No huge surprise here in some recent research findings from RazorFish that show the smartphone as being the most favored home device. Interesting to see that the handy gadgets are enabling more multi-tasking at home, but also are enabling users to slip out of awkward social situations! The findings are based on responses from more than 2,000 respondents and also reveal the most popular smartphones at the time (Nov  2011) were the iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy S II, Samsung Galaxy Nexus, and the Nokia N9.

Findings show the following tasking habits that are enabled:

• 52% of consumers use their mobile device to escape awkward situations
• Men were almost twice as likely to say that checking their mobile for sports news causes arguments with their significant other
• 58% of men are ‘fact checking’ on their mobile web browser while at a live sporting event
• Over three quarters (77%) of content searched for on laptop/desktop devices while watching TV is NOT related to the show they are watching
• Young women are the prime demographic to surf the Internet related to what they’re watching
• Men are more likely to use their mobile device as a functional, all- in-one tool
• Online purchases on smartphones are more popular with men

See more  details on the research HERE

Siri is the personal assistant that comes with iPhone. You interact with Siri by talking to her, and she can help you with a number of tasks, like setting appointments, location-based reminders, and finding nearby places based on your location.

In the past, when looking for a lunch spot or some other local business on my iPhone I would typically unlock my phone and bring up Google Maps. Or maybe the Yelp or Foursquare App. Then I’d type in “hamburgers cupertino” or something similar to get a list of restaurants nearby.

Siri greatly simplifies this. All I do is pick my phone up next to my ear and say “hamburger joint“.

Siri responds immediately with “I’ve found a number of burger restaurants, 17 of them are close to you:” and gives me a list of restaurants complete with star reviews, distance, and the ability to get map and directions.

It might seem like a relatively minor change on the surface, but I think it represents something much bigger. It saves some time and it just feels right. When you start using Siri for things like this, you just *know* this is the way that everyone will be interacting with their devices in the future.

The iPhone 4S sold FOUR MILLION devices in the first weekend it went on sale. You can bet that a lot of competitors are looking at the device and adjusting their plans to adapt to some of the new features like Siri. And some Android devices already have limited voice recognition features. This type of contextual voice recognition with a personal assistant will become ubiquitous in smartphones over the next few of years.

Siri: From Google’s Perspective

This was an important play for Apple. They’ve just become the “gateway” for finding things on millions of mobile devices. People will no longer go to Google first to type in their search on Apple devices. The way Siri is integrated into the device, people will just “speak” what they are looking for, making Apple’s servers the hub of all these searches.

Many times, Siri will still go to Google for search results, but now they can replace that on the back end with Bing or any other search provider. Indeed, many of the Siri results are already coming from Wolfram Alpha.

Much like Google benefits today from watching billions of search terms and continuously refining their results based on what people find useful, Apple has just positioned themselves in the middle of this for all the searches on tens of millions of mobile device users.

I can guarantee you Google has a special team in Mountain View looking at this right now and saying “Ok, crap. What are we going to do about THIS?”

Siri: From a Marketer’s Perspective

So the question small business owners should be asking is: How do you make your business show up in Siri’s results?

Well, the good news is this: if you are already doing well in the Local search rankings, you’re on the right track. Stephanie Hobbs has a great article on Search Engine Land called: 3 Simple Steps To Get Siri & Her Friends To Talk Up Your Local Business.

In this article, she recommends three steps to help you rank better with Siri recommendations:

1. Make sure your Google Places Page is accurate and complete
2. Generate positive reviews and content like photos and videos
3. Make sure your Yelp profile is accurate and complete (Yelp is one of the data sources Siri uses)

These are all recommendations you’ve heard here before if you read this blog. Over and over again, having a solid local presence for your business helps you with new mobile efforts.

What do you think. Have you tried Siri yet? Does your business show up in Siri’s recommendations?

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Mobile-optimized websites are simplified versions of regular sites that are easier to read when accessed on smart phones and small-screened tablets.

GoMo will take a desktop site on demand and format it to a mobile version. To make it easier, Google will open up a storefront of it in Downtown Mobile. It will be open for a few days and business will be served on a first-come, first-served basis. Business owners can walk in and get a free mobile-optimized version of their website set up in about half an hour. Google will also pay to host the mobile website for a year.

Google’s Jesse Haines described the reasoning behind the launch of the service:

Every day more and more of your customers are looking for you…on mobile devices.  If you don’t have a site that works for mobile, you’re missing out.  61% of users are unlikely to return to a site that’s not mobile-friendly.  On the other hand, customers embrace sites that are built for mobile–consumer engagement increases by 85% with a website designed for mobile devices.

According to Google, here’s what you can do with GoMo:

• See what your customers see: Enter a website address into the GoMoMeter and see what your site looks like on a mobile phone.  The GoMoMeter will analyze your site and give you customized recommendations on how to make your site more mobile friendly.  You can even download a free customized report!
• Learn about why mobile matters: Cool infographics and the latest data will help you learn more about mobile trends and why mobile-friendly sites really matter.
• Get inspired by great examples: Look at the mobile sites of businesses who are doing it right and learn how to make your site better with our ten mobile site best practices.
• Find a mobile site builder who can help: Check out our list of mobile site developers who can help you build your mobile website.

