Location Targeting Is Getting More Sophisticated

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Real-Time Location Data Gets Bigger Slice Of Mobile Targeting (eMarketer)
Advertisers have been excited by the prospect of incorporating location data to target users on the go. While mobile advertising is still a somewhat nascent format, it’s growing quickly, and a rising number of marketers are integrating more sophisticated data into their mobile campaigns.

The percentage of campaigns using geofencing or geoaware targeting had more than doubled, from 17 percent in 2011 to 36 percent in 2012.

For geoaware and geofencing in particular, the restaurant industry served the highest percentage of ads using this data (43 percent). Read >>

Is There Weakness In The Mobile Advertising Market? (Billboard)
Pandora shares were down 5.9 percent to $12.12 yesterday after Millennial Media reported disappointing earnings and lowered its first-quarter guidance. Millennial Media is a mobile advertising firm that helps developers monetize their mobile applications. The connection between Pandora and Millennial Media should be clear: both are in the business of mobile display advertising. Nearly 62 percent of Pandora's revenue came from mobile advertising in its last fiscal quarter. Look beyond Pandora and you see other music services that are counting on the mobile advertising business to fuel their businesses. Read >>

IBM To Take A Big Step Into Mobile (The New York Times)
IBM is announcing a major initiative into mobile, involving software, services and partnerships with other large vendors. The company plans to deploy consultants to give companies mobile shopping strategies, write mobile apps, crunch mobile data, and manage a company’s own mobile assets securely. The push into mobility comes after forays into Web commerce, data analytics and security. In each case, IBM has taken an approach of signing big contracts for large-scale engagements. The move into mobile is one of the first major initiatives by Virginia M. Rometty since she became chief executive in January 2012. Read >>

Apple And Google App Stores Nearing Saturation (Distimo via iDownloadBlog)
According to analytics firm Distimo on average six Android apps are published for every two Apple titles. And the news doesn’t get much better for newbie app developers hoping to cash in at either app store. Just 0.25 percent of the revenue from the top 250 applications goes to new iPhone developers, according to Distimo. It’s a slightly better picture for new Android developers: 1.2 percent of revenue of the top 250 applications at Google Play goes to first-time app publishers. Most of the bounty goes to veteran app publishers with new titles. Some 17 percent of the top 300 apps available in the iPhone App Store were new apps. Read >>

Google Has Killed Android The Brand (FabCapo)
We have seen the Android brand disappear over time. First, it was the Nexus, then Samsung came with the Galaxy brand, which made Android less relevant. Now, Android is just invisible. Perhaps Google was losing a war against its partners, but we can finally conclude that it cannot be just a coincidence. It is not just a trend. It is a deliberate effort. By Google. At Mobile World Congress (MWC) last year, Android was everywhere. The Android space was the biggest of all. It was all about Android and a bit about the hardware manufacturers. This year, Android will be absent at MWC 2013. No space, no booth. Gone. Read >>

China Internet Giants Begin Switch To Mobile (Telecoms Tech)
And they are finding it isn't that easy. China’s Internet giants are grappling with new challenges as they start to compete with the country’s large mobile operators. These mobile operators have large user bases and are investing in and marketing their own services to counter the threat from over-the-top players. Companies such as Tencent and Sina need to quickly come to terms with the mobile paradigm in order to continue their growth trajectory. The first of these challenges is how to cope with the shift in traffic as users increasingly consume Internet services via mobile devices. The second big challenge stems from the need to differentiate in the face of the increasing convergence of online services. Read >>

Mobile SEO Strategies And Best Practices (Hua Marketing via Search Engine Land)
With more people performing searches by typing or voice commands on their mobile devices, does your company website need a new SEO (search engine optimization) strategy? Knowing these mobile SEO facts will help potential customers find and stay on your mobile site. Read >>