October 22, 2009

Search and Apply for Jobs Posted on Twitter via iPhone App

Searching and applying for jobs keeps getting more and more modern. A new iPhone/iPod Touch App allows users to search Twitter for job apps and then apply for them with one-click. The app is appropriately named "Real-Time Jobs" and was developed by WorkDigital, the makers of the web-based TwitterJobSearch.com. (Full disclosure: WorkDigital is partly owned by Incisive Media, parent company of Search Engine Watch.)

The app uses WorkDigital's new technology, which they call QuickPitch. Users can attach an online resume, video or other pitch to respond to jobs found on Twitter.

Bill Fischer, Co Founder of TwitterJobSearch explains the concept behind the app. "By bringing together our real-time search capabilities with our QuickPitch platform, we're aiming to re-invent a job search process that simply requires too much effort." Fischer will be speaking at SES Chicago this December at the Real Time Search Paradigm session. With the increased popularity and implementation of real-time search, that will be a session you won't want to miss.

Real-Time Jobs is available in the iTunes app store for free.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 3:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

October 19, 2009

Baidu Enters Mobile Search Agreement with China Unicom

Baidu has been selected by China Unicom to provide wireless search for its 3G mobile subscribers. Baidu's search will be embedded in China Unicom's 3G phone modules.

''We are very excited to join hands with China Unicom today following our partnership agreement with China Telecom in May,'' said Xuyang Ren, Baidu's Vice President of Marketing and Business Development.

China Unicom 3G subscribers will be able to access a variety of Baidu search features including web search, Baidu Knows, Baidu Post Bar, image search, news search, and MP3 search. Baidu will also provide search for China Unicom's wireless Internet sites.

''As the leader in Chinese language search, we hope that Baidu's cooperation with major telecom providers in China will accelerate the development of 3G services and allow us to provide the rapidly growing population of mobile search users better access to information,'' concluded Ren.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wolfram|Alpha's New iPhone App Price Tag Stuns

Wolfram|Alpha has released an iPhone and iPod Touch App. At $50, it's certainly one of the more pricier apps available in the App Store.

Mashable says the app has value as a graphing calculator, stock analyzer, etc. But as CNET points out, you still need a web connection to get the info and it's free to simply point your mobile Safari browser to WolframAlpha.com. CNET does admit the app is more optimized visually for the iPhone. So basically, you're shelling out $50 for a mobile version of Wolfram Alpha.

If you work a lot with numbers, it's probably worth shelling out the $50, though I would wait to see if the price comes down a bit. If you've forgotten everything you learned in your freshman calculus class, you probably don't need this app.

Here are the official screenshots from Wolfram|Alpha:

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 21, 2009

SES San Jose Preview: A Conversation With Metric Voodoo

Readers of this blog are aware that we're less than a month away from SES San Jose (Aug 10-14). In anticipation of some of the mobile local content that will be featured at the show, I was able to catch up with Michelle Moore, director of search engine strategies at Metric Voodoo. We'll be sitting on a panel on Day 1 of the show, entitled Keeping it Local: The Convergence of Phones & Local Search. Here's what she had to say:

MB: What are the biggest market factors that you see driving mobile search adoption on the part of both users and content owners or advertisers? (i.e. smart phone penetration? Better device standards? Etc.)

MM: Technology adoption with regard to smart phones is outstripping most previous major technology adoption rates, including touch tone phones, cassette tapes, hi-def TV and DVD video players. There's an entire generation in high school right now who's never known a time without cell phones. This ubiquitous adoption is already causing a measurable trend where smart phones are replacing computers, especially with regard to localized searches. People's habits are changing - when that happens, it forces market adjustments all the way around, not only with how advertisers will get their messages in front of consumers, but also what sorts of targeting these users are willing to accept. Phone searchers love being "helped" but they hate being "tracked."

MB: What are some of the fundamental differences of mobile marketing and SEO, compared to online marketing and SEO?

MM: I think the main difference now (which I'm single-handedly trying to rectify, heh) is that mobile marketing is a better proving ground for what I call "pervasive SEO." You're already dealing with limited screen space. How much more impactful do you think it is to be mentioned on the first 15 search results on several other sites when someone searches your chosen keywords, than to just be number three and show up once for your own domain name. Even if you're number one, if you're only there once someone else placing pervasively on ten or twelve OTHER sites will look more appealing, or more like an expert, or more prevalent. Internet users aren't naïve anymore. They know that what's on your web site was put there by you. If a dozen other sites are also saying good things about you, that's much more effective in terms of earning consumer trust.

MB: What are some of the most common mistakes or misconceptions of companies entering the mobile space (media companies, app developers, web publishers, advertisers, etc.)? What about misconceptions preventing companies from playing in the mobile sandbox?

MM: I think there's still a disconnect between the left and right brain that prevents advertisers from recognizing opportunities in the mobile space, especially for small to medium-sized business. For example, local search - which is one of my main prongs of attack with any business that has a physical location... it takes me about a dozen repetitions and even demonstrations over several weeks of the immense practicality of local business search on a phone before the little light bulb starts to glow. Ultimately, I have to sit back and wait for my clients to actually use their phone in this manner to make a decision or a purchase or answer a question, and then point out to them afterward why they ended up using the vendor they selected. "Do you remember why you ended up calling CVS Pharmacy?" "Yeah, the first phone number I found for Foster's Pharmacy wasn't in service anymore." "OK, so what happens when you change your business phone number and no one bothers to update all your local business listings that are floating all over the internet?" It's as if small business owners think that because they have a web site with their name and address and phone number, that's all they need. They don't think far enough down the smart phone path to realize that their site might be all in Flash, or that the average local business search through a smart phone portal may put results from CitySearch or Superpages above your business' own domain name... and oddly, SMBs are who absolutely need to succeed in this arena or get overrun by the big chains.

MB: Is the state of the economy currently having an effect on this adoption, any more so than other media? In other words is mobile's "experimental" nature preventing companies from utilizing it as a content and/or ad delivery platform in uncertain economic times?

MM: I think this depends on who you're asking. I don't know a single consumer who's given up their mobile phone. But I read all the time about companies abandoning or "back-burnering" their mobile marketing initiatives. It makes me want to ask marketers, "why are you doing this when that market is one of the only markets not shrinking?" Fewer and fewer people read printed newspaper, but more and more people use cell phones.

MB: Conversely, is mobile's targeting capabilities, greater ad performance (CTRs etc.), and measurability making it resonate to a greater degree during these times when advertisers are demanding more concrete ROI?

MM: You'd think, wouldn't you? I'm not sure about national numbers, but in the South where most of my work is done, it seems that there's a different barrier to entry. Much like with social media, there's a general lack of awareness (and therefore, confidence) in mobile marketing. I'm constantly preaching a reduction in faith-based advertising models like television, radio and newspaper, and a shift to trackable advertising, whether it's plain old PPC or mobile advertising. But there seem to be a lot of marketing execs who lack experience with the medium, making it harder to convince the rest of the C-suite to support mobile marketing initiatives. It's like the fact that you can measure ROI at all doesn't matter - they're not willing to dabble in mobile unless you can prove ROI to start with. It makes no sense to me.

MB: It's my contention that mobile and local are so closely related. Online, searches with explicit local intent are about 10% of overall searches. On mobile, it is currently about 2x-3x more than that, and growing. Do you agree?

MM: Yes, I do agree. Every statistical report I've seen in the last 8 months indicates that at least 25% of all searches on phones are local business searches. This is why I start my discussions by showing folks the Sprint commercial that was released in May - "Right now, 6000 people are researching restaurants in the back of a cab." How many "right nows" are there in a typical day... times 6000.

MB: What are the capabilities of the mobile device that will force advertisers to think differently when it comes to marketing or content delivery? Too many advertisers are porting over existing strategies (i.e. display ads) to a smaller screen. Will this change and "grow into" the capabilities of the mobile device including portability, location awareness, etc..?

MM: I think what consumers react most strongly to in the mobile arena is the gradual return of instant gratification. That's why local business search volume is soaring. What businesses are slow to realize is that searches on phones are not in any way, shape or form about your web site. They're about your physical location. This is why porting existing ad campaigns from the web will not be sufficient. I'm waiting for someone to fully develop an app that lets you not only research the restaurant, but see a layout, pick your table, and make your reservation without making a traditional phone call or sitting on hold or even talking to another person... then tie into Match.com and hook you up with a dinner date too.

MB: What kind of search models and ad formats will we see as a result? More location targeting? More cost per action? Actionable ways to drive local conversions, such as coupons? MM:Oh I guess I got ahead there... I've always wanted to ask - how do you use a coupon on a cell phone? Do you just flash it like an FBI badge? I'd love to be able to walk through my kitchen with a phone [example] and flash it at stuff I'm low on and see which store has the best current price on that exact item or something - not traditional ads at all, but access to the most up to date info that allows me to make the best decision.