With mobile searches gaining more and more popularity it makes sense for Google to come up with a service that helps adapt sites for mobile viewing. For those businesses that are lagging behind on mobile content, GoMo could be just what you need to “Go Mobile”.

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• Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Post Mobile Growth of at Least 50 Percent
• Majority of Mobile Social Networkers Read Posts from Brands While on Their Device
• More than Half of Mobile Social Networkers Access Sites on a Near Daily Basis
• Facebook Mobile Audience Approaches 60 Million Users
• 70 Percent of Mobile Social Networkers Posted a Status Update While on Their Mobile Device

See more – Social Networking On-The-Go: U.S. Mobile Social Media Audience Grows 37 Percent in the Past Year

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According to Ofcom, 27% of UK adults and 47% of teenagers own a smartphone.  So it’s hardly surprising so many companies are looking to the mobile market and tailoring their online marketing accordingly.

You could be forgiven for thinking that users will simply browse your website through their handset so there’s no need for additional investment in a mobile website. But that’s not what a recent study would suggest.

The study by the marketing technology provider Unica (link to PDF), suggests that according to their research:

• 33% of companies are already using mobile messaging, applications and websites as part of their marketing strategy
• 24% plan to use these tactics within 12 months
• 13% plan to use them in more than the next 12 months
• 20% had no plans
• 10% didn’t know

The need for mobile websites is created because of the way mobile users use their smartphones.

Creating powerful mobile website copy

I, as a copywriter, know all too well that readers can get very easily distracted. So the copy has to be succinct, precise and easy to understand.

The problems are that mobile users are even more distracted than PC browsers. They will be interrupted by phone calls, texts, and push notifications. So your information has to be fast and easily absorbed.

They are probably surfing for research, for specific information or to compare products. But whatever their reason, they will need information quickly.

Because of the small screen size they’ll be viewing your content on your copy has to be:

• Tightly focused
• Short
• Easy to understand

Although all copy should have these traits, you have more leeway on a normal website. Your mobile copy must concentrate on the goal of that page and strip everything else out. A short paragraph on your computer screen may cause a mobile user to scroll for eternity to reach the information they need.

Writing mobile more copy is more akin to Twitter or texting. You have to get your massage across quickly and in as few words as possible. Of course, you must never forget to include you call to action.

More and more people are browsing the web through their mobile devices so it’s imperative your marketing strategy takes this into account.

Over to you

Do you already have a mobile website? Are you thinking about investing in one soon?

Whatever your experience of mobile browsing, leave a comment below and share it with us.

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Companies and organizations are using the Treks to create more involvement by users beyond checking in and sharing photos and tips. It allows these businesses to create scavenger hunts either within their facility or in multiple locations. See how New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has used SCVNGR for one of its new exhibits.

It is on my radar because it is backed by Google and it is goes beyond the basic capabilities of its competition. I can see companies and non-profits find interesting people to immerse people into their experience. The drawback is that if Foursquare would decide to add this functionality they would instantly win since they have the larger market share. Good news is that it isn’t a huge time commitment beyond the initial set-up.

Have you tried SCVNGR yet?

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The concept of social commerce can be taken literally, as in making a purchase directly through a social media property. This can be done, such as renting “The Big Lebowski” and watching it on Facebook. That’s happening now, but as a revenue stream, it’s insignificant. Far more important is the degree to which content shared through social media is influencing purchasing decisions, which is happening on a massive scale, as illustrated by a stat roundup on Social Commerce Today.

Mobile social commerce operates in the same way. The limitations are even more pronounced, though. For instance, when Burberry offered a sampling program through Facebook, it had to post a disclaimer that the sample couldn’t be requested through mobile devices. Similarly, few people are going to read someone’s tweet or Google+ post or Tumblr update and follow a link to make an impulse buy right from their iPhone or Droid. Still, social media is profoundly influencing commercial activities through mobile channels.

As I discovered when researching a report on the subject just released by my agency, 360i, most forms of mobile social commerce fit into the seven categories below:

1) Reviews

Consumer testimonials are hardly new, and it’s hard to imagine making a remotely significant purchase online or offline without consulting them. Marketers that incorporate reviews into their websites already also tend to do so with their mobile sites and applications. Popular review sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor have seen much of their growth come from mobile applications, and startups like SpotOn and Bizzy are adding their own twists.

2) Check-ins

Foursquare is most effective when local businesses can attract nearby shoppers to their stores. As is typical for mobile programs, most of the real impact on sales will happen offline. Foursquare’s partnerships with daily deal sites indicate that check-ins alone probably aren’t enough of a draw for consumers. We’ll see in the coming year how strongly Facebook pushes Places; the degree to which Facebook tries to compete here will indicate how vibrant the check-in field is.

3) Daily Deals

At this point, most daily deal sites aren’t particularly social. Even LivingSocial, which has continued to rely on social media to spread the word of its deals, is far more anti-social through its mobile application. It’s possible, and even likely, that social dynamics will return as a major driver, but for now it’s only worth including here because of the perceived role of social media.

