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4.3.2011 Google eyes mobile future

Marketers will be presented with a huge range of opportunities in the “mobile first” era resulting from increased smartphone use, Eric Schmidt, Google's chairman/ceo, has argued. Schmidt was speaking at the Interactive Advertising Bureau's annual leadership meeting.

“The smartphone is the iconic device of our time,” he said. Having projected in 2010 that mobile usage would surpass the PC equivalent in two years, Schmidt revealed this shift had beaten such a schedule. “It happened two weeks ago. And the PC is not going to catch up,” he said. Indeed, Schmidt stated the uptake of mobile media is “happening faster than all our internal predictions”, shown by the fact 78% of mobile web users already utilise handsets while they shop.

Further data directly linked to advertising demonstrate the power of what Schmidt described as the “mobile first” age. Chrysler, the automaker, ran a 60-second TV spot during the recent Super Bowl, and related mobile search traffic climbed 200% after the commercial aired, measured against a 48% leap on desktop PC.

Perhaps the greatest potential of this medium, however, is to provide highly localised marketing and communications. “A RadioShack ad can tell you where you are and how to get to the nearest store,” Schmidt said. Once consumers have been tempted into branches, retailers can also create barcodes to be scanned using wireless devices, and obtained through contactless payments. Permission-based services are an essential tool, and Schmidt also suggested targeted deals should prove especially attractive to shoppers.

B.L. 4.3.2011