The item in the video [example above] is a wearable cross between a smart phone, a web cam, a projector, and a massive instantly accessible "google" to let you immediately interact with everything. I think the roadblock along the path to better technology is that people won't let go of the outmoded ideas that are associated with traditional advertising. In the example in that video, the gentleman is accessing environmental data on the fly with regard to a toilet paper purchase in the grocery store. There's no traditional advertising message opportunity here - but there's tons of opportunity for companies who tap into what consumers are really interested in - and the newsflash is the consumer isn't interested in hearing corporate schpiel. They want honest information so that they can come to conclusions. It's great to know that the consumer is in the store on the toilet paper aisle, but I doubt that flashing a Charmin ad will have any effect. I think product marketing will become more about product awareness and corporate reputation as inventions like these progress.

MB: Who is doing it right? Any mobile sites or apps that you admire for delivering content in a way that is fitting to the mobile device and the way people are using it?

MM: The most awesome new phone app I've seen was on a Nationwide Insurance commercial. You have a wreck? You click an app that's connected to everything you need - it calls emergency services for you, it gives you a checklist for your information exchange, locates the nearest agent or office for you, takes pics of the damage for you, starts your claim process for you, and even includes a flashlight function! This is an example of the total 180 that major companies are going to have to learn to do. This app is all about the consumer. Of course, it doesn't do you a lot of good unless you are a Nationwide customer but this app is all about helping the consumer handle a difficult situation. Companies have got to figure out that they will get a lot farther when their advertising models are more focused on the consumer, not all about the company. On another note, I've seen the television commercial announcing this iPhone app ONCE - it made that much of an impact that I defied all "repeat seven times" advertising advice and remembered it after one viewing... I cannot begin to count how many Allstate, Geico, Liberty Mutual and Progressive commercials I've seen. I have no idea of the estimated cost of all those commercials compared to the one airing of the Nationwide commercial that I saw, but I can guarantee you that when my insurance renewal rolls around, I'll be getting a quote from Nationwide for good measure. The return on the investment in more efficiently serving the customer will most definitely pay off with a higher ROI than those 6 million untrackable television commercials for the other major carriers.

MB: Some of the money spent at the local level (online and off) is national advertisers targeting locally. About a $17 billion chunk is the SMB segment. Very fragmented and hard to wrap your arms around. How will mobile advertising be bought and sold to this SMB segment? Self serve a la AdWords? Local sales channels like newspapers, and yellow pages?

MM: I think a handful of the major online advertising sources will be the obvious choice. SMB doesn't have the resources for a lot of research and due diligence so they're more likely to allow their traditional marketers or PPC management firms to take on the task of local business advertising. I think that will translate to more ad business for Google. SEO really has never lent itself well to local business presence, despite a decade of SEO "experts" telling us it works. I don't see traditional printed ads gaining share.

MB: Any other advice for companies entering the mobile space or online publishers trying to seek out opportunities in mobile?

MM: Be proactive. Buck the old traditions and hire some new blood (says the 40-some-odd year old). Take steps to build an online reputation before you are forced to take steps to correct it. Be an expert in your area and make sure to let people know about it. Put yourself everywhere you can afford in order to have the best chance of being found - be that online yellow pages, paid ads in a search engine, paid sponsorship of a mobile portal, name on a bus stop bench, name on the back of a little league jersey, where ever you can get publicity without offending people's sensibilities. If you can associate that with a topic consumers are passionate about, so much the better.

Posted by Mike Boland at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

May 8, 2009

iPhone Searches Longer and More Diverse Than Other Mobile Phones

Google has released some information about the search behavior of iPhone users. Many of the searches are longer than 3 words and more diverse than other mobile devices. In fact, many searches are longer than typical computer searches!

Typical mobile searches tend to average around 2.5 words and be centered around the Adult and Entertainment niches.

Google attributes the phenomenon to what it refers to as "bar-bet" searches. The idea is that you're out with your friends debating some obscure piece of trivia and you pull out an iPhone to look up the answer.

They've even devised a mathematical equation to determine the intent of a searcher over time. It's called entro-percent and it looks like this:

What do you think of entro-percent and the iPhone search data? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

April 30, 2009

Yahoo! Tops March 2009 Mobile Benchmark Study by Gomez and dotMobi

Gomez and dotMobi have collaborated on mobile benchmarks, and for the mobile search category, Yahoo! snagged first place overall in March 2009.

There were five categories used to measure. Yahoo! tied for first place in two of them: discoverability and readability. Here's the five categories and how they're measured:

Discoverability -- how readily a consumer can find the mobile Web site using different URLs.
Readiness -- how well the mobile Web site renders on popular mobile devices.
Availability -- the percentage of successful transactions or the availability of a Web page.
Response time -- how long each page takes to download and the duration of an entire transaction.
Consistency -- how well the mobile Web site performs on different mobile carriers, in different geographies and time frames.

Here are the results:

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

March 26, 2009

iPhone Advances Mobile Search in the UK

comScore has released data about iPhone users in the UK and compared to other mobile devices, the iPhone is certainly spurring on mobie search.

55% of iPhone users conduct searches on their devices, while just 32% of smartphone users and 12% of all mobile phone users search on their phones.

In fact, the iPhone beats smartphones and other mobile phones in every major category from email to mobile music to social networking:

The downside? The iPhone has yet to become mainstream in the UK.

"The iPhone is indeed an early adopter phenomenon in the United Kingdom," said Alistair Hill, analyst, comScore. "While the device's ease of use is certainly contributing to the lift we see in mobile media consumption, the fact that the device requires a subscription package that includes an unlimited data plan is also a contributing factor. However, it is also important to note that while nearly all iPhone owners are consuming mobile media, the device is in the hands of only two percent of mobile phone users in the UK."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

October 30, 2008

Yellowbook Launches G1 Mobile Application

Local business publisher Yellowbook has launched a new mobile application for the G1, the brand new Android-powered phone. Yellowbook already has apps for Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Palm, and the iPhone.

If you want to download it to your phone, follow these instructions:

Tap the Browser icon on the home page.
Tap Go to URL.
Enter yellowbook.com in the URL bar.
Tap Go.
Tap the pictures of the phones on the lower right side of the page.
Expand the screen to view instructions for this phone, located at the top right.
From your phone, TAP HERE to start the download process.
Follow your phone prompts for downloading the application.

For more information on Yellowbook's mobile apps, visit http://www.yellowbook.com/iphone-windows-mobile-blackberry/.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 26, 2008

SEW Experts: When will ROBO's Time Come?

"Research online, buy offline," (ROBO) is the concept that a growing volume of product research is happening online while the majority of buying remains offline in physical stores. A growing number of local search engines are basing their business model on the concept. In today's vertical search column, "When will ROBO's Time Come?," local search expert Michael Boland explores some of the reasons why ROBO features haven't picked up on a mass market level.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 1, 2008

SEW Experts: Has Mobile Local Search Finally Arrived?

Can the iPhone and Google's Android fix the limitations that have plagued mobile advertising and mobile search? In today's vertical search column, "Has Mobile Local Search Finally Arrived?," local search expert Michael Boland notes that it could take a couple years to really get moving, but after a long period of being rusted shut, it appears that the wheels are finally starting to creak forward on local mobile search.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

SEW Experts: Universal Thoughts on Local Search

Local search is showing up in your Web browser, at your desk, on your phone, and on your GPS devices -- and these are just the easy examples. In today's SEM agency issues column, "Universal Thoughts on Local Search," William Flaiz explains that the number of devices and locations for local search will continue to grow as more things become connected to the Internet.

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 19, 2008

JumpTap Adds New York Office in Growing Mobile Search Market

The mobile search world paints a slightly different picture of the distribution of search providers. Yes, we have the big guns as the dominant forces in the mobile search marketplace. But many of the carriers view the big search companies as rivals, and have opted to partner with lesser known companies such as JumpTap, Medio, InfoSpace, and FAST.

These companies provide carriers with their own white labeled search engine, which offer generous revenue sharing models to the mobile carriers. Mobile carriers are looking beyond their flat rate monthly data plans to bolster revenue, and JumpTap is offering their carrier partners just that. JumpTap collects behavioral data provided by the carrier to serve ads that are most relevant to searchers. These highly targeted ads are likely to generate high click-throughs. A win-win solution for the carrier, JumpTap, the advertiser, and the searcher.

This model has allowed JumpTap to secure relationships with partners include Boost Mobile, Alltel Wireless, Rogers Wireless, Fido , Virgin Mobile USA, Bell Canada , Telefonica, and TeliaSonera. On the content syndication side - JumpTap has partnered with both NBC - Universal, and FOX. The reach is approximately 140 million mobile subscribers.

What makes the JumpTap search experience different than it's competitors? JumpTap is unique in that it only indexes sites that are optimized for the mobile web. The company boasts the largest pure mobile search index. Mobile searchers will not be delivered sites developed in Flash, for example, which cannot be viewed on the great majority of handsets.

We asked what makes the mobile search experience different than traditional web search. "Mobile search is completely different. You are not likely to do research for a term paper via your mobile device. Queries are more likely to be fall into categories such as entertainment, games, restaurants, shopping. Mobile search intent is completely different", said Eric Brown, Manager of Ad Operations at JumpTap.

Another JumpTap enthusiast told us - "Mobile is so important, because for many individuals, particularly in emerging countries, it's their only gatway to the web. It's the only medium for them to harness the power of a search".

