all the way up. Phones are becoming multimedia devices more each day. There is a lot of useful advertising models. There is an integration from focus groups that will lead the way.

Mobile Search Panel – Mobile Search + Location = Fulfilled User Expectations?
Jeff Rice, VP Market Development, Skyhookwireless
Matt Ward-Sheinman, Director of Product Management, Medio Systems
Neal Karasic, Director of Product Management, Jumptap
Steve McGuigan, VP Business Development, Hallmark
Peter Classen, Director of Business Development, Infospace

How is it appropriate?

Matt: The advantages of having it in your pocket is great. The comparison to the Internet is not accurate.

Steve: It comes down to relevancy and speed.

Peter: I aggress as well. The difference between web vs. mobile. Frisbee is a good example. If someone is typing that in a mobile phone they probably want to buy one at a store.

Location based, which ones are tied to a search.

Peter: 90%+

Matt: Statistically not very good. 15% percent are local search, though this is undercounted. You get ringtone content and other related items.

Steve. A search can be about sports,

Neal: User supplied location is not ideal. Most people search near home, so that is important data. Yesterday, I looked for a taxi in Detriot even though I was still in Boston. There are things around that.

Peter: I agree with Matt about the Madonna. It’s better when you can add the local context to the search.

Pizza, question on voice search

Peter: It would be great but it’s complex. We partner with Voicebox.

Peter: Human assisted search won’t work. Mobile search only when it’s free. Consumers are free.

Matt: Search on the Internet and advertising. I expect a rich client app to be there. There is a cost to a GPS fix. It needs to be free and advertising supported. Put them in when appropriate. Never sacrifice the user experience.

Neal: I basically agree. Search being free. That is the model that is going to work and users expect. We bring advertisers to the table. We want the ecosystem to work.
Steve: Local search and directories haven’t changed enough for mobile. Until we get there we need to use the directory model.

Jeff: We are reworking the paid model in Internet, I understand that is changing….

Matt: Carriers want to defend their advertisers. It’s hard to go across the operator networks. Google and Yahoo! have tried. They have large groups.

Neal: We partner.

Profit from Proximity Based Marketing
David Williams, CEO and Publisher LBS Globe
Jay Gould, VP of Business Development, Profilium Inc.
Scott Pearson, VP Sales, Enpocket
Brian McNiff, Vice President of Marketing, Technocom Corporation

How fast is locational proximity going to factor in?

Jay: We believe that throwing location in the mix is critical.

Brian: We believe it’s vital to mobile marketing. I got 4 Starbucks sms messages today. For small business to justify moving away from the yellow pages, we need to see it.

Jay: We need to build the value chain going up.

Brian: The operators are giving

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Google Apparently Offering Mobile Adwords Vouchers

David Dalka — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:20:53 +0000

I just got an email from an SEM shop saying that Google offering “is now offering vouchers worth up to $150 to be used in targeted Google Mobile AdWords campaigns”

Is anyone using this so far? I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.

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Potential Chicago Cab Strike July 31 – How to Get to adtech(ad:tech) via CTA

David Dalka — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:32:14 +0000

With today’s possible cab strike in Chicago, I thought it would be a good idea to post CTA bus options to arrive at the west end of Navy Pier. Please note that even with these bus options, it is a10 minute walk to the east end of Navy Pier where the Festival Hall is located. I highly suggest taking the bus instead of walking the entire distance and wish the actually CTA stopped at Navy Pier East Entrance #2. Please check out my current question on Yahoo! Answers regarding Navy Pier.

Here are some tips on how to navigate via CTA to Navy Pier. Cash fare on the CTA is currently $2. This is a pdf map of the areas described below.

From the Sheraton: the #29, #65 and #124 buses stop in front of the Sheraton on Illinois and terminate and 600 East Grand Avenue, this will save you three blocks of walking.

The number#124 bus starts in the West Loop at Union Station, Ogilvie Transportation Center and terminates at 600 East Grand Avenue.

