Google Bets on Mobile Devices as Future of Advertising

Google's purchase of mobile-phone advertising giant AdMob showed that they're willing to place a big bet on a major source for future advertising—mobile technology.

Purchasing the mobile advertising platform for $750 million in stock seemed like a risky move by some. But Google defended the move.

“We've written in the past about how mobile phones are becoming an increasingly indispensable part of our daily lives,” Google posted on a November 9 blog, “and we continue to see how great devices with full Internet browsers and vibrant app marketplaces are driving an explosion of usage.”

Google went on to list some interesting statistics: iPhone and Android devices are the most common means of browsing the Internet, while one quarter of these users spend around 90 minutes online per day.

Google's choice to get into the mobile advertising industry while it is “still in its early stages,” indicates how mobile technology is proliferating online culture and becoming, or will become if it hasn't already, a major area of focus for Internet businesses. As the ability to access the Internet through mobile technology evolves, marketing and consumer purchasing will likely follow in its path. Businesses that take time to establish an online presence now may reap large benefits as the technology becomes a standard platform in the not-too-distant future.

Online Advertising Revenues Stabilizing: a Sign of the Times?

Online advertising has decreased during 2009, but Tech Crunch reported on November 11th that revenue for the four largest online advertisers is growing after two consecutive shrinking quarters.

According to the popular tech blog, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL had a modest gain of 1.22 percent in the third quarter this year. The first and second quarters of 2009 saw losses of 4.63 percent and 5.76 percent, respectively. Tech Crunch writer Erick Schonfeld suggests that the new data show the industry is stabilizing.

This could also be an indicator that small businesses are coming out of troubled economic times. And as the economy seems to be slowly recovering, online advertising is overtaking traditional advertising, marking a shift in how the advertising and consumer cultures are evolving. A study released late summer found that small businesses now turn to digital and online resources to advertise more than they do traditional media.

The rise of online advertising could result from the cost-effectiveness and broad reach provided by the Internet. Small businesses can reach farther and target audiences more effectively while spending less money. Google, the leader in the online advertising industry, made around $22 billion in revenue in 2008, and Reuters reported that 97 percent of that came from advertising. Online advertising allows small businesses to continually hone their advertising as providers such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and other industry leaders provide analytical information regarding their sites and advertising campaigns.

MSN Revamped

PROVO—In early November, the “most uninspired addresses on the internet,” according to Peter Burrows, happily underwent cosmetic surgery and emerged with a more streamlined look for some viewers. MSN.com has been reborn. The “home page will see a less cluttered site that for the first time lets users access Twitter and Facebook feeds without having to leave the page. A section called MSN Local Edition provides news of local doings such as concerts, restaurant reviews, and weather and traffic reports which vary based on the user's location,” reported Burrows. (See Overdue Face-lift.)

The change was prompted by Microsoft's desire to enhance its new search engine, Bing. According to the Burrows article, MSN's executive producer, Scott Moore, said, “Our No. 1 priority is to drive search market share." Google beware. “The search engine has drawn praise for the relevance of its responses and for the inviting National Geographic-style photographs on its home page. Bing also led the way in serving up access to a feed of Twitter status updates known as tweets,” said Burrows.

Many of the 600 million MSN users are still unaware of Bing and what it does. The new direction of MSN is intended to change that. “To give Bing greater prominence, Microsoft will generate lists of popular topics based on what individual users have been searching for. Even the graphic design of the site takes its cues from the cleaner look and feel of the Bing site,” wrote Burrows. The new MSN will also capitalize on the social networking craze.