A guest of the event, Adam Broitman - a blogger on the subject of emerging media shared with us his thoughts. "JumpTap's realization that the mobile phone is slowly becoming the remote control for our entire life could not be more timely. The mobile web needs companies like JumpTap in order to help further the mobile web, and I could not have been happier to have been in attendance at the celebration of their arrival in New York City."

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

June 26, 2008

Apartment Guide Launches Mobile GPS Search Application

Apartment Guide has launched a mobile search application allowing users to find apartments via GPS. They've partnered with Mobile Accord to provide the location-based listings, available through participating carriers.

“Apartment Guide makes finding apartments easier through mobile GPS,” said Arlene Mayfield, president of Apartment Guide. “Powered by Qualcomm's BREW® Platform, the application also enables mobile phone subscribers to search for apartments anywhere in the United States, access prices, photos and property features and contact the leasing office directly.”

“According to ABI Research, North American subscriptions to ‘personal locator services' using GPS-enabled mobile phones will grow to more than 20 million by 2011,” said James Eberhard, chairman, Mobile Accord. “By enabling consumers to find apartments through GPS on their cell phones, Apartment Guide addresses a growing technological demand and meets the needs of renters ‘on the go.'”

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 16, 2008

Google Dominates Mobile Search Market Share in Q1 2008

Continuing its dominance in search, Google saw 61% of mobile searches in the first quarter of 2008, according to data released by Nielsen Mobile. Yahoo came in second at 18%, while MSN lagged behind at third with 5%.

65% of Google searchers were male while 63% of Yahoo searchers were male.

When it comes to what mobile searchers are looking for, Google and Yahoo users are alike:

Google searches: Information 33% Local listings 29% Websites/navigation 27% Yahoo searches: Information 33% Local listings 24% Websites/navigation 26%

But finding satisfactory results is still a bit of a challenge when it comes to mobile search. Only 44% of Google searchers and 40% of Yahoo searchers rated their experience in the 8-10 range on a scale of 10.

Last week, Google announced that it updated its mobile search offering to make it faster for searchers on the go.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 21, 2008

SEW Experts: The Challenge of Mobile Web Analytics

One of the biggest challenges resulting from the growth in mobile Web use is measurement. Conventional Web analytics applications don't do a good job of tracking mobile Web site usage, making it difficult to tune and enhance your mobile Web site's performance. In today's Web Analytics and ROI column, "The Challenge of Mobile Web Analytics," Eric Enge offers some alternatives to tracking mobile Web site usage.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 18, 2008

Visual, Mobile Search Engine Coming to iPhones in Japan

Evolution Robotics is preparing to introduce a new mobile search engine, dubbed ER Search, that incorporates visual search. Expected to be available for iPhones in Japan as early as June, the technology makes cameras an integral part of the mobile search process. Here's how it works:

1. Users take a picture of a DVD cover, book cover or CD cover. 2. They email it to Evolution Robotics server. 3. Evolution Robotics sends an email to the iPhone with information about the product. 4. Users have the option to buy the product. For example, a link to the iTunes iPhone store will bring up a list of tunes associated with the product.

Words can't really do this justice, so take some time and watch this video demo of ER Search:

via Mobile Whack

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:10 AM | Permalink

April 1, 2008

ChaCha Refocuses Business Model on Mobile Text Search

Almost two years ago, ChaCha launched a service that enabled users to conduct a live chat with a "search guide" to aid in search engine queries. That service flopped, but they believe that their mobile text service can still be a hit. Now, ChaCha is refocusing its business to center around its mobile business.

Users can conduct a search query using text or voice. A few minutes later, a text arrives with the answer. I decided to give it a try myself this morning. I texted to ask what ingredients are in a Java Chip Frappuccino. (I didn't state that the coffee drink comes from Starucks.) Six minutes later, I got my text with the answer, though it did leave out the optional whipped cream and chocolate syrup.

At first, it might seem like a long time. But keep in mind that during those six minutes, I was able to get work done, instead of conducting the search, checking out the results, and finding the answer myself.

ChaCha is making a play for what search users are increasingly demonstrating they want, which is answers, not search results.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:21 AM | Permalink

October 23, 2007

New CBS/Medio Mobile Search Deal: The Start of a Revolution?

CBS Mobile is teaming up with Medio Systems to add mobile search capabilities and search advertising opportunities to CBS Mobile sites. Is this "the shot heard round the world" of mobile search? In today's SearchDay, "Will the Revolution in Mobile Search be Televised?," Greg Jarboe argues that this signals the opening salvo in a revolutionary war to deliver easy-to-access mobile content to a growing mobile Internet audience. It's also the launch of an ad-supported search solution that is optimized for the mobile experience.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 4:22 PM | Permalink

October 12, 2007

For Teens, Mobile Search Doesn't Register Yet

We have all observed teens in their native habitats -- one hand glued to junk food while the other is attached to a mobile phone. Mobile phones have become their lifelines, by helping them to stay connected, providing a source of entertainment and enabling them to multitask.

One activity they aren't using their phones for much is searching. Some do want to find their way, with 16% currently using GPS and 14% coveting this feature. Yet, despite all the great benefits associated with geo-location, teens don't view local search, directories or shopping aids as being a high priority for them.

According to OTX Research, nearly three-quarters of teens sent text messages or used wallpapers, while more than half took digital photos, played games, sent photos, downloaded ringtones, or IM'd each other. When asked what features they most wanted, nearly half said texting -- with everything else paling in comparison.

On the upside, teens do surf content that requires search tools. Currently, around 30% view websites and 22% download videos on their phones. As with other devices, they seek music videos, user-generated clips, TV shows and movies. (These kids don't care about news, with only 12% reporting they view news clips.)

Given the intensity of teen phone use, it's easy to conclude that there should be more effort placed on search functionality and its ease-of-use. With limited screen size, there are surely better ways to highlight video or site results. As scrolling through multiple results is untenable, the relevance of top results increases significantly too. Let's get to it.

Posted by at 1:59 PM | Permalink

SEW Experts: Voice Search: Mobile Tactic Here. Now. 2DAY.

Mobile has long been called marketers' next emerging opportunity. So, from a local search standpoint, how do you prepare for the opportunity? In today's Vertical Challenge column, "Voice Search: Mobile Tactic Here. Now. 2DAY.," local search expert Gregg Stewart explains that a very old offering is hot once again: directory assistance (DA), and its new subcategory of voice search.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

September 26, 2007

SEW Experts: Mobile Search Fortune Seekers

The year of mobile search seems to be forever a few months away. In today's By the Numbers column, "Mobile Search Fortune Seekers," Eric Enge shows that even if mobile search doesn't hit the ad revenue jackpot this year, marketers need to know how to secure a seat at the table.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

September 10, 2007

Gary Price on Mobile Search

A while back I sat down with Gary Price and talked about mobile search. One of the interesting discussions was about the decision to not include a search box on the initial screen of Ask's Mobile Search

What Ask found in their user testing is that users would immediately go to the search box and start trying to use it. While this sounds like it offers what the user wants, the fact is that accomplishing simple things like finding our the weather in San Francisco can take 70 keystrokes if you are on a mobile device without a QWERTY keyboard (for example entering the letter C requires you to hit the 2 button 3 times).

This does not sound like the pinnacle of usability does it? So Ask focused it's efforts on providing a streamlined interface that provides link based navigation to the functions of greatest interest to mobile users. This type of approach allows the user to get the information they are looking for much faster. It's an interesting lesson in making sure you understand the user's environment.

Posted by at 9:00 AM | Permalink

September 6, 2007

Superpages Gets Local Mobile App

Idearc's Superpages.com has launched a mobile version of its local search product, Superpages Mobile for BlackBerry. The application is designed to help mobile users, especially business travelers, find local information easily with a BlackBerry mobile device. For example, users can search for local businesses, map directions, get local movie showtimes, find a person or check the local weather.

Idearc is the latest of many search companies to offer a downloadable application for mobile users. While mobile users who will go to the trouble of downloading an application are a minority, they are an influential one, which search providers look to in order to spread the word about their services.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:36 AM | Permalink

September 5, 2007

Yellow Pages Provider Testing Voice-Enabled Local Search

Print and online Yellow Pages provider R.H. Donnelley is testing a new voice-enabled local search solution, dubbed "1-800-CallDex." The service, currently available in the Denver, Phoenix, Spokane and Tucson markets, provides free directory assistance (free DA) and local category search for consumers seeking businesses. The service provides addresses, phone numbers, business descriptions, hours of operation, payment methods and other information.

Free DA is a growing area, with limited consumer adoption and even more limited advertiser pick-up. The field is wide open to grab market share, with Jingle's 800-free411, AT&T's 1-800-yellowpages and Goog411 among the competitors.

R.H. Donnelley teamed up with Toronto-based Call Genie to power the service with its Enhanced Voice Directory (EVD) product. The latest release of the product allows consumers in 1-800-CallDex markets to refine their searches by referencing landmarks, neighborhoods and intersections. The system continuously updates itself to reflect how local residents refer to specific landmarks or locations.

R.H. Donnelley has made several moves to bring its offline dominance online. In July, the company announced its intent to acquire Business.com. This follows its 2005 acquisition of Dex Media, and the September 2006 acquisition of SEO/SEM firm LocalLaunch.

