In today’s mobile and social news roundup: GoDaddy pushes mobile presence with a startup acquisition; Mobile users more active on Twitter; Twitter partners with AmEx to become a shopping platform; Google pays Apple $1B a year to be primary search engine on iOS devices; Broadcom announces LTE modem; and Millennial Media to acquire Metaresolver.

GoDaddy pushes mobile presence with startup acquisition

GoDaddy, the  Internet domain registrar and web hosting company, has announced the acquisition of M.dot, a startup company that developed an iOS app which allows mobile users to create websites in the app itself.

M.dot is GoDaddy’s first acquisition under its new CEO, Blake Irving, who took the chair last January.  The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but estimates put the price tag somewhere between $5-20 million, betting on $15 million.

M.dot’s co-founders, Dominik Balogh and Pavel Serbajlo, as well as three other M.dot employees would be joining GoDaddy’s team.  GoDaddy will utilize M.dot to push its mobile strategies, offer small businesses a one-stop-shop for all their online needs, as well as offer some services for free, in the hopes of enticing consumers to sign up for a paid service.

While there’s speculation that GoDaddy is expanding revenue opportunities via mobile for the purpose of becoming more attractive ahead of an initial public offering, there’s something to be said about GoDaddy’s business model with the M.dot deal.  It’s also a chance to further its newer freemium strategy, layering more services and premium add-ons after users have been lured in.  Here with more analysis on the topic is Senior Managing Editor, Kristen Nicole, who appeared on this morning’s NewsDesk show with Kristin Feledy.

Mobile users more active on Twitter

In a Twitter-commissioned study by Compete, it was determined that mobile users drive Twitter’s user engagement.  Out of its 200 million active users, 60 percent use the service via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, at least once a month.

The study also revealed a few other interesting user behaviors, such as 57 percent of Twitter users access the service primarily via mobile devices and they are more likely to use the service several times a day compared to other Twitter users.  It was also noted that those primarily using mobile devices to access Twitter are the younger generation with 52 percent of people aged between 18 to 34 year olds access Twitter via mobile devices.

Turns out, people can’t start their day without telling the world how they slept, or if they’re having a crappy morning.  The study showed that mobile users have a 157 percent chance of using the service upon waking up, and a 129 percent chance of using the service before going to sleep.  And since staying connected while on the go seems to be the standard these days, Twitter users are 169 percent more like to use it while shopping, and primary mobile users are 301 percent more likely to use Twitter before and after attending a movie than the average Twitter user.

Mobile tweeters are 96 percent more likely to follow 11 or more brands, and they are 58 percent more likely to recall seeing an ad on Twitter than the average Twitter user.  Which simply means that if companies want to raise brand awareness, or promote a product, or announce an end-of-season sale, Twitter should be their primary tool for advertising.

Twitter partners with AmEx to become a shopping platform

In other Twitter news, Twitter and American Express announced a partnership that would allow tweeters to purchase items directly on the microblogging service.

AmEx users can tie their cards to their Twitter accounts to purchase items such as American Express gift cards, Kindle Fire tablets from Amazon’s online store, and jewelry from designer Donna Karan, by just posting a tweet to start the transaction.

“We’re convinced that commerce is going to be one of the areas (for which) advertisers are going to start using our platform,” Joel Lunenfeld, Twitter’s vice president of global brand strategy, said in an interview.

Brands, especially small businesses, could greatly benefit from this new shopping experience as consumers could instantly buy products the minute the brand launches its new ad.  Another benefit is the direct connection brands and advertisers will have to consumer intent and purchasing behavior, a killer combo that could be far more valuable than click leads.

Millennial Media to acquire Metaresolver

According to sources familiar with the matter, mobile ad network Millennial Media is near closing a deal to acquire mobile ad targeting and real-time bidding startup Metaresolver.  Details were not disclosed, but the deal is estimated at $20 million.

The acquisition would bring real-time mobile ad buying and targeting technology to Millennial Media which would greatly benefit the company since it had been predicted that the real-time display market would grow by 72 percent this year.