If traveling from Midway Airport, take the Orange line to Roosevelt, walk down the stairs and travel one block west to State Street. Take the#29 State bus northbound to 600 East Grand Avenue.

If traveling from O’hare Airport, take the blue line to Monroe, walk up the stairs, then walk one block east to State Street. Take the#29 State bus northbound to 600 East Grand Avenue.

For those staying at a hotel a bit further north, the #66 bus travels east on Chicago Avenue, then south on Fairbanks to Grand to 600 East Grand Avenue.

For those of you attending ad:tech, I have the following high level networking objectives and look forward to speaking with you (please drop me an email contained on my Bio page):

1) I’m seeking anyone with senior contacts at major search engines

2) Anyone with ideas or connections to publishers, advertisers or investors regarding mobile search and mobile advertising.

Have a great show!

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iphone Mash Up

David Dalka — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 22:13:53 +0000

Willitblend.com shows the ultimate iphone mash up!

Oddly the iphone + Blendtec blender on eBay is selling for above retail of both items new. People will buy the strangest things.

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Mobile Phones Causing Memory Loss?

David Dalka — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:43:30 +0000

According to an article in the Telegraph that seems to be the case. It’s thought provoking to ponder these effects on non-usage, much like how some people who have never learned how to do math manually as well. The article stated:

Professor Ian Robertson, a neuropsychology expert based at Trinity College Dublin who carried out the study, said: “People have more to remember these days, and they are relying on technology for their memory.
“But the less you use of your memory, the poorer it becomes. This may be reflected in the survey findings which show that the over 50s who grew up committing more to memory report better performance in many areas than those under 30 who are heavily reliant on technology to act as their day to day aide memoir.”
Professor Roberston, who oversaw the research to mark the launch of Puzzler Brain Trainer Magazine, said that a series of five simple exercises a day can help to increase memory capacity.
As many as a third of those surveyed under the age of 30 were unable to recall their home telephone number without resorting to their mobile phones or to notes.

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Medio Systems Names Robert P Lilleness Chief Operating Officer

David Dalka — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:10:19 +0000

As per this press release, Medio Systems named Robert P. Lilleness Chief Operating Officer this month.

It’s notable to me in that he has no previous direct search or advertising experience.

His ownership of Smarthome is certainly an interesting wrinkle. Perhaps Medio sees a potential revenue model in providing services to control devices in your home from the mobile phone someday?

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Jason Spero of Admob Interviewed

David Dalka — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:50:50 +0000

Saw this brief interview of Jason Spero of Admob here.

It would be interesting to interview Admob CEO Omar Hamoui sometime soon on the state of mobile advertising and mobile ad networks.

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At Barcamp Chicago

David Dalka — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:07:53 +0000

Hi there! Please say hello and introduce yourself! If you’re not here, send me an email!

If you’d like to learn a little about me so you can talk more, please check out my Chicago marketing leader bio.

This picture might help enable you to do that!

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adtech Chicago 2007 is July 31-August 1

David Dalka — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:35:25 +0000

Search, Social Media, Video, Gaming and Mobile Advertising leaders will gather in Chicago at a new location on Navy Pier on July 31 and August 1. Many new marketing speakers in Chicago this year. I look forward to seeing you there!

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Chetan Sharma Releases Unified Mobile Data Platform White Paper

David Dalka — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 16:35:11 +0000

It was a pleasure meeting Chetan at CTIA in March. Chetan just released a white paper you can get here.

I wish I would have gotten to talk with him more, hopefully we can do this during his Chicago visit later this month.

He also chaired a mobile panel discussion in April in Seattle which you can read about here.

