Mobile Fix: Google I/O
In his round-up of everything mobile, Simon Andrews, founder of Addictive!, this week looks at Google’s developer conference, new ad formats and the Internet of things.
The arms race continues. On Wednesday Google held their I/O developer event – the Android version of the Apple WWDC a couple of weeks ago.
As well as sharing growth figures and a long list of new features, products and ideas – and having a bit of a pop over who does what first – the event was notable as evidence Google want to take back some more control over how Android is used. Android is only really useful to Google in two ways:
– More Android devices means more distribution for Google products – feeding more data back to Google and giving them more eyeballs to sell ads against.
– More Android devices means less Apple devices. Every high-end android sale is probably a lost sale of an iPhone. So Google is less at risk to the ongoing Apple de-Googling of their ecology.
But when people can use Android without baking in Google, there is little advantage and Google have spent the last couple of years tightening their grip on the platform.
Benedict Evans made the point that when people (like Amazon) fork Android – creating their own flavour of Android – they lose much of the Google magic ingredients and that looks increasingly pointless (other than China where Google has different issues).
Like Apple, Google see a world where people effortlessly switch between devices – smartphones, watches, Chromebooks etc – and Android and Chrome recognise and enable this. For example when you are wearing an Android watch your smartphone wont require you to use the pattern to unlock the home screen.
As predicted when Pichai took over Android – whilst still running Chrome – the distance between Android and Chrome is shrinking. What this means for the ‘distance’ between native apps and the web is a topic for another day; but it’s clear that Google – essentially a web company – are looking to close this gap.
To get more on I/O it’s worth reading VC Fred Wilson and this interview with Sundar Pichai is good background on Google and their take on GAFA. And if you want to dig deep then check out the I/O site – lots of good video on topics that are going to be really influential – like Material Design.
It’s also worth remembering what didn’t get mentioned – Glass, Robots and more.
Ad Formats
One element of our talk at Facebook last week was about how little creativity gets applied to mobile advertising. Because many see banners as the work of the devil, they are ignored by most creatives and usually end up being worked on by junior staff. And doesn’t it show?
If you look at the Cannes winners in mobile little could be called advertising and we think that’s a problem.
Yet if you treat banners as little billboards or posters you can convey an idea with them. You just need to have an idea to start with.
It’s clear that we need new formats and new ways of working to breathe life into mobile advertising and win back the attention of the talent. French publisher Le Monde are pushing a new format, which looks quite elegant.
But the other issue around mobile and digital creative is the production costs. Delivering a campaign that works across a whole range of different formats usually means that a disproportionate share of the budget goes on re-purposing assets to fit a range of different shapes and sizes.
Just as responsive sites are the right approach for most people building a web presence these days, we are convinced that responsive advertising is the only real answer for anyone wanting to unlock the value of digital advertising.
We are working with our friends at Responsive Ads to bring their really effective platform to Europe. Beta trails with the LA Times, Mashable and Mastercard and more have proven really successful at delivering Rich Media creative that can be adapted in real time. Google have a similar, though arguably less sophisticated, tool and it has proven very effective for TalkTalk – reducing eCPA by 12%.
We will soon be knocking on the doors of European publishers and agencies to find partners for Responsive Ads – if you would like to jump the queue let me know.
Internet of things
Just prior to their I/O event Google made a further play in their internet of things strategy with Nest buying Dropcam – the video monitoring camera system – for $555 million. They also announced they are launching a developer programme – with Mercedes, Jawbone and Whirpool amongst the launch partners. This will be a space where Google and Apple go head to head – how long before Apple stop selling Next and DropCam?
This interview with a garage door company gets into the detail of how these partnerships are being forged.
Recent Pew research suggests the internet of things will be thriving by 2025. We don’t think it will take that long. The CEO of the newly merged Dixon Carphone talks of the connected home as part of the logic for the merger.
This is an edited and abridged version of Mobile Fix – click here to read the full article on Addictive!’s website
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