Mobile turned a corner this year. As smartphones and tablets became a part of our everyday lives, business owners’ conversations shifted from 'Why should I advertise on mobile or build a mobile website?' to 'How do I get started?’.
Five major industry trends emerged in 2011 that will carry us into 2012, and beyond.
1 - Everyone goes mobile Smartphones and tablets proved that they weren’t just for the geekiest - er, ‘tech savviest’ - among us. These devices are increasingly becoming the norm and they continue to change how people connect with each other, and with businesses, everywhere. According to our research with IPSOS earlier this year:
79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping, from comparing prices, to finding more product info, to locating a retailer.
70% use their smartphones while in a store.
77% have contacted a business via mobile, with 61% calling and 59% visiting the local business.
It’s not just that more people are using smartphones and tablets (though the numbers are skyrocketing at an accelerating pace)—it’s that a huge, and fast-growing base of smartphone users, now expect to engage with businesses on mobile. The mainstream consumer got mobilized in 2011.
2 - Mobile search transforms shopping, forever Analyzing mobile search trends helped the industry better understand how people were using their mobile devices in 2011. For starters, we learned a lot about the ‘timing’ of mobile and tablets. These devices enable us to be constantly connected to the internet, as mobile usage has proven to be complementary to the desktop. We got a clearer picture of how search is changing the ways we shop and connect with businesses. More people are looking for deals both en route to stores and within them on mobile - in the retail category, “Black Friday” related mobile queries were over 200% higher this year than in 2010. Users have also developed some mobile-specific shopping habits - for example, 44% of all searches for last minute gifts and store locator terms are projected to come from mobile devices this holiday season. For procrastinators, mobile has come to the rescue!
In October, we looked at some of the newest ways marketers can build their businesses via mobile search. But, this is only the beginning - whether people are trying to find or call a business, compare prices in a store, or visit a site or app directly from their phones, search and search ads will be the tools that shape a new shopping experience, enabling us connect with businesses, research and buy products on or offline, all via mobile.
3 - Progress with the mobile advertising pipes As an industry, we came a long way in terms of improving the ‘pipes’ - the systems, products and technologies that advertisers use to build, serve, and measure mobile ads. It’s still early days, but the progress with standards like MRAID and the momentum behind HTML5, are helping to rally the mobile community and make it easier for marketers and customers to connect on the platform. Getting existing tools to ‘speak mobile’ has been another key to helping mobile advertising grow-up as quickly users and businesses want it to. Across search and display, the tools the industry is already familiar with are getting mobilized. There’s plenty of work still to do, but significant progress is being made - watch this space in 2012.
4 - Tablets join the mobile party Tablets made quite a splash this year. Usage trends sharpened - we’re seeing that people people use these devices to shop, consume media, have fun, and they do so most frequently in the evenings. Tablets are a third screen to be reckoned with for marketers - we saw a 440% growth in traffic from tablets in November 2011 compared to December 2010 on the AdMob network. The business potential is tremendous: not only are users more inclined to shop and make purchases on tablets, but because campaigns can be more effective running across several screens instead of one, tablets offer an incremental opportunity for marketers. Our research with Nielsen showed that campaigns on several screens can be ‘Better Together’ - indeed, in cases like Adidas’, that proved to be true.
5 - Businesses start (actually) thinking mobile first Smartphones and tablets aren’t small desktop computers - they’re new devices being used in entirely new ways. This year, businesses began to embrace this at scale and many saw good things happen when they built ad campaigns and websites specifically for mobile. Ticketsnow’s success with a mobile optimized site - increased site traffic, and more ticket sales - is just one example of the benefits of building for mobile. Initiatives like GoMo and platform-specific ad features will help businesses better connect with mobile customers in the coming months, and beyond.
It’s hard to believe, but as far as the industry has come in 2011, we’re still in the earliest chapters of mobile’s story. The ways people connect to businesses on their mobile devices and the tools they’re using to connect from them progressed by leaps and bounds this year and soon, we’ll see the mainstream shift that changes the way mobile connects people with brick-and-mortar storefronts as well. Mobile will be moving full speed ahead in 2012 so keep those sleeves rolled-up and those seatbelts fastened - we’ll see you then.
