(6/17/2011) This post has been updated with the link to the full presentation given at the MMA Forum on Thursday

Today, in collaboration with the Mobile Marketing Association, we shared the initial findings from an exciting global research initiative at the MMA Forum in New York City. The research, “Global Mobile Research: The Smartphone User & The Mobile Marketer”, was conducted by Ipsos GmbH and TNS Infratest and sought to better understand mobile usage trends and business’ readiness for mobile marketing strategies.  The study was comprised of two surveys: an online survey of thousands of mobile consumers in 30 countries, and the other, a telephone survey of 1,000 marketing decision makers, 200 in five key markets. Today we presented a subset of the data which focused on five countries: US, UK, France, Germany and Japan.  Here are just a few of the key findings.

We gained some new insights about global smartphone user behavior:

Smartphones are a frequently used gateway to the web:

• A significant number of smartphone users accessed the internet via their smartphone every day of the past seven days: US-58%, UK-55%, France-59%, Germany-45%, Japan-78%
• And many users go online via their smartphones multiple times a day: US-53%, UK-49%, France-47%, Germany-42%, Japan-68%

Smartphone users are engaging in a variety of activities on their phone:

• Smartphone users have looked for local information on their mobile devices: US-90%, UK-81%, France-83%, Germany-85%, Japan-90%
• And these local information seekers have taken action after looking up local content: US-87%, UK-80%, France-83%, Germany-79%, Japan-80%

The smartphone is playing a critical role in shopping:

• Across the board, consumers are using their smartphone while in a store: US-82%, UK-68%, France-82%, Germany-65%, Japan-75%
• Not only are smartphone users using their mobile phones while shopping, they are also making purchases on their mobile device: US-29%, UK-28%, France-17%, Germany-28%, Japan-45%

We also gained some directional visibility into the mobile activities of marketing decision makers:

• Only a fraction of businesses in the five countries report having mobile optimized sites: US-33%, UK-17%, France-12%, Germany-37%, Japan-43%

• Fewer than a third of businesses surveyed have an app: US-19%, UK-15%, France-18%, Germany-26%, Japan-10%
• Mobile commerce strategies of the businesses we spoke with primarily target upper funnel activities: 65% reported that their mobile strategy targets the research phase of the shopping process

While the mobile revolution is moving at different speeds across the globe, it is evident everywhere.  This research underscored how consumers are using their mobile devices to access the web, look for local information, and purchase products and services.  Businesses seem to be lagging behind the consumer in terms of use and support of mobile marketing which represents a significant opportunity.

The full presentation is available here. In the coming months we will be releasing additional data and insights from other countries surveyed as part of this project.

Posted by: Natalie Rojowsky, Google Mobile Ads Research

In late May, AdMob commemorated its one-year anniversary at Google by launching new rich media ad templates for tablets. These templates take advantage of tablets’ larger screen sizes, high-res graphics, touch screens and multimedia capabilities to drive deep engagement with mobile audiences.

• Branded Video:  Branded Video allows advertisers to showcase both video and full-screen creatives simultaneously to users. The unit features inline video and audio, meaning that the video plays within the ad unit, instead of being displaced to the tablet’s native video player (e.g., QuickTime for iPad).

• Image Gallery: The Image Gallery allows advertisers to showcase multiple products to users in an interactive manner. Users can swipe across different product images and can zoom in to any product image full-screen by a simple tap or pinch-out gesture.

• 360-Degree Image: The 360-Degree Image format engages users by allowing them to rotate and visualize a product as if it were held in their hands.

Currently, these templates can be shown within AdMob’s Interstitial ad units, which are displayed within the network’s top iPad apps. Check out the video below which illustrates the Interstitial ad in action along with the rich media templates used by our launch advertisers -- Sephora, Reebok, Gilt Groupe and Coldwell Banker.

Our launch partners have been excited with the initial results from the beta, reporting impressive interaction rates, which indicate when a user has taken further action within the ad whether it be visiting the advertiser’s website for more info or downloading the advertiser’s app. Coldwell Banker and Reebok reported interaction rates of 7% and 6% respectively. Gilt which is still running its campaign is seeing 15% interaction rates.

While AdMob advertisers continue to produce successful rich media campaigns with custom creatives, these templates provide a compelling alternative for brands looking to get their rich media campaigns up and running quickly.

Posted by Ben Chung, Product Marketing Manager, Mobile Ads

We’re excited to announced that on June 16th we’ll be sharing the initial findings from a global research study conducted on behalf of Google by Ipsos GmbH and TNS Infratest.

