May 30 2006

Another Market for Google Ads: Cell Phone Ads?

Posted by Geezer as Cellphones, Google

Today, Virgin Mobile announced what anyone in the cellphone industry could have predicted: ad subsidized cell phone calls. Users of the service will be able to earn free calls by viewing and “responding” to advertisements by way of text messaging.

Advertisers have long known that a person who interacts with the ad is much more likely to be affected by the ad. This applies especially to those who are most impressionable: teens. But not only are teens the most impressionable, they are also the most likely to be using the Virgin phone service, and the most likely to need the free calls if Mommy and Daddy aren’t paying for them. Not surprisingly, early advertisers include Pepsi and XBox, both of which have traditionally targeted the teen generation.

But all this talk of cellphone advertising brings me to the main topic of this post: are cellphones the next major market for Google Ads? AdWords currently litter the web, present on almost every website looking to make a profit. They are Google’s cashcow. Google’s main business strategy is based around them: increase the amount of users who get online, see Google Ads and click on Google Ads.

For a while, they’ve been relying on the general growth of internet usage, but to keep up with shareholder demand, they are quickly having to branch out into other spaces and other ad mediums with which they are less familiar. Radio has been tried, though rumors are that Google is facing a tough nut to crack in that market. The other obvious ad medium is the cell phone. Hundreds of millions of people use them. In fact, more people use cellphones than use the internet. My grandfather uses a cellphone. He’s never touched the internet.

So cellphones present a huge market for Google. The big question is whether they’ll be able to become the jack of all trades in the marketing world, or whether they are stuck in the narrow world of internet search and publishing forever.

Share and Enjoy:

Comments (0)

Search Gadzooki

Our Features

Software and Security

Silverlight – Is This Going To Be Web 3.0?

It’s not that often when a technology comes along that leaves me amazed. You know, the sort of thing when you look at it you think “wow, this is good. Not just good, but perhaps is going to make a difference to websites in a very real way in the near future”. [...]

Read on
More Software Features

Hardware and Gadgetry

The CrunchPad is dead. Now what?

It’s dead, Jim.

And now, news of the CrunchPad’s demise has reached the blogosphere (twice-over, I must say), we’re here to examine the post-mortem. It was an ambitious project: an internet tablet meant to sell cheap. Everybody was waiting for it with bated breath, but it never came.

Read on
More Hardware and Gadget Features

Gaming

Steam finally coming to Macs in April

I’m really agnostic in this whole Mac vs. PC thing here – I use (and love) a Windows 7 workhorse, but at the same time I’m seriously considering getting a Mac for my next computer. Of course, it goes without saying I can’t make fun of both sides of the debate: Windows – blue screen [...]

Read on
More Gaming Features

Automotive

Pagani Zonda R

The Pagani Zonda R is a truly awe inspiring car. With a price tag of about £1.3 million, this was always going to be a special motor. What made it even more impressive is just how tuned it is, the level of performance and technical specification is breathtaking. Here’s the official line [...]

Read on
More Automotive Features

GADZOOKI TEAM