For sectors like motoring where target customers are inherently on the move, mobile is a critical marketing and sales channel. Regtransfers, a UK market leader in the field of personal number plates, recognised that mobile offered an ideal way to reach their audience of gadget-loving, tech-savvy car drivers, and they embraced a suite of Google tools to help. With Google AdWords, Regtransfers had driven users to its desktop website with considerable success, so they began their mobile activity by creating an AdWords for mobile campaign and simply replicated the keywords used in the desktop campaign. They’d also found Sitelinks useful in the desktop campaign, and since mobile search ads offer the chance to present two Sitelinks, Regtransfers was quick to take advantage. The first Sitelink on their mobile search ads clicks straight to the inventory search facility; the second Sitelink employs click-to-call. This enables a potential customer to automatically reach the call centre without navigating to the website. There’s no need to copy, dial or re-key a phone number, making it that much easier to convert a browser into a customer.
Next Regtransfers launched an iPhone app to let customers search for registrations, make enquiries and complete purchases. As with click-to-call, the app removes barriers that might otherwise prevent easy engagement. Finally, Regtransfers implemented remarketing campaigns both for desktop and mobile web users. Search ads first drive traffic to the site, but then if a visitor doesn’t sign up for future communication, download the app, obtain the magazine, make a phone call or email an enquiry, Regtransfers can remarket to them by displaying tailored ads on sites throughout the Google Content Network. So what about the numbers? Since implementing their AdWords mobile campaign, Regtransfers’ mobile traffic has increased 100%. With a cost-per-conversion that is 48% less on average than on desktop, the click-through rate across the mobile campaign is 93% better than the desktop campaign that it’s based on. Regtransfers’ mobile AdWords campaigns are now delivering 73% more calls than when they first began. To download the full Regtransfers case study, click here.
Posted by: Matt Brocklehurst, Product Marketing Manager
Smartphones and tablets are the biggest thing to hit Santa’s workshop since the sleigh. According to recent Google research, we’re using mobile devices in booming numbers for searching, shopping and browsing before, during and after December 25th.
E-commerce is more important than ever this Yuletide, and mobile is driving a lot of this. While an eDigital study shows that one in three UK smartphone users engaged in M-commerce in the build-up to Christmas last year, conversions don’t tell the whole story. Many mobile users are turning to their phones to browse products, compare prices and search for physical store locations as well.
Google research also reveals a “triple peak opportunity” on mobile. Data from the past two years show that UK mobile queries for top retail brand terms spike three times in the season of giving. The first peak arrives at the end of November with the last payday before Christmas. The second is in the final days before the holiday itself, and the third coincides with the kick-off of January sales. And this opportunity is growing. These kinds of search queries demonstrate 166% year-on-year growth.
Tablets and smartphones remain among the most desirable of gifts, so it’s worth remembering that mobile display advertising offers a chance for brands to engage with mobile owners from the day they take their new device out of the box. We’ve studied post-Christmas daily AdMob activity in the UK and know that impressions ramp up immediately after Christmas Eve, driven by the acquisition of new smartphones and tablets.
This doesn’t stop when Santa kicks off his boots. Once Christmas and Boxing Day are out of the way, post-holiday sales drive renewed online activity. Queries on mobile recover from the temporary lull more quickly than desktop. Search volumes of the top 1,000 commercial queries illustrate that in the week after Christmas, mobile queries increase 35%, while on desktop the rise is just 2%.
So what can you do to have a merry mobile Christmas? We’ve made a list of top tips for the season:
Remember that mobile is the link between online and offline shopping and design mobile sites and campaigns accordingly.
Align messaging across your TV, desktop, mobile and tablet advertising for maximum impact.
Optimise your search campaigns for mobile for greatest performance.
Activate the click-to-call and hyperlocal features in your mobile search ads. This will enable users to reach you easily and get locally-relevant information including distance and directions to find and navigate to your business.
AdMob’s latest targeting options allow you to serve ads specifically to newly activated mobiles. Use the network to engage users with your brand name, products and offers on their new devices.
Ensure mobile search and display campaigns have sufficient budgets over the Christmas holidays when mobile usage peaks.
Read our presentation on the research outlined here plus lots more insight on the power of mobile advertising at Christmas by clicking this link here.
