For more than 15 months, these two Internet superpowers have been going at it. Attracting merchants with tens of millions of dollars in discount coupons, free transaction processing and attention getting icons on paid search ads and new services.
Both Google and Yahoo have also actively developed their mobile search interfaces. Google secured a patent on mobile click-to-call ads, and then received a boost when Motorola agreed to add a dedicated "Google" button to some of its handsets.
Major brands, agencies and start-ups are putting more of their energy and dollars into exclusive campaigns and technologies aimed at mobile marketing. For many, it is already big, big business. And as U.S. consumers become more reliant on their cell phones, mobile services such as mobile search and Web surfing are now almost commonplace.
The Shosteck Group predicts mobile marketing will be worth $10 billion in the U.S. alone by 2010. 43 percent of U.S. marketers are using mobile marketing right now, according to Forrester Research. And nearly 90 percent of major brands plan to market to mobile phones by 2008, according to a survey by Airwide Solutions.
There are currently more than 2.6 billion mobile users in the world, according to the most recent figures from mobile telecomms analysis company The Mobile World. 'The total number of mobile connections is now equivalent to nearly a third of the estimated world population of 6.5 billion, ' says Martin Garner, Director Wireless Intelligence.
With all of this growth going on in the mobile marketing and advertising industry and so many consumers worldwide owning mobile phones, it's no wonder Google applied for a Text Message Payment patent. The patent was applied for on September 26, 2006. Google is already pretty much set to launch a mobile phone later this year and a mobile phone payment system would be the logical extra step to take in order to make the Google Phone stand out amongst its competitors.
Many people are saying that a system such as this would need a humongous user base to take really take off and that if it is exclusive to the GPhone, it simply won't get enough of a user base. A successful launch of a mobile phone payment system would require this to work on every phone there is.
Well, there is one company now being added to the mix, that already has a tremendous advantage in this global niche. That company is called MobillCash.
MobillCash is the world's first Mobile Payment System where a customer needs only a mobile phone and nothing else to make a purchase.
It is a mobile payment system that has a user base of over 500 million mobile phone users in 15 countries and allows those users to simply enter their mobile phone number in the MobillCash billing form to purchase your products or services. The customer will be billed by the mobile phone carrier. No Credit Card, Bank Account or ID required.
Their goal is to have 1 billion registered users by 2008 and at the rate the company is growing globally, they will.
MobillCash has gained support and approval from over 100 Mobile Phone Carriers like AT&T, Vodafone, Sprint/Nextel and Boost Mobile in fifteen countries and that list is growing daily.
Glyn Smith, CEO of MobillCash says, "After more than three years of programming, MobillCash was recognized by the United Kingdom to meet the highest standards of security and integrity available anywhere in the world; and the U.K. recognizes MobillCash as a Financial Transfer Service.
This status places MobillCash on the same level as Visa and MasterCard throughout Europe. MobillCash is the first mobile payment company worldwide to reach this status."
The company has filed patents to protect their unique payment solution and recently received their patent pending designation that gives notice to all direct competitors as well as copycats from infringing on their unique way of doing business.
MobillCash is now available in the US and is partnering with many international and successful executives who have built successful online businesses. These executives are taking MobillCash under their marketing wings and assisting their rapid growth around the world.
Their timing couldn't be better. The mobile payments industry is one of the fastest growing market niches recognized throughout the world, and MobillCash solves a serious problem no other mobile payment solution does.