Average Teenager Sends 3,339 SMS Messages Monthly, Average Teen Girl Sends 4,050

New data just released from Nielsen show the average teenager sends 3,339 text messages each and every month.  More impressive, the average teenage female sends over 4,000 messages on a monthly basis.

Nielsen analyzed the mobile data habits of more than 60,000 mobile subscribers and surveyed more than 3,000 teens during April, May and June of this year.  The data shows teens are sending 8% more texts than they were this time last year, representing roughly six text messages every waking hour for each and every teen.  Teenagers, ages 13-17, obviously represented the largest subset of SMS users, with the 18-24 demographic “only” sending 1,630 texts per month.

As SMS usage skyrockets, it’s quickly taking the place of voice calls within every demographic.  Twenty-two percent say SMS is easier than a phone call and another 20% say it’s faster.  Voice usage has decreased by 14% among teens and is decreasing in all age groups under 55. Eighteen- to 24-year-olds use the most minutes, but every age group between 18 and 55 talks on the phone more than the average teenager.

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Placecast And UK-Operator O2 Partner For Location-Based Mobile Advertising

In the first instance of a wireless operator using its closely guarded user location data for mobile advertising, UK-based O2 has entered a partnership with US-based Placecast for a trial said to reach 1M wireless customers.

Placecast has made a name for itself by building on the concept of geo-fencing — the act of drawing an invisible boundary around a given location and serving an opt-in SMS message when users enter said boundary.  O2 has licensed Placecast’s geo-fencing technology for a 1 million customer trial in the UK where the operator has already signed such advertisers as Startbucks and L’Oreal.

The partnership offers a different dynamic than what Placecast is used to here in the US.  Here, Placecast interacts with brands directly.  In its UK trial, the company is selling its services to O2 as a white label solution.  The most interesting aspect is the use of carrier-originated user location data on the part of O2.  We’ve long said that carriers around the world are dumb not to utilize the treasure-trove of highly-accurate geodata they all possess.  Through its partnership with Placecast, O2 seems to be finally coming around.  Hopefully others will follow.

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Metro PCS, textPlus May Draw Consumers Into SMS Rate Fray

Recently we’ve reported on group texting, or SMS, services that have started en masse, like SMS GupShup’s “reply all” launched in the Philippines and Fast Society’s conference calling/texting hybrid solution. But what might spark mass adoption of group texting is budget carrier Metro PCS, which today announced a free service powered by GOGII’s textPlus app.

How it works: A MetroPCS user sends the keyword “!chat” to the short code 60611, which then prompts him or her to enter the contacts they want to include in the group chat. Then textPlus connects the user to the group. It’s still a step more than being able to send a message to a list of contacts and have everyone be able to reply all, but it doesn’t sound that clunky.

What’s really interesting about the MetroPCS/textPlus offering is that it could foment not just widespread consumer use of group texting in the United States–but also consumer outrage against SMS rate hikes.

We’ve reported on the lawsuit against T-Mobile regarding EZ Texting. The carrier has received criticism from, mostly, marketing advocates for raising its text-message rates for group messages. T-mobile has also come under fire for arbitrarily blocking messages based on content.

The fight over text message pricing–which stretches back two years, when Verizon had proposed an increase for group messager-senders–has mostly been carriers vs. marketers, with Congress weighing in. But Metro PCS, a service provider that appeals to a broad cross-section of American consumers, offering group texting could spark increased demand and adoption for such a service.

And that, in turn, would get consumers even more riled up against carriers that propose to raise texting rates. Cellular providers who increase SMS costs now risk alienating their would-be future customers.

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Mobile Barcode Scanning Up 700% In 2010

Data from a new consumer adoption survey sponsored by ScanBuy indicates mobile barcode scanning is up a whopping 700% in 2010.

Through the proliferation of apps like ShopSavvy, CheckPoints, RedLaser, ShopKick and a slew of others, the act of scanning a barcode — whether on a product in a retail environment or via interactive advertising — has become increasingly popular and accepted by consumers.  Though still a concept that’s mostly reserved for early adopters, mobile barcodes are beginning to make their way into the mainstream.

The report, which focuses solely on barcode usage as seen from ScanBuy’s network, shows some interesting statistics — although limited in scope.  Still, the report shows that there were more barcode scans in July of this year alone, than in all of 2009.  In addition, Android was the most popular platform in terms of barcode scanning, with 45% of all users, and linking to a Website was the most popular action derived from a mobile barcode scan.

While the concept is obviously growing in the US, we still don’t hold a candle to Japan.  With Japanese consumers, 86% of consumers scan four or more times a month, 81% of consumers scan for discounts and coupons, 67% scan to navigate to a website rather than typing the URL, 52% scan ads seeking more information and 39% scan to win prizes.

