WSJ.com ran a story today saying that Google could unveil its mobile strategy within two weeks. The story recaps some of the expected details, but I think it misreads the "radical" strategy.
"The Google-powered phones are expected to wrap together several Google applications â€" among them, its search engine, Google Maps, YouTube and Gmail email â€" that have already made their way onto some mobile devices. The most radical element of the plan, though, is Google's push to make the phones' software "open" right down to the operating system, the layer that controls applications and interacts with the hardware. That means independent software developers would get access to the tools they need to build additional phone features."
Even though many of the eyes following the GPhone story are on the "open" development tools, the key to Google's mobile strategy is likely to be the same as its Web platform strategy â€" the search is free, but AdSense brings home the money.
From a mobile perspective, not only the search but the handset would also be free. It's a concept that Google's CEO commented on last November.
"Google chief executive Eric Schmidt sees a future where mobile phones are free to consumers who accept watching targeted forms of advertising.
Schmidt said as mobile phones become more like handheld computers, and consumers spend as much as eight to 10 hours per day talking, texting and using the web on these devices, advertising becomes a viable form of subsidy."
Furthermore, Schmidt said, "Your mobile phone should be free. It just makes sense that subsidies should increase [as mobile ads proliferate]."
Brian Caufield also wrote about mobile ad revenues in a Forbes article earlier this month.
"The payoff could be big: While analysts estimate that mobile-phone software generates $500 million in revenue for Microsoft, New Jersey-based market researcher Kelsey Group figures mobile-search advertising in the United States alone will grow to $1.4 billion in 2012 from $33.2 million this year."
Now that's radical.