Just last week, the company announced an expanded relationship with Yahoo Local, distributing its online yellow pages data on Yahoo's network and streamlining the Yahoo Local ad-buying process for its print yellow pages advertisers.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:59 AM | Permalink

August 2, 2007

The Gphone and Mobile Local Search

The Wall Street Journal reports today that we could be getting closer to the realization of the long-rumored Google phone. This could happen in one (or both) of two ways for Google: partner or build.

Partnering has been Google's angle into mobile search and services thus far, but it has only allowed it to push through watered down versions of its products such as Gmail for mobile and Maps for mobile. Having its own device would allow it to position itself more predominantly on the home screen, and build applications that are more compelling than carriers have been willing or able to do themselves.

Even if it has its own device however, partnering would require the perennial challenge of working with carriers who are famously unwilling to cede control over every facet of their network and every device that runs on it. Talks so far have only resulted in Verizon scoffing at the search revenue share that Google is asking for in prospective mobile search advertising. Gphone and iPhone: Catalysts for Change?

This defeatist position on the part of U.S. carriers has been the number one detriment to mobile local search innovation and application development. But the web browsing capabilities of the iPhone could finally be the avenue by which search application developers can sidestep the carrier control over the home screens of devices that run on their networks.

A phone from Google could do the same, if the company pushes its weight around enough, to appeal to carriers with an enticement of brand appeal and revenue boosting possibilities for data consumption, amidst hyper competition and falling revenues in the mobile voice arena. This is similar to how Apple got in bed with AT&T.

The iPhone will soon become compelling enough that other carriers will have to adopt (post-AT&T 2 year contract), despite worries over enabling a device that has wi-fi capability, an elegant browsing experience and other things that could allow consumers to sidestep consumption of carrier voice packets (wi-fi enabled VoIP is one concern here).

The same thing will happen with a prospective Google phone; carriers will come around out of necessity to compete. Give it time.

Go it Alone?

Google's other possible direction is to go out and buy it's own wireless spectrum - something it has indicated it would like to do at an upcoming government auction for a swath of open spectrum. This would take years to build and cost billions (I heard Google has some money though); and could land Google in a position, like the carriers, where it is forced to protect a massive investment.

On the bright side, this would essentially make Google its own carrier, with a direct channel to offer consumers all of the things that it has wanted to for years. In the meantime, partnering with carriers is still possible. Carriers will try, unsuccessfully, to block Google's overall forays into the mobile environment, but it will eventually enable it by partnering with the company out of short term competitive necessity.

Either way, we can finally expect to see meaningful innovation in the mobile local search arena. The Gphone itself is rumored to be free to consumers and completely ad supported, which could invoke a welcome sea change in the mobile telecom world.

Combine this with the iPhone's effect on stimulating mobile local search innovation and application development; and pervasive mobile local search and location based services could be here before we know it.

Posted by Mike Boland at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 30, 2007

Metacrawler Obovo.com Goes Mobile

Obovo.com, a metacrawler search portal, which searches and returns results from MSN Live Search™, Gigablast™, LookSmart™, and Alexa™ is now available through mobile devices. The just released mobile version of Obovo.com provides users Web search capabilities, image search capabilities and local business search capabilities from their mobile phone or PDA. Obovo's mobile Web search automatically provides users misspelling suggestions, along with indented sublistings. After searching for an image on their mobile device, Obovo users have the ability to choose whether to go to the website hosting the image or directly to the image itself. Obovo's mobile image search also makes it possible for users to download images directly to their phone or PDA.

Posted by Amanda Watlington at 10:32 AM | Permalink

July 2, 2007

Even More Local Search Patents

When we wrote last week about Local.com's new local search patent, we pointed out that there were far too many patents being issued in that space. That's only gotten worse this week, with another local search patent awarded to Local.com, this time for ad-supported 411 calls.

Once again, this patent seems to be in direct conflict with an existing patent, one from Jingle Networks.

There's either going to have to be some litigation, or consolidation of businesses or patents between the various players. In the meantime, it's the users and advertisers who will suffer, since the confusion in the marketplace and looming lawsuits will only serve to scare off advertisers and slow the growth of local search.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:15 PM | Permalink

May 23, 2007

Local.com on a Roll II

Following its string of recent announcements (previous posts on Local.com here and here), Local.com today unveiled a new mobile search product.

Known as Local Mobile, the ad supported mobile site lets users search by entering keywords and locations using mobile device keypads. This includes access to Local.com's business profile pages, mapping, driving directions, click to call, and the ability to send listings to other mobile users (using SMS).

Mobile distribution of listings will be built into the company's ad offerings to local businesses, which currently include online featured listings and landing page development.

This falls in line with Local.com's slow reinvention of itself that should help it to gain more users and advertisers in the highly competitive and quickly developing local search space. Some of the company's recent developments have involved site enhancements and redesigns while most are new ad products.

Today's press release can be found here

Posted by Mike Boland at 5:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 30, 2007

Yellowpages.com Launches Text-based Mobile Local Search

Similar to the Starbuck's SMS search tool that we wrote about a few weeks ago, Yellowpages.com today announced text-based local search tool for mobile devices. Any cell phone user can now send a business name or category in a text message to YP411 (97411) to receive the three top listings for that term.

Brands that have tried to launch SMS search tools have received limited traction because of the relatively low adoption of mobile search so far. Starbucks might be able to get away with it because of the power of it's brand (and the addictiveness of its product).

Instead, success with SMS search products will only come from trusted brands that aggregate local search results. Current offerings in this space include GoogleSMS, Yahoo! Local, Superpages On the Go, and now Yellowpages.com (among a few others).

Though this supply outweighs current demand, this is a smart move for Yellowpages.com to get its feet wet with mobile search using by its most user friendly and prevalent form (SMS). This will also tie together nicely with other mobile services Yellowpages.com has rolled out recently, including a send-to-mobile feature that lets business listings be texted to any cellphone number a user specifies. The company also recently developed a version of its Web site that is optimized for mobile screens and WAP browsers.

It also has an enhanced DA product in certain markets, 1-800-YellowPages, which could be the foundation for a wireless voice search product. Together with the SMS product, this could come together as a nice multi-modal mobile search product. By casting all of these lines, AT&T is getting users accustomed to various forms of mobile search while meanwhile buying itself an education in the mobile marketplace.

It is also a nice point of differentiation as an IYP looking to get into the mobile space. All of the aforementioned products represent ways AT&T is trying to find its way around in mobile search by coming at it from many angles. A singular (as opposed to Cingular) product could emerge eventually that is planted on the home screen of AT&T wireless devices. This could be brought to you by Yellowpages.com or perhaps by Yahoo! which has online content partnerships with AT&T.

The development and strategy behind this could be one reason why AT&T wireless (formerly Cingular) like other wireless carriers, has been such a hard nut to crack in terms of allowing innovative third party mobile local search applications onto their devices and networks (this is the one place where they have non- net nutrality).

Still, it's important at this stage to have a SMS based mobile local search product for for non AT&T wireless users (anyone with a text enabled phone). We'll see how it does, and what AT&T really has up it's giant sleeves for mobile search.

Posted by Mike Boland at 6:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 19, 2007

Medio Launches PPC Mobile Search Ad Network

Mobile search provider Medio Systems has launched a new pay-per-click (PPC) text advertising platform. Its MobileNow ad network will deliver text ads in search results for its carrier partners as well as to off-deck mobile sites in its network.

As we noted earlier today, the company has also teamed with Ingenio to offer pay-per-call ads on the Medio network.

MobileNow ads will be sold through a self-service, auction-based PPC platform, sold in a unified marketplace across all participating carriers and sites. By doing that, Medio hopes to eliminate the "walled garden" issues many advertisers experience when trying to reach a large mobile audience.

Medio currently handles white-label search for several mobile providers, including T-Mobile, TELUS Mobility and Amp'd Mobile. Amp'd will be the first provider to publicly announce its participation in the MobileNow ad network, though Medio says others are testing the platform now and will announce their participation in coming months.

Ads will be sold both through a self-service platform from Medio and through white-label deals with carriers. Medio is also in talks with several search engine marketing agencies to encourage them to test the platform for their clients. Medio also announced today that it is bolstering its sales efforts with the hire of Gary Bembridge, former national sales director at MSN, as head of U.S. ad sales.

Medio's first offering is catering to direct-response goals, said Omar Tawakol, chief advertising officer for Medio Systems. Though it's decidedly less sexy than the mobile video ads that other companies are touting, it's much more realistic and in-tune with the needs of today's marketplace, he said.

"With online ads, direct response ads came first, and proved that they could get ROI. They follow a different adoption curve," Tawakol said. "Google didn't go to Madison Avenue first, because for them to commit to something, the success has to be big, and others have to have taken the chance on it first. It takes them a long time to adopt something new."

As with Web search, Tawakol hopes to prove the concept of Medio's mobile search ads through direct response advertisers, who are more likely to try new things, and have the budget available to test out new ad products without going through a lengthy approval process.

Medio hopes that MobileNow ads will appeal to four main groups of direct-response advertisers. The first group includes classic direct-response advertisers with "respond now" objectives, such as buying flowers with a phone call. Second are mobile content providers, who are looking to drive downloads of mobile content such as ringtones, games and wallpaper. A third group of advertisers includes mobile publishers looking to drive traffic to their WAP sites.

