Local search ads take mobile leap on iPhone.
Google Sponsored Listings have started to appear within the Maps application installed on every iPhone and iPod touch device. These paid listings appear alongside organic results when users perform relevant searches, helping local customers find appropriate businesses from their mobile phone. PM Digital is working on getting more details on the specifics of this new program and how it relates to Google’s Local Business Ads program.
Apple celebrated 1.5 billion app downloads last week, but that heady number doesn’t tell the whole story of the one-year old App Store. It took Apple nine months to reach 1 billion app downloads. It took only three months to add another 500 million. That’s remarkable.
Take it as a given that most apps are faddish and have a short shelf life (think cowbells, lighters, “1,001 Pick Up Lines”). There are also apps that have expanded our perception of what is possible, like identifying a song almost anywhere using Shazam, or distinguishing a color on-the-fly using Benjamin Moore’s ben Color Capture. These are potent, uniquely mobile experiences. Apps in one form or another are here to stay.