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Verizon to Carry Apple’s iPad

It proved to be a startling announcement to both die-hard Apple and Verizon fans.

Beginning October 28th, Verizon will join AT&T in selling the iPad.

Verizon, however, is selling the iPad with a twist – that is, Verizon is “bundling” iPads with its MiFi mobile 3G hotspot device, which allows upwards of five computers, mobile gadgets, or other internet-capable devices to wirelessly connect to Verizon’s 3G network.

For prospective Verizon iPad customers, the cost breakdown looks something like this:

* iPad 16 GB + MiFi=$629

* iPad 32 GB + MiFi=$729

* iPad 64 GB + MiFi=$829

Interestingly enough, Apple also revealed that AT&T will begin selling 3G iPads on October 28th in AT&T stores as well.

At this time, there are no confirmations that a Verizon-Apple partnership will develop into Verizon ultimately carrying the iPhone, Apple’s hugely popular smartphone that is presently carried in the US exclusively through AT&T.

But Thursday’s announcement from Apple and Verizon appears to be a step in the right direction for Verizon fans eager for the iPhone to expand into new territory.

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Opera Releases Massive Usage Stats, Announces Opera Mobile Browser For Android

At a press event this morning is Oslo, Norway, Opera Software announced a slew of new feature additions and the upcoming debut of Opera Mobile for Android — in addition to boasting some impressive usage statistics as well.

The main announcement was the upcoming addition of Opera’s full-on mobile browser for Android dubbed “Opera Mobile,” — not to be confused with Opera Mini, the basic browser that’s been available on Android since July.  In addition, Opera’s desktop browser will get the ability to be customized by users via extensions.

Most importantly, both Opera Mini and Opera Mobile will soon feature full pinch-to-zoom compatibility and hardware acceleration.  The latter is the process of using the graphics chip of a mobile device to render Web pages instead of the CPU, allowing for a much quicker and fluid user experience.

In terms of usage, the numbers are quite impressive; Opera says its Opera Mini browser is used by over 71 million people worldwide, while 50 million users have installed Opera’s cross-platform desktop browser on their computers.  Over 20 million users around the world use Opera products on connected devices other than phones and computers, e.g. television sets, bringing the total of Opera products users to a staggering 140 million worldwide. Opera says they welcome two new users every second, on average.  Here’s some other specs on Opera’s Mini browser:

- handling 36.9 billion page views per month (76% growth since December 09)
- which translates to about 5.35 petabytes of data, per month
- each user is good for an average of 519 page views per month
- 100% user growth since December 2009
- Opera Mini is compatible with over 3,000 different mobile devices
- the mobile browser product is used in 195 countries

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Peekaboo Partners With WHERE To Distribute Mobile Coupons To Over 50 Million Users

Peekaboo mobile, an LBS startup focusing on mobile coupons, has announced a new partnership with WHERE to leverage its massive reach to provide location-based mobile offers from local merchants.

Based in Boston, Peekaboo has created a very well polished iPhone application that allows users to pull up a map of their location, see local merchants around them with active coupons, engage with that merchant in a variety of ways and redeem coupons directly from the application.  While there’s many mobile coupon apps on the market, Peekaboo steps things up a notch in terms of design, features and now its reach through its partnership with WHERE.

WHERE is the LBS app we covered a few days ago that just received a patent on its “Auto-Snap” location-relevance technology.  The app, available on all platforms, allows users to “discover, save and share local places by putting the best local information at users’ fingertips.”  The company’s “WHERE Ads” platform provides location-based advertising using an innovative relevance and targeting engine, making it a perfect match to distribute mobile coupons from Peekaboo.

“We are excited to extend the reach of our deals on WHERE’s network,” said Peekaboo CEO Mike Fruzzetti. “Our merchant partners can now leverage their tremendous reach of over 50 million people to attract more nearby consumers who are searching for discounts.”  The Peekaboo app is currently only available for iPhone, with an Android and Blackberry version “coming soon.”

“Providing access to Peekaboo coupons through our network brings another benefit to our users. said David Chang, VP Products, Where, Inc.  “Not only do we help our users find local businesses around them, now they will also be able to redeem coupons at some of those locations as well.  We are excited to increase the depth and value of content we deliver on our network.”

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Revenue From Virtual Goods In iOS Apps 4X Higher Than Mobile Advertising Revenue

Mobile advertising has long been sought to monetize mobile applications that are offered free to users, but a new study by analytics firm Flurry indicates a better option might be the addition of virtual goods.

According to the data, mobile virtual goods accounted for 80 percent of revenue from iOS apps in September, far outpacing advertising.  In fact, January, 2010 was the last month that advertising revenue was greater than virtual goods. Since then, it’s been nothing but micro-transactions of toys, coins, weapons and levels, just to name a few.  Flurry conducted the research using data from social networks and social gaming applications with a combined reach of 2.2 million daily active users.

