Top 50 Mobile Movers & Shakers
The single most significant challenge - and, of course, the greatest opportunity - for digital media professionals and Web workers of all types is undeniably within mobile.
Mavens and pundits across the 'Net have been waiting (for what seems like years, by our count) for the day to arrive when a mobile presence took priority over a desktop/ Web presence. For many merchants, service providers and information publishers, that day has arrived - or is at least finally in sight.
A reliable barometer of interest in any new channel or platform is often global advertising spend, and when it comes to mobile, that investment has been phenomenal. A recent analysis released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) found that the global mobile advertising market was worth $5.3 billion in 2011 with 31.4 percent generated in North America alone. Let the good mobile times roll.
Mobile is important in a variety of ways, however, and not just for advertisers looking to drive greater brand awareness and mindshare with a high-income, hyper-connected consumer. It's also very much about the power given to consumers and the experience that is created thanks to these devices. According to com- Score's February 2012 Local Search Usage Study, 61 percent of smartphone users conduct local searches from their devices (with a significant portion continuing on to buy), and more than half of the U.S. smartphone population used their devices to perform retail research while inside a store in 2011.
There is much more data available to reveal that people are increasingly reliant on their smartphones for the performance of a variety of daily tasks, but usage, my Web friends, does not in every case indicate preference. A recent eMarketer study found that purchases made on a PC/laptop are still preferred by 87 percent of consumers. Mobile has its problems as it stands today, but there's no time like the present to meet the numerous challenges head-on - because that is what the consumer of today wants.
This month's Website Magazine Top 50 list provides a timely and topical look at all things mobile. From advertising and marketing to design and development, if you are ready to get started with mobile, then you are in the right place. Readers will find mobile design tools such as those provided by DudaMobile (#3), mobile marketing solutions such as Trumpia (#12), mobile advertising networks such as GreyStripe (#24) and Millennial Media (#28), mobile application analytics vendors like Localytics (#36) and Flurry (#9), app-based mobile payment processors such as Bango (#4), and who could forget the mobile application builders like appmakr (#8) or mobile development platforms like Wakanda (#22)?
There's no one mobile strategy you can employ today to win a consumer tomorrow. Those that have experienced any level of mobile success understand that mobile is but a new opportunity - one that Web workers and all digital media professionals should begin taking very seriously. In next month's issue of Website Magazine, our editors will highlight some of the best mobile presences available today.
1. mobilestorm.com
2. mobify.com
3. dudamobile.com
4. usablenet.com
5. jumptap.com
6. appcelerator.com
7. mobileroadie.com
8. appmakr.com
9. flurry.com
10. admob.com
11. admarvel.com
12. Trumpia.com
13. inmobi.com
14. mojiva.com
15. mippin.com
16. phonegap.com
17. sponsormob.com
18. hipcricket.com
19. netbiscuits.com
20. mobiletheory.com
21. adfonic.com
22. wakanda.org
23. shoutem.com
24. greystripe.com
25. mobisitegalore.com
26. winksite.com
27. rhomobile.com
28. millenialmedia.com
29. distimo.com
30. ready.mobi
31. kishkee.com
32. digby.com
33. mobclix.com
34. iloopmobile.com
35. mofuse.com
36. localytics.com
37. wapple.net
38. mobi-cart.com
39. fiddlefly.com
40. mobileapploader.com
41. mobilemarketing.net
42. sumotext.com
43. percentmobile.com
44. bango.com
45. appsamuck.com
46. myappbuilder.com
47. smaato.com
48. genwi.com
49. appbreeder.com
50. adwhirl.com
