HTML5 is a technology that will drastically reshape the Internet and consumer engagement, as we know it today. Read more on the current state of HTML5 and its potential.

1. Understanding
HTML 5: Today’s
Realities and Its
Future Market
Potential
Considerations for using HTML 5 in mobile
marketing today and tomorrow

2. Contents
I. Introduction ............................................................................. 3
II. About HTML 5 and Its Potential ................................................. 4
III. Potential Complications & Headaches ........................................ 8
IV. About HTML 5: Where Things Stand Today............................... 9
V. Concluding Statements and Recommendations ......................... 11
VI. Resources ............................................................................ 12
Contributing Authors
Rich Moore, Chief Solutions Architect, iLoop Mobile, rich.moore@iloopmobile.com
Michael Becker, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association North America
Michael Ahearn, VP Strategic Marketing, iLoop Mobile, Michael.ahearn@iloopmobile.com
Rafal Meczkowski, Project Manager/Usability Architect, iLoop Mobile
Virginie Glaenzer, Director of Marketing, iLoop Mobile
Understanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 2

3. I. Introduction
Mobile is the driving force of future traditional and digital consumer engagement. Combined
with social channels, mobile stands to rewrite the rules of consumer messaging and action.
Worldwide, there are over 5.3 billion mobile phone connections (ITU 2011), 3.75 billion unique
mobile users, with an additional 5+ billion “connected devices,” i.e. tablets, game terminals,
eBooks, navigation and related devices (Mary Meeker, Morgan Stanley 2010). Contrasting this
to 1.4 billion PCs, and 1.9 billion Internet users worldwide, mobile becomes the clear winner in
terms of global reach.
Research shows us that consumers are quickly leveraging their mobile devices and mobile
media for all forms of commercial interactions. These interactions range from promotional and
social media interaction, to loyalty, commerce and customer care, including digital
engagement integrating mobile with traditional retail and media environments as well.
In fact, by 2011 consumers will purchase over $119 billion worth of goods and services directly
via mobile (ABI Research 2011). But mobile has an even bigger influence on traditional
commercial engagements. In increasing numbers, consumers are using mobile to search, look
up prices and product comparisons, venture to location and time sensitive opportunities and
more. Mobile is estimated to directly and indirectly influence $155B~$230B of U.S. brick and
mortar and eCommerce sales.
Mobility embodies engagement that is enabled by the latest technologies deployed in mobile
devices, networks and standards. In order to harness the power of mobile and the
engagement it offers, it is a strategic imperative that marketers understand and embrace
relevant emerging mobile technologies and their impact on marketing.
One such technology is HTML 5, and its related revision of CSS3 for cascading style sheets.
Note, CSS3 is not part of the formal HTML 5 specification, but many browser updates for HTML
5 will also include support for new CSS3 functionality.
HTML 5 is a technology that will drastically reshape the Internet and consumer engagement as
we know it today, with global ramifications.
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4. II. About HTML 5 and Its Potential
First developed in 2007, and spearheaded by Google and Apple, HTML 5 is the latest revision
of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), the industry standard for the structure and
presentation of content on the World Wide Web. HTML 5 is powering an entirely new
generation of Internet experiences, both for broadband Internet and mobile Internet.
Today there are 1.4 billion Internet users. However, due to the proliferation and adoption of
mobile devices, by 2015 there will be more people accessing the Internet via a mobile device
than the traditional Internet (Mary Meeker, Morgan Stanley 2010).
What sets HTML 5 apart from the previous versions of HTML is that HTML 5 has the potential
to bring together the last 20 years of the world’s experience with the Internet, and unify it into
a broadly supported standard.
