Smartphones are outselling PCs and tablets are on the rise. Within 3-5 years there will likely be more Internet access on mobile devices than on PCs. That's certainly going to be true globally if it doesn't come to pass in North America in that timeframe.

By several estimates there are already 100 million mobile Internet users in the US market. And there are many more mobile subscribers than PC Internet users overall. With the US and Europe nearing 50% smartphone penetration, local search on mobile devices must be top of mind for local media publishers and directory publishers in particular.

Local lookups on mobile devices range from one-third to one half of all queries. There’s also a sea of largely untracked local queries on smartphone apps, numbering in the hundreds of millions each month. Accordingly, mobile is a critical platform for local publishers and advertisers. But can publishers simply reproduce their online offerings in mobile form and expect to succeed -- or should there be a dramatically different and more “vertical” approach?

Every yellow pages heading could conceivably become a mobile app. However that doesn’t mean it should happen. What headings should be developed as vertical apps? And how should the traditional publisher brand positioned in a vertical context, if at all? Where does additional, “rich content” come from?

The attached 59-slide presentation explores these issues and attempts to stimulate thinking and provide guidance in addressing pressing mobile strategy and tactics choices confronting local media publishers.