As mobile continues to grow in different countries around the world, we wanted to learn more about how people are using their mobile devices and the readiness of businesses to engage consumers via mobile.  Two separate surveys informed this study: an online consumer-facing survey of thousands of smartphone users in 30 different countries, and a business-facing survey conducted in 5 countries (U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Japan) which incorporated 1,000 phone interviews with marketing decision makers.  

We are working closely with the MMA to help marketers better understand the mobile opportunity. The MMA’s North American Managing Director, Michael Becker commented, “As the study shows, smartphones are used extensively by consumers and are a powerful new tool in engaging the marketplace. We look forward to working with Google to help mobile ecosystem members identify opportunities worldwide leveraging the results of this research.”

Don’t miss this exciting launch.  Gain more insight into mobile user behavior and business readiness at the MMA Forum in New York City on June 16th, where I will present the findings at 4:40 pm at the "Global Insights on Consumer and Business Mobile Adoption and Readiness" session. Additional data and insights will be rolled out over the course of the next few months.  

We hope to see you at the MMA forum but if you can’t make it, we’ll be posting the presented findings here on the Google Mobile Ads blog after the session.

Posted by Owen Charlebois, Global Manager, Advertising, Marketing and Media Research

Over the last year, smartphones have become an indispensable shopping companion for mobile users on the go. Our recent Smartphone User Study found that 79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping activities, such as finding more product info, comparing prices or locating a retailer.  So today we are excited to announce that we’re bringing two desktop ad formats to the mobile platform that help advertisers meet these key mobile shopper needs: Product Extension Ads and Product Local Ads.

Product Extension Ads
Product Extension Ads enable you to easily display relevant product images and details directly in your mobile search ads. Since many mobile users are searching for product information while they are in a store or on the go, including this type of information in your ads can help you stand out by highlighting the products you carry and help drive mobile conversions for specific products on your site.  Product Extension Ads are enabled by linking your Google Merchant Center account to your AdWords campaign. When your mobile search ad appears, and your Google Merchant Center account contains products that are relevant to the searcher’s query, Product Extensions show the product images, titles, and prices of your products in a plusbox under your ad.

Product Local Ads
An enhancement to Product Extension Ads, Product Local Ads show the actual availability of products in local stores along with the product image and price all within the mobile ad.
This ad format takes advantage of one of the things that makes mobile uniquely powerful, the phone's greater location aware capabilities. That's why we're especially excited to bring Product Local Ads to mobile where location is even more relevant to user's searches. Now advertisers can better show what they have in-stock to users who are nearby and ready to buy their products. With the same Smartphone User Study showing that 54% of smartphone shoppers use their phones to locate a retailer and 34% search for a store’s product inventory, Product Local Ads help mobile shoppers complete their goals and can drive more in-store purchases.

Product Local Ads are eligible to show based on location signals such as as local search queries and device location which users opt-in to share. Currently available as a limited beta, Product Local Ads require you to submit your local product inventory data to Google through a Google Merchant Center account and submit your business information to Google through a Google Places account. Learn more.

Together both of these new mobile ad formats can help you build a strong cross-channel strategy as Product Extension Ads help drive online sales and Product Local Ads can help drive offline sales with increased foot traffic to local stores.

At this time Product Extensions Ads are available in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, and Australia on mobile devices with full Internet browsers. Product Local Ads are available in the United States. For instructions on how to link your Google Merchant Center account with your AdWords campaigns to take advantage of these ad formats, please review this Help Center article.

We’re constantly working to bring new and better ways for our advertisers to connect with customers. We hope you’ll find Product Extension Ads and Product Local Ads for mobile useful in your campaigns and in growing your business.

Posted by Surojit Chatterjee, Product Manager, Mobile Ads

It’s time for our third post in our Mobile Insights series featuring expert views from our mobile ads team. This week’s guest contributor is Adam Compain, a Mobile Specialist at Google. Adam explains why it’s vital to create a mobile website now versus later.

In the early days of the Web, businesses didn’t believe their customers were online, nor did they think the Internet would become a viable medium for customer interaction. Companies were hesitant to build websites, let alone advertise online.

Of course, the Internet ramped up faster than anyone imagined. Companies that hesitated were left behind and those that took action became industry leaders, reinventing their business models to become more efficient and profitable marketers. In this new age of mobile computing, how can you ensure your business remains present? Build a mobile site. Research has shown that web retailers can increase consumer engagement 85% with a mobile-specific website (1).

At Google, we’ve worked with many advertisers who’ve already built excellent mobile experiences for their users. Each one of the examples showcased below focuses on the needs of a mobile user and is designed for ease of navigation on a mobile device. These sites, all stemming from different industries, prioritize content, use a simple layout and are designed specifically for touch interaction with large buttons.

