Tablets now 20% of mobile ad impressions: report
The future may be mobile, but capitalizing on the mobile opportunity hasn't exactly been easy for many publishers and advertisers.
As companies like Facebook and Twitter are learning the hard way, delivering effective ads to consumers through mobile devices can be tough.
Despite the fact that mobile devices are always on and always connected, they have natural limitations which restrict where and how many ads can be served.
Yahoo builds a browser, and people actually like it
Yahoo has made a lot of big mistakes over the years, and today it finds itself in the fight of its life to stay relevant on the modern web.
The big questions: what can Yahoo do to recapture some of its past glory, if anything at all?
One possible answer is so obvious that nobody thought of it earlier: build a browser.
Ballmer's bold prediction: up to 500m Windows 8 users in 2013
According to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Windows 8 represents a "rebirth" of Windows and it's the "deepest, broadest and most impactful" version of the operating system his company has yet created.
Those are strong words from a man whose legacy may hinge upon Windows 8's success. But Ballmer apparently isn't afraid to use them, or to offer up bold predictions about how fast Windows 8 will find its way onto consumer devices.
Tablets and the need for speed
The importance of fast load times in an online retail environment has been proven time and time again. Online, a shopper’s time literally equates to money.
Now, the research from our recent mobile study shows that it’s a shopper’s time on tablets that should be the focus on your website optimisation initiatives.
In the UK, 82% of mobile purchases are made on the iPad.
How many screens are there really?
The number of screens we interact with depends on who you ask. While we, as marketers, would like to think tablets have already replaced couch laptops, the reality is that consumers today are more likely to be looking at their smartphones while watching TV.
Mobile devices may very well be the third or fourth screen, but that is assuming TV is the first one, and that assumption may be more wrong than right as screens converge and content follows.
In that context, it is difficult to develop proper multiscreen strategies, when ordinal numbering doesn't necessarily help us identify which specific device is being used by consumers and, most importantly, what is their current state of mind.
Tablets: the opportunity for marketers
The tablet market was virtually non-existent two years ago, but all that changed with the launch of the iPad.
Since then, Apple has sold more than 55m iPads, and with other manufacturers launching their own tablet PCs, this means that a significant proportion of users are accessing the internet via tablet devices.
For marketers and online retailers, the tablet user represents an interesting opportunity. This is a target market that generally has more disposable income, and often has different usage patterns to mobile or desktop consumers.
Stats suggest that tablet users convert well, and in some cases have a higher average order value.
I’ll look at the key trends in the tablet market, how people use these devices, what publishers and retailers can do to make their websites more usable for tablets, and we’ll look at brands that have adapted well to the iPad and other tablets.
Kindle Fire now represents over half of Android tablets: report
Thanks to testimony in the Oracle-Google lawsuit over the use of Java in Android, we now know just how high Google's hopes for Android were in 2011.
According to Google VP Andy Rubin, the search giant was looking for Android tablets to account for 33% of the tablet market last year. The good news for Google was that the launch of Amazon's Kindle Fire may have brought Google within striking distance of that figure.
User tests: How well does Thomas Cook work on iPad?
Tablets are a big deal for online retailers, with stats showing high AOVs and conversion rates, so it makes sense for websites to provide an excellent experience for users of these devices.
Thanks to some user testing videos from whatusersdo.com, I've been looking into the user experience offered by Thomas Cook for tablet users.
The user tests uncovered some serious problems with Thomas Cook on tablets, issues likely to cause customers to abandon the site.
Here's a summary of the issues...
Monetising your apps with IAP. Not as simple as it should be.
65% of revenue in Apple's App Store comes via in app purchase (IAP). This system is a fantastic way to monetise your apps which provides a slick experience for both the user and the provider.
However, it is not as straight forward as you might hope.
There are one or two ambiguities to watch out for.
Based on my experiences developing an iPad app, here are some things to watch out for...
Tablets becoming television's companion, replacement: report
The rise of the tablet is one of the biggest trends in computing today and there's little reason to doubt that this trend won't get anything but stronger.
The new iPad smashed sales records, affordable tablets with rich content ecosystems like the Kindle Fire are helping bring these devices to the masses, and Intel is promising a slew of new tablets when Windows 8 is released later this year.