4) Q&A

The promise for local question and answer services is that questions are directed to people who are physically at specific locations, or to people who have visited enough to offer some expertise. Localmind currently offers the best way to ask locals questions, but there’s not yet enough scale to guarantee relevant and timely answers in return.

5) Style Feedback

One of my favorite applications, more as an observer than a consumer, is Go Try It On. You take photos of yourself and get feedback on your clothing and accessories. I did a test over the weekend with two different dress shirts, and most of the dozens of votes came in fast enough that I could have used it to determine my outfit that day. Its mobile app is extremely easy to use, as is rival app Fashism. This genre is largely a haven for teen girls and younger female adults, and in time this is the kind of technology that’s likely to change how some people shop. Of course, some girls are using it more to flaunt themselves than their apparel.

6) Shopping Feedback

It’s possible to use apps like Go Try It On in a store’s dressing room, but they’re more typically used at home. Other apps are focused solely on soliciting feedback on purchases, such as MyShopanion, which allows users to seek friends’ opinions about products whose barcodes they scan.

7) Collecting

Another favorite app, Pinterest, was the subject of a recent column, while Pose is a sort of hybrid of Pinterest and Go Try It On. Find something you love, snap a photo, and add it to your collection. Even though the Pinterest craze started online, it’s easy to see how the mobile version should prove to be especially popular over time.

Consider these seven collectively as a starting point. Mobile social commerce is bound to evolve. In time, it will be possible to make purchases directly through social networks’ mobile sites and applications. It will be possible to receive better deals if you share them with friends who are in close proximity to certain retail locations. It will be possible to use near field communication (NFC) to share purchasing activity as soon as transactions are completed. All of this will lead to more literal and tangible versions of mobile social commerce, if it turns out that’s how consumers want to shop. There’s no need to wait, though, given all of the opportunities marketers have to use mobile social media to impact purchasing behavior today.

*originally published in MediaPost’s Social Media Insider

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Pagerank is Determined Differently

The ranking of sites in a mobile device’s search engine is determined by more than just the standard SEO list of qualifiers. It also incorporates whether or not a site is itself designed for mobile browsers. Sites that are not tend to rank lower, simply because over time users are going to continue to appreciate being linked to sites with smooth interfaces. Don’t shrug off the importance of making sure your site is considerate of mobile visits as its own form of traffic. Because of the seemingly fledgling attention being paid to the importance of making websites functional for all web-enabled devices, you can use this to stay ahead of the competition if you start now.

Links Are All the Rage

People are using their mobile Internet access predominantly for social networking and emailing apart from web browsing. Touch-based ways of accessing links means that encouraging visits through newsletters and other alerts has never been easier. Typical desktop web use is click-heavy, but selective because the user is provided a much larger window of opportunity to do what they wish with a pointer.
On a mobile device accessing a link can be an accidental misplacement of a finger. It’s worth it to diversify link-building as much as possible through communications between you and customers.

Consider Mobile Access in Your Web Design

If the service is one that is expected to be sought on-the-go, such as a restaurant or a recreational venue, then the website design must not only be oriented with information in mind, but the restrictions of the mobile device as well. Overindulgence in graphics and Flash animation can drastically reduce your mobile traffic. In addition, failing to provide basic information about your business can upset potential patrons. This all ultimately contributes to lack of web presence as mobile traffic increasingly starts to dictate the way in which websites are ultimately ranked.

What is the Future of Mobile Web-Use?

No one can be certain what the exact fate of mobile SEO will be, but it’s obvious that it’s going to take a dominating role in the way search optimization is performed. Successful SEO has to on some level encourage organic activity. The organic nature of the technology of tomorrow is hard to predict. But it’s without a doubt that mobile search trends are going to trump traditional trends if the two deviate. More importantly it’s a certainty that there’s money in it: nearly half of mobile Internet users last year made a purchase while online through their mobile device.

Where will you be? Either you’ll be accessible through a mobile device or you won’t exist to half the web-browsing population. The decision to act now before the 400% increase spurs everyone else to do so is entirely up to you.

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Before the addition of the icon:

After the addition of the icon:

Takashi Sakomoto a Software Engineer at Mobile Ads, wrote in the official Google Mobile Ads Blog about how Google has “improved the existing Click-to-download format by automatically finding and displaying the icon that is registered in the iTunes App Store or the Android Marketplace.”

The icon is designed to give richer visual information to your users, as it precisely asserts the purpose of your Click-to-download ad. This will enable the people to find and download your new mobile app with added ease. Just a click on the new icon or to the ad text link, will take users straight to your download page in the Apple iTunes App Store or the Android Market.

For existing Click-to-download ads users, you’ll have already noticed this app icon appearing next to your ads on Search. However, if you are interested in getting started with Click-to-download ads, more information can be found at.

This addition of an app icon to the Click-to-download ads seems like a perfect move by Google as it is likely to drive more clicks. This in turn will help generate added revenues, as the usage of such devices is rapidly increasing.

Check out Page Traffic Buzz for more articles by Navneet Kaushal