HTML 5, once fully deployed, will help reduce device fragmentation issues in the market,
enabling marketers to unleash their creativity to create new innovative, intuitive and
compelling engagements via mobile:
 Cross-platform, cross-network, static and real-time rich media (e.g. video, audio)
 Streamlined social media integration and enablement
 Easier and more innovative customer care and relationship marketing
 Improved and enhanced user navigation, site usability and automatic content refreshing
on mobile sites
 Ability to retain user selection, preference and history for a better user specific and
context appropriate personalized mobile site experience
 New advertising and social media experiences utilizing local storage for context and
history
 Native app experience within a browser, an experience also known as the “Hybrid App”
or “Web App”
 Gaming, augmented reality and a wide range of other cloud computing based services
which will evolve by leveraging HTML 5 standards and new features
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5. What makes these new engagements and delivery models possible is the introduction of a
number of new web browser features in the HTML 5 standard that offer these capabilities:
 Embed video, audio, barcode scanning, rich media content and more within a browser
without requiring third party plug-ins such as Flash, Silverlight and other media players
for playback or functionality
 Lightweight size and streamlined coding of HTML 5 is ideal for limited memory devices
like mobile phones since the page script will be more efficient
 Store/cache data and content locally on a device within the browser, which improves
performance speed and supports offline access to the data or content experience
 Using the HTML 5 image canvas, full gaming environments and other interactive rich
media can be created native within the HTML code
 Improved semantics providing contextual descriptions for content in the HTML code
itself making it an easier to use and more elegant coding language
 Advanced Forms where the browser does more work for validation, making Javascripts
more efficient and offering faster page rendering
 Create a wide range of new engagements that can be adjusted in real-time based on
context including:
- Interactive drag-and-drop image creation canvases
- Content editing and creation (images, audio, video) utilizing enhanced visual
navigation and interaction controls
- Media playback
- Page rendering and presentation styles offering background media and style
management, and over 14 new input form field types
- Enhanced and easier authoring of touch and scrolling effects
- Auto-complete and drop-down menus
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6.  Other discussed features for HTML 5 include:
- Standardization and unification of metrics and analytics cross platform
- UI enhancements such as carrousels, pinch/spread/zoom, pop-over menus,
selections spinners etc.
- Cross browser consistency for in-page dialogs for confirm/cancel actions
 Access a device’s hardware and software features, including:
- Camera and microphone (Capture API)
- Location/GPS chip using HTML 5 APIs
- Contact services (personal contact software)
- SMS (text message)
- Gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, file and media system using APIs
- Notification systems (alarms, reminders)
- 3D graphic engines (WebGL library)
- NFC and RFID chips
 Integrated and streamlined use of background processes both on the device and
through secure sockets, allowing for a richer engagement without interrupting the
user’s experience, and providing simpler cross-platform application content updates.
The improved web service APIs enhances the performance of processor-intensive tasks
and scripts in the background, independently of the overall experience.
 Reduce the expense and time needed for the rigorous certification, testing and vetting
requirements of application stores as they align to the new HTML 5 specification
 Initiate content updates faster and more efficiently without complete reload of a web
page, which is critical for small screen devices or low bandwidth environments
 Interface with existing open standards, for example ORMMA (Open Rich Media for
Mobile Advertising)
 Segment an audience and deliver tailored content experiences based on a wide range of
demographic, location and behavioral factors, or simply enable A/B testing of different
marketing interactions utilizing local device segment data persistence
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7.  Leverage familiar and well-understood Internet development skills, tools and
processes—HTML 5 is an extension of existing mobile site technologies, specifications
and site development processes
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8. III. Potential Complications & Headaches
With the promise of the new capabilities and functionalities of HTML 5 and CSS3, come
possible complications to be aware of:
 Competing standards may evolve, particularly initially regarding HTML 5 “support” as
different browser vendors interpret the not-yet-final HTML 5 specification and
propose—by implementation—different “enhancements” to the basic standard
 Historically, mobile devices have utilized XHTML as the standard mobile browser
language. There is a next generation XHTML 2 specification that has some support and
may also be deployed in some mobile browsers. At the current time, based on actual
mobile device browser releases, HTML 5 is the standard being utilized for smart phone
operating systems. However, if some mobile browser vendors adopt XHTML 2 as their
supported markup language, mobile site publishers may then need to support both
HTML 5 and XHTML 2.
Until the HTML 5 standard is complete and fully and uniformly rolled out across the majority of
devices—which is not expected to occur until well into 2014—marketers should be aware of
potential execution issues, including:
 Performance problems
 Interoperability issues
 Inconsistent browser and device response
 Content playback and mime-type support variance across devices
 Consumer difficulty in discoverability of services
 Digital content rights managements
 Overall application experience inconsistencies
 Monetization challenges
 Evolving browser releases and the refinement process of a consistent HTML 5 standard
(or its well understood variations) supported across browsers
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9. IV. About HTML 5: Where Things Stand Today
While HTML 5 shows great promise, it is far from mainstream today. It is a language in motion,
and more time is needed for it to settle down to become a unified standard. As with all new
standards, early browser support varies, particularly in support of the additional “plug in”
extensions defined in parallel with the HTML 5 specification.
