Applications
Yankee Group survey reveals barriers to the adoption of mobile value-added services
MUMBAI: The Boston-headquartered global market research firm Yankee Group has announced the results of its 2006 European Mobile Multimedia Survey, an examination of European mobile multimedia trends providing valuable insight into current consumer behavior.
Some of the major highlights include:
— User demand for mobile TV is modest. Only 11 per cent of respondents said they are very interested in the service. Once confronted with the reality of how much the TV service is likely to cost (i.e., EUR 15 or US $19 per month), 85 per cent of respondents said they are less interested in the service.
— Full-track music downloads continue to dominate the headlines, while in reality user interest remains low. Only 5% of respondents are prepared to pay more than a 20% premium for full-track downloads. However, the typical premium today is 100%. Alternative music-related services are more interesting to the user and more likely to generate revenue in the short term.
— The industry must do more to convince users that browsing and downloading is safe and affordable. Almost 40% of respondents said fears over price dissuade them from downloading more ringtones.
However, mobile operators are overcoming the technical barriers to delivering many of their services. Picture messaging–which in the past was dogged by unreliability and poor ease-of-use–seems to have solved those problems. Respondents‘ main barriers to using picture messaging are the price and they do not see any need to send pictures, states an official release.
“The survey results illustrate that mobile operators have some pretty substantial barriers to overcome to drive growth in value-added services,” says Yankee Group Wireless/Mobile Europe senior analyst Matt Hatton. “Operators are pinning their hopes on advanced applications such as music and TV to drive revenue growth, but they still have a lot of technical, pricing and marketing issues to overcome to drive adoption. They‘ll get there, but maybe not through the services they think.”
This survey enables service providers, device manufacturers, content providers and infrastructure vendors to understand the status of mobile multimedia services in Europe today, and to identify the barriers limiting consumer adoption. It analyses customer opinions about current and forthcoming services such as mobile music (including ringtones, ringback tones and full-track downloads), video/TV, gaming, video telephony, MMS and mobile browsing, adds the release.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
