Yesterday, Google announced their acquisition of Admob on the Google blog.

Admob, a dominant player in the mobile advertising arena, was founded in 2006 after Omar Hamoui couldn’t find ways to generate traffic to his mobile site.  As a solution to this problem, the Admob platform was developed. Since then, Hamoui and his team have grown Admob into a thriving and innovative mobile advertising company.  With this merger Google is aggressively entering the mobile advertising market and as a result of this acquisition Google will dominate the mobile advertising arena with approximately 30% - 40% of the market share.

According to Google mobile revenue is their fastest growing revenue stream. This can, in part, be attributed to the introduction of smart phones with advanced Internet browsers.  Google states that their mobile search requests have increased more than five times over the past two years.

The partnership between Google and Admob will result in increased advertising in applications on smart phones such as the iPhone and others that run on Android.  Within applications these ads are typically displayed as a banner at the top or bottom of the screen.

Admob’s publisher network is made up of more than 15 000 mobile websites and applications and according to Admob they received 2.6-billion ad requests from iPhone and iPod Touch devices in September 2009, up from 130-million in September 2008.  Even though Google has been displaying text ads on mobile search results it hasn’t had much success with mobile web display ads or in-app ads – until now.

Virgin Atlantic has released its first iPhone application aimed at nervous flyers.  Based on and named after the Flying Without Fear course the app was developed in partnership with Mental Workout, a company that specialises in designing software that helps people resolve stress issues.  According to Virgin Atlantic the Flying Without Fear course has a 98% success rate, and has even helped celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg.

Through mobile technology the Flying Without Fear app, the first of its kind, will put anxious travellers at ease.  The app features a personal introduction by Sir Richard Branson, a video explanation of the flight process from start to finish, an explanation of the aeroplane environment, frequently asked questions, relaxation exercises and a panic button for emergency breathing exercises.

According to Richard Branson, president of Virgin Atlantic, the app was designed to help people overcome the fear of the unfamiliar aircraft environment, the strange noises the plane makes and of losing control.

If you’re an anxious traveller, buy the app for your iPhone or iPod Touch from the iTunes App Store for $4.99.

Google Maps launched in South Africa yesterday on its own domain (http://maps.google.co.za) and boasts enhanced features.  The new version of Google Maps SA comprises detailed maps of cities like Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London and is available through any web browser or on your mobile phone through Google’s mobile application.

The new version of Google Maps SA brings a number of marketing opportunities to businesses. Businesses can list details like their physical address, opening hours, phone numbers, logos and even a live web cam on Google Maps Local Business Centre  free of charge.  Once this data is updated, potential customers searching for the business will receive driving directions to the business’ location and there is also an option to print the directions.  New overlay functions include a photo, wiki and webcam overlay.  The webcam overlay allows users to view a live feed of an area and will come in handy to avoid traffic jams!

In an attempt to enrich users’ map viewing experience, the My Maps feature will allow users to highlight their favourite locations and share them with others.  Stephen Newton, Country Manager for Google SA said:  ”Our goal with Maps is to make information with a geographical dimension available to everyone and to allow users to update the maps and develop on top of them.”

Kenya was the first African country to receive their own Google Maps Internet domain and South African second.  In total there are about 30 countries globally with their own Google Maps domain.  In preparation for 2010 Google Maps has committed to have the Street View function operational in time for the FIFA World Cup.  At present five South African cities are being photographed using special cameras mounted on Toyota Prius vehicles and a few of them have been spotted by Twitter users in Cape Town.  Other services aimed at international tourists include walking directions and transport data which will help visitors plan their holiday.