Welcome Guest Login | Register | Site Map | | Make TelecomTiger my homepage     
Telecom News
Enterprise |  Policy & Regulation |  Mobiles & Tabs |  Corporate |  VAS |  People Movement  |  Technology  |  LTE

Interview

 
 



“Already serving more than 657 mn ad displays monthly in India over mobile web”: Admob

Mahesh Narayanan
Country Manager, Admob India
 
  TT Correspondent |  Mumbai | 29/09/2009

Mobile Advertising in India is currently known to be dominated by players endorsing the  medium through the SMS channel. But apprehensions have always persisted over this mode since there is a strong possibility that repeated endorsements might cross the lines of Do Not Disturb norms and then such players may be left in the lark. The SMS channels are also known to clog inboxes of the subscribers. The increased uptake of mobile data services and end-user preference to access WAP over mobile has given breed to a new form of advertising which is known as mobile web-based advertising. Admob is one such player which claims to be a global leader in this space and is now eying the India opportunity.

“In early 2000’s the challenge in India was to evangelize & get advertisers to explore the potential of the online medium. The USP offered then was accountability and engaging the audience. The addressable market for this segment is roughly around 80 million in India. Compare this to the mobile medium which has an addressable market of more than 430 million subscribers & a rapidly growing number of which are connecting to the internet via their mobile device. And apart from accountability, advertising over mobile web also offers an enhanced one-to-one engagement with the audience,” says Mahesh Narayanan, Country Manager, Admob India while speaking to. TelecomTiger.

US-based Admob, provides a platform for advertisers keen on leveraging the mobile web medium for advertising. Apart from dealing with advertisers directly, Admob’s other objectives include getting advertising agencies as well as publishers on board to its platform to increase its reach. While globally, Admob serves 8 billion ad displays every month, the India figure stands at more than 657 million. India is now the second highest market for the firm in terms of traffic contributed. Other markets served by Admob include SEA (South East Asia consisting of Singapore Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines), Australia, Japan & EMEA (Europe Middle East & Africa).

Mahesh who has earlier worked with firms such as Rediff.com, Bidorbuyindia.com, Mediaturf, Times Now & Google says is will be a logical transition to open up to the mobile web medium for those advertisers who have leveraged from exploring the digital medium.

On Consumer Trends for mobile web in India:

Mahesh reveals that the potential of mobile web-based advertising depends a lot on increased uptake of mobile data services which in turn is dependent on the affordability of the services. “Recently Aircel introduced affordable data plans for subscribers which resulted in significant surge in subscribers opting for the services. Interestingly our observation reveals that with the increased uptake of data services, the mobile web usage by Aircel subscribers exponentially increased more than 10x times as compared to trends just a few months ago.”

Over 28 % of Admob’s traffic in India comes from mobile users with smartphone handsets. Additionally Nokia is seen dominating the traffic generated for mobile web usage.

Mahesh says if more affordable handsets supporting mobile web access are introduced in the Indian market the uptake will certainly increase manifold. 

On advertisers already hooked on to mobile web advertising:

Surprisingly even mobile service providers are making use of the medium in India. Mahesh says Reliance Mobile used the Admob advertising platform to target subscribers from rival networks during its GSM launch. Handset Manufacturers like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG are also using this medium to promote their handset launches.

Sector-wise, BFSI and Travel sectors are increasingly integrating the mobile medium with the overall marketing activities. The travel sector is in fact using mobile web to reach out to international tourists interested in visiting India. “With Admob’s reach within the US market where mobile web usage is very high particularly on iPhone, travel agencies in India can effectively target tourists and market their packages for India.” 

Auto sector is also seen making use of the medium.

On publishers:

According to Mahesh, it is in publisher interest to make the most of their content and have a dedicated focus for the mobile subscribers as well as it allows them to earn additional revenues. “We have witnessed month-on-month growth of 30% for mobile web traffic on our platform in the last three months in India which is not only due to increased use of mobile web but also because more and more publishers are joining our network.”

On competition:

Mahesh sounds unfazed by competition in the field as he feels that Admob’s technology driven and early mover advantage will help it to stand ahead of the competition.