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Mobile Search and Content Needs Flexible Revenue Models

David Dalka — Sat, 26 May 2007 01:46:51 +0000

“There has to be all sorts of models, both subscription and ad-supported,” Fox Interactive senior vice president and general manager John Smelzer said, speaking at the iHollywood Forum’s Mobile Entertainment Summit. While the revenue mix may be different, he added that the key to driving user adoption of all types of content is “to make the entry point easy.” Source Article

I couldn’t agree with this more. There are too many subscription only mobile models emerging, this will slow adoption in an already fragmented market. The mobile medium is not a failure, many of the business models are. It’s a fascinating paradox. There are too many 20th Century business cases that are being built that work on paper but not in reality.

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Texting Teen Gets $1,100 Bill For One Month

David Dalka — Sun, 20 May 2007 17:07:39 +0000

This Washington Post Article does a good job of laying out the increasing problem. With increasing stories like this, it will be interesting to watch what if any backlash occurs.

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Mobile Screen Capture and Mobile RSS Readers

David Dalka — Fri, 11 May 2007 15:05:10 +0000

Barry Schwartz made a real nice post about how take a mobile screen capture with Quicktake. In addition, he’s ventured into comparing mobile RSS readers, a place I have not yet gone frequently.

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Microsoft Strategic Account Summit 2007

David Dalka — Tue, 08 May 2007 14:11:39 +0000

The main parts of the Microsoft Strategic Account Summit are today and Wednesday, here is the schedule. My initial thoughts:

1) I wish it were broadcast online, even the Chris Cornell concert, this is a lost opportunity for exposure to those who can’t be at the summit and build positive PR.

2) We’re going to hear another round of Yahoo! and Microsoft merger talk. Much like Charlene Li, I do not think this is the best path. They would be better off hiring teams of people with experience innovating products and services in different industries. This get past the limiting beliefs of continually hiring passive candidates who demonstrate no loyalty or passion for their present companies.

3) Why is John Battelle the only person at the summit blogging his thoughts? His post is the only one I could find about the opening night’s festivities.

4) I’m interested in information about the people shaping mobile search at the summit, please contact me.

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Hugh Griffiths Joins Microsoft as Director of Mobile

David Dalka — Thu, 03 May 2007 13:22:59 +0000

Mobile Entertainment reports that “Griffiths will be responsible for the overall strategy and direction of the mobile division within the Online Services Group division.”

It’s interesting to see Microsoft bringing in outside talent for this type of role, we’ll see how this develops. Hugh sounds like someone I’d like to get to know.

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Setting up Your Blog to Post to Twitter

David Dalka — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:39:16 +0000

Barry Schwartz has set up his blog to post the links directly to Twitter. Very neat. He also made a nice how to post on the subject. Barry is such a posting machine!

I’ll wait to understand his learnings and impact before trying it myself. I look forward to seeing his results on the impact after a few weeks.

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Nokia N800 Convergence Product Manger Interview Victor Brilon

David Dalka — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:37:24 +0000

While at the recent CTIA conference, I met Victor Brilon and his immensely helpful Nokia publicist. We shared a dynamic conversation that was amazingly informative regarding Nokia and it’s unique ideas regarding the various types of emerging Internet convergence. The Nokia N800 is a device that is clearly “on the other side of the chasm” as Victor proudly describes it. In the time that has followed my visit to CTIA two themes have emerged regarding Nokia 1) They understand the blogosphere and see a significant event in convergence coming and are preparing for these possibilities and 2) The frame I saw when at their booth was one of company who views themselves as “more than just a device maker”. I like that point of view.

Please enjoy my attempt to recreate the magic of my first unplanned meeting with Victor via this podcast. I welcome your feedback on the discussion from yourself and others, especially in regards to your thoughts on the vision for convergence. Thanks!
Listen to the interview: Nokia_N800_Victor_Brilon

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Google Disasterous with the Letter D

David Dalka — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 16:32:30 +0000

Apparently Google has considerable trouble in regards to the letter D.

First the Dmarc founders left Google.

