Today we continue 3Seventy’s “MobileMinute” weekly video series, where Andy Kennedy takes on the topic of mobile apps vs. the mobile Web in relation to an integrated mobile strategy.

There’s long been discussion on whether creating a mobile app is better than developing for the mobile Web and vice versa, but the fact is there’s no right or wrong answer to this debate.  Brands struggle with these decisions everyday and it comes down to what works best for each individual organization.

Read the full story

New forecasts out from eMarketer peg mobile advertising spend in 2012 at $1.8B, growing a healthy 47% during the year.

A majority of the growth will be attributed to search and display (banners, rich media and video) ad units, in addition to continued adoption of smartphones, tablets and mobile Web usage.  “Mobile advertising is no longer a question of ‘if’ but of ‘when,’” said Noah Elkin, principal analyst at eMarketer and author of the new report, ‘Mobile Advertising and Marketing: Moving to the Mainstream.’  “A key factor pushing mobile advertising toward the mainstream is that mobile web access is fast becoming more the norm than the exception.  This makes mobile a greater imperative than ever for marketers.”

Read the full story

It was announced today that 3Seventy, a company specializing in mobile CRM solutions, has launched a brand new SaaS-based enterprise mobile solutions platform targeted towards small to medium sized businesses.

The new platform, dubbed “3Seventy Local,” is designed to bring enterprise-level mobile solutions — including targeted SMS messaging in addition to mobile Web and mobile app solutions — to smaller organizations at truly affordable price points.  The company realized a larger issue in that advanced mobile solutions have been largely out of reach to smaller organization due to cost.

Read the full story

Google today announced new mobile ad-units along with some interesting new stats in regards to mobile search.

According to the company, 40% of all mobile searches coming to Google are local in nature at this point, which continues to trend upward.  As such, the search giant also announced that “physical location,” or the proximity of a local business to a user’s location will become a targeting variable when serving ads to mobile users.

We reported yesterday that Google is now on track to bank over $2.5B in mobile ad sales this year, and it looks like the company’s “Click-to-Call” ads are driving a large portion of this total.  Google’s Surojit Chatterjee said that Click-to-Call is now driving “millions of calls per week” globally for the company.

Read the full story

On Monday, Netcore Solutions – a real-time communications company – announced its acquisition of Ravience, a Mumbai-based mobile marketing services provider.

“Ravience complements Netcore’s offerings across SMS, Email and Web channels, and its closed loop digital campaign management platform,” says Netcore’s Chief Executive Officer, Girish Nair. “Upon integration, the Netcore-Ravience platform will be a unique end-to-end offering for enterprises to create, manage and enhance digital campaigns.”

Ravience is focused on helping brands engage with their customers using its multi-modal response management suite ‘Responage.’

Read the full story

Embattled mobile content services firm Motricity is looking at possible exit strategies following a string of legal issues and executive leadership shakeups that have forced the once successful mobile company into a tailspin.

The company announced recently that it had secured a $20M loan with High River Limited Partnership, a venture capital firm owned by Carl Icahn, who also owns approximately 14.6 percent of Motricity.  The company is quickly trying to rebuild itself following several lawsuits and an $11M insider trading scheme perpetrated by former CEO Ryan Wuerch and other senior executives.

Read the full story

Google has always been about creating the best user experience on mobile devices and has taken broad steps to encourage publishers to optimize effectively for mobile users as well.

For AdWords advertisers wanting to reach mobile screens, how you optimize your site or landing page plays a huge role in how and where your ads are displayed.  Last year, for example, Google started limiting ad serving on high-end mobile devices if they pointed to landing pages with Flash-heavy content.  Likewise, the search giant announced today via its “GoogleMobileAds” blog that it will introducing the mobile optimization of a Website as a new “ad-quality” factor for AdWords campaigns that are driving mobile search traffic.

Read the full story