Steve Ives, CEO at Taptu, argues that mobile specialists understand the mobile market as well as, if not better than, companies whose background is on the web

The last ten years have been Googles decade. The company has revolutionised Internet search and pushed the boundaries of innovation in every area that it operates in, even getting its name in the Oxford English dictionary. Googles dominance of online advertising is undisputed, but is the king of the PC screen also going to dominate the mobile screen?
Naturally, Googles CEO Eric Schmidt thinks so. In June 2008 he revealed his wider ambition; to change the world and set a clear focus on mobile for the next three years. Speaking on CNBC in August 2008 Schmidt said: we [Google] can make more money in mobile than we do in the desktop, eventually…

Massive opportunity
Schmidts prediction about the expected explosion of mobile search and the mobile advertising market is echoed by several key analysts. Gartner predicts the mobile advertising market will reach 12 billion by 2011. Without doubt, the mobile device presents a massive opportunity that has not been seen since the birth of the Internet itself.
Google is such a powerful brand, that when it comes to talking about its vision and market predictions, people often get carried away, and some interpret this to mean that Googles success on the desktop will be mirrored on the mobile. At this pivotal moment in the development of the mobile web, perhaps we should resist the temptation to assume history will repeat itself on mobile.
Take mobile social networks for instance. Yes, were seeing significant usage on mobile of the desktop social networks like Facebook and MySpace, but were also seeing the pure-play mobile social networks like Itsmy, MocoSpace and Peperonity taking significant share. According to the Q1 Mobile Report published in May 2008 by Opera, MocoSpace is number 3 in the US, with Facebook sitting at number 5.

Striking differences
When it comes to search, the desktop and mobile share some common issues, but also have some striking differences. As on the desktop, the sheer volume of sites available on the mobile web is overwhelming, and unsurprisingly, were seeing search establish itself as the navigation interface of choice. Unlike the desktop, however, the mobile is awash with different screen sizes, codecs and protocols. This lack of standardisation means that a one size fits all approach to search is unlikely to work.
On the desktop, the job of a search engine is fairly simple, as pretty much all websites can be viewed by most computers accessing them. But on the mobile, things are different. The user experience depends on the specific device and network being used. The key is to optimise for hundreds of different devices and prioritise search results according to mobile friendliness, thereby ensuring that users can find what they want, quickly and easily.
When it comes to marketing on mobile, search is, and is likely to remain, a powerful and significant channel for brands to reach their target audiences in a relevant and efficient away. Were already seeing some evolution in the conventional desktop PPC (pay per click) advertising model as it migrates to mobile. For example, click-to-call and click-to-locate. 

Other opportunities
There are also other opportunities available. For instance, your mobile is with you all the time and is usually the first port of call when youre trying to fill some time just watch kids on a bus journey home from school. In this mode, users are very receptive to advertising, providing its targeted and relevant, and this presents a new opportunity.
Its all very well to offer standard formats, but it is also important to focus on evolving new formats, and ways for brands to engage with mobile users. The mobile is the most personal, pervasive mass-market consumer device ever seen, and there is definitely further scope for developing new mobile advertising solutions.
So if youre thinking about advertising on the mobile, then consider some of the pure-play mobile services and mobile search providers on the market. You might be surprised by what they have to offer.