Q&A-Yahoo mobile chief says ads, apps growing

SAN DIEGO Oct 8 (Reuters) - The numbers are starting to look respectable at Yahoo (YHOO.O) Mobile, even if they measure growing interest in mobile applications and advertising rather than dollars, Yahoo Mobile chief David Ko told Reuters.

Yahoo Mobile announced an upgrade this week to its mobile homepage, that, along with a $100 million national branding campaign, is aimed at drawing in both users and advertisers, Ko said on Wednesday.

Ko told the CTIA convention in San Diego that Yahoo Mobile has no plans to build operating systems or phones, but will focus on creating mobile apps and growing its user base.

Q: You said there was robust interest by certain industry sectors in mobile advertising. Can you give more details?

A: It's autos, finance and consumer products. They are seeing good results because the devices have gotten a lot better, the experience is more tightly integrated into the advertising itself... so (advertisers) now are saying, this is a great opportunity to reach my audience on the PC and on mobile.

Q: Are Yahoo Mobile ad rates are higher than its PC rates?

A: Many of the ad rates that you currently see are cross-platform buys... so I wouldn't say (mobile) is higher. It's a blended rate.

Mobile advertising is still in its infancy, so people will always look to the PC first right now, especially in places like North America. (Mobile) will be a much smaller component of the overall ad buy, but we view that to increase over time.

Q: Will Yahoo develop apps for Google Android?

A: Android is something that... we will most likely develop for but we just haven't publicly announced anything. It may be (same apps as iPhone and Blackberry) or may be something different. We would have to look at how users are interfacing with the Android platform and the carriers they are launching on and how it's interfacing with different handset manufacturers... and then we will make some decisions on it.

Q: Does a potential Microsoft (MSFT.O) partnership give Yahoo more leverage to strike mobile search distribution deals with mobile carriers?

A: It may. Microsoft, if we decide to work with them, could be someone who helps us on the back end but partners continue to come to us because of who we are.

Q: Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz recently said monetization is not the priority in mobile. What is Yahoo's priority in mobile?

A: It's growing audience. It's taking advantage of and extending the PC audience to mobile and growing that audience globally.

Q: When will Yahoo's mobile business be profitable?

A: I don't talk about our metrics or numbers. Our group is still focused today on the audience numbers so we don't share things around the revenue or other numbers.

Q: Would Yahoo ever charge money for an iPhone app?

A: No. Our philosophy has been that our applications are free and we have maintained that philosophy on ... all new media around mobility to come.

Q: Where is the uptake for Yahoo Mobile fastest?

A: While I won't go into which geography in the Americas... some of the fastest-growing areas are areas that are selling smartphone-like functionality.

We are seeing tremendous growth in emerging markets in some of our Asia-Pac territories. Places like India, Indonesia, the Philippines. (Reporting by Gina Keating in San Diego; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)