MobUser

Large companies and online services like Google and Ebay all have APIs now designed to extend their services to 3rd party businesses. These services provide an integration mechanism for 3rd party developers to create business tools and extensions. The services are exposed as SOAP and/or REST style XML APIs which can be easily consumed by a Moblet. This, of course, begs the question, “Would these services be as useful if consumed by a Moblet?”

It is not immediately apparent if B2B XML services would be useful on a phone … but they are highly visible brands with XML services that anyone can get access to. Google for example provides an API for Google AdWords which they describe as:

Google’s free AdWords API service lets developers engineer computer programs that interact directly with the AdWords server. With the applications created, advertisers and third parties can more efficiently - and creatively - manage their large AdWords accounts and campaigns.

I’m considering creating a Dashboard of sorts that would allow a marketer/business user to view information on how their AdWords campaigns are performing. The main question here is of course “Is that useful information to consume on a device”?

Alternatively, EBay exposes APIs designed to allow 3rd party tools that enable power users to integrate their ERP and CRM systems directly into the EBay world. Again, how might these service be consumed on a mobile device … and would it be useful or simply an academic exercise?

Anyone involved in the Internet in the early ’90s will recall that companies tried to charge for online content and ultimately failed. Free content wins! Companies like Yahoo!, Google, and Double-Click turned the notion of “free” content into a money making machine for anyone willing to insert advertising into their sites. In fact users freely accept advertising with their content. So this begs the question, “How will free mobile content get monetized?”

Today’s internet advertising model doesn’t work for devices …
Google is starting to support their adSense offering inside of WAP sites and xHTML MP sites. This is encouraging if it were not for the fact that traditional adWords and banner “call-to-actions” are less relevant on a mobile device. It is not likely that you will see an adWord while reading a blog on your phone and provide all your credit card information to purchase something.

What does effective advertising look like on a mobile device?
The best way to think about advertising on a device is to consider what the user is willing to do … in essence what call-to-action are they likely to engage in when they see an advertisement in their mobile content?

When we developed mWorks we did so with the belief that a user will only tolerate paying for mobile content up to a point and that in order to succeed in the mobile industry we would have to provide a solution that would enable users to get content for free and for content developers to still make money. Using mWorks, content developers can freely create a mobile applications that gives advertisers full advantage to provide mobile-appropriate advertising. Advertisers, using the mWorks platform can create fully interactive advertising content that users can engage in ways that make sense for a mobile device.

For example, using mWorks, advertisers can create call-to-actions that:

• Dial a phone number
• Find location and/or get directions
• Fill out survey
• Register for sweepstakes
• Generate a coupon

Free always wins
The future of mobile content is in its ability to be consumed freely by users. Applications more so that mobile web sites, are the best way to provided a functional and usable experience. The logical conclusion is that mobile application must be able to support mobile-appropriate advertising.

Mobile content in the United States today is traditionally sold directly by carriers via their WAP decks (referred to as “On Deck”). The advantages to this approach is that the content developer need not be concerned with managing the financial transaction or providing the physical infrastructure required for provisioning. The downside is that the carriers often take as much as 60% of the revenue and pay you the remaining 40% every 90 days. Add to this the fact that you will likely not be able to have a direct relationship with the carriers and will be required to distribute via an approved publisher who will extract another 20% - 30% of the revenue before paying you whatever is left over. This dismal arrangement begs the question: “Is there no better way for me to distribute my content?”

Premium SMS or PSMS
In Europe most mobile content is sold “Off Deck” (e.g. not directly by the carriers). Premium SMS or PSMS is the de-facto standard for receiving payment for content. PSMS is the SMS equivalent of a 1-900 number. The user sends an SMS to a special 5 digit “short code” with some text in the body that indicates what content they wish to receive. Use of the short code results in a fee being charged on the user’s phone bill which is collected by an SMS aggregator and later payed to you, the content developer. The advantages to this are similar to that of the “On Deck” distribution model with the added advantage that the carriers need not approve your content. The downside is that you will still get nickel-and-dimed by SMS aggregator and the carriers (who charge the SMS aggregator for the PSMS message).

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
One way to get around the charges of the carrier and the SMS aggregators is to use an IVR provider to host a 1-900 number that a user can call and using their touch tone phone provide the information required for you to provide the appropriate content. Companies like BeVocal provide hosted IVR systems that can be easily adopted to provided exactly this functionality. The advantage to this scenario is that you collect a much larger piece of the transaction because you remove the carrier and the SMS aggregators.

Direct from Internet
Another option, for those that are capable of hosting the physical infrastructure required for provisioning content to a device (which is non-trivial but not impossible) there is always the option of selling your content from a web site. Setting up a merchant account is pretty strait forward and turn key. In this model you will save the most on expense and keep the lion share of the transaction.