Wired Magazine recently published an article declaring the demise of the Web.

Since we at Bytemobile spend a lot of time processing and analyzing the network traffic of mobile operators around the world*, we were surprised. Our experience leads us to very different conclusions.

Let’s start with the area graph using Cisco data. While we agree with the data, we disagree with the use of traffic volumes to infer usage patterns.

The average video generates more than 30 times the traffic volume of the average web page. In other words, a user would have to visit 30-plus web pages to generate the same amount of traffic as one video. This ratio becomes even more skewed as users watch more long-form video from providers such as Hulu and Netflix. While video is the fastest growing form of traffic in terms of volume, it is hardly stealing usage from web pages. Video-generated traffic volume growth can be driven by a number of factors in addition to increased usage, such as longer durations or higher video quality. It is inaccurate to extrapolate traffic volume to usage patterns and conclude that users are moving away from the Web.

Wireless Data Traffic Mix – By Geographic Region

Source: Bytemobile Mobile Minute Metrics Report, February 2010

We also disagree with Wired’s classification of video as being separate from the Web. Video is an integral part of the Web. Most video is delivered from websites such as YouTube through a web browser. Further, videos are searchable and can be linked just as web pages are. Analysis of tier-one 3G networks worldwide shows that more than 95% of video traffic is delivered over HTTP on port 80 - just as web pages are. Video is simply another form of content on the Web. 

As far as apps supplanting the browsed Web are concerned, while apps are experiencing tremendous growth on smartphones, the browser still generates a major portion of the traffic. In fact, web browsing generates as much traffic as all apps combined – about 30% browser, 30% apps, 40% video, according to our network data.

iPhone Data Traffic Distribution by Highest Bandwidth-Consuming Applications

Source: Bytemobile Mobile Minute Metrics Report, February 2010

Moreover, apps are built primarily on web infrastructure. They use the same technologies that are used by browsers, such as HTML, HTTP, JPEG, XML, and others. Therefore, while apps may change the way that users consume content, they are still very much a part of the Web.

What we see changing is not the Web itself, but rather the channels that consumers are using to interact with the Web. Far from being dead, the Web is alive, well and thriving. And growing.

- Girish Wadhwani

*See Bytemobile’s quarterly Mobile Minute Metrics reports for more information.

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Earlier today, we launched an updated products and applications section of Bytemobile.com to showcase our latest solutions for mobile network operators. This is not only a timely update from a technology standpoint – including gateway traffic control, user analytics, mobile widget management, and video optimization – but also from an economic standpoint, given the need for agile networks and cost-efficient operations in the shadow of the global recession. In this vein, here are the highlights of the recent updates:

• Mobile internet gateway enhancements for traffic management through service control – web redirection to enable new service plans and promotions, policy enforcement to control excessive bandwidth usage, and application data storage to support user personalization – Read more about OSN WebGate™ Service

• User analytics based on subscriber traffic metrics and URL categorization – providing invaluable real-time data on individual browsing patterns to highly personalize the user experience and simplify navigation, search and ad targeting. Read more about OSN MobileMatch™ Service

• A widget management platform to simplify the mobile browsing experience – delivering useful, personally relevant information in real time to users without extensive search and navigation.  Read more about Web Fidelity™ Suite: Widget Bar

• Media optimization ‘on the fly’ for Flash video content on laptops – increasing effective bandwidth utilization and improving the user experience as video consumption continues to push overall data traffic growth. Read more about Media Fidelity™ Suite: Media Optimization

- Dan Fisher

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By all accounts, Google’s launch of the Chrome browser has been a tremendous success. Not since the launch of the iPhone has a product generated this much buzz in the industry.

Google has taken an interesting approach to marketing Chrome. It commissioned Scott McCloud to create a comic book explaining the benefits of Chrome, an industry first as far as I know. The comic book itself turned out to be newsworthy, and the few physical copies that were produced are now much in demand.

Another interesting aspect of the Chrome marketing campaign is that much of the message content is very technical. The comic book and the promotional video go deep into the innards of the browser and explain the rationale behind the technical choices made in the design of Chrome. The video features the actual engineers who worked on the browser. This begs the question: Is Chrome targeted at developers or consumers?

Chrome’s marketing is an example of three important lessons in technical marketing:

• Stand out. When companies do something unusual, they give the media stories to write. It is no surprise that Google’s comic book generated so much attention. The book also delivered the message in the form of a story, making it more understandable and memorable
• Be open and honest. Open and honest messages that show personality resonate better than polished, bland messages. We are, after all, marketing to humans who respond to emotions. Putting engineers in front of the camera ensured that the message came through unfiltered.

• Adjust your marketing to the product. What works well in marketing one product can be a disaster for another. The purpose of Chrome is to serve as a platform for application developers. Hence, Google came out with highly technical marketing that appealed to engineers. And the rest of the world went along for the ride.

Kudos to Google for a job well done.

- Girish Wadhwani

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Google benefits from increased usage of the Web since it controls the primary monetization engine of the Web. The more that users view pages on the Web and the more ad inventory that is created, the more opportunities there are for Google to drive its revenues higher.

Web usage basically consists of two parts: content and applications. Content has already taken off on the Web, and Google has monetized it successfully. In contrast, web applications are still in their infancy. In order to sustain its astronomical growth, Google has focused on promoting, creating and monetizing web applications.
Take Google Docs, for example. If you type a document in Microsoft Word and circulate it, Google makes no money. However, if you create a document in Google Docs and provide email links to it, Google can make money by displaying ads during both the creation and the viewing of the document. (more…)

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