The fourth group of advertisers being targeted are local businesses looking to drive conversion via a phone call. To enable this, Medio has teamed with Ingenio to offer pay-per-call ads on the Medio network.

Tawakol expects some brand advertising to take place on the Medio network, such as film advertisers looking to reach searchers that are trying to find a film star's wallpaper. He also said that Medio is working with large CPG companies to test some ad formats, but declined to name those companies.

Targeting of MobileNow ads will be influenced by search behavior, click-through history, user demographics, geography and behavioral trending analysis. Tawakol, who's past role as SVP of marketing at Revenue Science makes him no stranger to the concept, says what can be accomplished in this context is not true behavioral targeting, since there is no consistency in cookie-handling across mobile carriers.

But these early techniques can approach the same result, since search queries can provide a wealth of targeting data, and as more clusters of users and trends are identified, the predictive capabilities of the platform will further improve. The platform is built with the RelevanceServer contextual ad technology which was acquired when Medio bought WebRelevance last year.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 4:30 PM | Permalink

March 13, 2007

Google and Microsoft Rumors: Implications for Mobile Local Search

Rumors continue to swirl this week about a potential Microsoft acquisition of Tellme. This was first reported by TechCrunch back in February. Now the Wall Street Journal (sub req) is reporting the companies are in talks and the sale price could be in the $800 million range. CNET has a similar story (if you don't have a WSJ sub).

Tellme is a strong (and profitable) company in the rapidly growing wireless voice search area, which could provide a great deal of value for Microsoft (past SEW writing on Tellme is here). Tellme would bring the ability to integrate voice search into the Windows Mobile software platform, giving MSFT an edge in Mobile Local Search over its search and portal competitors.

This direction was implied in a WSJ quote from Steve Ballmer a few months ago, which Om Malik unearthed yesterday:

"The leading edge battleground between us and Google in local search really will come on the phone," Ballmer said. Voice search has a great deal of potential as examined in The Kelsey Group report Wireless Voice Search: The Multi-Modal Revolution. It is a relatively user friendly form of mobile local search that could push overall adoption forward, given Windows Mobile's installed base

Elsewhere in the rumor mill, The San Jose Mercury News has more speculation on a possible Google phone. Just as Microsoft would gain ground in mobile local search with a Tellme acquisition, a Google phone could similarly plant Google search capability directly onto the phone. A lot is still unclear about what this device could be, but The Merc suggests a possible blackberry-like device that has VoIP capability which can be used when in WiFi range.

As pointed out in a previous post on new product announcements at 3GSM, VoIP enabled phones can lessen the dependence on wireless carriers. This can sidestep the carrier control that has proved to be a significant barrier in pushing mobile local search applications out. Getting planted directly "on the carrier deck" is the challenge because it requires a relationship to be formed with a carriers, which is hard to do and often involves signing over one's soul.

Google, with a prospective phone of its own, could essentially sidestep this challenge. Of course the phone could be something completely different, or perhaps not a phone at all but a software platform for mobile devices, akin to Windows Mobile or Palm OS.

Rumors like should be taken with a grain of salt and a certain amount of discretion, but they can also be valuable as a mental exercise to speculate possibilities in embryonic areas such as mobile local search.

Posted by Mike Boland at 5:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 2, 2007

Using MoLo to find a Mocha

Starbucks is often the first example used when someone tries to explain the benefits (or detriments, depending on your outlook) of location based services. "You'll be walking by a Starbucks, and get hit with a promotion for coffee on your mobile device," the story often goes.

There has been widespread agreement that this scenario will never happen and that location based services will only work with an opt in model, hence the increased discussion over Mobile Local Search (MoLo). SMS (texting) is currently the most widespread form of MoLo, however many more are in experimentation phases and are patiently waiting for greater mobile search and smart phone adoption.

Well it seems that Starbucks - never having cooled off from the excitement over the possibility of push based mobile advertising - has gotten tired of waiting and has launched its own SMS based mobile search product. Like Google SMS and Yahoo! Mobile, any text enabled mobile device (basically every phone on the market) can send a search query to a five digit number that returns locations of nearby results.

In Starbucks' case this means sending your zip code to "MYSBUX" (a curious combination of letters if you glance over it quickly) to receive a text message back that has the locations of the nearest 3 Starbucks. CNET blogger Caroline McCarthy points out that this is only good if you know what zip code you're in, which isn't usually the case for travelers. Those that can find out their zip code will likely have GPS, and would thus have a more robust platform on which to find Starbucks.

Similarly, if you know what zip code you're in, you might already know where the closest Starbucks is. In any case, this might be unnecessary in some urban areas where you can almost turn around and see three Starbucks from any given spot.

But it could actually catch on well in other areas among the legions of Starbucks faithfuls, given the sheer size of this population and the fact that we're talking about an addictive substance. If it does, it could also work towards the general awareness and greater adoption of SMS search and MoLo in general. We'll see.

Posted by Mike Boland at 6:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 28, 2007

Mobile, Video Search Ads Set to Grow?

After digging deeper into the results of its "State of Search Engine Marketing 2006" report, SEMPO has revealed that a majority of respondents in the North American study said they were interested in mobile and video search, but few were willing to pay more for those ads.

That's not surprising, given human nature -- if you ask someone if they'd like to pay more or less for something, I'd assume that most would choose "less." What's more interesting is the level of interest from marketers, indicating that these ad models may be farther along than some would think.

SEMPO reports that 66 percent of respondents say they would be interested in contextually targeted advertising attached to video search results. Of those marketers, 53 percent want contextual video ads, compared to 33 percent who want contextual text ads attached to video clips. For mobile, SEMPO found that 60 percent of respondents are interested in contextually targeted ads delivered to mobile search users.

Dana Todd, president of SEMPO, says she's cautiously optimistic on the future of mobile search.

"Advertisers go where the audience is interacting. In the U.S., the fact that everybody is carrying a cell phone is less important than what they're doing with it. Right now, they're using them in rudimentary ways, for communication, and for playing games and listening to music," Todd told SEW.

Todd pointed to a recent comScore study, which found that cell phone Internet usage is an activity for the young. That study found that 29 percent of respondents in the 25-34 demographic and 23 percent of 18-24 year olds currently subscribe to a cell phone Internet service, while only 13 percent of adults over 35 do so.

"Until users find it's a useful environment, we're not going to see significant play, but there's still a market there," Todd said. "This is an area where local search has the most promise. We need to look at how users are interacting with their phones, and find a way to engage them there."

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:19 AM | Permalink

February 22, 2007

Local Search Partnerships of the Day

Today saw a few notable partnership announcements in the local search space. More specifically in local online classifieds and in mobile local search.

-- First, Tellme announced this morning that it will expand its mobile voice platform to allow mobile search application developers to build products that integrate voice and visual search. Voice recognition technology developers TuVox and Viecore were also named as partners that will work on such applications.

This has the potential to bring together the ease of speaking, and of seeing results on a screen. One of the challenges in mobile search is designing compelling products, given hardware restrictions such as small keypads. So the ability to speak search queries or business lookups can be a way to sidestep this challenge and raise adoption levels.

Conversely, when results are returned, sometimes its easier to see them on a mobile screen than it is to hear them - particularly if the information can be saved on the device (rather than written down) and in turn used to dial a business or interact in other interesting ways such as getting directions or coupons.

40 million people use Tellme every month, including its voice portal and free (downloadable) beta product Tellme by Mobile. These are based on the VoiceXML 2.0 protocol that makes internet data available on mobile devices via voice applications. New "multimodal" capabilities should expand the company's overall user base, by opening the door for new partnerships to be formed and functionality to be built.

This should be a step towards bringing the company's voice search capabilities together with other mobile applications, as the enigmatic mobile local search area continues to see experimentation with new and interesting ways to appeal to consumers and build ad models.

-- Second, fresh off its partnership with Nokia last week, AdStar has partnered with classifieds aggregator Edgeio.

Edgieo will use AdStar's software to offer print advertising upsells (on behalf of newspapers) to its new classifieds listings boards marketplace, a free listings source. Basically, this becomes a channel for for newspapers to upsell print ads to anyone going to Edgio to post free listings.

As many newspaper continue to look for ways to monetize online classifieds, creating free classifieds destinations with print upsell possibilities is one way to go about it. AdStar has created another creative way that positions itself as a value-added channel for its newspaper clients to reach a larger audience of classifieds sellers. This strengthens AdStar's value proposition and its profile as a distribution source for print, online and (as of last week) mobile ads.

For Edgeio, this is an added service it can use to attract additional traffic and listings, as content aggregation is a cornerstone of its business. It gets its content from a combination of listings that people publish directly to its site; and aggregated listings scraped (by permission) from bloggers, individuals and website developers that have listings on their own sites. It currently has about 100 million listings from 162 countries.

Financial terms weren't disclosed but the AdStar integration is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter. More from the press release.

Posted by Mike Boland at 6:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 16, 2007

A Step Forward For Mobile Local Search

One thing that has stood in the way of mobile local search adoption is the lack of a clear and compelling value proposition. This is partly a result of hardware restrictions; there are small screens and keypads on most cell phones and smart phones haven't reached mainstream penetration (although prices are coming down which should bode well for mobile local search).