Posted by Matt Brocklehurst,Product Marketing Manager
What happens when a community commits to mobilize together, over the course of three days? It sounds like a theoretical question, but thanks to Mobile, Alabama’s, hospitality and innovation we had the opportunity to find out. That’s how a clever play on words turned into Mobilizing Mobile--a three-day celebration of local community, small business and the mobile web.
Part of the GoMo initiative, Mobilizing, Mobile was an event where business owners of Mobile were invited to learn and take action in order to “Go Mobile” with a little help from Google, DudaMobile, and Mobify. The event kicked off at Space 301 where Mobile’s Mayor Sam Jones and Winn Hallett, President of Mobile’s Chamber of Commerce, welcomed Google to their city. Several of Mobile’s businesses including LuLu's at Homeport Marina talked about the importance of mobile and we unveiled the first two newly mobilized sites: Distinguished Young Women and the Festival of Flowers. That evening Red Square hosted an event for agencies where Jason Spero, Director of Google Mobile Ads, and Edward Bocches, Chief Innovation Officer at Mullen, spoke on the importance of mobile for ad agencies. The next day, the real mobilizing began as hundreds of business owners poured into Space 301 to create mobile-friendly versions of their websites, attend mobile business seminars, explore the Google expo and enjoy some delicious local fare. Check out the action in this quick recap video:
In just 48 hours, nearly 500 mobile-friendly websites were created and launched. You can see some great “Before and After” shots here. Over 400 businesses committed to "going mobile" by signing the GoMo Pledge and hundreds learned about how to grow their businesses with mobile and digital tools in classroom sessions. You can find more event highlights on the Mobilizing Mobile, AL recap pages on the GoMo website.
All Critters Pet Sitters, a pet sitting service in Mobile, AL decided to “Go Mo.” Here’s their site before (left) and after (right) their one-on-one consultation at Mobilizing, Mobile.
As we look ahead to next year (and beyond), mobile’s role in our lives will only continue to grow. We can look to Mobile, Alabama, for inspiration, as we watch how the sites created during Mobilizing Mobile affect consumers and businesses alike. And, for the rest of us, ‘tis the season for New Year’s resolutions!The commitment to ‘GoMo’ may be a good one to add to your list for next year. We’re looking forward to more Mo’ in other cities, and countries, in 2012. Posted by: Jesse Haines, Google Mobile Ads Marketing
With the rapid smartphone growth, it’s no surprise that consumers are downloading a huge number of apps--10 billion on Android alone, as of last week. Many app developers are recognizing the opportunity to develop on Android, including PrivacyStar, a small privacy services company offering smartphone users the ability to block unwanted calls from telemarketers via their mobile app. To help grow their business on Android, PrivacyStar looked to AdMob to drive quality downloads of their app.
PrivacyStar had used a variety of marketing channels to promote their app, including desktop display and television advertising. While successful, this initial acquisition strategy resulted in relatively high cost-per-acquisition (CPA), with downloads costing upwards of $5. Seeing the need to reach their audience while on specific smartphone devices and slash CPA, the PrivacyStar team decided to try in-app advertising across a number of mobile ad networks to drive users to download their app directly to their devices.
AdMob was able to deliver and quickly become their most effective channel of advertising. Other mobile ad networks struggled to maintain a low CPA as they grew on Android inventory. The team then began optimizing their advertising within other mobile apps on the AdMob network—informed by data from Google Analytics. App placements were limited to particular app categories to focus their audience and placements that didn’t meet the aggressive CPM targets were excluded. Within a month of these optimizations, cost per acquisition fell to less than $2, a fraction of their initial acquisition cost. Additionally, the quality of downloads that AdMob drove were far superior, with more users upgrading to a monthly subscription.
The success that PrivacyStar has achieved with AdMob and Google Analytics has them poised for continued growth on Android. For more details on PrivacyStar’s approach, check out the full case study.
Shopping on the go eBay the world’s leading online marketplace connects millions of buyers and sellers globally. In 2010, the total worth of goods sold on eBay globally was US$61.7 billion.
eBay's entire portfolio of mobile applications surpassed 50 million downloads globally since the launch of mobile in 2008. In 2010, consumer’s bought nearly US$2 billion worth of goods globally through eBay’s mobile applications. This is expected to increase to almost $5 billion in 2011.
eBay’s main iPhone application is available in eight languages and 190 countries and has been downloaded more than 20 million times since its debut in 2008. The company’s Android app is gaining ground apace as Android usage accelerates worldwide.
