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Moving online assets to mobile doesn't work: Medio exec at SES

NEW YORK - With three times as many mobile handsets than PCs and twice as many mobile subscribers as Internet users, the size of the addressable market for mobile advertising and publishing is significant.

Thus said Barry Chu, general manager of advertising at mobile search engine and ad network Medio Systems, at the Search Engine Strategies Conference and Exhibition's mobile panel yesterday. He said that as more content is created and adapted for mobile it is imminent that search will be the on-the-go gateway to this growing wealth of information.

"There are differences in the mobile channel when compared to online," he said. "You can't just transfer your online assets to mobile. Television has sight and motion. Radio has captivity and mobile has personal reach and relevance."

Mr. Chu told the audience of about 150 people that 227 million consumers worldwide own or have access to a mobile device. With a growing number of people using mobile phones, data usage doubled from 6 percent in 2003 to 12 percent in 2006.

Marketers are beginning to understand that with these numbers comes an opportunity to give users value and a reason to use their devices for more than just making calls. Giving consumers value will have advertisers lining up to run their ads in front of such a large audience.

"Search is valuable to consumers, publishers and advertisers," Mr. Chu said.

If carriers and other companies are working hard to get consumers to download and look at the Web from their phones, there needs to be some way that users can browse through this growing wealth of information.

Once search is in the picture, it serves to better the user experience, which drives users to their phones ever more. Where there are consumers, marketers will soon follow and publishers can monetize, the Medio executive said.

Mr. Chu stressed the importance of search for mobile due to the dramatic growth of the mobile Web and its usage.

The New York Times' mobile site has seen a 600 percent year-over-year growth, he pointed out. Also, ESPN's mobile site has more traffic than its online site, further validating the tremendous growth the mobile channel is experiencing.

Mobile searchers have about five to 60 seconds for a search. The screen is only about two inches and there is a numerical keypad.

Also, there is less ad space, causing the need for a lot of modification. The bid management, relevance tuning, impression distribution and creative all has to be modified and optimized for mobile, Mr Chu said.

"Mobile consumers are different than online consumers," Mr. Chu said. "The mobile consumer is looking for a quick answer to their questions, while the online consumer has more time and doesn't mind long answers and various sites to have to look at."

Online consumers often times want to do some research, while mobile consumers want relevant and easy- to-use answers.

"The mobile consumer wants a convenient access point to their passions and needs," Mr. Chu said.