Obviously, in order for an HTML 5 experience to work properly, the device accessing the HTML
5 coded site must have a browser that supports HTML 5 (many of which are built with the Web
Kit framework).
As of October 2010, it has been reported that 350 million devices have shipped with partial or
complete support for HTML 5 worldwide, and another 100 million users have downloaded
third party HTML 5 compliant browsers to their phones (e.g. Bolt, Opera Mobile, Mobile Safari,
Mobile Firefox, Skyfire).
Furthermore, it is estimated that on average since October 2010, approximately 25 million
handheld devices a month are being infused into the market through the sales of iOS, Android,
Baba, Samsung, Windows Phone Nokia and Blackberry devices, as well as through the
download of third party browsers.
So it can be extrapolated that, by the end of 2011, nearly 750 million HTML 5 compliant
devices may be in the installed market. This is however a small sliver of the over 10 billion
devices in market today.
In addition, even if a consumer has an HTML 5 compliant handset and browser, there are no
guarantees that the marketer’s experience will be rendered consistently across all devices and
browsers, since at this time the specification is still being formalized.
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10. In other words, HTML 5 is showing great promise, but it is not mainstream yet, or ready for
mass marketing campaign deployment.
Options / Tradeoffs / Features
HTML 5 Custom HTML 4 XHTML
Applications
Well understood and actualized standard Not Yet Evolving Yes Yes
Suitable for feature phone devices No No No Yes
Suitable for mobile smart devices Yes Yes No Yes
Suitable for mobile network speeds Yes Varies No Yes
Consistent cross device experience Not Yet N/A No Yes
Created to standardize browsing Yes N/A No Yes
experience on PC, tablet and mobile
Known HTML 5 Solution Providers
Advertising Sites Analytics
iLoop Mobile X X
Usablenet X
Whoop X
Netbiscuits X X
Scout X
Celtra X
Medialets X X
WebTrends X
Adobe Omniture X
IVdopia X
OnSwipe X
PhoneGap X
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11. V. Concluding Statements and Recommendations
HTML5 will forever change the face of consumer engagement.
However, it is not yet mature enough, nor a final specification, to be a marketer’s exclusive or
primary mobile web solution for mass market reach. Several HTML 5 features are available
today that can establish an enhanced “beachhead” of new mobile site capabilities, but the full
capabilities talked about remain in the spheres of discussion and development.
For the time being, HTML 5 will co-exist with traditional mobile Internet and mobile apps, as
well as the wide range of other mobile channels that include SMS, MMS, email, voice, content
and proximity channels.
For mass-market objectives, it is premature to focus exclusively on comprehensive HTML 5
environments. At the moment, full HTML 5 implementation should be reserved for more niche
target markets that are advanced mobile users. However, marketers can, and should, consider
integrating a number of the more mature HTML 5 elements and the partner CSS3 extensions
such as canvas, styles, and current new standards such as location APIs. These mature
extensions can augment the experience for customers using HTML 5 compliant browsers, and
marketers can experiment and learn offering user experiences that effectively serve their
customers’ needs.
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12. VI. Resources
 World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): Global organization that sets Internet markup
language standards http://www.w3c.org
 Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG)
http://www.whatwg.org/
 Collection of HTML5 sites: http://html5sites.com/ and http://html5gallery.com/
 Wholesale Applications Community (WAC): operator driven app development
community with open source applications standards
http://www.wacapps.net/web/portal
 Browser compliance testing tools: The HTML 5 Test http://www.html5test.com and
FindmebyIP.com http://findmebyip.com
 DeviceAtlas: http://devicatlas.com
 Modernizr: http://modernizr.com
 Can I Use: http://caniuse.com
 HTML Speech Incubator Group (also known as Speech XG) is working to "determine the
feasibility of integrating speech technology into HTML 5
http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/htmlspeech/
 Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5
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