Social networking continues to dominate mobile search

Social networking remains the number one area of interest among mobile web users, with Facebook and MySpace topping search terms on both Google and Yahoo! OneSearch, according to mobile software applications and infrastructure provider Openwave Systems. Per mobile web usage trends derived from an anonymous sample of customer logs from a Tier-1 North American operator and processed through its Openwave Mobile Analytics service, the firm notes that in terms of average hits per session, MySpace leads Facebook by nearly 46 percent, suggesting that MySpace could become the preferred choice of mobile communications for a segment of the operator subscriber base and could even displace some email solutions. 

Additional findings from Openwave: Mobile advertising marketplace AdMob serves nearly seven times more ads than its nearest competitor, but also has a lower click-through rate in comparison to rivals Buzzcity and Microsoft. Openwave contends that AdMob's lower click-through numbers could be the result of generic ads that fail to offer targeted relevance to the subscriber. Openwave adds that by providing aggregated data on subscriber behavior and preferences to ad networks, operators could create more effective and customized subscriber targeting, translating to higher click-through rates and better results for all segments of the value chain. Openwave also reports that Craigslist now ranks number seven within the top 10 mobile search terms on Google, suggesting a trend towards mobile classifieds for jobs, housing, bargain priced goods and services.

In related Openwave news, the company also announced the launch of Openwave Accelerator, an addition to its Integra mobile web service management platform promising to increase data transfer rates over wireless networks while decreasing bandwidth consumption. According to Openwave, Accelerator reduces service latency and the volume of data going over the air to mobile devices by applying enhanced content compression and caching to accelerate access and content delivery without impacting visual quality. The firm adds that Accelerator's multiple acceleration techniques optimize the number of transactions necessary to deliver content and the volume of data per transaction--the network can also handle more concurrent interactions with the same resources so that fewer network shortages impact billable traffic. Openwave Accelerator will be available in the second quarter.

For more on the Openwave announcements:
- read this release

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