But another major factor has been that the control exerted by carriers in the U.S. and their ability to decide what devices and platforms work on their networks (this is not the case in Europe). This has effectively stifled a lot of innovation at the application level, as explored in the recent Kelsey Group report Targeting Users: Application Level Innovation in Mobile Local Search).

Even though applications can be developed that require users to navigate to a site on the mobile web using a WAP based phone, and other more robust programs can be downloaded, both of these options require an additional step. This represents a sizable adoption barrier in an already early-adopter medium.

Therefore the few search applications that get the endorsement of carriers and are correspondingly planted "on the carrier deck" are the only ones that currently have a shot at worthwhile traction. And the carrier's filter for choosing the best mobile search products are not always the same as what the market would bear.

Enter Nokia and Motorola, which announced yesterday at the annual 3GSM World Congress that they will launch their own navigation services that don't require carrier networks. With the thought that carriers have been slow to innovate, both companies announced new GPS enabled hardware and navigation services that they will sell directly to consumers.

These navigation platforms will include, local search, directions, and the ability to download maps for any destination in the world. These services will be free, with the option to upgrade to features such as voice directions and live traffic updates. CNet has in depth coverage both announcements and some of the dynamics surrounding them.

This could be a significant move and the first shot in a battle against carriers to effectively sidestep their rule and offer compelling products that don't require cellular networks. WiFi enabled mobile phones that are able to make VoIP calls when in range a network are another example of something that could disintermediate carriers. And as municipal WiFi approaches reality, more phones like this will be offered.

Combine this with the announcements from Nokia and Motorola, and you can start to see the stars aligning for disruption to carrier dependence, and thus control. Eventually, this should in turn lead to the innovation in mobile local search, characteristic of a free market. Something like this needs to happen if Mobile Local Search is to get off the ground in the U.S, and you can start to see the wheels turning.

Posted by Mike Boland at 3:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 6, 2007

Mywaves Adds Personalized Mobile Video Search

Video delivered to your phone, based on keyword search, is the essence of the new mywaves offering. Today mywaves announced the addition of a personalized search feature for its mobile video services. This free service offers users content directly to their mobile phones, sourced from many of the Web's top video sites, including Comedy Central, VH1, YouTube, Google, and CNN.

The new feature allows users to specify a search phrase that alerts mywaves of their interest. The service automatically delivers relevant videos to users' mobile phones and will send a text messages when new content is found. For those wanting to stay absolutely on top of the newest video content available, this adds a new dimension.

Mywaves currently is averaging 40,000 new sign-ups a week. The explosion of applications for viewing and transmitting video content makes it even more important for video content creators and search marketers to learn how to make their videos easier to find on the Web.

Posted by Amanda Watlington at 7:19 PM | Permalink

February 5, 2007

European Telecoms Giants Planning Mobile Search Engine?

According to a report in the U.K. newspaper Telegraph this weekend, a consortium of European providers are teaming up to build a mobile-phone search engine to rival the big three. The Telegraph reports that Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica and Cingular are among the companies in talks on the plan at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona.

A UK executive at one of the companies involved is quoted as saying, "There is a big play in mobile search that we need to be part of, and we are exploring those options at a very high level."

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:53 PM | Permalink

January 24, 2007

Online Directories Enhance Mobile Search Products

Yell.com, the online directory of UK based Yell Group announced today that it will enhance its mobile directory platform.

New features include free access to maps, driving directions business name lookups and category searches. In an effort to anticipate some of the adoption barriers that have stood in the way of wide scale mobile local search adoption, the service is available as an application download (compatible with about 100 cell phones) and a browser based version that will work on any web enabled mobile device. The latter will likely be less robust than the former, but casting a wider net with this dual mode approach will appeal to a broader swath of the 15.7 million mobile internet users in the U.K. (Yell's estimate).

This move could signal that Yell's U.S. subsidiary YellowBook will do something similar in the near future. This also comes days after YellowPages.com announced that it will enhance its MEdia Net mobile local search product for AT&T Wireless customers. Like Yell.com's offering, this includes mapping and search enhancements including a single search box for local business searches. It also boasts shortcuts to items of interest that are dynamically featured based on seasons or upcoming holidays. Read the press release here.

Posted by Mike Boland at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 10, 2007

Is Apple iPhone the Key to Unlock Mobile Search?

Apple unveiled its much-anticipated iPhone yesterday at CES to the delight of gadget-lovers everywhere. The device is a sleek mash-up of iPod, smartphone, and Internet access device, running on Mac OS X. MocoNews has plenty of details (as well as every other tech blogger on the planet). For search marketers, the most relevant part of the iPhone is its rich local search capabilities.

The iPhone, expected to ship in June, will come bundled with Google search and maps, and Yahoo OneSearch, Go and mail. If the device catches on in nearly the way the iPod has, that means that local search on mobile devices is about to become a very big deal.

The Kelsey Group's Mike Boland says, "Adoption of mobile local search to some degree has been held back by the inferior user experiences of most mobile devices -- which come back to a lot of these design challenges. Apple's cache with consumers from the iPod and iTunes should ensure a healthy demand for this phone. Time will tell how well they embrace it, and if it does anything to push forward mobile local search in general."

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:31 PM | Permalink

January 9, 2007

Movements in Mobile Search Land

Mobile search has been quite, well, mobile lately. Becoming a regular topic in search marketing conferences, and often discussed in various forums and blogs, mobile search certainly seems to be one of the bigger trends emerging in late 2006 into 2007.

As announced and discussed in various blogs and news sites, Yahoo! seems to be making most of the news in the past couple of weeks, but there are plenty of others to keep an eye out for.

Greg Sterling discussed the acquisition by Yahoo! of Dash on January 3. This deal will help Yahoo! provide mobile search in cars, and as Mark Walsh points out in MediaPost, allows Yahoo! to claim a spot in the field of automobile mobile providers along with Google. Mark reminds that Google is currently working on a project with Volkswagen (nice intro here) to provide what may would hope would the "farfegnugen" (interesting definition in this thread) of mobile search.

Today, Mark wrote in detail about Yahoo!'s announcement of oneSearch for Go 2.0 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas , previewed yesterday at Search Engine Land.

In addition, and with good timing some will feel, 4info announced that they are upgrading their mobile search product to provide one click search instead of requiring text message responses to queries. Mark at MediaPost is on top of this story as well, and there is no announcement as of yet at the 4info Blog.

Mobile search is "where it's at," to quote Beck. Two sessions at SES Chicago covered the latest technology and how search engines are helping to provide platforms for more user-friendly mobile search. Coverage can be found here and here.

Posted by Chris Boggs at 10:32 AM | Permalink

January 4, 2007

MapQuest Enhances Mobile Mapping Products

MapQuest announced a series of mobile mapping and search enhancements today, meant to leverage the company's leading position in online mapping. The company held a 68 percent market stake in November compared to Google Maps' 28 percent and Yahoo! Maps' 27 percent, according to Nielsen.

First off, its MapQuest Mobile product will upgrade to version 2.5, including multipoint routing, walking directions, and 15 million points of interest.

These are all features currently available in MapQuest's online mapping engine which it would like to bring to the mobile environment. The company's point of interest search for one (ability to find landmarks and tourist destinations compared to only business listings) is a differentiating factor that has helped it develop and maintain its commanding market share lead.

It has done this, among other ways, by getting creative and tapping into government data sources to index locations of schools, post offices, public parks and other points of interest left behind by some mapping engines.

So far it has been able to carry this lead over into its mobile products. MapQuest mobile is compatible with 250 different cell phones from 12 carriers and it's currently the top revenue generating mobile search download in the U.S. according to Telephia

“We need to extend our reach and be on as many devices as possible,” said Alan Beigai, Mapquest Director of Wireless, during a product briefing earlier in the week. “Our goal is also to fine tune content and functionality of mobile applications to match that of the online experience.” These thoughts were echoed by MapQuest VP and GM Jim Greiner who was a featured speaker at The Kelsey Group's recent Interactive Local Media Conference.

Secondly, the company announced it will make its MapQuest Navigator mobile mapping product available on Blackberries from Sprint and Nextel. Compared to MapQuest Mobile, Navigator is a more enhanced platform for GPS enabled devices and smart phones. It features text and audio turn-by-turn directions and is marketed as having all of the functionality of an in-car navigation system in smaller (and cheaper) package.

MapQuest should get increased traction for Navigator with this increased availability and with the rising adoption of smart phones. Beigai agrees that existing smart phone users (particularly blackberry users) represent a technically savvy subset that are more likely to download and use the product than the broader mobile device user population.

“It's a prime segment for us to tap into,” he says.

Interestingly, navigation systems (like smart phones) are coming down in price and Yahoo! this week revealed plans to plant itself “on the dash".

Posted by Mike Boland at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 18, 2006

Searches Up, Dude! Ask.com Sponsors Surf Contest

Search and surfing will converge in Half Moon Bay, California in early 2007, when the Mavericks Surf Contest takes place. Known to surf pros and fans of the sport as the world's premiere big-wave surf event, this season's contest offers everyone the chance to surf Ask.com for all the details and get a variety of results from various Ask sources, including maps and directions online or via Ask.com Mobile search.

