Yesterday we looked at DASH7 , a wireless sensor networking standard that may play an important part in next generation mobile services - including location-based services, Internet of Things and social networking. In this post we analyze some use cases for DASH7, which also point to where the Mobile Web is heading. We'll explore long distance mobile advertising and mobile coupons. We'll also look at how location-based services like Foursquare and Gowalla could evolve. Sponsor Extending Location-Based App Functionality Given the growth of location-based apps such as Foursquare and Gowalla in 2010, it's intriguing to think about what's next for these services. According to the DASH7 report, enhanced loyalty programs could be the next big thing. With a DASH7-enabled phone, the white paper states, "a user could set his or her preferences in the Foursquare or Gowalla application that would allow the user to be automatically "discovered" or "checked in" at the coffee shop/restaurant/gun store/etc. and thereby accrue loyalty points passively, i.e. by just being "in" the establishment, rather than requiring active/conscious user behavior to participate in the program." Even more advanced services could offer customized promotions created "on the fly", targeting a certain user's preferences. Mobile Advertising From Long Distance and On-The-Go A long-held goal of the Mobile Web - at least for retailers - is using mobile phones for mobile advertising, loyalty programs, couponing, and other 'personalized shopping' experiences. Of course there are privacy issues with these things, but nevertheless these scenarios are (finally) coming soon. NFC-enabled phones have shown glimpses of this functionality, via smart posters, kiosks and billboards. As discussed in a previous post, NFC technology is limited to a 4 centimeter range - so the phone needs to be held close to the media asset in order to initiate the data transfer. Also it requires a tag reader application to be installed on your mobile phone. According to an as yet unreleased white paper that ReadWriteWeb was shown, the DASH7 Alliance thinks that "a far larger set of customers would be willing to execute the same applications provided that they were executable a) from a longer distance, b) while moving, and c) in some cases, passively/without any conscious initiation of their own." DASH7 has a range of hundreds of meters and can be used while on the move. While point 3 might scare some privacy advocates, it's very likely that customers would need to opt in before they "passively" received such advertising messages. If this is still to abstract for you, here's a potential scenario: I'm driving down a street and I pass a smart poster pasted onto a building wall. This elicits a beep from my phone, because my phone has 'passively' scanned the poster and discovered something that I want to be notified about (I've opted into receiving notifications only about certain things). Because it's against the law to check my mobile phone where I live, I wait till I'm parked and then I check what the beep was for. Turns out that one of my favorite bands is playing in the city tomorrow night! The smart poster I'd driven past was an advertisement for that band. So I then proceed to book a ticket, using my phone of course. Mobile Coupons Mobile coupons are a hot area of activity already, with Google and others offering them. However, currently mobile coupons are limited to short-range and active receiving. Soon we might have long-range couponing, real-time interaction and 'passively' receiving coupons. The DASH7 Alliance white paper offers a scenario of Paramount promoting its upcoming movie Iron Man 2, using a smart poster. In the NFC scenario, someone could walk past the Iron Man 2 poster and download a 2-for-1 coupon to see the movie. However, according to the DASH7 Alliance: "...a combination DASH7/NFC-enabled smartphone could still support the default NFC scenario, but could also provide for a) longer distance distribution of the coupon b) "passive" acquisition of coupons according to a user's pre-defined "coupon acquisition criteria" (e.g. "auto-accept coupons for any movies starring Al Pacino" , and c) real-time interaction with the media asset (e.g. "answer the following three questions correctly and win a 2-for-1 coupon to see "Iron Man 2".)" Those are just some of the next generation mobile services we can expect to see soon, thanks to wireless technologies like NFC and DASH7. Let us know in the comments if you have other potential use case ideas! Discuss
Apple unveiled the 4.0 version of the iPhone operating system yesterday and a big part of the announcement was about a new advertising platform called iAd . Apple will soon provide an easy way for app developers to put advertisements in their mobile apps and keep 60% of the revenue. Tech financial analysts are going bonkers over the news , with one headline-grabbing prediction putting the opportunity at $4.67 billion per year for Apple. Why? Because the platform has the potential to change online advertising like nothing else has in a long time. Sponsor Cullen Wilson offers this explanation on the Austin Startup Blog : The reason iAd has a chance to change how users interact with ads is simple: The fear and unknown of clicking on an ad is gone. Apple is throwing its brand behind an entire ad network to create the perception that if you trust Apple, you can trust these ads too! Worried about installing malware from clicking on that ad? Hate that ads open up a new window? No problem, Apple has solved this by keeping these ads within the app itself and vetting all of the ads on their network. iAd reminds me of two ad networks I'm already a fan of, The Deck and Fusion Ads . Their ads are well designed, they advertise in applications I use and love, and they vet everyone on the network before accepting them. If you've ever used the free Twitter clients Tweetie or Twitterrific, you've seen these ads. If Apple can convince its users that it's safe to click anything with the iAd logo they will have single handedly changed the perception users have of ads, resulting in more clicks and more money made by both Apple and developers. They will have done this by taking advantage of a closed system, their own brand, and a platform that their users already love (the app store). The iPad is clearly changing peoples' experience with computing - take one out around non-geeks and you'll see strangers clamor to get their hands on it. But if Apple can transform mobile advertising from an annoyance to a trusted, appealing experience - that would be huge. The iAd platform could impact advertising more than the iPad impacts computing. It may very well generate more revenue, too. Wilson points out that though many people complain about the closed nature of the App Store, this is the other side of the coin and is worth considering. One question I have about this is how scalable vetting such a huge ad platform could be. Where there's money to be printed, there must be money to pay ad examiners, though. If the platform can prove effective and make app building all the more financially viable, then we as users can cheer for a new world of apps that will be built in the future. If Apple can deliver a high-quality experience on the iAd platform, then we as users can cheer for a less grating experience than a wild west of mobile advertising would likely deliver. There is something a little frightening about Apple's end-to-end control over the platform though, isn't there? What do you think about iAd? Do you think it will be effective? Revolutionary? Do you think it's fair? Discuss
