Marketing Pilgrim

Shouldn’t pretty much all serious news be delayed until tomorrow? Apparently Yahoo disagrees, since they’ve chosen to release their latest mobile offering today. Called Yahoo! Mobile for Web, the new offering is set to be the starting point for the mobile web as well as an iPhone app. Soon, a Yahoo! Messenger app will also be available for mobile devices.

The new mobile portal is now available at http://new.m.yahoo.com. The press release says that the new site features:

• Discover: via results from Yahoo!’s award-winning mobile search and editor-selected content;
• Stay Connected: through access to email and social network accounts from the most popular Web providers, as well as instant messaging, address book and calendar tools;
• Stay Informed: by bringing together favorite content – websites, sports teams, news sources, RSS feeds, weather, stocks, horoscopes and more – into a single location.

Naturally, Yahoo touts the usefulness of this for their users: the SVP of Yahoo Mobile, David Ko, says, “Consumers around the globe are demanding compelling mobile Internet services that offer increased personalization. . . . We created Yahoo! Mobile, a dynamic starting point enabling consumers to discover the world around them, stay connected through a variety of communication services, and customize content to define their Internet experience on mobile devices.”

But the big opportunity here isn’t lost on Yahoo. Later in the press release, they tout the advertising possibilities:

Yahoo! Mobile for Web will feature display advertising from leading brands, allowing consumers to interact with these rich media ads through functions such as send to a friend, locate a dealer, clicking to call the advertiser directly or the ability to learn more information about the advertiser’s offer. With some of the highest quality inventory available and a highly-engaged user base, Yahoo! is focused on creating scale for advertisers by helping them reach their targeted audience wherever they are.

It’s a tough balance to strike—do we tell our potential users how beneficial our new product is or our potential advertisers? (I’m thinking in a press release, however, the choice isn’t so hard. How many users are really going to read this?)

Think the next announcement is the G1 ceding its OS to an Yahoo! app (in honor of today’s holiday, of course)?

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