The Audit Bureau of Circulations' interactive unit, ABCi, is teaming with Verve Wireless to audit newspapers' mobile content delivered via the Verve publishing platform. As a result, ABCi says it is now able to provide newspaper publishers and advertisers with independently verified mobile usage data generated from apps, e-readers, and mobile browsers. "It's clear that mobile represents the next generation of publishing," says Art Howe, CEO of Verve Wireless. "In order for advertisers to have confidence in the medium, there has to be accountability and verifiable usage statistics. ABC's interactive audit services are ideally suited to audit user data across all mobile technology platforms, all devices and all networks."
Mobile publishing company Verve Wireless today announced its end of year milestones, noting that 100 million mobile news pages were served in December 2009 -- a 160 percent increase year over year. The company says local news continues to be the most accessed mobile content, but that breaking world or national stories -- like the death of Michael Jackson, for example -- are driving the largest traffic spikes. Verve also notes that mobile video is a growing field, with viewership growing by 106 percent in the past three months.
The Associated Press, which has used Verve for mobile publishing since May, led the way in the company's second round of financing, the New York Times reports. "Mobile is actually a better way to reach people than print or even web. It's versatile, immediate, travels and is just as compelling," Verve CEO and former Village Voice Media president Art Howe says. One analyst tells the Times that newspapers need to tap into the fast-growing mobile market before it's too late. "It's important and smart for newspapers to get out in front on the mobile phenomenon and not make the mistake they made in waiting too long to embrace the internet," says Greg Sterling, who studies the mobile internet for Opus Research.
