Saturday, October 20, 2012




Above is another take on Google’s earnings miss. Although the assertion that Google could be a marginal player in the next 5 years is media hyperbole, the author does address a more salient point—that of whether Google can figure out a strategy to move beyond its CPC revenue model and find a way to more effectively monetize mobile search.

Given Google’s history of innovation, it would be surprising if they can’t figure out a way to leverage their extensive insights into consumer behavior into more effective mobile ads that target users based on location, the activity they are engaged in, or probable destination. Given insights from past searches and contents from a customer’s email message (if on Gmail), Google could easily tailor ads to fit a person’s needs from moment to moment, much as Target has been able to do through careful statistical analysis of consumer purchasing behavior. The key to success in this space is in not seeming overtly big-brotherish and irking potential customers.  I would guess that moving forward, mobile users will begin to see surprisingly relevant ads on mobile devices for things we may not have even known we wanted…and at the perfect time to boot.

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