PhoCusWright@ITB 08 - Mobile push

So Gerry Samuels from Mobile Travel Technologies is on the main stage.

This is what happened in 2007:

• Launch of the iPhone
• Google Android
• Mobile Web Advertising
• Nokia bought Navtech

So what's up:

• Costs of access
• Multiple standards
• Limited payment systems

Convergence is the real issue here. People use computers and mobiles in very different ways.

Indeed, mobiles are not being used for search and bookings - rather, they are better for what Samuels calls "services", especially in-resort.

The other area is in promotions. Some work for the Malmaison hotel chain, where a print display ad had a SMS number for readers to send to download Malmaison availability and information, saw an impressive 10% conversion rate once people got to their computers.

But there is a change. People are beginning to make last-minute bookings via a mobile phone, facilitated in part by the rise of Google Mobile, which is the most popular website - inevitably - on the mobile internet.

So are you ready for Google Mobile to find you?

You can find out right now:

Go to Ready.mobi to see how well - or not - you rank on Google Mobile.

Kevin May, editor, Travolution