SEO will have to take a huge stride to keep up as the rapid trend toward mobility continues to grow. The iPhone, the Treo, the Blackberry – as capacity grows and prices drop more and more consumers are using their mobile technology to access the web.
At first, the high per minute rates charged by most service providers dampened the impulse to use mobile options for online search, and advertisers did not consider it a high value market. With the advent of Apple’s iPhone flat rate plan all that started to change. Apple holds only a very small fraction of the market share compared to other providers, yet its mobile search queries surged in late 2007 to eclipse all smart phone platforms.
This sparked research into the advertising and marketing possibilities. According to one survey, over half of all US adults would be more than happy to accept advertising if it means unlimited access, so subsidizing flat rate plans by advertisers may be in the very near future. Today, Microsoft announced that advertising for Live Search Mobile is in private beta test, pending expansion.
What does this mean to the average website owner? It will become necessary to take into account the small screen size and adjust your ads accordingly. You might want your headers that appear on the SERPS to be short and sweet. The biggest change, if you have an actual location, might be in foot traffic, so if you haven’t geographically targeted your keywords, now might be the time!
As mobility continues to advance, many believe that this emerging market could be one of the most lucrative yet. Mobile search adspend is expected to reach $2 billion by 2013.
Tags: advertising, Live Search Mobile, Microsoft