Google successful expansion into mobile a given: report

Stan Beer
Tuesday, 02 December 2008 08:05

IT Industry - Market

Google is set to expand into the mobile market place in a big way and mobile search will a key growth driver for the Internet search and advertising market leader over the next five years. These are the fndings of a new report from a media industry analyst group.

According to global media industry analyst firm Screen Digest, Google's move into mobile will provide a key source of growth over the next five years, developing advertising revenues outside its core markets the US and UK and extending its dominance of search into mobile.

While Google will face competition from other search providers, Microsoft and mobile operators as it attempts to exploit the fast-growing smartphone installed base, this will not stop the company from gaining a strong foothold, according to Screen Digest analyst Julien Theys, who authored the report 'Why Google has to expand into mobile, and why it will succeed'.

Theys says:

"The mobile OS market is going to play an important role in the next two years. We also believe Microsoft will compete more aggressively in mobile by acquiring other mobile specialists or even launching their own consumer-focused handset.

"Google still considers Microsoft and Yahoo! as its primary competition in search and advertising; so far, both have failed in their efforts to secure a stranglehold in mobile search and advertising, leaving for the path clear for Google."

Research published in the report states that Google's move into mobile will deliver major growth over the next five years. Screen Digest believes a push towards mobile is crucial for the company, especially in the current economic climate.

"As mobile becomes a stand-alone primary connected device for many consumers, Google is perfectly placed to establish itself as a mobile player in its own right," states Screen Digest.

A big opportunity for Google will be in the area of local search, where the company will be able to compete successfully with established service providers such as Sensis in Australia.

"Local search will be key to market growth: innovations in mobile search and advertising will allow for improved local search, directly competing with 'yellow pages' type proximity marketing services. The challenge for Google is to encourage consumers to start performing functions on their mobile browser that they would previously have done on their PC in already established markets," Screen Digest states.

The ubiquity of mobile phones in emerging markets is another factor that will contribute to the success of Google in the mobile advertising space, according to the report

Screen Digest forecasts that the cumulative mobile ownership in India and China will outstrip the PC by seven to one by 2012 with 1.3 billion mobile subscriptions compared to only 185 million online households.

"Google's mobile operating system Android won't have to achieve a market-leading position to reach Google's primary objective: an open mobile internet allowing for a successful roll-out of its search and advertising services. Accordingly, Screen Digest forecasts Android OS will take 3% of the global smartphone market in 2009 with eight million handsets shipped," Screen Digest states.