"Ask.com® is excited to be an integral part of the preeminent big-wave surfing event, and, as a leading search engine, to be the official go-to source for information for all things Mavericks," said Greg Ott, vice president of marketing. A quick search for Mavericks Surf Contest on Ask.com® will give fans quick access to webcasts and viewing locations, videos, bios on the surfers and the history of the event. In addition, with Ask.com® and Ask.com Mobile(tm), fans can find Mavericks images, news, maps, walking and driving directions, blogs and other information across the Web for fans everywhere. "We're excited to support this great surfing event, as well as to be a resource for all the Mavericks fans," remarked Ott.

On just 24 hours notice between January 1 and March 31, 2007, 24 legendary big-wave surfers will make the pilgrimage to the treacherous Mavericks surf break to compete for the famed title, and $75,000 in prizes to be distributed to the top surfers.

Surfers and fans alike can track the waves and stay informed on contest announcements at the official website maverickssurf.com.

Note: You would think that I got this info directly from Ask.com, since I receive a lot of press releases from the search engines, but no -- this one actually came from an PR company who has me on their list as an action sports journalist. So I just had to post since it was related to my two favorite things: search and outdoor sports.

Posted by Elisabeth Osmeloski at 5:42 PM | Permalink

November 16, 2006

Sprint Launches Mobile Search Relationship With Microsoft

According to the Wall Street Journal, Sprint has launched mobile (local) search has part of a broad new strategic relationship with Microsoft, "allowing its subscribers to use their phones to look up information on local businesses and events and find downloadable multimedia content such as ringtones, videos and games." (Here's the Microsoft release.)

According to the article, the new Microsoft-powered search will appear on the "home page of Sprint's browser." The local search component of the partnership will be monetized with advertising. But there's ambiguity in the way the WSJ describes the ad model and I haven't yet had a chance to discuss this with either party.

Here's how the WSJ describes the advertising aspect of the deal. "The local-search component offers a new revenue stream as well: Businesses can bid to be listed as sponsored links in the local-search directory and will pay a fee when consumers click those links to call them through the service."

So the clicks initiate phone calls to merchants. Whether these placements will be separately auctioned and billed as "calls" or as "clicks" is not clear. I'm assuming this is PPCall advertising and will be priced accordingly.

Microsoft is currently monetizing local search online at MSN search and Live Local through its relationship with SuperPages.com, which includes local PPC and PPCall advertisers. It separately has an exclusive relationship with Ingenio to provide PPCall advertisers for the mobile version of Live.com. Whether advertisers in the Sprint deal are being provided via either or both of those Microsoft relationships is not clear at this moment.

Regardless, the move will likely boost AdCenter's fortunes in the near-to-medium term, with Sprint as a mobile distribution partner. It also further solidifies PPCall as an ad vehicle well suited to mobile.

Sprint has an existing mobile local search relationship with InfoSpace, whose downloadable FindIt application works with Java-enabled Sprint GPS phones. Recently, Sprint also announced a deal with Google's new Java-based "GMail for mobile" initiative. But this is a broader and deeper involvement with Microsoft at the level of the carrier deck.

The WSJ article discusses some of the other partnerships between U.S. carriers and mobile search vendors, such as JumpTap and Medio Systems.

If one steps back, what may now be emerging is a kind of mobile search/feature war among the carriers that may trump their collective concern about being relegated to "dumb pipe" status. Sprint has apparently thrown that conventional wisdom to the wind in its most recent announcements with Google and now Microsoft. The emphasis seems, instead, to be on providing the best mobile search and user experience -- as it should be -- in their competition with other carriers for customer acquisition and loyalty.

There's something of an irony here in that on Windows Mobile smartphones (I have the Sprint PPC-6700) the mobile IE browser is the focus of the mobile Web-search experience. In that context, the mobile search experience is much more a duplication – albeit comparatively weak – of the online experience. What that means is the Window Mobile OS (on smartphones) is likely to merely replicate the market position of Google (or Yahoo) rather than boost Live.com or this new Microsoft-powered Sprint mobile search.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 2:34 AM | Permalink

November 15, 2006

The Intersection of Local Search, Mobile & WiFi

"Convergence" is one of those buzzwords that's been around forever, loosely used to describe the blending of media and technologies into one unified platform. Until recently, search marketers could safely ignore the hype, but no longer: convergence is finally real enough to pose both a threat and new opportunities for search marketers. This was a hot topic at the SES Local Edition conference, and guest writer Grant Crowell offers key takeaways on the issue of convergence in today's SearchDay article, Coping with Convergence: Local Search Meets Mobile and WiFi, Part 1.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 2:35 AM | Permalink

October 27, 2006

Windows Live Mobile Now Live

Gary Price reports that Windows Live Mobile is now live at http://mobile.live.com/.

The features include: 1) Mail 2) Search beta 3) Spaces 4) Local 5) Messenger 6) Live.com beta 7) MSN.com beta 8) MSNBC News 9) FOX Sports 10) Weather 11) Money 12) Entertainment 13) MSN Calendar

More details at http://mobile.live.com/GoLive/.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:10 AM | Permalink

October 17, 2006

Citysearch Adds SMS-Based Local Search For Mobile Phones

Citysearch formally launched its text-based mobile local search service today: CS411 (27411). There's also a send-to-phone feature (see, e.g., "Hotels, Burbank CA").

Doing the same search online vs. CS411 on a mobile phone yields somewhat different results. Users get four results in SMS, which were not identical to the online search results I got for the above search in my quick test. They were, in fact, more geographically accurate. (I received results only for Burbank vs. adjacent areas.) Citysearch consumer ratings are also provided, which you would expect and are central to the consumer value proposition.

Results I received were also "sponsored." Rather than a relevant advertiser link at the top of results, there was an advertiser-sponsor referenced at the bottom. The advertiser had nothing to do with my particular search for hotels but I would expect over time that will change.

In speaking with Citysearch EVP Scott Morrow a couple of weeks ago he stated that mobile was being seen as an important channel and future traffic source for the company and that Citysearch would be rolling out other mobile offerings in the not-too-distant future.

One of the interesting aspects of my discussion with Morrow was about "lead quality" and the differences between a click and a call and a map view, and so on. Citysearch is experimenting with different pricing strategies to better reflect this concept of lead quality, in terms of what the local advertiser actually receives.

Ask.com recently launched a mobile application, the local search component of which ("business listings") is built on Citysearch content and allows users to sort by rating, which is a very nice feature. Both companies are owned by IAC.

Here's a related post on my blog about the current state of mobile local search and related issues.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 9:54 AM | Permalink

October 12, 2006

Ask Mobile Search Launches

Ask.com has launched a mobile search product at m.ask.com or mobile.ask.com. Ask Mobile is optimized for mobile devices and uses Skweezer throughout to improve readability and download speed on your mobile device.

Navigating Ask Mobile was a pleasure on my Treo. You click on links, navigate to them, but especially nice is the ability to type in a number that corresponds to the link you want to navigate to.

For example, pressing 1 takes me to web search. If I search on [football] as an example, you can then see the smart answers at the top of the results and then five results listed out.

Typing 1 while on that page will direct me to the first result, through Skweezer. Press 9 will give me more options and pressing 0 will take me home.

My main complaint that this was expected in "sometime in 2005" and it is already 10 months into 2006.

Here is a break down of features:

- Web Search: -- Explained above -- Stores recent searches -- Many smart answers enabled -- Squeezer enabled -- Zoom features (search refinements) -- 5 results per page

- Directions: -- Driving Directions -- Walking Directions -- List View -- Turn by turn view (nice when walking) -- Maps (explained later) -- Find nearby feature -- Sent to phone via SMS

- Maps -- Street Views -- Aerial Views (very cool for mobile - example) -- Zoom in or out -- Sent to phone via SMS -- Find nearby feature

- Images -- 3 image results per page

- Business Listings -- similar to maps and directions find nearby business feature

- Weather -- Not full weather functionality but the most important -- Type weather 10010 or your zip code into web search and you get a weather smart answer

- Bloglines link - Area Codes - Currency Conversion - Horoscope - Time Zones

Here is the official release from Ask.com

Search On The Go With New Ask Mobile Search

Ask Mobile Optimizes Search for Mobile Devices

NEW YORK, October 12, 2006 – Ask.com®, a wholly-owned business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) and the fastest growing search engine on the Web, today introduced Ask Mobile (http://mobile.ask.com), a new service for searching the Web from mobile devices. Designed to minimize keystrokes, increase navigability on small displays and accelerate page loads, Ask Mobile offers a special interface and search tools to help searchers find what they are looking for faster. The announcement was made at DigitalLife, a consumer event in New York City dedicated to educating consumers on what the digital lifestyle means in every aspect of life - at work, home and play.

“Mobile is an increasingly important access point for searchers,” said Jim Lanzone, CEO of Ask.com. “The new Ask Mobile makes it easy for users of Web-enabled cell phones, PDAs and other mobile devices to take advantage of the world-class relevance and industry-touted search tools offered by Ask.com.”

