For the past few years we have been hearing the idea that you will be able to walk up to a pop machine, put in a code on you phone and have credit your account and out comes a pop. Also you have heard about walking past a store like The GAP and have a coupon pop up on you phone from that store. Well 2009 is not going to be the year where this becomes a reality. But we are getting closer! You should start preparing your ad campaigns now.

Why now?

The more than sluggish evolution of mobile devices and mobile internet penetration have kept location-based advertising only a twinkle  in most online advertisers eyes.  But we have seen a few major vendors promise to a

• Verizon signed Microsoft to provide location-based services and advertising for mobile customers. Under the five-year agreement, Microsoft will manage search and display advertising for the mobile web, creating a one-stop shop for advertisers and ad agencies. Announcing the deal, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised to help advertisers reach consumers who are on-the-go more effectively.
• Google followed up last year’s provision of opt-in location awareness with Google Latitude, a feature that lets you see where your friends are. The search company has refused to comment on the prospects for advertising, but experts see Google as ideally placed to add a location layer to its ad algorithms; think Gmail ads on steroids.
• NAVTEQ released LocationPoint, an advertising platform that can deliver both display and interactive ads to mobile phones, personal navigation devices, and in-vehicle navigation systems. It’s working with Interpublic Group’s Emerging Media Lab to demonstrate location-based ad targeting. By the way, in 2007, Nokia bought NAVTEQ, one of the top providers of location info, for $8.1 billion, saying that the deal made sense because of the swift growth of location services.
• Ford Motor Co. announced Sync, technology that will connect cars to the mobile internet in order to receive traffic, directions, business search and other information. Ford expects to have 1 million SYNC-equipped vehicles on the road by the third quarter of 2009. Microsoft is its partner, so Ballmer’s boast likely covers the service: If you can search for an Italian restaurant, you can bet Microsoft will try to sell paid listings.

Technorati Tags: advertisements

Technorati Tags: advertisements, google adwords, market orientation, market share

Display advertisements are synergistic with paid and organic searches, increasing click rates by a 155% average.  This is in accordance with a study by Specific Media.

Across many different types of industry categories, Specific Media found that display advertising provided a significant boost to search engine click rates and even found that it affected the keywords that were entered. 

The largest increase in click rates on paid and organic search due to display advertising is in the” travel and tourism” category, at 274%.

The lowest increase came in at 22% for the “consumer packaged goods” category.

For more details on the increase in search engine click rates due to display advertising, click here.

Technorati Tags: advertisements, click rates, display advertising, search, search engines