Google has released Android, a mobile phone open source development platform allowing third party developers to create applications for mobile devices. Speculation about Google entering the mobile phone market has been around for a while, with many a rumour in the past few years about a Google smart phone called the G Phone. This definitely seemed like the obvious market move for the internet giant to directly compete with the iPhone, Blackberries and all the other smart phones out there. But instead they chose the soft over the hard and are now, rather then competing, are looking to re-invent the mobile phone market.
Open Source is the Future
The idea of open source is nothing new for Google who have developed many open source apps for the online community. Using this open ethos for the mobile phone market could change the industry all together. An open source platform means that instead of having software developed for each phone or brand, software can be developed for all phones; new applications can be downloaded and enjoyed by any user. Instead of upgrading software through purchasing a new phone the user can continually upgrade through downloading the latest software and apps that suit them.
Why Should We Do It When You Can
The genius of the open source Android project is Google’s incentive scheme to promote application and software innovation. They have set a side a modest $10m to incentivise third party developers to create ‘cool’ new applications for the Android platform awarding the best developers with large sums of cash. So instead of having to internally invest in application creation Google employ the public so they can get on with more important tasks… like ensuring their advertising revenue and developing more strategies to dominate the future off and online media spaces.
Uh Oh!
The reaction to this development from Microsoft’s charismatic CEO Steve Ballmer was the expected one. He has remarked that Google’s efforts were just ‘words on paper’, but these words come from the same man who claimed Apple’s iPhone would not be a success, and literally laughed at the now revolutionary design. Microsoft and Apple definitely have something to fear with Google’s Android project. Through developing open source development for mobile devises instead of focusing on cashing in on hardware development Google have made a lot of mobile phone producer and mobile service provider friends.
The Google Alliance
Google’s development of Android is in partnership with the open hand-set alliance, 34 mobile handset makers, application developers, chip makers and mobile service providers who believe in the future of open source platforms. This alliance includes some huge names in the mobile devices world and is looking to directly compete with the independents (Apple, Microsoft, Nokia, Palm, Symbian) who have all developed their own operation platforms.
Behind the Openness
Of course the real winner here is Google. Sure, Mobile phone manufacturers can sell more phones, service providers may be able to charge higher tariffs, but for Google this will bring another mammoth flow of advertising revenue their way and help them secure their place as a major player in the mobile device market. The Android is another step in the Google generation direction and will add to the fears of those already weary of their size and future capabilities of the media giant, but as long as they continue to develop ground breaking ideas and keep their competition on their toes we can’t complain too much.
Internet activity lagging a bit lately? Blame it on the summer.
Not for Google though, the search monster has instead maintained a visitor growth rate of 1.6% between June 2008 to July 2008 according to Hitwise. Currently it holds a total market share of 70.77% amongst all leading search engine providers in the US.
Following Google, not so close behind is Yahoo! with 18.65% of searches in July 2008. Coming in third is Microsoft who suffered a loss of 3.43% since July 2007, with a total share today of 5.36%.
Research also showed the categories which received the most traffic from search engines and the list goes something like this:
Health and Medical
Travel
Shopping & Classifieds
News & Media
The top three categories which under the highest between July 2007 up to July 2008 are Online Video, Social Networking and tying on third place position is Sports, Business & Finance and Entertainment. To be as expected for 1 & 2, wouldn’t you say?
I just ran across an interesting marketing analysis, dubbed ‘Responsiveness to Ads Across Media,’ from MediaMark Research and Intelligence, which basically plots out the media in which Americans prefer to receive advertising from.
I guess we can all agree it is quite a quest to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time. It’s officially the biggest challenge for all advertisers.
The segments that came relevant to this study include:
Ads on emerging media vehicles- ads delivered using new media channels (ie: mobile)
Ads on the road- billboards, outdoor advertising, etc.
Ads in mass media- ads that have the highest reach, vehicles include magazines, TV, Internet.
Ads on paper- ads delivered through print.