Blue Nile esurance CreditCards.com

Meanwhile, 79% of large online advertisers do not have a mobile site (2). Those who have not taken action may be harming their relationship with potential customers: 61% of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40% said they’d visit a competitor’s mobile site instead (3). Throw in the astonishing rate of mobile web adoption - which is ramping 8x faster than the desktop web did in the mid 90's - and the importance of having a mobile site is clear. (4).

Think about the 4-inch mobile screen as your new storefront. It may be the most important one you ever have: it’s always open; it’s in the hands of nearly everyone, and it’s increasingly how people are finding your business. As important as it is to have a mobile advertising strategy, it’s even more vital to build a mobile website that delivers a seamless and satisfying experience to your users.

Avoid falling into the trap of marketers in the mid 90’s who didn’t think the Internet would evolve into a viable medium for customer interaction.

Ready to take action? Download our new two-page guide: “5 Easy Ways to Mobilize Your Website”.

Posted by Adam Compain, Google Mobile Specialist

Sources:
1. Research by Brand Anywhere and Luth Research, “Supply and Demand of the Mobile Web” Nov, 2010.
2. Google Research, 2010

3. Compuware, “Why the Mobile Web is Disappointing End-users,” March 2011

4. Mary Meeker, Economy & Internet Trends, Oct 09

In late May, to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of joining Google, AdMob launched an update to its free House Ad tool for developers.  With so many apps available to users, developers are realizing that marketing the app can be more challenging than building it.   Now developers can access more ad formats, including full page graphical interstitial ads, to cross-promote their apps while gaining more control over their campaigns by setting impression goals, targeting by device or geography and creating ad groups.

For developers using the latest AdMob SDK, the enhanced AdMob House Ad tool gives you access to a range of new high-end ad formats to promote your apps including:

• Crossfade Banner: A banner ad that fades between as many as 10 different images and directs user to the app download page
• Click to Full Screen Expandable: A banner opens to a full screen experience.  Simply upload screen shots of your app and define the transitions between them
• Graphical Interstitial: This full screen takeover experience can be placed at transition points within the app and does not require a user to click on a banner

Developers set an impression goal to control how often House Ads are shown in comparison to ads served by the Google AdMob ad network.  By setting an impression goal, your House Ads are now weaved into your ad inventory so that they show over the course of the campaign start and end dates that you assign.  The new AdMob House Ads tool also allows you to roadblock all of your inventory if you only want to show House Ads during a certain time frame.

With device targeting, you can ensure that only devices that support your app will see the ad and geographic targeting enables you to target specific countries and even cities for U.S. and UK markets.  In the next few weeks, we will also be adding conversion tracking so that you can more easily track performance of your House Ad campaigns.  To get started today, log into your AdMob account, click on the “Sites & Apps” tab and select “House Ads”.  Click on the “Learn More” link to get to the upgrade page.

For more instructions on how to set up your first campaign and to learn more about the new ad formats click here.   


Posted by Jason Morse, Product Manager, Mobile Display Ads

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ve probably noticed that we frequently advise our advertisers to create mobile specific AdWords campaigns. This is because separating out your mobile and desktop campaigns is a powerful method of driving performance on mobile.  In fact, advertisers have experienced an 11.5% average increase in mobile clickthrough rates when they’ve ran and optimized a mobile only campaign.

So today we are happy to share a new resource that will help guide you in setting up a mobile specific campaign. Watch the video below and learn how to create a mobile-only campaign directly in your AdWords account or by using the AdWords Editor tool.

After you’ve set up your mobile-only campaign, follow these optimization tips to gain competitive advantage and maximize your performance on mobile.

• Exercise more control and flexibility:  By using a separate mobile-only campaign you’ll gain better visibility into your mobile specific performance. Use this information to  optimize your bids, keyword lists and creatives without impacting your desktop campaign.
• Budget and bid separately for mobile: Since less ads show on mobile devices, bid aggressively to ensure your ads are competitive and appear in the top spots.  
• Tailor your ad creatives for mobile:  Create mobile specific ad copy and calls to action such as “Receive a quote on your phone” which could attract more attention from mobile consumers.  
• Make the most of mobile:  You can take better advantage of powerful mobile-specific ad features such as Click-to-call and location-based ads which offer more relevance and convenience to users on the go.

We hope that you’ll enjoy this new resource and find it useful in optimizing your mobile marketing campaigns.

Posted by Anna Khesed, Product Marketing Manager