MS Sees Windows Phone 7 as an 'Ad-Serving Machine

Microsoft executives are designing Windows Phone 7 as an "ad-serving machine," according to a video from the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival. Microsoft's Kostas Mallios said a dynamic tile in Windows Phone 7 will push ads and brand information. The video also has Microsoft's Mich Mathews saying Windows Phone 7 will launch in October.
Windows Relevant Products/Services Phone 7 will launch in October, and will be designed, at least in part, as an "ad-serving machine." That's the word leaked from a video Relevant Products/Services report now on YouTube, in which several Microsoft Relevant Products/Services executives talk about upcoming plans.

In the video, General Manager for Strategy and Business Development Kostas Mallios emphasized that Phone 7 will be designed and able to serve ads and maintain a brand experience, with tiles near applications and a sliding box pushing ads and brand-related content to users. Basically, he said in the video, the Phone 7 platform "enables advertisers to connect with consumers over time" so companies will be able to continually send information and offers.

'Toast' Lures Users

"What you'll see," Mallios said, "is there is actually a message on that tile, so that title is actually a dynamic tile that you're now able to push information to as an advertiser, and stay in touch with your customer Relevant Products/Services." In addition, a small sliding box called "Toast" can notify the user that there's updated information or an ad relating to the app. The user can choose to opt out of the notifications, although it's not clear if the default state will be opt-in or opt-out. Toast appears to be Microsoft's answer to Apple's iPad, which serves ads on the iPhone.

Mallios noted that usually, when someone downloads an app from a company, "it actually takes you to an app store of some sort, and then you have to find your way through and so on." He added that Phone 7 is designed to "preserve the brand experience by going directly from the web site right to the application," using a secure Relevant Products/Services certified connection that maintains the branding.

The video, shot at the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival this week in France, also has the company's vice president for marketing, Mich Mathews, letting drop when the newest version of Windows for mobile Relevant Products/Services devices will be available, adding some detail to the current information that Windows Phone 7-based devices will be available by the holiday season.

The Horse Race

Microsoft is clearly hoping that Phone 7 will give it the boost it needs to address an increasingly competitive market for mobile platforms. According to a Nielsen analysis earlier this month, as of the first quarter Research In Motion's BlackBerry has the top market share with 35 percent, and Apple's iOS is second at 28 percent, with Windows Mobile in third place at 19 percent and Google's Android fourth at nine percent. Apple and Google have each increased their market share by two percent since the last quarter of 2009, while Microsoft and RIM each lost two percent.

Third-party applications are an increasingly important driver in mobile-device buying decisions, and, in terms of developer interest, a recent survey by mobile software tools provider Appcelerator found that iOS and Android are the preferred platforms of developers, with Windows Phone 7 in fourth place after BlackBerry.