Google said Monday that it will begin selling ads on cellphones. The search giant’s new product, AdSense for Mobile, will establish a cellphone advertising network in which Google would match ads with the content of mobile Web pages, much as it does online.
The company has been running mobile ads through its auction-based AdWords program since mid-2006, explains C/Net. Now it will be automatically converting AdWords ads to text ads that will appear when someone accesses a participating Web site on a mobile device. Like most other Google advertising systems, ad prices will be set through an auction and advertisers will pay when a user clicks on its ad.
Google has been testing the system with a limited number of advertisers and publishers this year. On Tuesday, it will open it to all mobile publishers in 13 countries, including the United States, Britain, France, China and India.
Google 411 can search for a local business by name or category. You can say “Giovanni’s Pizzeria” or just “pizza”, then get connected to the business, free of charge. You can also get the details by SMS if you’re using a mobile phone. Just say “text message”.
Independents like AdMob (right) are getting big time competitors. AOL acquired Third Screen Media earlier this year, and Microsoft acquired ScreenTonic, a mobile ad company based in Paris. On Monday, Nokia said it would buy Enpocket, a company in Boston that displays ads on cellphones.
Dial Directions (www.dialdirections.com), today expanded its free, voice-activated ‘directions’ phone service to six metro areas, including Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Sacramento, San Diego and Washington, D.C. The service was already available in the San Francisco Bay area, New York and Los Angeles. On any cell phone, users can dial “DIR-ECT-IONS” (347-328-4667), speak their starting location and destination (address / intersection, store or event), and the service instantly sends driving directions by text message.
Microsoft is expanding their mobile search partnership with Sprint. Microsoft’s search technology allowed Sprint customers to look for ring tones and local Web content, like restaurants and stores. Starting Tuesday, Sprint customers will be able to use Microsoft’s service to search the entire Web on their cellphones. Users will also have access to these services through voice-activated technology, allowing them to speak into the device rather than triple-tap or type in a keyword.
In a test of Mobile Search between InfoSpace WAP, JumpTap Java, Nuance Voice Control and Yahoo Go, consumers preferred talking to their phones with the Nuance offering, which uses a voice query to deliver visual results on-screen.
In other news, the iPhone, will arrive in the UK on Nov. 9 for £269 (8GB model only). No 3G (yet), but O2’s hooking up with Cloud to put out over 7500 free Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK for the iPhone. The Wi-Fi Music Store will also launch later this month and be pre-loaded onto the iPhone.
Berg Insight, predicts 113 million smartphones will be sold this year, reaching 365 million in 2012. Smartphones will account for 22% of all handsets sold globally in 2012, more than twice their current market share.
There are 12.3 million mobile social networkers in the US and Europe, says M:Metrics, with MySpace and Facebook the top two social networking sites accessed via mobile in both the US. and UK. Yahoo says its new Mash (mash.yahoo.com) will allow outside developers to create modules soon, matching the hottest feature of Facebook.
Google Mobile News, Yahoo Mobile News and MSN Mobile News get their feeds from a variety of sources, mostly newspapers.
Webware asks — What are the best Web 2.0 services? Check out their Mobile category which includes:
- Google 411- get phone numbers or addresses while on the go
- 3Jam - lets mobile phone users do a reply-all to their friends via SMS
- 4Info - a mobile SMS alert service
- Cellfire - delivers coupons to your cell phone
- Google Gmail Mobile - mobile version of Google’s Web mail
- Google Maps Mobile - Get directions and find places
- GoWare DoMo - create a home page for your mobile phone
- JuiceCaster - post pictures, videos, and text online
- KushCash - Manage your money on your cell phone
- Kyte.tv - create their own TV network with photos, videos, and music
- Mobivox - Skype users keep in touch with their mobile phone
- Mundu Radio - puts Internet radio stations on your mobile phone
- MyStrands - create their own parties and share music
- Pinger - text messaging by voice, and group calling
- Plusmo - delivers slide shows
- Radar.net - share camera-phone pictures
- ScanR - processes pictures of documents, whiteboards, and business cards, making them readable
- ShoZu- get photos and music on to and off of your phone
- SimulScribe - converts voice mail to text
- SoonR - connects your phone to your PC-based files and programs
- Tellme - free 411 service for directions and search for local businesses
- uLocate - customizable widgets that display your current location using GPS
- WidSets - makes content widgets for your mobile phone
- Winksite - tool for publishing mobile Web sites
- Yahoo OneSearch - integrates all of Yahoo’s mobile services in one lightweight application
Related DailyWireless articles include; Ad-supported Music Site, Size Matters, Google Transit Maps, McSignage, Gannett Mobilizes News, Open Ads, HiWire: 24 Mobile TV Channels, JiWire + MetroFi = Location-based Ads, and Nielsen Expands Phone Data.
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