Tag: MEF

Privacy Policy in Apps [ with Infographic]

On 21/08/2013

Developers want to do pretty and cool apps. Tedious privacy policies are often considered “suit-imposed” and not nice. Well, heck, they’re just text, aren’t they? However, not only do 70% of consumers actually want to know what you are doing with their data (this is according to MEF Global Privacy Report 2013). But there also legal obligations, you know. And, since July, there is a revised version of COPPA out (short for the Children Online Privacy Protection Act), which places even more onerous requirements on anyone publishing content aimed at minors.

It is however not only important that you do it at all but also how you do it. Transparency of terms is essential in a world of data (and, yes, I think since a certain Mr Snowden we are all a lot more aware just how significant that can be). If you only link out to a web page with 8,000+ words, you are not doing anyone favours: it doesn’t actually look very good (haven’t we all laughed on the 48 pages Apple wants us to read every time before we accept something? no one in their right mind will believe that even one consumer will do this; shady, isn’t it?). So best practice looks different and I would urgent everyone to follow best practice also for these “little” things.

MEF (full disclosure: I am director of their EMEA Board) has published a neat little infographic highlighting a few dos and don’ts. Have a look and go here for the full thing (and a version into which you can actually zoom into, too).

AdMob on iPhone ad impressions and why Andrew Bud is wrong

By Volker

On 10/07/2009

In 1, Apple, OEM

Mobile advertising firm AdMob has released some numbers on ad impressions on iPhone vs other smart phones and the result is, well, that Apple is basically a 50kg flyweight boxer competing against Sumo wrestlers 5 times it weight (8% smartphone footprint but more than 40% ad impression share).

Now, very (!) crudely put, this does not mean that it is 8 times as successful on mobile advertising. It does mean however that users are 8 times more likely to use applications where ads are being displayed. Here’s some of their stats:

iPhone Apps (in AdMob’s network):

The top iPhone apps had more than one million users in the UK in May 2009
5% of iPhone apps had more than 100,000 active users in May 2009
14% of iPhone apps had between 10,000 – 100,000 active users in May 2009
27% of iPhone apps had between 1,000 – 10,000 active users in May 2009

Mobile web browsing market in May 2009:

UK:

48.7% of ad requests came from Apple handsets (iPhone and iPod Touch)
28.4% of ad requests came from the iPhone
282,493,761 ad requests from users in the UK

US:

45.1% of ad requests came from Apple handsets
25.7% of ad requests came from the iPhone
3,804,373,544 ad requests from users in the US

Global:

31.4% of ad requests came from Apple handsets
18.6% of ad requests came from the iPhone
7,997,946,483 ad requests from users around the world

Interestingly, MEF and MBlox Chairman Andrew Bud (who is being quoted at the end of the article) said that Apple’s app store compared to Nokia’s Ovi Store like a niche boutique to Tesco (or, if you are in the US, Walmart). Is that so? No it is not. And here’s why:

Apple is a boutique with more items on sale than a Tesco megastore. And its (less) customers buy trolleys full of wares. Moreover, their high-spending customers leave the store with a spring in their step and committed to come back the next day.

Nokia is a super-store with gazillion potential (!) customers where 1 in 20 stroll through aisles stocked with not so cool things and most of them walk out without buying anything and, on top of that, feeling fairly downtrodden and frustrated about what was on offer.

So, for the time being, I’d choose the Apple boutique. If that choice changes will depend on whether Nokia will manage to stock their shelves with more compelling wares and improve on their tills (less queuing, more bang for your buck, etc). Oh, and get those cold strip-lights replaced, please!

MEF's Crystal Ball

By Volker

On 06/03/2009

In OEM

Industry body MEF had put out its top 10 predictions for the year a few weeks ago (inexplicably missed by me; well it was somewhere around Mobile World Congress, so probably at least excusable), which they gathered from their members and deep discussions around this. They believe that 2009 – recession and all – will be the year in which mobile entertainment (if you count everything in, apparently a $25bn industry) will start to deliver returns.

So now, without any further ado, here are the predictions:

The ‘iPhone effect’ -Mobile applications have emerged as a new content category and the mobile internet will finally come of age
Greater value and transparency for consumers will help sustain demand in 2009
Some delay in the proliferation of mobile advertising
Telcos begin to acts as enablers for the Entertainment industry with services such as billing, authentication and zero tariff data
The emerging dominance of services that operate at a multi-platform level
The rise of ring back tones
Social networking becomes an important driver of mobile entertainment consumption
2009 will be the year that mobile video really takes off
Emerging economies will become an increasingly important driver for mobile entertainment worldwide
A proliferation of touch screen devices drives discoverability and content usage

Now, now. I am glad to see that a lot of this ties in with “what I have been saying all along”… 😉 But let’s have a closer look at a few of the points:

The iPhone effect. Yes, I have elaborated on this plenty a time, so I will only refer to previous posts, for instance here, here and here.

“Some” delays in mobile advertising. Also: dealt with on numerous occasions, and a while ago, too (see here and here)…

And now for a whole bunch of stuff that can, I believe, be grouped, namely greater (perceived?) value to consumers and carriers moving into smart-pipe models. The jury is still out on this, isn’t it? Although it has to be said that there seems to be a learning curve indeed. But is this from new-found wisdom or because of the fruity pain from the guys in Cupertino?

Another group: multi-platform services and social networking. I would class the latter as the shining beacon of the former: social networks do one thing. They connect the dots, they are the switchboards of the digital life. And since users per se do not really care on which screen this happens, a lot of them have seen significant value contributions from mobile (e.g. MySpace sees incredible growth rates).

So there you have it…