September 24, 2008

AOL Adds SmartBox (aka Query Suggestions) to iPhone Mobile Search

AOL is adding query suggestions to its mobile search for the iPhone and iPod touch. Dubbed SmartBox, it's designed to aid searches on mobile phones since it is a pain to type on mobile phones. (Well, it is!)

Writing on the AOL search blog, Farhon Memon says, "By combining the functionality of query auto-complete and related searches all in one place, we've maximized the screen space of the iPhone and hopefully made AOL Mobile Search easier for you to use."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 3, 2006

New Mobile Search Features from AOL

AOL has added a number of cool new features to its mobile search offering, including a direct keyword-based navigation capability (very similar to the long lost RealNames system) and intelligent reformatting of web pages so that they are displayed optimally for your specific phone model. AOL also released some research describing the desires and habits of mobile phone users. Read on for more in today's SearchDay article, AOL Enhances Mobile Search, Announces Study Results.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 6:01 AM | Permalink

December 1, 2005

AOL Mobile Search Exits Beta

Late word from AOL that after about a four month beta period, AOL Mobile Search (you can take a look with a regular web browser) is being officially released today. I've posted the complete news release here but from the way it reads and from what I can see on my mobile browser, things are pretty much (from the searcher perspective) the same as they were when AOL Mobile Search launched in beta mode in July. I provided a full rundown then. If I spot anything new, I'll make sure to postscript this post.

Key Features of AOL Mobile Search + View web all web pages via mobile phone or device. Pages not optimized for mobile browsers are automatically adapted and converted using technology licensed from Israel's InfoGin. Btw, I believe AOL Mobile Web Search is still the only major mobile web search service to include paid listings on results pages.

+ Mobile Access to AOL's Pinpoint Comparison Shopping Service

+ Access to AOL Mobile Yellow Pages with easy click access to dial numbers and view MapQuest maps.

Show Me the Money, I Mean Revenue AOL and its partners will generate revenue when users click on sponsored links in each of our three mobile search services: Web search, Yellow Pages search, and Shopping search.

Postscript: The AOL Mobile Portal is located here.

Postscript 2: As Kevin points out, some AOL Mobile Yellow Page listings are enabled with Ingenio pay-per-call. Other (non pay-per-call) listings also allow you (if your browser offers this feature) to dial direct from the directory entry.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:01 AM | Permalink

July 27, 2005

AOL Unveils New Mobile Search Services

This morning AOL is online with a mobile web search beta. AOL has offered some mobile services (for example, AOL Instant Messenger, mail, news, etc.) for years and has been testing new features since April. Here's a rundown on what's new on the web search front.

The new mobile web search tool automatically "transcodes" or rewrites non-mobile pages into ones that are friendly mobile phones and devices. Google and Yahoo also offer this feature. AOL's transcoding technology comes from InfoGin, an Israeli company.

Be aware that you'll hit a smaller database than with regular search results, as highlighted in this quote from a MediaPost story on the launch:

AOL Mobile Search additionally will filter results to provide a smaller number of hits for users on the go. "When we looked around at the way that search had been offered so far...one problem was that when you decided to search for something, you could always get back millions of hits, which is certainly difficult to go through on your phone," [Ken] Thomas [the senior project manager for AOL Mobile] said.

Fair to say, it's difficult to go through millions of results even if you aren't on a mobile search device. In fact, most search engines only let you actually browse through 1,000 results, at most.

Should you be worried about not hitting the full database. Almost certainly not. Typically search engines have had the ability to hit more "popular" pages, and that will likely work just fine for the needs of mobile users.

How's it look? You can check it out even if you don't have mobile web access? You can view the site on a regular browser here and see a mobile search results page here.

I ran a mobile "web" search for "Search Engine Watch" and spotted paid listings at the top of all web search results page. Presently, neither Yahoo nor Google show paid listings on mobile search results pages. By the way, clicking on a paid listing takes you to a optimized version of the advertisers site.

Web results pages also include product listings. For example, my "Search Engine Watch" search include three non-relevant (Thomas the Tank?) product listings.

Aside from web search, the new AOL Mobile Search site also allows the user to access listings from AOL PinPoint Shopping and AOL Yellow Pages. AOL Yellow Pages for Mobile listings include maps and directions from Mapquest.

Bottom Line? Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of features or services. What is unordinary is seeing paid listings on mobile web search results pages.

To access ALL AOL's mobile services (including search), use this page. For just web search, visit this one.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:12 PM | Permalink

April 14, 2005

AOL Doing Some Mobile Search Testing

AOL, who currently offers a bare bones mobile web portal along with a mobile version of AIM has started to beta test some new services and tools according to this BetaNews.com story.

The article quotes an AOL spokesperson: "The goal is to allow mobile users to browse conventional HTML Web pages, enter specific URLs and access the AOL Search, Pinpoint Shopping and AOL Yellow Pages offerings just as they would from the desktop to easily find whatever they may need."

I was told earlier today that the beta was only open to AOL subscribers on the Sprint network. However, a few minutes ago I was able to access the beta site on the open web with my Treo 650. The beta currently allows you to search the web (Google results), yellow pages, and a mobile web version of AOL's Pinpoint Shopping site.

Postscript: AOL tells me that access is only available for certain mobile devices and from certain carriers.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:58 PM | Permalink

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