eSearchVision Official US blog » Mobile Ads

Take Advantage of Mobile Search for Holiday 09

mwendling — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:15:50 +0000

In the retail world there are two seasons: holiday and the rest of the year. Companies will host a few other sales that bring in significant revenue, but everyone knows the big money comes in during Q4. With the influx of search opportunity, competition, and new technology during the holiday season, when we talk about the future of search, it’s applicable to look at both the short term [holiday 09] and the longer term [2010 and beyond].

As we witnessed during the 2008 holiday season, consumers are shopping for a deal – even more so in times of recession. What’s changed since the last time around? Those big ticket items from last year are turning into the biggest marketing opportunities for 2009, namely smartphones (and other internet enabled portable devices such as iPod Touch). For SEM purposes, the biggest difference between a smartphone and a WAP enabled phone is a true (HTML based) web browser – as HTML mobile browsers can support standard ad copy. With the introduction of device targeting within Google AdWords, advertisers can isolate smartphones into a unique campaign and take full advantage of opportunities like geo-targeting and one-click purchasing. Imagine seeing an ad targeted to your zip code for the exact product you’re searching for at a store nearby, and instantly making a purchase with one click.

As mobile phones close in on saturation and more and more phones are web enabled, Google has released case studies documenting and projecting the rise of mobile search with no signs of slowing down; mobile search is projected to equal computer search in 2012. If consumers are searching on-the-go, any advertiser that isn’t reaching out to them is missing an opportunity.

The immediate question is: how do we take advantage of this opportunity? AdWords automatically opts all advertisers into mobile search by default, so there’s nothing that needs to be done, right? Wrong. Just like any search medium, mobile search is its own beast and requires a savvy marketing team to capitalize on the opportunity with a unique strategy. Google only shows one ad (assuming Quality Score is high) above the search results on a mobile SERP, and one or two below the results (both below the results if Quality Score is not high enough to qualify for premium positioning):

Search in Google Mobile [iPhone

This means that in order for mobile search to be effective, ads must have an average rank between 1-3 or impression share will be lost. Furthermore, an advertiser’s website needs to be relatively optimized for mobile browsers, making it possible for a consumer to easily purchase from a mobile device. As the purpose of this mobile strategy is to drive sales or at least drive customers to brick and mortar stores, rather than increase brand awareness, keyword and ad copy strategies will need to adapt to this. Keywords should be lower funnel terms – or transaction related terms – to control CPA/CoS, while ad copy for these terms should be hyper-targeted (geographically and/or demographically) to further qualify clicks and limit cost.

After the latest iPhone release (with a reported 1,000,000 sales in the first weeks) and the constant stream of competitors growing every month, smartphones have become readily available to consumers and are no longer limited to corporate BlackBerrys. Given this rapid growth, it’s safe to say that the next step in search evolution is upon us and will be realized during holiday 2009. With that in mind, it’s critical to develop a mobile-specific plan leading into holiday to ensure that Quality Score and strategies are in place when it really counts.

Benny Blum

Tagged: holiday, mobile, SEM

Mobile Ads now on eSearchVision

esearchvision — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:52:00 +0000

Gone are the days when cell phones were just used to make phone calls. Thanks to features like mobile web and mobile search, more and more people are using their mobile devices as their primary sources for information.

In order to stay abreast with the latest mobile search market features, eSearchVision would like to introduce Google Mobile Ad Management as our latest feature. Our clients will now have the ability to target their desired locations, mobile carriers, and even markup language.

With Mobile Ads, offer users the option to visit your site (mobile or regular), to call your listed number directly, or both!

Tap into the new emerging market and capture lower CPCs as an early adopter.

First Mover Advantage

enter a less competitive market, resulting in lower CPCs than the traditional search market arena
learn the mobile advertising landscape before your competitors
optimize your campaigns before the market is mature

How it works

We made it easy to create mobile ads directly on our platform. Build your mobile ad, define your mobile target options and choose your click-to-call options all on one screen!

Our tracking system is fully compatible with mobile ads so our clients can take advantage of our traditional report suite to review their mobile ad performance.

Key Benefits

Expand your reach in a market growing an estimated 120% this year
Benefit from direct contact with your prospects with click-to-call options
Appear on Google’s Mobile Search, Search Partner, and Content Networks
Great for sports, entertainment, travel, social networking or communication

Mobile Ads – Next Big Thing in Search?

esearchvision — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:24:26 +0000

The mobile industry has been talking about the mobile market potential for years and mobile advertising has become a hot topic in the SEM world. In the past, the U.S. mobile market had been largely out of reach. Today, forecasters suggest that we are on the verge of a market transformation and that U.S. mobile advertising represents a promising future market opportunity.

There have been many common themes that support the success of U.S. mobile advertising: top-line search growth is slowing and companies must explore other advertising markets to promote top-line growth; Google, currently the largest search engine, has tested and launched Google Mobile Ads; Apple’s iPhone represents a transformative device that has increased the awareness of mobile capabilities and more and more manufacturers will now enter the market with similar devices to compete.

However, these positive forecasts have been up for much debate. At the Mobile Advertising & Marketing USA event in San Francisco last month, speakers were asked if 2008 would be the year that mobile advertising really takes off in the U.S. The speakers agreed that there’s still too much work and education to be done before mobile advertising takes off. Agency executives blamed the slow progress of the U.S. mobile market on carrier constraints, the massive amounts of devices that require individual coding and basic lack of knowledge by companies on the benefits of mobile advertising. The speakers predicted that mobile advertising in the U.S. will see more traction in 2009 or 2010.

Although the mobile market may take another year to explode, there is much focus being given to it. Advertisers are beginning to explore their options and are looking to mobile advertising as a new channel to directly target consumers. The first movers in mobile advertising will not only benefit from lower CPCs due to a less saturated market space, they will also gain an advantage to learning what works and what doesn’t before their competitors jump on board.

While the verdict is still out on whether or not 2008 will be the “Year of the Mobile Ad,” one thing we can say for sure is: fasten your seatbelts; 2008 is looking to be a long and exciting ride.