On market in India for mobile web advertising:

As with other new services and business models associated with the mobile medium where it is practically difficult to quantify the market in terms of revenues, Mahesh says that it may happen that rural subscribers have their first time access to digital medium over the mobile medium. In such a scenario even the rural subscribers can be counted as the addressable market.”Globally Gartner predicts the mobile web advertising industry to touch $ 10-15 Billion in revenues by 2011. The Indian mobile web market is estimated at $5-10Million in 2009 with significant growth expected in 2010” concludes Mahesh.

    
 mail this article    print this article    Show and Post Comment
  
Whitepaper
Maintain Business Continuity with Cisco ASR 9000 nV Technology
It is a virtual chassis solution where a pair of ASR 9000 routers acts as a single device by maintaining a single contr...read more
Simplify Your Network with Cisco ASR 9000 nV Technology
With the new Cisco Network Virtualization (nV) technology in the Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers, se...read more
Cisco Small Cell Solution: Reduce Costs, Improve Coverage
It is designed to address the challenge of mobile service coverage and to expand network capacity...read more
Other interviews
Kirusa’s newly launched InstaVoice ReachMe app provides unique telephony experience for users
95%+of the products delivered today by iVOOMi is made in India
A large proportion of our product and solution portfolio is directly relevant to 5G networks
RS Sharma on the status of Digital India
Cloud telephony is the best suited medium to reach out to the masses
"Smartphones have an integral part to play in the connected world of future"
“Domestic (Indian) brands are taking a larger share of the market every month”
“I do not expect much impact on tariff for consumers”
“We would be focusing on LTE 4G solutions in 2014 in India”
“We will start rolling out 4G LTE services by end of this financial year”
After advent of LTE technological innovation is much more challenging
“Our green technology can reduce diesel consumption by 56%”
“We expect 3G revenue contribution to be at par or exceed 2G revenue”
"We are strengthening our service capabilities in India"
“We partner with right technology and utilize our competitive advantage”
Indian VAS market is huge and effectively receptive
We are looking at growth in India
3G, 4G to fuel MVAS growth
Introduction of data plans at the right price and packaging key to growth
Smartphones will be major catalyst for mobile advertising growth in India
Despite challenges VAS market will continue to grow in India
Indo-US defense ties have created opportunities for T&M industry
3G penetration will help expand VAS market in India
ZTE has formed an enterprise solutions team for enterprise business in India
Telecom operators are looking forward to deploy green wireless solutions
Our value proposition to hotels has been well accepted
Effective mobile campaign management can boost operator’s business
Interpreting and analyzing data is vital for successful business
Unified Communications is transforming India Inc
Bill shock makes 90% Indians switch off data connection
LTE will ensure lower capital investment
'We need to come quickly to LTE': J S Sarma
'Corporate war fueling 2G controversy:’ A Raja
Ruckus Wireless’ WBA solution promises cost effective alternative to WiMAX in urban areas
Mobile data services the new opportunity for Indian operators to increase ARPU feels Comverse
Capgemini foresees huge scope for engagement with Indian Mobile Operators to drive Rural uptake
“Waiting for competition to tap the $ 150 mn agri-info MVAS market along with us”: RML
“Our international reach will be our main differentiator for mobile financial services,” says Roamware
Sterlite Technologies plans multi-fold organic growth to break into the global top league
Entry of 3G will make Broadband Services more appealing in India, says NSN
Picocell as a tool for Customer Retention, the ip.access way
WiMAX not a 4G technology, only LTE is, says Ericsson CTO
No business case for WiMAX in rural India….definitely not, says Qualcomm India
Delta carving out differentiation around Green Quotient of its telecom site power solutions
TI’s new chip makes way for Smaller, Denser, Cost-effective wireless base station design
Qualcomm India: “Well-positioned to serve both GSM & CDMA operators for 3G migration”
UTStarcom: IPTV far more relevant technology to India than any other market in the world
“Decision to foray into CDMA space is with an eye on data services” says Sistema Shyam’s CEO
‘Fixedline infrastructure can never deliver broadband across India’ says GSMA Director
Loop Mobile: Engaging and then exciting our subscribers is the core focus of all our communication initiatives
With voice being commoditised, SMS set to assume greater role, foresees Tekelec
"The race is still anybody's to win in the mobile browser market," declares BOLT
“WiMAX has seen very good traction and adoption in India”, says Tata Elxsi
“.tel is the biggest innovation in the internet”
India’s largest mall on your mobile: ngpay
Economic slowdown has no impact on Airtel, says Akhil Gupta
Synchronica fully supports legal interception unlike RIM, says CEO
Motorola says uniquely positioned to best serve critical technology demands of enterprises in India
Tandberg: Real value of video-conferencing solution should be measured on usability and benefits
DTH, WiMAX and Billing to be new focus areas for Oracle India
Wireline Services will bounce back, says Chairman MRO-TEK
Motorola well-positioned to play a major role in India’s next phase of growth, says Mohanty
Aircel will double its network by 2008 end
‘We are migrating to full IP Network’, says MTNL director (technical) Kuldip Singh
Sistema will offer competitive tariff, Mobile TV in India
Mobile TV is a distant dream in India
IT & BPO growth story will continue
Redefining rules of the game