Location-based services

Published: 18/02/08

By Nicolien

With online advertising getting more and more targeted, Fast Web Media has put together an interesting story about location-based services: what it is, how is it being used and what could be the future?

What is location-based targeting?

Location-based targeting services are services that use knowledge about where an information device, such as mobile phone, PDA and PC/laptop connected to the internet, is located. The user of such an information device could be shown ads specific to the region the user is in.

How are location-based services being used?

In the UK, one of the most well-known location-based services are being used in Cineworld and Vue cinemas. A total of 74 cinemas have installed a little box the size of a hardback book that can communicate with Bluetooth-enabled handsets over a radius of 100m, sending advertisements to users who agree to access the content. The business model relies on a pay-per-download basis, with advertisers only paying each time their content is accessed. Campaigns in the cinemas can include film trailers, digital vouchers for discounted products and promotional music downloads.

Further down the road, American broadcaster CBS is introducing location-based banner ads on it's main mobile channels MobileNews and Mobile Sports. CBS will use social-mapping service Loopt, as this company tracks every move of its customers. Loopt's customers have opted-in for this as they have subscribed to a service that automatically lets their friends know about their where-abouts. Consumers must explicitly opt in to receive geo-targeted ads from CBS advertisers.

"It's getting serious now," says Cyriac Roeding, EVP of CBS Mobile, referring to mobile ad sales in general. "We're getting out of these testing stages and we're now talking to large brands about more significant dollars."

'The key is to add value, at the end of the day, if the consumer doesnt win in this game, there is no game.'

According to Anne Bezancon, CEO of 1020 Placecast (geographic information providers), location-based targeted ads are not breaching the rights of someone's privacy. "All this is done without any issue of privacy, as we do not need to know who the user is. This is not user-centric, it's place-centric," said Bezancon. "I'm in a particular place at a particular time and usually there are reasons why I'm here and we can infer from that perspective the form of behavior we can target against."

This month, a 'breakthrough application' has gone live: GyPSii a new social networking platform designed specifically for the mobile phone. Being the first among social networking applications, GyPSii is designed with the capabilities and features of the mobile phone in mind: it offers location-based search for people, content, events and places.

'The real time location-based element of GyPSii adds a new dimension to the social networking phenomenon. The device we all carry in our pocket, our mobile phone, is now empowered to record your life; where you are and what you do, and share it in real-time within your chosen social networking communities,' said Dan Harple, founder and CEO. 'Rather than sitting indoors chatting to friends on a PC-based service - you can be out and about seeing who is nearby, what they are doing and where you could go - all in real time. GyPSii takes a virtual connection with your friends and turns it into a real connection,' he added.

The future of location-based services?

It's not just companies that use location-based services, far more people are interested in using mobile location based services than actually do so, according to a report from Jupiter Research. Just 3% of mobile phone users in the USA surveyed said they use mobile navigation technology such as turn-by-turn navigation or maps, but there are two groups that are well worth looking at from a commercial point of view:

• Of all surveyed parents with children under the age of 13, 42% said they 'would be interested and willing to pay for services that would allow them to track the where-abouts of their children'
• Of mobile users aged 18-24, just 26% said they 'would be interested in mobile social networking applications based on the location of their friends'.

Even though these target groups are not the biggest, they are certainly interesting for companies to look at as they express a special interest in these kind of mobile services.

Any online marketeer should keep an eye on mobile developments as they can, and probably will, be the future. In this millennium of convenience, small wireless devices will be used more and more to keep up social lives, find routes and even order pizza's.