Welcome to the Weekend Web

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The weekend Web may grab more widespread use in the coming months. Nokia (NOK), Motorola (MOT), and RIM all are due to release new devices equipped with browsers this year, and Apple is expected to introduce an updated iPhone capable of faster download speeds later this year.

Carriers are also striking deals that give users access to specific sites more easily. A service from British carrier 3 lets users log on to eBay via smartphones for free, while other sites still come with related fees. "We are getting signs that more carriers are moving in this direction," says Max Mancini, senior director of Platform & Disruptive Innovation at eBay.

To make mobile Web surfing more convenient, companies like Microsoft (MSFT) are integrating speech capabilities into everything from mobile search to calendaring. "It's almost like having a personal concierge," says Brian Arbogast, corporate vice-president for mobile services at Microsoft.

Capitalizing on Differences

In the future, mobile and PC Web use could diverge even more. EBay is experimenting with using a phone's camera and location capabilities to introduce new ways of shopping. People may be able to take a photo of a product's bar code in a brick-and-mortar store, and look up comparable prices on eBay from their phone. "I look at this as, 'What can we do to extend mobile commerce and what we do currently on eBay?'" Mancini says. Mobile technology was originally viewed as a way to extend the PC Web, he says, but now "there's an opportunity to do things that are unique."

Marketers are already taking note of the differences between consumers' behavior on the mobile Web vs. a PC. According to a recent report by Juniper Research, retailers will send as many as 3 billion mobile coupons to wireless phone users by 2011 (BusinessWeek.com, 5/6/08), resulting in $7 billion in discounts redeemed. Already, advertisers in some regions can use Global Positioning System technology to send coupons and other marketing messages tailored to a cell-phone user's specific location. "We really believe the mobile consumer will make more purchasing [decisions] in the offline environment than on the mobile Web," says Michael Bayle, treasurer for the Mobile Marketing Assn.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt seems to concur. In a recent interview published on F.A.Z. Electronic Media, Schmidt said that "mobile will be a larger business than the PC Web." Google will get plenty of competition from other companies eager to generate sales from wider use of mobile Web access. "I think it's possible for us to become the No. 1 site on mobile," says Jed Stremel, director of mobile at social network Facebook.

Kharif is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com in Portland, Ore.