While there are a lot of people really trying to drum up interest in marketing through mobile phones in the U.S., I just can't find myself getting excited about it at all.
The major use in the U.S. is for texting and calling. The Internet experience is dreadful for consuers, to say the least. And the process of buying advertising through the platform is horrid for marketers. In other words, there isn't much to back up the attempted drive to convince advertisers to use the medium.
Even so, companies are entering into the fray as if they are missing out on some big opportunity, using lame logic in comparing it to DoubleClick and 24/7 Real Media's increase in value as a reason to buy up companies in the mobile space now, before the reach huge valuations.
For example, AOL (TWX) bought Third Screen Media last week, and a couple of weeks ago Microsoft acquired ScreenTonic, which is based in Paris. Yahoo! (YHOO) launched its own mobile network earlier in the year.
Even eMarketer, in my opinion, made the silly comment that by 2011 the industry would reach $4.8 billion in ad business. Right now it stands at $481 million. It think this is probably wishful thinking based upon an illusion.
Some of the reasons analyst give for the increase are the increasing use of the platform, technology is improving and worse of all - the feeding frenzy happening in the buying up of online ad businesses.
I think it's the buying up of online ad businesses that's the key to all of this hype.
Now the reason why this is happening with publicly traded companies is shareholder pressure. Shareholders get nervous when they see competitors to companies they have shares in getting into new areas that their company isn't in.
Another aspect is the promotional factor. When a company makes numerous announcements, like Google does, it encourages the press and writers talk about it in a way that makes it look like other companies are falling far behind them, whether it's a reality or not. So a company feels they have to respond by making their own deals to show they're keeping up with their competitors. In reality it's a terrible reason to do it.
The poorest reason to do anything is because everybody else is. Still there's a huge pressure to respond, and I think that's what's happening in the mobile realm.
Other than the reason they were created for, which is talking to someone on the phone, and the growing interest in text messaging, the American public doesn't have much interest in using mobile phones for anything else.
I'm not even sure if all the technological problems are solved that it will ever become the type of device that is being touted by those with a vested interest. As far as video goes, unless you're traveling on some type of public transportation, what possible reason would there be to watch it on a tiny screen?
Other than something to write and talk about, I don't see this as being something very exciting, as far as being a powerful ad platform.
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