mobilestance.com

In a stunning announcement that is sure to raise more than a few eyebrows, ESPN reported that for three days during the 2007/8 NFL season traffic to its mobile portal exceeded that of its (PC-based) web counterpart, this according to AdAge.

ESPN is reporting that for one 24-hour period, traffic to its wireless NFL section exceeded visits to the PC NFL section, 4.9 million to 4.5 million visits. The network states that multitasking, fantasy-driven viewers frequently visit both sites on game days, and no doubt mobile’s rise to prominence is a boon for out-of-home fantasy-leaguers nationwide.

M:Metrics claims ESPN’s reach for its mobile properties is roughly 9MM, about 28% of the total US mobile web universe. Additionally, M:Metrics reports that 43.8% of those browsing sports content on their mobile devices visit ESPN, while Fox Sports draws 19.2%, followed by the NFL’s mobile website with 18.6% and CBS Sportsline at 11.4%.

Analysis: This type of headline really raises the profile of the mobile channel (with specific emphasis on mobile advertising on the mobile web) to all those media planners and buyers out there… A great day for us all!

Today at CES Yahoo! is planning on announcing that they are opening up their “Yahoo! Go” mobile application to third party developers, this according to the New York Times. The Times is reporting that MTV, eBay and MySpace have already created Yahoo! Go widgets that consumers can download either online or directly via the mobile application. Yahoo! Go has been ported to roughly 250 mobile devices, and comes preloaded on some phones made by Motorola, LG, Samsung and Nokia outside the US (domestic carriers force users to manually download and install the application prior to use, although this might change once device manufacturers start selling handsets directly to consumers).

Analysis: Yahoo!’s work on developing Go to a more mature platform is commendable. While the move does serve to further fragment the development environment for mobile (What, another new platform to write for? Better hire another developer!), the platform’s large (for mobile) install base of 250MM users worldwide will be attractive to major publishers and content brands (although some estimates confirm less than half of this base are actively using the application).

A no-brainer for Yahoo!, the move costs them little in oversight, while serving as a short-term defensive move against Google’s open Android platform. Ultimately the long term success of the play will hinge on the ease of developing third party widgets for Yahoo! Go, as well as any advantages that the development environment might afford (access to the address book? GPS data feed?). More on this as it develops.