Motally aims to tabulate mobile web traffic

Mobile website operators across the globe may be wondering why they're seeing so much traffic from mobile web surfers in Canada and Norway. The reason, explained Seamus McAteer, is that a large and growing number of mobile users are using BlackBerries (BlackBerry maker Research In Motion routes some traffic through its Canadian servers) and Opera Mini (managed by Norwegian tech firm Opera) to access the mobile web, thereby throwing off some mobile traffic tracking systems.

And, naturally, McAteer promises a solution.

[1]McAteer, who founded mobile analytics firm M:Metrics and sold it to comScore, is the interim chief marketing officer for Motally, a new entrant into the nascent but already crowded field for mobile web monitoring. The company offers traffic-tracking software to mobile website operators, and promises to be able to quantify not only page views but also unique mobile visitors and their respective carriers. It's no small task, McAteer explained.

"We can address a lot of the nuances of mobile," he said, noting that standard websites employ cookies and track IP addresses to evaluate traffic, but those tricks can't easily be transferred to the mobile realm. Thus, some mobile website owners may be wondering if they need to open an office in Norway when in fact they're seeing U.S.-based Opera Mini users accessing their site.

Motally joins a number of other analytics firms, including Google, Omniture, AdMob and Bango, though Motally boasts a front office that includes executives from Yahoo Mobile, IBM, Novell, Oracle and Helio.

Motally officially launched in June after an April test run, and expects to soon update its own website. McAteer said the company currently counts a "small" number of customers (he declined to provide specifics) and said the fees for the company's service run from free (for a self-service trial) to $10,000 and up for for a fully serviced enterprise offering.

For more on Motally's pricing:
- see the company's site [1]

Related articles:
Omniture Announces Mobile Analytics [2]
AdMob debuts mobile analytics solution [3]
Bango delivers new mobile web analytics tools [4]
Flurry intros mobile app analytics service [5]