Virtual good and social gaming in general have gotten wildly popular lately, with sales of virtual goods already representing the primary source of revenue for social gaming on Facebook.  Michael Pachter, Wedbush Morgan Securities video game analyst, reports that social gaming has grown from approximately $600 million in 2008 to $1 billion in 2009.   Further, he forecasts that social gaming will generate nearly $1.6 billion this year, and grow to more than $4 billion by 2013.

Users respond better to virtual good offers over advertising because its directly relevant to what they’re doing inside the app.  Still, it’s surprising that it generates such a substantial amount of revenue over mobile advertising.  I wonder when we’ll see a combination of the two?

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Mobile Navigation Users Increase 57 Percent Year-Over-Year To 44 Million

New data out from Berg Insight suggest the number of mobile subscribers using a turn-by-turn navigation service or application on their handset grew 57 percent from 2009 to 2010, reaching 44 million users worldwide.

Showing substantial growth, the subscriber base is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.1 percent to reach 195 million users worldwide in 2015.  The research attributes the proliferation of GPS is nearly all mobile phones sold these days, combined with attractive prices for the strong growth.  In the US, where GPS handset penetration is above 70 percent, navigation services for mobile phones has already reached about 8 percent of the total mobile subscriber base.

A large share of these users get navigation as part of a service bundle together with a voice and data plan from their mobile operator.  As a response to the launch of free navigation apps for smartphones by Nokia and Google, more and more operators worldwide are now introducing bundled navigation services to offset the cost for end users.  Navigation service providers and mobile operators are also trying to monetize services by introducing various feature and content up-sells that allow users to customise navigation apps to suit their personal needs.

“Mobile operators and service providers are now accelerating their efforts to create differentiated navigation experiences with unique local content to compete against free services”, said André Malm, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight.  He adds that integration of navigation services with other applications to stimulate usage will become increasingly important for mobile operators that seek additional revenues from location-based advertising.  ”Since relatively few subscribers need turn-by-turn guidance on a daily basis, complementary features such as social networking, restaurant and event guides improve stickiness,” the research said.

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Google Mobile Search Sees Major Gains in Two Years

What a difference two years can make.

In 2008, Google mobile search queries were commonplace. Now, they’re really commonplace – to the tune of 500% higher than just 24 months ago.

As a result, the digital services giant is steaming toward hitting $1 billion in annual revenue from its digital advertising efforts.

On Thursday, during Google’s third quarter earnings call, Jonathan Rosenberg, Google senior VP of product management, said “Clearly, this is the future of search in the Internet.” He added that “our mobile search queries have grown five times over the past couple of years, and of course, a lot more of those queries are now coming from Android phones.”

It should also be noted that Google reported revenues of $7.29 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2010, an increase of 23% compared to the third quarter of 2009.

“Google had an excellent quarter,” said Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. “Our core business grew very well, and our newer businesses — particularly display and mobile — continued to show significant momentum. Going forward, we remain committed to aggressive investment in both our people and our products as we pursue an innovation agenda.”

As the digital ad wars heat up between the likes of competing mobile platforms, it appears that Google is clearly up for the challenges and crowded field of competitors that now line contemporary mobile marketing.

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Welcome to Mobile Ad Store Blog

Mobile Ad Store is my new business. This is a very cool and possibly a little ahead of most right now. Have you ever seen those ads that display on your iPhone, iPad or Android, or Blackberry mobile device? Those are the ads I create and place for you or your business. The cool part of this is, the ads are seen by millions. Really depends on how they are sent out. I say that because I can specialize the location, Countries, States, Cities, even the age Demo's. Say if you lived in LosAngeles, and you had a Pizza shop or 3 or 4. You wanted to do a special free pizza, if you buy one night. I get all the info from you, then I put together a cool text ad, or if you want something like a small banner, or I can even direct them right to your web site....oh..but the coolest thing is. I put your phone number in the ad, they see the ad on their mobile phone, and decide they want to grab some pizza on the way home. All they have to do is hit that number, and you have direct orders coming in! The really neat thing, as you can imagine, this can be a huge ad tool for any business small or large. I love this! The cost of placing and running these is so small (Pennies) compared to Google, Radio, or Phone book ads. And those can't get you immediate calls, or pops onto your web site..anywhere close to the cost of Mobile Ad Store ads. Sweet!!!  For You, And The Customer. Hay if your interested, check out the main web site, or call me direct and we'll get you going
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http://www.mobileadstore.com,    http://www.mobileadstore.mobi,  1-801-520-4325

Feel free to leave your thought or questions here also. I will be checking this often.

Mark Christiansen    Owner, Author, Ect