Down under—all over mobile Australia is one of eBay’s hottest mobile markets. Between 5 to 10 per cent of Australian iPhone owners log into eBay’s mobile app daily.
On an average day on eBay.com.au, an electronics item is sold every 6 seconds; a laptop every 13 minutes; a sports item every 25 seconds; a car every 22 minutes; and the list goes on.
With AdMob, eBay saw an opportunity to capitalize on the growing popularity of smartphones, which constitute almost half of traffic in the AdMob network. (1) The company also looked toward to taking advantage of the “stickiness” of smartphone apps: users of iOS and Android platforms regularly spend at least 79 minutes a day using apps. (2)
From tried to true During the AdMob push, Android app downloads increased 48% when compared with the same time period pre-campaign. Cost-per-click was significantly lower than traditional online display advertising, and cost-per-download. To further advance its mobile initiatives, eBay has created a new mobile-optimized website for eBay.com.au and plans to expand mobile advertising activities.
(1) May 2010 Mobile Metrics Report from Google AdMob (metrics.admob.com) (2) May 2010 Mobile Metrics Report from Google AdMob (metrics.admob.com)
Tablet devices went mainstream this year and people are using them - 65% of consumers who own tablets use them at least one hour per day. Consumers are embracing them as the third digital screen in their lives. Over the last few months, we've researched the ways people use their tablets on a daily basis and have recognized some emerging trends. Shopping, consuming media, gaming are all popular tablet activities according to our recent study. And, daily search trends suggest tablets are used more frequently in the evenings and at nights. We’ve also looked at how consumers engage with ads on tablets. Our research shows that they have higher expectations of ads on tablets, believing they should be more interactive and touch screen friendly. To help marketers reach these engaged consumers we are launched new tablet-specific ad formats. On the display side, today we are launching new Rich Media Designs for Mobile. These new rich media templates will make it easy for advertisers to create rich media ads for tablets using existing assets (photos, logos, etc.) and then implement them across platforms (mobile, tablet and desktop). Advertisers can use these templates in a number of ways, including to interact with a specific product, feature a collection of products or promote foot traffic to a specific store location.
For tablet search advertisers, we are launching Media Ads in beta this week. Media Ads take advantage of the large, interactive touchscreen by bringing video directly into an ad on the search results page. Advertisers who want to engage consumers with video content can now use Media Ads to provide an immersive and engaging video watching experience. In addition to watching video game, TV or movie trailers, US consumers will also be able to view locally relevant movie showtimes right within the ad.
Tablet users can view movie, game, and TV trailers in a full screen overlay right from Google.com
While most advertisers do not need to create tablet-only campaigns today, they should start thinking about how they can engage their customers on Tablets in distinct ways and using made-for tablet formats, now and in 2012. Tablets are just getting started and we plan on continuing to invest in building tablet first consumer experiences and ad units.
Liberty University Online has long been able to reach and engage prospective students as they searched for education options from their desktop computers. However, with the growth of mobile search activity, Liberty recognized a new opportunity to reach the people on a new platform. Liberty noticed rapid growth in mobile traffic to their own website, which closely mirrored industry-wide trends in mobile usage growth. According to Google internal data, education-related search volume is increasing rapidly and is projected to grow to over 17% by the end of 2011.
Liberty started advertising their online programs on both desktop and mobile. After seeing initial success, Liberty broke out mobile campaigns for their branded traffic, and continued to monitor and optimize the performance specifically for mobile. Executive Director of Admissions Steve Peterson was surprised at the immediate results from mobile.
“Sometimes when you’re trying new things, your tolerance is a little higher for what you’re willing to accept,” Steve said. “The thing that was surprising was how well it performed in a short period of time compared to stuff we’ve been doing for years. So when you have that out of the gate, we just want to keep scaling until we see some kind of diminishing returns.”
Liberty hasn’t seen diminishing returns yet. In the first six months of mobile-only campaigns, Liberty saw effectiveness and efficiency improve for conversion volume and cost-per-conversion:
49% increase in number of conversions
50% decrease in cost-per-conversion
Now, Liberty plans to break out mobile traffic from all their campaigns and is pursuing a full-fledged mobile landing page strategy. Mobile represents both an immediate and long-term opportunity for Liberty.
