Media Week

If there’s one major hope for mobile as an ad channel during the recession, it’s mobile search. But the signs there so far are not particularly encouraging.

The thought was that switching on AdWords for mobile, which Google launched a while back (followed by AdSense a couple of weeks ago), would be an easy way to test the mobile ‘channel’, discover some insight into user behaviour (the terms that worked etc.,) and develop some ROI outside the saturated market that AdWords ‘online’ has become.

But, the word is that interest from advertisers is low. There is some work going on – Autotrader is one brand/media owner examining it – but the uptake will be defined by the existence of proof. That proof needs to come from advertisers using it. Gradually, as with all formats, the ball will start rolling if it proves its worth. As yet, not enough chickens have laid enough eggs.

However, as an agency – particularly as a search agency – I would be seeking to devote some time to trialling clients on AdWords mobile to test it out and get a feel for what works. Where ROI is returned it’ll be an easy route to incremental cash in these tough times, as well as an opportunity to be something approaching experts when more experimental budget is again forthcoming.

There is a risk when talking about media and mobile phones to forget their most useful function. On my HTC Touch Dual, one might consider that to be Ballbreaker, the hopelessly addictive game that comes as standard.

But, there is also of course the ability to call someone. Certain people might also suggest texting since, though it can take them half an hour to type an SMS message, they rightly argue that’s still a shorter time than it would have taken if they’d called the person in question. Answers on a postcard please if you can guess the certain people we're talking about. So, let’s call the phone’s most useful asset the ability to communicate instantly with a real person.

This was brought to mind by a new survey in the US examining whether – and how – people used their mobile phones in shops. It found that 24% of people who said they had used their mobile phones while shopping, did so to compare product prices using the mobile web, while 15% said they used the same function to look at product reviews.

But, before we get carried away with such things, let’s bear in mind that only 29% of the 9,000 people surveyed said they used their phones at all. And 72% of those who did said they used it to call someone (most commonly a significant other I’ll wager) about the purchase.

This is first a reality check on the scope of the mobile phone to change our lives. Just like the web and all successful technologies, mobiles will be at their most disruptive in enabling us to do things we always did better, not in changing the things we do.

Second, it points us to the kinds of services that will succeed most. Let’s be frank, looking at advertising is rarely something we choose to do. Instead, ‘advertisers’ have to look at what they can offer or support that empowers mobile users to do the things they already do. For that reason, Google Maps is in my view the single best mobile application available, since it helps me get where I’m going and - clearly - when I'm mobile, I'm going somewhere.

Last it tells us that, as a default, we do still like to call someone. Once you’ve done your search, Google Maps often has the phone number of the location you’re headed for easily to hand and I’m almost always reliant on a real person to guide me the last few yards. So, let a phone call be your default call-to-action on any mobile ‘push’. In my opinion, it’s what - ultimately – a mobile phone is for.