GetJar's Visual Bookmarks Make WAP Sites as Sticky as Mobile Apps

LONDON, Nov 20, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Consumers are enthusiastically enhancing their mobile phones by downloading applications, which appear as icons on the phone's 'home screen.' Meanwhile WAP sites (websites optimized for phones) are left out in the cold because a WAP site has no application to download. It is just a browser link, which means that no icon sits on the phone's home screen, and so the WAP site doesn't receive the same sticky user attention as a downloaded app. GetJar ( www.getjar.com), the world's most popular destination for mobile application downloads, is changing this -- and boosting traffic to hundreds of WAP sites -- with its free Visual Bookmark service for WAP publishers.
Visual Bookmarks are tiny applications that sit on the phone's home screen and, when launched, open a specific mobile web page using the phone's built-in browser. Through a free, self-service system available to any WAP-site owner, GetJar automatically creates Visual Bookmarks for all major platforms (Java, Symbian Series 60, UIQ, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry). This gives WAP sites the same phone home screen visibility as phone apps, and at no cost. WAP publishers need only specify their site's URL and upload a graphic.
Consumers download these Visual Bookmarks from GetJar, instantly adding a handy shortcut to a favorite mobile website. For WAP publishers, a Visual Bookmark can ensure that their site reserves a prominent spot on a consumer's handset in the form of a familiar icon, driving adoption and usage. Research conducted by GetJar shows that visitors who have discovered mobile sites through a Visual Bookmark are four to eight times more likely to return to these sites, compared to those who discovered sites via conventional online references such as search engines, SMS messages, ad banners, or WAP text links.
One mobile web portal currently using GetJar's free Visual Bookmark service with great success is Vuclip, a mobile video search and delivery service. "At Vuclip, we want to reduce barriers to entry for consumers using the mobile web, and bring video content to as many mobile devices as possible," said Ashwin Puri, VP of business development & marketing at Vuclip. "The GetJar Visual Bookmark service enables us to drive distribution globally across the more than 2,500 devices we currently support. We have found that consumers using the GetJar Visual Bookmark come back to Vuclip almost eight times more frequently than an average mobile web user."
"Our goal with our free Visual Bookmark service is to boost downloads and usage for mobile web publishers and application developers," said Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO of GetJar. "A Visual Bookmark drives far more traffic to a mobile site than sending URLs in SMS or relying on the user to bookmark the URL. It bridges the technical gap between entering the URL and going to the site -- something that's easy on a PC, but hard on a mobile phone. A Visual Bookmark makes mobile sites stickier, and Vuclip's experience proves that it works."

Creating a Visual Bookmark is easy
To create a free Visual Bookmark, a mobile application developer first opens a free account on GetJar, then adds the web address, an eye-catching graphic icon, and a description of the service. Within 24 hours, GetJar develops a set of Visual Bookmarks for that web address, compatible with Java, Symbian Series 60, UIQ, BlackBerry, and Windows Mobile phones. GetJar also creates a special web address on GetJar for the Visual Bookmark, from which consumers can download it. GetJar creates Visual Bookmarks at no charge for the owner of any mobile-compatible website or web application. Once installed an a mobile phone as an icon, a Visual Bookmark resides on the phone's display in the same area as other downloaded applications.

Survey Finds 61 Percent of Mobile Users Would Agree to View Advertising for Discount on Monthly Bill

Transverse, a pioneer of open source business solutions, today released the results of a wireless and mobile industry research survey which provides insight into mobile customers’ phone use and their willingness to view advertisements in exchange for discounts to their monthly service bill.

The survey, commissioned by Transverse and conducted by iGR, a market strategy consultancy focused on the wireless and mobile industry, interviewed 810 wireless subscribers ages 18 to 65, found that the majority of respondents were receptive to mobile advertising. In fact, 56 percent of mobile users said they would view ads on their phones if they were given a 25 to 50 percent discount on their monthly bill.

Among the other key findings of the survey were:

* Mobile users under the age of 35 were most receptive to advertisements on their mobile device as incentives for discounts on their monthly service bill.
* Younger users ages 18-25, who are more apt to text, were among the most willing to trade the number of text messages sent/received while audiences 26-44 years of age, who are more apt to talk, were most willing to trade voice usage for discounted services.
* 46 percent of those surveyed said that a 25 to 50 percent discount on their monthly bill was enough of an incentive to provide access to their usage patterns, including browsing, email and texting habits, as well as location - but not personal information such as the content of texts and emails.

“Mobile advertising has taken on many forms, and is generally considered to be intrusive. But when consumers are given the choice to receive ads and share their usage patterns in exchange for discounts, mobile advertising has the potential to be highly targeted and highly effective,” Iain Gillott, President of iGR. “These survey findings indicate that consumers are open to non-traditional mobile advertising models.”

“With today’s economy, consumers are actively looking for ways to cut back their monthly expenses,” said Jim Messer, president and CEO of Transverse. “When a carrier is able to open up their customer base to create better value relationships among users, brands, merchants and the media companies, consumers will see a significant reduction on their monthly bill, advertisers will have a highly targeted avenue to reach their audience, and wireless service providers will see new revenue streams to improve their bottom lines. All of this is made possible with state-of-the-art OSS technology available today.”

Mobile Marketing Interest Unchanged Since Last Year

In the past year, consumers haven't changed their attitudes toward mobile marketing, according the "2008 Mobile Attitude & Usage Study" of the U.S. market released by the Mobile Marketing Association and with research conducted by Synovate.

