Mobile News: Google Gets With Digitas, Velti Buys Casee, InMobi Ad Growth

Google Partners With Digitas for Mobile Research and Insights

Search giant Google has teamed up with Digitas to share and publish mobile marketing insights and research, which it hopes will “inform investment strategies and drive the creation of mobile optimized websites.”

The first installment of the data was published this week in relation to the Mother’s Day holiday. Though it features little contribution from Digitas this time round, it offers up some interesting data points from Google nonetheless.

•    On Mother’s Day 2011, 33 percent of Google search queries on the term “flowers” came from mobile devices.
•    Mobile search queries for “flowers” both on Mother’s Day 2011 and in the week leading up to it grew by over 100 percent compared with the same periods last year.
•    In the week prior to Mother’s Day desktop searches for “flowers” increased from Monday to Friday, then declined on the weekend, while mobile queries steadily increased all week and maxed out on the weekend.

Velti Acquires Chinese Mobile Ad Network Casee

Mobile marketing platform and ad network provider Velti has acquired the remainder of Chinese mobile ad vendor Casee, following the 33 percent investment it made in the company in 2008.

Starting life as a mobile marketing platform provider, Velti has been pushing more aggressively into the pure mobile ad space, acquiring U.S.-based network Mobclix in 2010 and launching a mobile ad exchange earlier this year. The firm says the Chinese expansion should help it capitalize on the growing Chinese mobile ad market, and increase its appeal to global brands.

InMobi Reports Growth Across its Network

Mobile ad vendor InMobi has reported strong impression growth across its network between January and April, which it says reflects continued growth and advertiser demand for mobile ads. Total impressions served to devices in North America grew by 17 percent in that period, while ads served to global devices grew 11 percent.

That increase is being driven “entirely by smartphones” the company said, citing impression growth of 37 percent to devices in that category, such as Android handsets and the iPhone. Overall, smartphones now account for 80 percent of impressions across North America, it added.

Mobile Email Use Rockets 81 Percent in Six Months

Email use from mobile devices grew 81 percent between October 2010 and March 2011, data from email marketing company Return Path suggests.

The firm studied which platforms its clients’ marketing messages were opened from over the six-month period, and found interactions through both desktop mail clients and webmail services dipped, while use from cellphone devices almost doubled. Meanwhile, access from tablet devices grew 15 percent over the same period.

Demand Media Hires First Mobile Strategy Head

Hoping to beef up its mobile presence, Demand Media has made its first executive hire dedicated to the channel, appointing Michael Kirby as SVP and GM, Mobile.

Kirby will be tasked with driving strategy for the company’s existing and future mobile products, as well as identifying opportunities in the space.