• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, May 3, 2011

Whether to invest in building a mobile-specific site or a mobile application has been one of the debates defining mobile advertising in the last two or three years. For many brands, apps have proven the sexier option, allowing for video-game-like immersion and generally capitalizing on adoption of the iPhone and smartphones.  

Agencies often counseled clients to think twice about launching expensive apps with a short shelf life and instead focus on developing a mobile-friendly Web to reach the broadest audience possible on cell phones. But it's a false choice, according to Forrester mobile analyst Thomas Husson, who argues in a new report that the "Web versus apps" debate is irrelevant. He points out that heavy apps users are also heavy mobile Web users, and that both apps and the mobile Web will improve over time but continue to co-exist.  

"Apps will benefit from mass-market smartphone penetration, but a majority of consumers across the globe will access the Internet, not apps," he wrote in a blog post today. "HTML5 will greatly improve the audio and video capabilities of mobile browsers. However, it will be at least three years before the technology fully matures. It has to reach critical mass on consumers' mobile handsets and in developers' minds."

At the same time, Husson says apps will remain the best tools for engagement and new business opportunities, "not only because they offer richer services and experiences, but also because they place the brand icon on the user's home screen."

He also outlines a future in which apps will expand across all platforms including mobile, TV and the PC, with consumers expecting a seamless experience across all media. That means content and advertising will have to be tailored according to screen and where someone is using a connected device.

"That's the reason why you will need a new cross-platform approach to loyalty," notes Husson. "In the multi-device, multi-connection world, product strategists need more than a good product with a connection to win customer loyalty -- they need to create a digital customer relationship and deliver that in a continuously connected experience across many devices."

That's something cable operators and other proponents of the "TV Everywhere" concept would agree with. One distinction that seems clear is that for content providers, apps are currently the best way to deliver programming or interactive, rich media to smartphones and tablets. For brands, which aren't necessarily delivering the same volume of video or level of interactivity in campaigns, creating a full-scale app isn't as much of a necessity.

That's where in-app advertising would come in -- capitalizing on the audience reach of third-party apps with units that run inside them. That usually also entails having a landing page or optimized Web site to send visitors to for more product or other information. And that points to another way the relationship between apps and the mobile Web isn't necessarily a zero-sum game.