Now http://www.dodgeball.com/ (dead link 11/2010) founders, Dens Crowley and Alex Rainert (please drop me a note if you read this guys), not only have left Google but they posed for a thumbs down photo that they have posted on Flickr, a Yahoo! property. The photo already has over 26,000 views and appears to have a viral element based on the view count growth, the interesting comments on the Flickr photo and a lot of blogosphere reaction. I’m trying to imagine how frustrated someone must be to post of photo of this nature, announce new project associations and state that they are throwing a party “to celebrate our escape”.

Putting my investment management hat on, I’d like for independent analysts to be allowed on the earning call this Thursday. If allowed to do so, I’d like to ask the following question, “Why is Google having such a hard time with HR and staffing issues, whether it is regarding hiring new employees, retaining pre-IPO employees (see podcast) or integrating acquisitions? Has Laszlo Bock’s background proven not to be the right style of leadership and is it time for a change?” The “all big companies are always ineffective” is a major cop out as there are big companies that are admired and in fact some cases adored.

Ideas on what to do with Dodgeball are everywhere you look. The comments on the Flickr photo are fascinating to read. P.S. When searching for these entries on Google Blog Search I found considerable splog/spam (MFA Made for Adsense) sites – Google should work to solve that issue.

Dodgeball Founder Departure – April, 2007 post

http://www.blogator.com/g/2833510 (dead post 11/2010)

Dodgeball Founder Departure – April, 2007 post

http://www.electrolicious.com/archives/2007/04/did_twitter_kill_it.html (dead post 11/2010)

Dodgeball Founder Departure – April, 2007 post

http://mcmanus.typepad.com/grind/2007/04/two_dodgeball_f.html (dead link 11/2010)

“http://topicstop.blogspot.com/2007/04/google-alert-google_1007.html (dead link 11/2010)

Dodgeball Founder Departure – April, 2007 post

“http://ipfreaks.com/dreamscene/?p=2258″ (dead post 11/2010)

Dodgeball Founder Departure – April, 2007 post

“http://www.tmesolutions.co.uk/web_design_kent/Marketing+News/2007-04-16/Google+dumped+by+Dodgeball+founders/3800849030″ (dead link 11/2010)

Dodgeball Founder Departure – April, 2007 post

http://yummy.vermontconnect.com/cool/dodgeball-founders-leave-google-and-that-leaves-dodgeball-probably-dead/ (dead link 11/2010)

Dodgeball Founder Departure – April, 2007 post

http://www.teknolife.com/tech-news/disgruntled-dodgeball-founders-leave-google-infoworld/ post removed

Dodgeball Founder Departure – April, 2007 post

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Twitter

David Dalka — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 13:11:32 +0000

OK, I finally signed up for Twitter. Please feel free to add me if you’d like.

If you have any tips on how to best utilize Twitter – for networking, recruiting, driving traffic or otherwise – I welcome your contributions to the conversation.

If you are reading this and you either have no idea what Twitter is or you dismiss it, then this post from Rick Klau might be helpful to you in reframing your views.

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Virgina Tech Shooting Tragedy – Potential Mobile Implications

David Dalka — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 11:52:49 +0000

Many times during yesterday’s unfortunate events at Virginia Tech, the problem of many of the people needing communication being in transit was discussed.

Mobile text messages(sms) and potential alerts were mentioned on numerous occasions as something that could have improved communication. While I firmly believe in the potential of mobile search and mobile communication combined with LBS to create increases in quality of life and lift ROI, yesterday also showed some limitations. Chief among these is the fact that there were numerous reports of “not being able to get through on mobile phones for hours”. Put simply, in most places, the mobile networks can’t handle everyone trying to use their phones all at once as they did during the Virginia Tech crisis yesterday and other crisis situations of the past. It appears that increased usage of Internet and mobile search services will tax existing infrastructure to it’s limits in many places and I’ve not seen heavy discussion of this issue or potential solutions.

