The year of mobile is already upon us and Google has already nailed it!

After years of failing to get excited about mobile marketing I have to admit that it has suddenly become credible.

Latitude has just published some stats on mobile paid search that shows Google’s mobile search ads nearly surpassing Bing entire PPC volumes.

Further data from Pingdom.com highlights that Google has already won the game with over 98% of mobile search traffic!

This will be testing times for Microsoft’s Digital Advertising division as the re-enter the mobile OS race with Windows 7, starting in last place. Nevertheless, they’ve already demonstrated their ability to surge ahead as a late entrant in the gaming sector. Can they do the same in mobile?

We going to see lots more press about the growth of mobile marketing in the coming months, but this time I’m willing to believe it!

Mapping your Foursquare check-ins

Just saw this post and can’t believe how easy it is to plot your 4sq check-ins on Google Maps.

Here’s my check-in map!

View Larger Map

…and here’s the link.

Games Publishers to move to subscription model for online gaming?

The likelihood that Activision will launch a premium subscription for online multiplayer soon makes no sense to me.

Given players on Xbox already commit to an online subscription through either Xbox live , surely additional charges will lose fans?

Surely it would make more sense to pursue an ad-funded model?

While in-game advertising would struggle find suitable advertisers for these games (Not many billboards are left standard in these games!), there is definitely the opportunity to deliver targeted ads on the lobby screen between games?

With a little tinkering , these ads could even become interactive without ruining gameplay. For example, send this ad/offer to a friend. Sign me up for the newsletter; send me the coupon.

Maybe I’m missing the point.

Make your own Android Apps

Can’t find the Google app you want? Then build your own!

Google has unveiled the App Inventor for members of the general public to create their own Android apps using a WYSIWYG editor.

That’s a pretty bold move that few people saw coming.

The tool looks about as complex as an HTML editor so won’t really be suitable for everyone, but it’s a cool enough idea to boost app volumes on the Android Market. Unfortunately, there is the danger it will flood the Android Market with even more low quality apps, and navigating the store is already a poor experience so far.

Nevertheless, I’ve signed up the tool since there a a few apps I’d like to add to my phone, including:

• A decent weather app that shows multiple locations, like the one on the iPhone.
• A simple screen capture tool

What App would you create?

Initial thoughts on the Android Froyo update

So I finally got the Android 2.2 (Froyo) update to my Nexus One, here in the UK on the O2 network, this morning

You can see the official feature list here, but I thought I’d also jot down my first impressions.

I had a couple of concerns straightaway:

• The Froyo update automatically installed the Android Twitter app. I don’t have anything against this app, but I already use Seesmic so it was an unnecessary waste of the phone memory.
• Swype, (one of my favourite apps) stopped working. Thanks to the tweet monitoring of the SWPYE guys, I was quickly advised that a simple install would remedy this, and it did.

After that it was all positives:

• Everything is just a little bit faster.
• Operating the video and camera is much easier.
• There are some subtle tweaks to the Android Market that allow you to update apps in bulk and set some to install updates automatically.
• Exchange sync now seems to work for my Exchange calendar but the email app is still inferior to touchdown so I’ll be sticking with that for now.
• But the pièce de résistance is that I can now install and browse flash…something iPhone users will never be allowed to do!

Apparently there should be some improvements to the better life but It’ll take a week for me to really get a feel for that.

“Trending Now” limited to just two venues

Only top 2 venues can trend

Further to my earlier post on how many visits it takes to trend on Foursquare, we’ve conducted another test to see if that 5 people limit changes when there are more popular venues around.

Sure enough, our London office couldn’t displace the popularity of the Apple Store (the iPhone4 had just gone on sale) and Waterloo train station. It therefore seems like there can be no more than two trending venues at a time.

I guess I need to get more Latitudians signed up to 4sq!

My 7 favourite Android Apps

Nearly 7 months into owning my Nexus One, here are my 7 most highly recommended apps for the android handset.

1. Swype – an alternative text input system that works by dragging your finger across a virtual keyboard rather than tapping it. You have to see it to believe how good it really is!
2. Touchdown – one of the major failings of the nexus one was the lack of a decent eneterprise email software. Touchdwon is even better tht the Microfot mobile mail app.
3. Foursquare – the future of geomarketing? I’m hooked, but are you?
4. MyTracks – great Google Maps based app for tracking your running and cycling.
5. Evernote – I’m always taking notes and this app allows you to quickly store text notes, voice memos or photos. Futhermore it syncs with the web and a desktop app so it’s always accessible.
6. Fring – So Steve Jobs he thinks he invented video calling with Facetime? Well Fring was already doing it and what’s even better is that it allows you to make Skype video calls between PCs and mobile phones. Isn’t that a first?
7. Layar – the Augmented Reality (AR) browser that overlays local data onto your phone’s camera viewfinder. Great software for showing off you lovely smartphone to mates in the pub.

Which apps do you think are essential for an Android phone?

How does your PPC measure up to your competitors’?

Competitor CPCs

Andre Harris at Latitude has just put together this great intro to Google’s new “Analyze Competition” feature in Adwords.

This are the kind of reports that used to be availabel upon request, but Google has now found a way to deliver these on scale.

The functionality doesn’t appear to have rolled out across every account yet but is clearly in the process of doing so.

Five visitors to get the “Trending Now” on FourSquare

Only 5 check-ins to trend?

Thanks to my colleagues at Latitude’s Warrington office, we’ve quickly confirmed that it only takes 5 check-ins from different people to make the venue appear as “Trending Now”

While FourSquare is still relatively new, I’m pretty sure this number is too low define a “popular” location, but I assume this number will change as the service becomes more popular. Either that or the threshold will increase as multiple venues “trend” at the same time.

I’ve never seen more than two venue’s trending at a time, but please send screengrabs that show otherwise.

Do you think FourSquare is a fad, or a useful marketing tool? Be sure to vote in the poll

Are you hooked on FourSquare yet?

As with twitter, I was pretty cynical about FourSquare as a social media tool, let alone a viable marketing one.

Look at all my badges!

Based on news from SMX Advanced in Seattle, it seems many businesses think the same.

As a user I’m now pretty hooked already, habitually checking into every location I visit, while getting (overly) excited when I find a venue that hasn’t been logged before, or earning a new badge.  You can now show off your well-earned badges in Facebook with this nifty app.

However, the need to gain traction with businesses is clearly more of a challenge. there are very few examples of UK companies leveraging rewards for mayorships or even bespoke badges; probably due to FourSquare’s US location. At the moment, there’s a huge delay on registering your company on Foursquare if you’re outside the US so creating your own badges is going to take time.

Hopefully they’ll open a European office soon, or develop a more “self-service” approach to badge creation.

But what do you think?