“Is the Mobile Web Dead? Some Mobile Entrepreneurs Say Yes”
The post speaks of how ex-Yahoo! Mobile evangelist turned startup entrepreneur Russell Beattie announced that he is folding his company Mowser, a service that lets you view the Web on your mobile phone. Here is a quote from Beattie as to why this decision was made,
"I don't actually believe in the 'Mobile Web' anymore, and therefore am less inclined to spend time and effort in a market I think is limited at best, and dying at worst. I'm talking specifically about sites that are geared 100% towards mobile phones and have little to no PC web presence. Two years ago I was convinced that the mobile web would continue to evolve in the West to mimic what was happening in countries like Japan and Korea, but it hasn't happened, and now I'm sure it isn't going to.In other words, I think anyone currently developing sites using XHTML-MP markup, no Javascript, geared towards cellular connections and two inch screens are simply wasting their time, and I'm tired of wasting my time."
A few take-aways:
- Anyone who is creating a service that is only geared for mobility is missing the boat.
- The notion of the “mobile web” is a farce.
The Experience Is the Message
To deem the web browsing experience on a mobile phone as something entirely separate from the experience on a PC is a grievous error. Sure, any service that is going to be viewed on a mobile device must be appropriated for such an experience, but those who do not take into account the fact that people want their data wherever they are, on whatever device they are on, are grossly mislead.
At the onset of the mobile computing era many believed that the handset needed its own software and standards separate from the ones created for the desktop. While it is true that there needs to be differences in presentation and experience, all data needs to reside in the same cloud. This is especially true for personal data in order to create a truly useful, transmedia experience. This is the type of experience that consumers in the next phase of the web will come to demand.
How Do We Market When The Experience Is The Message?
According to eMarketer, total mobile ad spend worldwide will hit $19 billion by the year 2012. $6.5 billion of that is projected to be spent in the US market. The important question is, how will this money be spent?
In order to get a clearer picture of percent growth year over year, I took eMarketer’s data and created the following chart.
As you can see the largest percent growth year over year (on average) will be in the search sector, followed by messaging. While this may come as no surprise to some, I feel that these numbers support the argument that mobile is an extension of the web at large, as opposed to being its own entity. Search and messaging have much greater potential to lead back to an experience where a user session is longer, and potentially more transactional. As a marketing vehicle it has always been my contention that the mobile device is best suited for extended direct response programs and CRM functions. Many advertisers today are using the mobile space for branding exercises. This is a reaction to the common (but fleeting) notion of the mobile web as an experience separate from the web at large.
When the experience is the message, marketing must become am exercise in adding value to the end user. The advertising paradigm has shifted to the point where experiences are more influential than impressions, and more easy for marketers to create.
Tags: emarketer, mobile, SMS, search