Mobile visual search is something I like to consider an emerging field within an emerging field. It involves using the mobile device's camera as a search or sensory input (rather than typing). The thought is that it's fitting to the…
The dial continues to be turned up on location based mobile marketing. While usage evolves and creates monetization opportunities, advertiser interest grows from secular and cyclical shifts. The latter will continue to improve as we emerge from recession. As for…
As promised, here are the "day 2" thoughts on the fate of the iPad. Obviously, lots of talk about the device this week -- whether it's a viable device, whether it's a Kindle killer, etc. The former question is more…
Mobile ad network Millennial Media is out with its latest monthly (December) Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach & Targeting (SMART). Most notable from the findings was that Entertainment was dethroned as the top mobile ad spending category by Portals &…
Minutes ago, the fabled iPad was unveiled by Steve Jobs at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco. An exciting moment: I'm at my desk constantly hitting refresh on the Engadget live blog coverage to get details. Though I've kept an open ear…
Among the highlights of today's mobile session at OMMA Social were comments from location-based social networks Loopt and Brightkite. Both continue to evolve their product features and, by extension, the ad formats available to marketers. Loopt is on a roll…
Today I moderated a panel at MediaPost's annual OMMA Social show in San Francisco. A designated mobile session symbolized the topic's rising prominence relative to last year, when it was discussed (but not as much). Interest in mobile is clearly…
Topping the list of hot topics in digital media these days (besides iTablet rumors) is social gaming (i.e. Zynga), mobile social apps (i.e. foursquare), and mobile gaming. Mobile startup Booyah is combining all of them in an iPhone app called…
Most of the money spent on mobile ads is from brand advertisers and agencies. And the targeting methods they use, via ad networks, are mostly borrowed from the online tactics they know best. This involves branding and some direct response,…
Lots of talk today about a BusinessWeek article that reports Apple is in talks with Microsoft to replace Google as the default search provider on the iPhone. This results from the growing turf battle between the two mobile heavyweights. What…
Norwegian browser maker Opera Software today announced it will acquire mobile ad exchange AdMarvel for what TechCrunch is reporting to be $8 million in cash plus a $15 million earnout. As an ad exchange, AdMarvel has transparency across many ad…
In what is an ongoing humanitarian and mobile story, mobile donations made to Haiti earthquake aftermath relief have exceeded $22 million. This has been a quickly accelerating total, as news reports mid-last week were boasting $7 million. More importantly, the $22 million…
We're hearing a lot about Google's Nexus One, failed expectations and enraged customers. Complaints have reverberated throughout the blogosphere that Google's direct-to-consumer approach leaves many Nexus One owners without the ability to see and handle the device before purchasing. Worse…
There's been lots of talk about how the newly minted SuperMedia (formerly Idearc) is repositioning itself as it emerges from bankruptcy. Some of this is about branding but a great deal of it also involves the longstanding evolution of how…
Here is a recap of posts from last week, in case you missed any. Click below to read each post in full. CitySquares Acquires Yokel, a Site for Local Retailers CitySquares, an online city guide and directory company based in Boston,…
I've had more time to digest some of the possibilities for Apple's $275 million acquisition of mobile ad network Quattro. As discussed, it follows closely behind Google’s AdMob acquisition and both will be harbingers of more M&A activity in the mobile…
I got in a discussion yesterday about visual search. It was in response to BIA/Kelsey's year-end analyst webinar, in which we outlined the up-and-coming mobile bar code scanning apps. Essentially, visual search comes in a few different flavors including: QR…
Later this week, we'll publish reports across BIA/Kelsey's coverage areas that predict market trends and events of the coming year. Part of that involved looking back on past predictions to calibrate our handicapping abilities. There was one nugget I remembered…
After hearing whispers from a reporter last week that Yahoo was eyeing mobile ad network Quattro, we started hearing similar rumors over the past 24 hours that Apple would be the suitor. Kara Swisher at WSJ then scooped the story…
We all knew it was coming: Google's Nexus One "super phone" was just unveiled at its press event at the Googleplex. Thanks to the company's famous "dogfooding" strategy, many of the device specs were previously leaked. It looks to be…
