Mobile social networking is gaining momentum. According to report from instat, mobile social applications shall see a lot of demand from millenials generation. This is good news for folks that are building apps for social networking and messaging. Though there are concerns about the revenue model in this space, the key to startups in this space is to believe in the vision and move forward. This is definitely not a bubble space for sure. Sarah Perez from readwriteweb has penned down some good points about mobile social web.
Some user statistics from instat ,
• In-Stat predicts a steady growth rate culminating in the number of US millennials subscribing to mobile social networking reaching nearly 30 million by the year 2012
• Social network advertising continues to be experimental to marketers, but 2008 revenues are predicted to be over $1.5 billon.
• Last year’s introduction of the iPhone enabled the least techno-savvy user to surf the Internet, download and play music, take pictures, send messages, and record videos, all on a thin, touch-screen-operated unit. This has changed mobile phone users’ expectations.
So here are some of the applications that will have great impact in this space:
• Blogging
• Photo sharing
• Video Sharing
• Location Based Socialization Service- This is my favorite app and i'm a big fan of these apps. Wanted to build one of my own :-)
• SMS
• IM
Talking about these apps, the question really is- How do we monetize the service. Advertisement supported applications is one of the ways to monetize the service. According to instat, this is one of potential revenue generation model. Google has successfully proved this model on the web interface. Extending the same concept to the mobile is no-brainer. There is lot of interest in this upcoming mobile advertisement space. Be it Google, Yahoo or Microsoft, everybody is eyeing for this huge market. Yahoo has a big lead when it comes to mobile search. Having said that, you can never underestimate Google’s might power. With android on its way out soon, Google will be working out their strategy to retain the number one slot in mobile space too.
Here is what instat has to say about mobile advertisement model :
In the glorious but unlamented dotcom boom, the key goal for many online applications seemed to be "attracting eyeballs" (users) who would then attract enough advertising revenue to become ad supported. The term "ad-supported" is being heard more frequently in the mobile market as well, with applications, content, and even cellular service being considered. Emboldened by the success of Google and the millions of web sites earning money with Google advertising, dozens of new companies have set their sights on the cellphone as the next advertising opportunity.
The potential market for mobile advertising ranges from the relatively unsophisticated small advertising buyers attracted to Google and large scale national and international "brand" advertisers (automakers, soft drinks, fast food), who demand rigorous measurement methods before they'll part with their 9-figure ad budgets.
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