According to a report from Juniper Research, some 1.3 billion mobile users or 30 per cent of the total global subscriber base is expected to use local mobile search services by 2013.
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In other word, telco’s will be getting massive profit boots from subscribers accessing yellow and white pages, city guides, restaurant and entertainment guides, traffic information, etc and also good mapping data and points of interest from their mobile phones.
And advertising will be the key to driving this sector according to Juniper Research, but the firm cautions that the effectiveness of advertising in this sector will vary widely according to local conditions.
“The availability and quality of locally based directories and content will be a key factor, as well as the presence of the necessary location based infrastructure. In the end it will be the quality of the user experience that will be of paramount importance”, the report states.
Other findings from the report include:
— Local search is expected to account for 43 per cent of all mobile search advertising revenues between 2008 and 2013
— User response rates to advertising which supports mobile local search are expected to be significantly higher than for advertising on general mobile web search
— While Western Europe currently accounts for the greatest volume of mobile search enquiries, it will soon be overtaken by the Far East & China region primarily through a surge in adoption within China itself.
The report also says total mobile search revenues to reach $AUD 5.2 billion by 2013 but cautions that an “advertising overload” might act as a disincentive to consumers and might ultimately limit adoption.
