Big data is 'crude oil' of digital world ? Amobee

The changing nature of the advertising space provides a significant revenue opportunities for telecoms network operators if they choose to leverage their sizeable data assets, according to mobile advertising solutions provider Amobee.

You can compete in the advertising market; "big data is the way to do it," Grant Watts, SVP and managing director, Asia Pacific, at Amobee told the assembled mobile operators at CommunicAsia on Tuesday.

Telcos have a number of assets in their favour, like their customer relationships, the amount of data they can capture, and real-time location information, Watts pointed out.

"The operators have a big advantage over everyone else in the ecosystem? if you get your act together," he said.

"Data is the new world's crude oil," Watts said. "Billion-dollar businesses can be built on it," he explained. In addition, a "data spill" could be as disastrous to the owner as a crude oil spill, he said.

"The operator is the crude oil company," while players like Amobee, which was acquired by SingTel in March, build the oil rigs, said Watts.

Operator data can add much value for advertisers, Watts said, using Google's keywords model as an example.

"The most expensive word on Google is 'insurance'," he said, with insurance companies paying $54 per click in the U.S., despite the fact they have little-to-no information about the person making the click. They are willing to pay that price because the value of the potential customer to them is high. And the same is true of other big players in other industries, he said, listing the likes of Proctor & Gamble, Unilever and Nokia.

"All of these companies are looking for better returns on their marketing spend," and that's where telcos have a role to play.

However, not all telecoms operators are fully behind the potential of advertising.

"Advertising is not for everyone," said Sudhir Menon, senior manager of advanced multimedia services at Singapore mobile operator StarHub, pointing out that pushing out ads to mobile phones can be annoying for the user.

Rather than accepting advertising in return for free content and/or services, customers "may be willing to pay if the price is right," said Menon, pointing out that

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