At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last month, search giant Yahoo made a series of announcements in support of its ambition to be at the heart of an open mobile internet. The technologies and initiatives that the company unveiled will not only interest consumers but also firms looking to develop third-party applications deliverable via the mobile web, as well as advertisers and publishers who want to reach wider audiences.
At the heart of the announcements was the introduction of the new Yahoo Mobile Developer Platform, which is designed to enable third-party developers to create small mobile applications, or widgets, that can be accessed through the new Yahoo Go client, and are therefore available on any Java-supported handset.
“Where Yahoo Go 2.0 was a collection of mobile-optimised Yahoo services, Yahoo Go 3.0 is an open environment offering Yahoo’s full selection of Mobile Widgets developed by third parties, enabling users to not only access their favourite Yahoo Widgets but also a full selection of those offered by developers,” said a spokeswoman. “By providing developers with the tools to write code once and efficiently publish their content across hundreds of devices, Yahoo hopes to accelerate the adoption of mobile services by creating an explosion of new choices for the consumer.”
Ovum analyst Tony Cripps argued that by making the creation of widgets easier and more open, Yahoo may be able to steal a march on its rivals, as these applications make using the mobile web much easier for consumers.
“In theory, if they open up the SDK [software development kit] to third parties, there’s no reason why you can’t create a Gmail application that will run in a Yahoo mail client,” Cripps said. “But while Go is a necessary stepping stone, over time we’ll move towards a more browser-based widget environment.”
To this end, Yahoo also announced a new version of its home page that will deliver an experience similar to that of the new Go client to mobile browsers.
The company also announced it is to allow advertising on its Go widgets, which could attract advertisers keen to reach wider audiences via the new mobile channel and publishers seeking to monetise their services.
Another firm heavily involved in mobile advertising is Wapple, which recently launched a new Advert Package offering, designed to provide firms with all the tools they need to create and publish a mobile advertising site.
“It’s the right time for firms such as Google and Yahoo to be getting involved in mobile advertising,” said Wapple co-founder Anne Thomas. “When people use the mobile internet it’s not to [replicate the fixed web] but for quick information and consumption, and advertising fits neatly into that category.”
Thomas predicted that mobile advertising could take off this year because the technology is ready, but added that it needs a push to “open the floodgates so that by next year it is commonplace”.
