By Tom Limongello

When the iPhone came out, it quickly became the greatest force in creating a mobile media market.

The progression was that first Apple advertised the full Web on your phone; then it introduced the first scalable applications platform through the iTunes app store (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/07/14appstore.html).

The progression of mobile content usage on the iPhone does not have an as-well-written history. What we have are good stats from AdMob about ad requests from the mobile Web (http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/02/12/iphone-now-represents-51-of-us-smartphone-traffic-report/), and now a great study by Pinch Media about the downloading and usage of iPhone applications (http://www.pinchmedia.com/appstore-secrets/).

First came iPhone sites
Once publishers realized that the full Web on your phone wasn't an ideal experience, they began searching for a better solution.

First, there were iPhone optimized sites -- Fandango, CNN, ESPN, USA Today and others. Some use Apple's framework, some have strayed, but all offer a level of optimization for the WebKit browser that blows away what could be done on BlackBerries, Windows Mobile phones and other smartphones.

Now, we have new developments in mobile Web, like HTML 5 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmjxmOtNZCk) which will enable location in the browser, picture uploads, offline content caching and more.

However, with the market's focus on iPhone apps and the downturn in the economy, it is unlikely that the pendulum will swing back to the mobile Web in the foreseeable future without a big television spend from Apple.

So those developments will go largely unnoticed until people start seeing stats again that show the mobile Web surging ahead in usage.

What people forget is that while iPhone apps are sexy, mobile sites are ultimately more discoverable through site redirects and, ultimately, mobile search.

Then came iPhone apps
http://www.slideshare.net/pinchmedia/iphone-appstore-secrets-pinch-media

Greg Yardley, CEO of Pinch Media, did a great service to both the application development and mobile Web industry by putting out this honest look at the state of uptake and usage for iPhone applications.

Here's what Greg said based on the 30 million downloads using Pinch Media's analytics:

? There's a 24-hour downloading window, so you had better make a top 100, 25, or 10 list in that time
? Over time it has gotten more difficult to get noticed -- twice as hard as six months ago to get in the top 25, and five times as hard to get in the top 100 as six months ago
? The app store is designed to maximize turnover. Remember the problem with getting good placement on carrier decks? This is worse, because you don't stay in the top lists for long

Best of both worlds?
The fact is, apps offer speed and navigation that the mobile Web currently cannot. Not to mention the sex appeal that gets your bosses excited. But if they are hard to monetize, hard to find and have a limited shelf life, are they good enough by themselves?

A mobile site offers infinitely more in terms of discoverability, monetization and current content that doesn't depend on app upgrades, so why not have both site and app?

The cost of deploying a mobile Web site is also much less than an iPhone application and it will immediately work on all Web-enabled phones.

Having the best of both worlds is not difficult.

If you don't have a mobile site, get one
? Publishers: Not to worry -- if you have RSS, XML or ATOM feeds, mobile site developers can get your content up quickly
? Brands: Not to worry, companies can also help you mobilize your content so you can advertise on mobile effectively
? Retailers: If you are looking to enable commerce, mobile companies can build mobile storefronts so that you can drive people within apps or in the mobile browser to locate your store or even buy your products -- no API or RSS integration necessary
? Make sure you work with your app developer to insert links to your mobile site from within your app

Have a mobile site, promote it
? Enable sharing features: email to a friend, SMS to a friend, save to a social network to direct to mobile Web links
? Make sure that sharing from your iPhone app uses mobile Web links, not desktop links
? Put a link on your mobile Web site to advertise that you have an iPhone application
? Put mobile links everywhere -- print, online, Twitter feeds, emails

[Note: Why would a brand or publisher need to put mobile Web links into apps, on social networks and emails? It is called search engine optimization. Did you realize that the content from your iPhone application does not show up in the major search engines for mobile?]

Here's more of what Greg from Pinch Media revealed about the nature of iPhone app usage:

? Of those apps with 1million to 3 million unique users, their repeat usage went from 30 percent down 5 percent in the first 30 days, and down to 1 percent in 90 days
? Sports does the best at keeping users during the first 30 days, but entertainment keeps users best over time
? Overall, most apps should be paid rather than free because it is hard to make back your development costs through advertising when you only have an average of 80 sessions to recoup your investment

Can you have the best of both worlds? Sure.

It doesn't matter if you charge for your apps or give them away for free. The trend in apps without promotion may decrease over time, but mobile Web usage is increasing over time.

What's the best way to monetize your investment over time? How will you improve your discoverability? Keep your content fresh? Drive traffic to your app?

If you are going to have a successful iPhone app, you might as well have mobile Web in place to promote it.

Publishers who ignore their mobile Web sites and continue to merely play with shiny apps will soon realize that if they don't leverage the power of the mobile Web, they will only be playing with themselves.

Tom Limongello is senior director of business development at Crisp Wireless, New York. Reach him at .