Bleeding edge mobile technical solutions alone aren’t enough. Reliable networks are a must to make mobile search and mobile communication of the type that could have helped if utilized yesterday a reality. Let us ask the leaders of the mobile operators to make those networks a reality around the world using consistent standards that puts the customer experience first. Let’s start the process of addressing these bottlenecks now before the next crisis or surge in usage of services takes place.

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CTIA Mobile Search Panel

David Dalka — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 21:59:26 +0000

I will not have a blog entry on this panel. With 6 participants of various backgrounds – it wasn’t focused. The sound was also terrible. There was little flow to the conversation. The session was obviously frustrating to the audience as half of them left before it was over.

There was a minimum of three panels merged into one here – white label mobile search, LBS in conjunction mobile search and voice with mobile search. My view is that CTIA doesn’t fully appreciate the importance of mobile search yet and that the mobile search discussions during the Billboard event on Monday were of superior quality.

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The Great Debate: Content Versus Distribution – CTIA MEL 2007

David Dalka — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:24:29 +0000

Moderator: Tom Wheeler, Managing Director, Core Capital Partners (extremely well prepared moderator – great job Tom)

Marketing Speaker: Jim Ryan, VP, Consumer Data Products, ATT (Cingular)

Business Speaker: Larry Shapiro, EVP Business Development, Operations, Walt Disney Internet Group

This is an amazing panel – the session is way too fast paced to blog well enough to be worthy of it’s immense quality. I think I have good audio (thank you to the kind and fine people at Roland for providing me a review copy of the Edirol R-09 last week for usage at this conference) Speaking of audio has anyone found a Youtube type service for audio serving other than yousendit or putting it on a peer to peer network? I’ll try to contact you with it if you leave me comment with a valid email address. An audience poll of this session showed 70% of the people thought there was a role for an aggregator in the process (note – an earlier poll showed the audience to be about 30% carrier folks).

ctiawireless2007 Billboard Mobile Entertainment Live 2007

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CTIA Wireless 2007 – Billboard Event

David Dalka — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:37:01 +0000

I’m sitting three tables from the front left, please stop by and say hello.

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Leaving for CTIA Wireless 2007

David Dalka — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 13:02:32 +0000

I’m interested in meeting anyone and everyone in the mobile search industry to learn about what you are up to!!! Drop me a line if you are going.

I’m still seeking a pass +1 for the LG Foo Fighters party on Tuesday.

Lastly, I’m interested in speaking with anyone who can provide me a cell phone that will actually work reliably with my Tmobile cell phone service in my current residence. You are a very special person I’ve been seeking to meet for quite some time!

nonofficial tag (why isn’t there and official tag?): citawireless2007 Orlando

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Mobile Advertising Network

David Dalka — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 15:06:36 +0000

Mobile Ad Network, it’s interesting to see the hyper competitiveness of this keyword term as it implies a push marketing channel instead of a pull channel such as mobile search. We’ve trained consumers to search for a decade now, why would they want to regress to push models instead of using true mobile search? They have been trained to pull and will eventually demand the same mobile search experience on mobile devices. Hence, while Mobile Ad Network may be a popular term today, it likely will be replaced in the future with keyword terms based on derivatives of mobile search.

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Alvin Wang Graylin, CEO of mInfo Interviewed at 3GSM

David Dalka — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 01:29:43 +0000

Alvin Wang Graylin, CEO of mInfo, Inc., a Chinese mobile search firm, was interviewed at 3GSM 2007:

Bena Roberts podcast

mInfo also released a 2006 mobile search results survey. The podcasts provide some insight into the China mobile search marketplace.

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Online Publishers Association Releases Web Report

David Dalka — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 00:00:33 +0000

The Online Publishers Association released a report entitled “Going Mobile: An International Study of Content Use and Advertising on the Mobile Web“

Highlights Include:

Advertising works on the mobile Web — both in terms of receptivity and action.
Brands play a significant role in driving mobile Web activity.
People depend on the mobile Web for key content and are actively registering, personalizing and paying for content.
“While people often think of the mobile Web as the realm of ringtones and messaging, it is clearly a rich platform for quality content and marketing,” said OPA president Pam Horan. “Mobile content consumption is high and growing – in the year ahead, current users plan to spend more time with the mobile Web and new audiences will adopt the platform. Additionally, a large number of consumers are watching ads and acting on them. The OPA ‘Going Mobile’ study indicates that very real opportunities exist for marketers and publishers to take advantage of the mobile Internet.”

