jeffhilimire's posterous

When it comes to the mobile Web, increasingly there are only two mobile platforms which matter: Apple and Android. According to AdMob’s October, 2009 mobile metrics report, the iPhone/iPod Touch and Android phones accounted for 75 percent of mobile Web traffic in the U.S., as measured by all the mobile ad requests it tracks. That number is up from a combined 65 percent in September, 2009.

The iPhone is miles ahead of everyone else, but Android is quickly rising as a strong second. While Android phones managed to increase their share from 17 percent in September, 2009 to 20 percent in October, 2009, the iPhone and iPod Touch gained even more, going from 48 percent to 55 percent share. Meanwhile, during that same month the Blackberry ’s mobile Web traffic share went down from 14 percent to 12 percent, and Palm’s webOS shrank from 10 percent to 5 percent (Ouch).

On a global basis, the iPhone OS now accounts for 50 percent of all mobile traffic, up from 43 percent the month before. Android has an 11 percent global share, which makes it third globally after Nokia/Symbian’s 25 percent share. The U.S. makes up 49 percent of all the mobile Web traffic, according to AdMob’s stats. Thus strength in the U.S. translates to strength in the worldwide numbers.

As major new carriers come onboard, the numbers can shift dramatically. Since Verizon launched the Droid two weeks ago, that single device now makes up 24 percent of all Android mobile Web traffic. The HTC Dream, which is the oldest Android device, is the only one with more, at 36 percent of Android traffic. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Droid passes that within the next two weeks.

AdMob was recently acquired by Google for $750 million. Hopefully, it will continue to share this mobile market share data in the future.

CrunchBase Information

iPhone

Android

Information provided by CrunchBase

Wow, really had no idea that iPhone OS and Android make up 75% of the smartphone market.

I gotta give it to them, this season's 30 Rock leaves a lot to be desired, but at least they're still plugging away at in-show advertising. This last episode where they pimp the Cisco teleconference equipment is surprisingly a funny scene.

Excellent video description by David Cummings about the Shotput Ventures program. And a very thorough and well written piece by Ben Dyer about last week's Demo Day. Thanks guys!

Jeff Hilimire, managing director of Engauge Digital

Do: Recognize your brand is in social media, whether you like it or not

When talking to brands about digital strategies, I often hear that they are just not ready to be in social media. I tell them, “too late, you're already there.” Many companies don't realize that social media is just word-of-mouth on steroids. You can't say, “We're going to hold off on people talking about our brand.” Start by listening and monitoring the chatter that is already there.

Don't: Try to keep up with the Joneses

You sit down in a marketing meeting and your CMO says, “Our top competitor is all over Facebook and Twitter. Get us there ASAP!” Rather than trying to keep up, take a step back, study the way your customers are using the Web, plan out your strategy and take baby steps. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

Nice piece by DMNews on Do's and Don'ts of social, I was honored to be a part of it. Meant to throw this up on the blog earlier in the week. Please feel free to add a few of your own...

Excellent startup video, Bezos talking about the early years of Amazon and gives some pointers.

Pretty impressive work here by Evian. Any time you get baby gangs roller skating, you know you're on to something ;)

Nice little article showing how Facebook is copying Twitter. Though I'm certainly spending more time on Twitter than Facebook these days, I feel compelled to point out that Twitter's entire existence (status updates) is copied from Facebook.

So who's copying who again?

I find this video pretty interesting, mainly because Facebook seems to be willing to just be part of this new social world that's playing out rather than being hell bent on trying to control it (which is impossible, Microsoft). Good for Zuckerberg to openly talk about Twitter and Friendfeed and what they're doing.

Guy Kawasaki does a great job for American Express and this is a nice video with some young entrepreneurs that you should at least skip around and watch some of (that's what I did). I personally love it when young people get into entrepreneurship because typically, pass or fail, they'll always pursue the dream.