Ads at events- product placement ads at shows, events, sports or through TV programs.
Ads averse- or plainly ‘ad blinded’.
I’d like to highlight the 9% of US citizens pertaining to the ‘Ads on Emerging Media Vehicles’ segment. This is a reflection of the individuals who have been hit with the new ways of the Internet and advancements that enable users to access the online world from devices other than a personal computer.
Traditional advertising seems to be preferred by 17% of US adults, while 13% get driven by product placement in public environments or over TV shows.
A high percentage of US adults, however, seem to just ‘tune out’ the advertising.
The chart above also shows you which statement, 9% of US adults who fall under the ‘Ads on Emerging Media Vehicles’ category, mostly agree on.
Posted by Manuela Barreto @ August 14th, 2008 in Viral Marketing
I’m gonna leave something nice and sweet for you today. But I have to clear up one, small detail before I can go on explaining.
I stumbled upon this site for the first time last week and came back to it again today out of curiosity. It so happens something slightly changed- luckily, it still works to prove my point.
Last week, the Natural Confectionery Company was offering a bag of free sweets!:-) which at the end engaged the viewer into putting in their contact details in order to get the treat delivered to them. Due to the campaign’s utter success, they ran out of treats :-(.
My point though, is that the campaign is a great example of viral marketing through the act of giving away yummy treats. You say the word FREE and you’re virally spreading at the speed of light.
Not only that, but I must admit I love their creativity; it’s a cool/funny/catchy campaign.
PS: Dear 77LABers, tomorrow is national holiday in Italy, dubbed Ferragosto, hence, I will not be posting anything up. You’ll see me up again on Monday. Thanks :-)
Worldwide statistics of social networking usage were recently released by comScore indicating the rate of growth by region of the world between 2007 and 2008.
Before I show you the chart though, I want to highlight the fact that on a worldwide scale the use of social networks increased at a 25% rate compared to last year. Take a look at the whole breakdown by region;
King of the castle? FACEBOOK. As you know, it has taken over the lead since April and proceeding the launch of its interface in the different languages as an effort to penetrate the different target audiences across numerous regions, it underwent a drastic growth of 153% since last year.
Surprisingly in second place, sits MySpace with a mere 3% growth rate, followed by Hi5 with a 100% increase, doubling its user base from 2007 to 2008. Holding 4th, 5th and 6th places we have Friendster, Orkut and Bebo displaying growth rates of 50%, 41% and 32% respectively.
Back to Facebook. The chart tells us exactly which region Facebook is strongest in, that would be the US. However, the greatest increase in visitor base originated from Latin America, generating an outstanding 1055% increase since the previous year. Go Latinos! :-)
I guess opening up to the ENTIRE Internet audience had quite a positive impact on Facebook, thus becoming the leading social networking site in the world as we speak.
If you’re keen to taking random strolls down some unknown street, perhaps some new ‘pedestrian friendly’ town you happen to be visiting for the weekend, or want to enjoy the beautifully HOT weather that has come to us this year, or basically move within a radius of not more than 10km, Google walking directions is your thing.
I can’t even tell you how glad I am for this. Even though I strangely enjoy getting lost in places I don’t know cause I’m a strong believer that the more you get lost; the better you get to know a place,- this new feature is definitely a time-saver.
BUT, lately, it has become somewhat of a private issue for some. Concerns have been raised that Google is being a bit reckless in terms of providing high precision information, like walking directions down your street sidewalk. This takes us back to the couple from Pittsburgh who sued Google for trespassing ‘Private Road’ territory using Street View, which provides users with a 360-degree photo of the place intended for visit.
Same thing goes for Google Health. This is also a fairly new feature where people can keep track of their health information by importing health reports, gathering all medical related data and saving it all in one safe place. Safe? People are beginning to think twice about this whole ’sharing their world’ ideology on the Web, in particularly Google.
Some may call it paranoia, for others it’s convenient, others just can’t be bothered with it. What do you think?