Today Google introduced two new elements to its popular advertising system, a Search Funnel and something it is calling Ad Innovations . The company's VP of product management, Susan Wojcicki, described the Search Funnel as a "set of reports describing the Google.com search ad click and impression behavior leading up to a conversion." Sponsor The idea is that users of the Sales Funnel will, over time, tighten and focus their use of Google Ads to such a degree that they will be able to sell a grommet to an Albanian from outer space. "The data you see in Search Funnels can help you understand how users search for your products before converting so that you can optimize these conversion paths." Ad Innovations is a specialist website Google has set up to "work closely with advertisers on what comes next." They intend to use the space to debut ad-tech ideas and solicit user feedback. Photo by Danny Sullivan. Discuss
When people start traditional brick and mortar businesses, one of the most important things for them to plan for is advertising. Maybe they’ll take out a newspaper ad, or maybe they’ll pay to be included in an online directory. No matter what, they have to find a way to get their name and mission in front of interested customers. The same thing happens with web based businesses, and typically they use banner advertising to create awareness about their products or services.
If you’re looking for a way to instantly get your website in front of millions of people who will be interested in clicking on your links and potentially making purchases on your site, you’ve got to consider banner advertising as part of your marketing campaign. This is one of the most time tested tactics for driving traffic to a website.
In case you’ve never heard of banner advertising before, you should know that they are image based advertisements that are typically displayed at the top of popular web pages. Any time you visit the website of a major news provider, you’re likely to see a banner ad for one of their sponsors at the top of the page.
One thing that is important to know about banner advertising services is that they are a great way to generate awareness of your business or site name, as well as your visual branding elements, like logo, slogan or catch phrase. The more places that your banner ad is displayed on the internet, the more awareness you will generate.
If you’re interested in using banner advertisingon your site, but unsure about how to get started with getting your ads placed on the sites that will generate the most traffic to your pages, you should think about using a professional banner placement service.
Many website owners find that it is a good idea to use a professional banner advertising service for the first few rounds of their marketing campaigns. This is because advertising services usually provide both the graphic and networking services that make banner ads so successful in the first place.
When you are choosing banner advertising services, keep in mind that there are two different types of services that you can purchase. Some marketing firms offer pay per impression services and others offer pay per click services. Talk with an experienced marketing professional to find out which one will be right for your site.
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Coming up with a good idea and a good product is only the beginning of having a successful online business. Not only do you have to come up with something that your target audience is likely to need and purchase, you also have to come up with a way to make sure they see it and realize that they need to buy it. That’s why website advertising is so important to the success of your business.
Many people are excited by the opportunities that are provided by the open design of the internet. Literally anyone with a little startup capital and a lot of determination can turn their ideas into a money making business. But without a quality website advertising campaign, all of this hard work will be for nothing.
Just because you are running a small or brand new business with a tiny website advertising budget doesn’t mean that you can’t make use of some time-tested techniques for drawing in viewers to your site and turning them into customers very quickly.
One of the keys to successful website advertising is targeting your message to the people that are likely to be most receptive to it. This means that before you can advertise to them, you must fully know your audience and research the ways that they like to communicate.
These days everyone is using email because it is faster, more convenient and doesn’t require that you recycle a bunch of wasted paper when you’re done reading the message. This is why many companies have switched over to website advertising that utilizes electronic communication instead of paper.
Another website advertising tactic that has proven to be successful time and time again is the placement of banner advertisements on sites that members of your audience are likely to visit on a regular basis. This means if you’re selling sports drink, you might advertise on team uniform sites, or if you’re selling pet care items, you might advertise on dog training sites.
In case you’re rather new to the world of website advertising and aren’t sure that you can pull of a campaign successfully on your own, know that there are many qualified internet marketing firms out there that can explain the different tactics that are available, and construct a package that will spread your message in a comprehensive way on the internet.
Don’t fall for website advertising tricks that will turn off your customers and get you slapped by the search engines. Click here for tactics that work.