Where the study sees promise is an increase in text message use and subscription to alerts. The percentage of consumers interested in mobile marketing has remained even for the past four years of the study, however. Of the total audience, 6 percent say they are highly interested in mobile marketing, 20 percent are moderately interested, and 75 percent aren't interested. The percentages are roughly the same for the 18 and over group: 6 percent are highly interested, 19 percent are moderately interested, and 75 percent aren't interested.

Participation in mobile marketing efforts is higher among those between 18 and 44 years old. The 18 to 24 year olds are the highest group, with 12 percent participation; 8 percent of those 25 to 34 years old and 7 percent of those 35 to 44 years old partake in mobile marketing. In total an average 6 percent of consumers, including teens to those over 55, take part in mobile marketing efforts. In 2008, participation rates were higher than in the past three years.

In 2008, the top mobile marketing categories included:

* Text-to-win or voting campaigns: 48 percent

* Ringtone downloads: 28 percent

* Status alerts: 25 percent

* Sales alerts: 24 percent

* Mobile coupons: 22 percent

* Product information: 21 percent

* Mobile customer care: 13 percent

* Location-based information: 6 percent
*

An increase in the volume of text messaging and nonvoice features on mobile phones suggests consumers view their handsets as more than just mobile phones, according to the study.

"Continued increases in text messaging behaviors pave the way for mobile messaging and marketing," said Beth Ritchey, vice president, Synovate Tech and Telecom, in a report. "Creating strong opportunities for mobile marketers, the pervasiveness of mobile phones in Americans' daily lives suggests that marketing applications are a natural extension of consumers' ever-increasing reliance on mobile devices."

The study consisted of 1,405 online interviews using a nationally representative consumer online panel of over 1.5 million households.

Kids and Teens Are Always On

Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.

eMarketer estimates that 82% of US teens ages 12 to 17 and 43.5% of children ages 3 to 11 will use the Internet on a monthly basis in 2009.

Comparative data from Nielsen Online indicates that about 19% of active Internet users in July 2008—or 32.4 million people—were under age 18.
MultiMedia Intelligence found that there were 16 million mobile teens in the US in 2007.

According to the US Census Bureau, there are 25.7 million teens in the US. That means nearly two-thirds of all teens have a mobile phone.

Pew Internet & American Life Project and the College Board’s National Commission on Writing found that a greater percentage of US teens have a mobile phone than own a PC
“This audience navigates between a multitude of electronic options for communication, including social networks, text messaging, instant messaging and virtual worlds,” says Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, Kids and Teens: Communication Revolutionaries. “They expect transitions between communications media to be seamless—messages sent by one means ought to be accessible in another.”

In fact, the distinctions many adults make between “online,” “offline” and “mobile” communications are meaningless to these young multimedia mavens.

“Kids and teens just communicate, period,” says Ms. Williamson.

What tools they use to interact are less important than how simple the interaction is, how seamlessly they can move across devices and how engaging the experience is.

“Marketers have never confronted a faster-moving or more elusive audience,” Ms. Williamson says.

One step closer to mobile TV

This year’s TelcoTV conference has service providers looking beyond the living room. The show, typically centered on IPTV and broadband, is tackling the bigger picture of how the Internet, over-the-top video, long-tail content and, especially, mobile devices are changing how television is delivered.

The Open Mobile Video Coalition demonstrated this week that one industry segment, local broadcasters, already is changing how they deliver TV. Two local Chicago broadcasters, ION Media Networks and Fox Television, held successful mobile digital TV demonstrations in the downtown market, confirming that they can deliver a number of local and live broadcasts over a variety of mobile devices and phones. The service, which uses a draft of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) mobile TV standard, could give other mobile TV providers a run for their money.

Consumers Want Quality Cameras on Mobile Phones

The Strategy Analytics Wireless Device Lab service research, "The Camera is Still King: Consumers Willing to Pay for a Quality Camera on Their Mobile Device," shows that a quality camera is the primary mobile phone add-on for which consumers in the U.S. and Western Europe would be willing to pay--and willing to pay the most--compared to other mobile device features.
These findings are based on a survey of over 2800 wireless device owners in the US and Western Europe. The survey showed that mobile consumers are also willing to pay for a video camera, music player and removable memory cards.
"Strategy Analytics research shows that over 60% of all respondents would be willing to pay extra for a quality camera on their mobile device," commented Chris Schreiner, Senior User Experience Analyst at Strategy Analytics. "This desire for imaging features prevails across all age ranges in both regions."
Kevin Nolan, Vice President of the Strategy Analytics User Experience Practice, added, "Cameras, video cameras and music players are quickly becoming table stakes when consumers shop for mobile devices. They also requested additional memory in order to store this media."

Serving Your Customers With Mobile Marketing

Is your company Web site easily browsed by mobile devices like phones and BlackBerrys? If not, you may want to do something about that — soon.

Mobile_MarketingJust maintaining your Web site may seem daunting enough. But there’s reason to start planning ahead to the next frontiers of Internet usage. All signs suggest that online browsing will be done increasingly by mobile phone.

A July report by Nielsen Mobile showed that 15.6% of U.S. subscribers “actively use” the mobile Internet – that is, use the Internet services on their mobile device at least once a month. And that number is rising quickly as more carriers bundle their voice plans with plans that offer Internet usage.