{{Internet giants from Google and Facebook to Yahoo and Zynga are scrambling to adapt to an online world where people reach for smartphones or tablets instead of traditional computers.}}<\/p>\n
Social games pioneer Zynga, which rose to stardom making titles played at Facebook\u2019s website, is cutting nearly a fifth of its staff as part of a move to focus on titles for mobile gadgets.<\/p>\n
After taking over as chief executive at Yahoo last year, former Google executive Marissa Mayer laid out a turn-around strategy that made a priority of tailoring offerings to smartphones and tablets.<\/p>\n
The dismal performance of Facebook\u2019s freshly-launched stock last year was blamed in large part on fears that it lacked tools to cash in on members who are increasingly accessing the social network from mobile devices.<\/p>\n
Google has proved prescient by creating and giving away an Android mobile operating system that showcases its software and services on smartphones and tablets.<\/p>\n
Even the Mountain View, California-based technology titan\u2019s seemingly offbeat \u201cbig bets\u201d on Internet-linked Glass eyewear and Web-connected self-driving cars are seen by some analysts as shrewd moves to remain anchored in lifestyles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe head-mounted display makes the mobile user much more valuable because you can serve ads as they are walking and make them location-based,\u201d independent Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle said of Glass.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith self-driving cars, the dashboard is a huge tablet; if the car is driving and someone is bored, you can serve up whatever you want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Companies that staked claims with websites visited by people using desktop or laptop computers risk obsolescence if they don\u2019t adapt to Internet users switching to apps on smartphones or tablets.<\/p>\n
Industry data shows that people are moving \u201caggressively\u201d to apps and away from traditional websites, according to Gartner analyst Van Baker.<\/p>\n
Not only are the devices preferred by Internet users changing, so is their behaviour.<\/p>\n
Gartner research shows that people using smartphones access the Internet an average of 20 times a day with sessions lasting about a minute, compared with four times daily for about 35 minutes a pop on traditional computers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a big challenge, because the behaviour associated with a smartphone is dramatically different from a notebook computer,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour experience needs to be two clicks deep and be done in a minute,\u201d he continued. \u201cIf it takes any longer, they are gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smartphones in particular have small screens, raising the risk of people being annoyed by advertising.<\/p>\n
Mobile devices also allow location, calendar information and other contextual data to be woven into services to win people over with desirable information at just the right moments and places.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe opportunity to be relevant or helpful is much greater because of the contextual information,\u201d said Forrester analyst Charles Golvin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you interrupt me and adopt the old get-in-your-face approach of many marketers, you are much more likely to sour any potential relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
Internet companies don\u2019t have the luxury of focusing on either mobile devices or traditional computers; they must tailor offerings for both, according to analysts.<\/p>\n
\u201cMobile first is correct, but it is not mobile only,\u201d Golvin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to enable your customers to reach you where and when they choose to and on the device that happens to be in their hand at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Established Internet companies tend to be well-positioned to adapt to engaging people on mobile devices.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fundamentals of delivering your experience digitally are still there at the core whether it is going to a PC or a browser or to a mobile device,\u201d Golvin said, referring to established operations such as Facebook and Yahoo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is less of a disruption than it is a transition.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the ability to bypass running websites makes it easier for startups to blaze into the market with mobile apps.<\/p>\n
Zynga faces the added challenge of being in a hits-drive business in a world where loyalty to apps is fleeting.<\/p>\n
Most of the people who download a mobile app at launch abandon it within three months, according to Gartner.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe life of \u2018Draw Something\u2019 or \u2018Farmville\u2019 can be even more compressed in the mobile world,\u201d Golvin said, referring to Zynga titles.<\/p>\n
\u201cA game is a hit, people engage and then the next hit comes along and takes up their time.\u201d<\/p>\n
{AFP}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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