Users and Ads Converge on the Mobile Web: Where is the Content?

Somewhat lost amid the buzz over Apple's iPhone 3G debut is the impact mobile devices overall are already having on the media industry. When it comes to mobile web browsing, Nielsen reports that 15.6 of all mobile users accessed the web from their cellphones and other mobile devices in May 2008, and that there are now 40 million active mobile web-sters.

Nielsen evaluates this as a "critical mass as an advertising medium" that provides scalable marketing potential with demographic breadth." The report goes on to note that 3G networks are substantially improving the quality of the mobile web experience by providing six times the data throughput of the earlier networks.

Most importantly, from a business perspective, Nielsen notes that "advertising is becoming a common part of the mobile Internet experience: 26 percent of mobile Internet users recall seeing some form of advertising while using the mobile Internet. " The report also says that the mobile web-sters are 60 percent more likely to be open to mobile advertising than the average mobile data user.

Meanwhile, a survey by a market research firm, Advertising Perceptions, found that media buyers are pessimistic about the future of advertising in broadcast TV and newspapers, whereas they are bullish about the mobile and online advertising markets:

The news isn't so bad for sellers in online, cable TV and mobile... Those were the only three media categories in which a higher percentage of buyers said they expect to raise budgets rather than decrease them. In online, 72% of respondents anticipate jumps in their company's spending; 4% said they were expecting a decrease. For cable, 28% said they expect an uptick in spending and 20% expect a drop; for mobile, 53% said they expect an increase and 9% expect a decrease.

The question is which media brands will dominate this new channel? To the winners go the spoils.