Apple plans to launch a new mobile ad platform this week could complicate search engine marketers' efforts to integrate mobile search into their operations.
It could also, though, deliver more targeted campaigns for clients, depending on how rich a data store Apple has compiled from iTunes and the App Store.
No details have been released about the new mobile ad system, though some speculation has it that Apple may offer hypertargeting capabilities which would allow advertisers to target consumers based on their geographic proximity to specific locations, which could lead to location-based advertising beyond what is possible now.
At the same time, Apple will be going head-to-head with Google's mobile offerings on the Android platform. For search engine marketers and their efforts to incorporate mobile into the mix, that spells complications.
Certainly it will require dual approaches until one platform becomes the obvious dominant one.
As it is right now "if you are moving forward with a mobile marketing strategy, you need to think of what people will search for when looking for an app," says Patricia Brusha, co-founder of A Couple of Chicks - an internet marketing company focused on travel and tourism. "There is a limit by Apple of only 7-8 keywords that you can use to tag your app. However, besides finding it through the app store, you can promote and highlight your app the same way you did your website, social media sites, on your cards, email signature and print collateral."
Upside
The upside is the potential data store that Apple has -as well as the pieces it is assembling for this service.
The Quattro ad platform Apple is acquiring would do well with local search, says IDC analyst Hadley Reynolds, particularly when paired with the touch-screen capabilities that Taptu can bring to search. (via eWEEK). Also, there is a choice amount of data that Apple has piling up in its iTunes Store and on its devices, Reynolds said.
"Apple is in an inside position to tap into the current pent-up demand for better mobile search, and add a new competitive differentiation from other search providers and device makers," he said.
