AOL Aims High on Mobile

BusinessWeek just posted a story on AOL’s mobile ambitions, and they’re more relevant than you’d think.

“U.S. traffic to AOL’s mobile Web site is higher than that to Google Mobile’s and double that of MSN Mobile’s,” according to Hitwise and reported by BusinessWeek. Mobile phone users also tend to spend much more time on AOL’s sites than Yahoo’s, said David Gill, an analyst with consultancy Telephia, in the article. “Their audience is highly engaged, and advertisers like that,” he said.

Right now, cellphone users have to fire up different applications on their handsets to use multiple AOL features, such as checking AOL mail, running AIM, checking MovieFone listings, or using MapQuest to get directions. AOL wants to end all of this by developing a unified platform that works across all of their properties and products–a move that could simplify their offerings and draw more traffic from Google, Yahoo, and MSN on cellphones.

AOL’s Mobile Ambitions [BusinessWeek]

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.