If you look through the report, please keep in mind the frame of online publishers as there are other sectors not discussed and to draw broader conclusions based on this subset could be a mistake!

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Questions Regarding Recent SEMPO Survey

David Dalka — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 16:32:01 +0000

At SES Chicago 2006, Tim Daly from SENTEC stated that it would be nice if “SEMPO became more than just a cocktail party” during a session on Search Arbitrage issues. It’s an interesting statement, but based on the recent election results for the board of directors it appears that Mr. Daly will not be influencing that opinion directly during 2007.

Well apparently SEMPO actually is more than a cocktail party as they released a research report the other day. They did not send me the report referenced here, but I find the following to be interesting:

Marketers are even more reluctant to pay for mobile search as almost half of the respondents said they would not pay a premium for that technology.
Almost 25 percent of respondents said they prefer to pay less for mobile search than for traditional search. About two-thirds said they were interested in contextually targeted advertising delivered to mobile search users.

Commentary: I recently used Linkedin Answers to ask the question, ”In your opinion, who are the emerging start up leaders in providing mobile search marketing and related services?” The result? Nobody answered the question publicly and I got a ton of private answers saying “that is a good question”, “I don’t know yet”, etc. How can one make a judgment about the pricing of a medium if they do not have the complete value proposition and in many cases do not even know who the alternatives to traditional search engines are and how they are unique yet?

“The reluctance to hike budgets for video and mobile search reflects the industry’s trend toward an overall pricing plateau,” the survey said. Twenty-five percent of the respondents reported they had reached their pricing ceiling for paid placement. Of the remaining 75 percent, half said the most they could afford in a price increase was 30 percent.

Commentary: Frequently new mediums take revenue streams from other existing mediums. Business history has some dramatic examples of how organizations did not adapt to change because they were afraid of cannibalizing existing revenue streams and it ultimately led to obsolescence. It is just one of a long list of reasons that this period of time is extremely exciting to me.

I didn’t see the survey during the answer gathering. I’m curious to know if ”I don’t have enough information to answer that yet” was an option for the mobile search questions? Thanks.

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Mobile Search Marketing Web Property Traffic

David Dalka — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 05:08:47 +0000

Of course this data source is only a proxy at best, but it’s interesting to look at trends, correlate news events and ponder possible meanings. Enjoy.

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3GSM World Congress Barcelona – Starts Now

David Dalka — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:44:03 +0000

3GSM World Congress starts Monday in Barcelona. It bills itself as “the world’s leading mobile communications conference and exhibition” (in lower case letters just like that too). There is rumored to be some serious negotiations going on in terms of white label mobiel search providers and the cell phone carriers (if you hear anything interesting drop me a note). If you’re going or are there, please drop me a line. You are someone I should know.

I want to praise something – I *love* the way this press contact list is set up for the exhibitors. It should become a standard practice.

It appears there is another white label search player emerging – MCN.
Among bloggers, these folks have caught my eye with posts so far: Dan Appelquist, Alessandro Pace and others!

tag: 3GSMworldcongress2007

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WordPress PDA Plugin Installed

David Dalka — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:22:01 +0000

I’ve installed the WordPress PDA plugin in to make my blog compatible with most mobile devices.

Please check it out and let me know if you have and problems. Thanks.

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Jumptap Gets Injection from WPP Group

David Dalka — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 23:30:00 +0000

Goobile had a write up about it.

WPP had more on the release here. This is an extremely interesting investment from an untraditional source. Time will tell what is means fully.

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