Key Features

Special Interface for Mobile Users Ask Mobile offers links to key search categories directly from the home page, making it easier to navigate to relevant results. The design saves significant keystrokes for many searches; for example, looking for the weather in the 94114 zip code requires 50 percent fewer keystrokes on Ask Mobile compared to mobile products offered by other major search engines. Fewer keystrokes is an extremely important concept when considering the difficulty of typing on mobile devices and the absence of full-sized keyboards.

“Ask Mobile is designed specifically for search on mobile devices, instead of shoehorning a PC interface into a mobile product,” said Doug Leeds, vice president of product management for Ask.com. “Extensive testing showed that, by eliminating the search box from the home page and instead providing links to key search services, users were more successful in getting to what they were looking for, significantly increasing their satisfaction.”

Ask Mobile utilizes Skweezer technology that "skweezes" Web pages to present content in a format that is easier to view and navigate on small displays and increases download speed. With the Skweezer technology, Ask Mobile allows more access to Web content by allowing pages to load that would otherwise be too memory-intensive for most mobile devices.

Search Services Powered by Ask.com's proprietary ExpertRank algorithmic search technology, Ask Mobile provides users with highly-relevant search results, bringing authoritative sites within their topic community to the top of the results page, rather than simply ranking sites by their link popularity on the Web at large.

Ask Mobile provides direct access to important mobile search categories on the home page, including Web Search, Directions, Images, Business Listings, Maps, Weather, Bloglines™, Area Codes, Currency Conversion, Horoscope and Time Zones. Additional services, such as sport scores and movie times, will follow the initial rollout.

To see how Ask Mobile works, consider the following examples:

- Web: Try “Eisenhower” or “Angel Island.” Note Recent Search and ability to Narrow or Expand queries. - Directions: Try “94114 & 94607.” Note ability to select List or Turn-by-Turn options, Satellite or Aerial views and Send to Phone.

- Images: Try “polar bears” or “Jessica Alba.” - Business Listings: Try “Starbucks & 10036” or “Chinese & 94114.” Note autodial directly from listings, Street and Aerial views of maps with overlaid location pins for matching listings and Zoom and Navigation buttons.

- Maps: Try “San Francisco.” Note the unique ability to select Driving Direction, as well as Walking Directions, navigation features and option to send maps and directions to mobile devices.

- Weather: Try “10036.” - Bloglines: Quick access to the Mobile version of Bloglines, the world's number one online RSS aggregator. - Area Codes: Try “Miami, Fla.” - Currency Conversion: Try “100 EUR & RUB.” - Horoscopes: Try “Leo.” - Time Zones: Try “Monaco.”

Instinctive Search Tools Ask.com has been touted by press and industry pundits for its search tools and features, which take search beyond the traditional “blue links”, offering searchers a better way to find what they are looking for. Some of these features and tools are available on Ask Mobile, including Smart Answers, which provide shortcuts to answers and tools at the top of the search results page and Zoom Related Search, which provides conceptually-related suggestions to Narrow or Expand queries.

Availability Ask Mobile is available immediately at http://mobile.ask.com. Users accessing www.ask.com from mobile devices will be automatically recognized and redirected to Ask Mobile.

About Ask.com A leading search engine on the Web, Ask.com combines world-class search technology with one-of-a-kind search tools to help people get what they are looking for faster. Ask.com sites include Ask.com US (http://www.Ask.com), Ask.com Deutschland, Ask.com Espana, Ask.com France, Ask.com Italia, Ask.com Japan, Ask.com Nederlands and Ask.com UK. Additionally, Ask.com syndicates its search technology and advertising units to a network of affiliate partners. Ask.com is a division of IAC Search & Media, a wholly-owned business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI). Ask.com b-roll footage is available at www.thenewsmarket.com/ask.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 12:01 AM | Permalink

October 10, 2006

Will Voice-Enabled Mobile Search Kill Directory Assistance?

Local media research firm The Kelsey Group just forecast "portal-backed wireless voice search [will] reach 1.45 billion queries in 2010" and cause "a significant disruption of the directory assistance market." On one level, this is self-evident. Because of increasing competition and free alternatives, consumer-pays wireless directory assistance (DA) will eventually go away, unless it becomes incredibly valuable and useful. Cingular is trying to do just that with help from Tellme.

I don't have the report referenced in the release so I can't comment on the forecast methodology itself or, more generally, its analysis. But I can comment on the general issues of usability and the mobile space in general.

Like other traditional local media, directory assistance (if I can use the term "media") is under pressure. According to Opus Research, worldwide DA revenues (wireless and wireline) are roughly $13 billion. But free directory assistance and its various cousins (e.g., 1800-San Diego, 4Info, UpSnap, 1800-Free-411), SMS, WAP-based search and mobile applications will chip away at consumer-pays wireless DA to the point where it's got very limited usage. The only question is: how long will that take?

In my mind the more interesting questions surround the usability and interface issues in the larger context of mobile-local search. This is something we've posted about multiple times in the past.

Voice has the capacity to be a much more efficient and user-friendly interface than a keypad on mobile devices (especially if you're not on a smartphone). But voice-driven mobile search must work. Deep Nishar of Google previously said to me that he didn't think that voice was "the key" to driving mobile usage. There are issues of background noise, accents and so on that impact query "disambiguation." In addition, the DA databases used to support voice-based mobile search can be inaccurate (just like local listings online.)

DA has been a surrogate for mobile-local search, since it has been the only game in town, so to speak, until recently. Now, as mentioned, there are a range of mobile alternatives, most are not great, to find local information while on the go. Microsoft, Google, Yahoo! and InfoSpace all have people working, to varying degrees, on voice interfaces. Nuance, Tellme and CallGenie are voice infrastructure companies that can voice-enable mobile applications for carriers or direct-to-consumer applications.

Right now, voice is not "the killer app" for mobile. But it could well accelerate usage of mobile data services and mobile local search if it works well. There will probably be a range of applications and user experiences that gain traction with mobile users, chiefly because of the range of devices out there and their capabilities and limitations. The optimal mobile interface and user experience will involve some combination of "modalities," perhaps with voice as an option but certainly the ability to use the keypad to enter text and save listings and/or browse content.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 10:59 AM | Permalink

October 9, 2006

Cingular Wireless Voice-Enabled Mobile Local Search

More and more directory assistance (DA) is starting to morph into voice-enabled mobile (local) search. This piece in the NY Times over the weekend describes a new deal between automated voice services company Tellme Networks and Cingular Wireless for an expanded service that will offer a range of options that are much broader than current DA. Here's a previous post about how directory assistance call volumes indicate mobile search category demand.

Here's more discussion of voice, DA and the mobile user experience on my blog.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 10:11 AM | Permalink

Windows Live Search Mobile PPCall Deal With Ingenio

A few weeks ago Google introduced sponsored listings into mobile search. Yahoo followed last week. Now Microsoft has partnered with Ingenio to deliver pay-per-call listings into Windows Live Search for mobile. But unlike the other two programs this is not being launched in beta.

Ingenio's advertisers are the only paid listings that will appear when users conduct a geotargeted search on Window Live for mobile. There will only be one advertiser shown for any given search and Ingenio's entire inventory will be funneled into Windows Live. When there are no relevant Ingenio advertisers, no sponsored listings will appear. (The company has existing mobile distribution through Jingle Networks' 1800-Free-411 and go2.)

Since Ingenio announced its original deal with AOL (see example) more than a year ago it has been steadily building distribution with smaller players in the local market. This is obviously a very significant relationship and may be a prelude to a broader deal with Microsoft. Ingenio wouldn't comment on that possibility, however.

Microsoft currently offers "call for free" click-to-call functionality on Live Local.

All three of the dominant search providers have now flipped the switch on sponsored listings in mobile. We should see a continuing acceleration of product development and competition in the wireless space. Early evidence argues that response rates (clicks/calls) in a wireless environment will be much higher than clicks on sponsored listings online because there are fewer competing advertisers (due to smaller screens) and users' needs are typically more immediate.

While the number of users conducting searches in a mobile environment is currently a very tiny fraction of what it is online, mobile search will be a significant channel in the next several years as the user experience improves.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 8:45 AM | Permalink

October 4, 2006

Yahoo Rolls Out PPC Ads In Mobile Search Results

Yahoo is launching (in beta) paid-search ads in mobile in the U.S. and expanding its test program in the U.K. Only a "select group of advertisers" are initially included (it's not clear what the criteria are). But the number of advertisers will expand over time as the program rolls out.

According to the press release, "consumers will be able to click on the sponsored search results to go to the advertisers' mobile web site or a landing page to get more information about the advertisers' offerings, including the ability to call the advertiser."

Yahoo had already been running tests of mobile PPC ads in the U.K. and Japan.

According to CTIA-The Wireless Association, there are more than 194 million wireless subscribers in the U.S., with a market penetration rate of about 65%. In other countries, especially Northern Europe, penetration rates exceed 100%. And China claims over 400 million mobile phone subscribers.

Indeed, as Yahoo's Terry Semel and Google's Eric Schmidt have now pointed out multiple times (I'm paraphrasing), "There are more wireless devices in the world than PCs." As a result there's a great deal at stake in developing a viable mobile search capability and the advertising that goes with it.

According to an article today in MediaPost, which points to a study by mobile research firm M:Metrics, response rates to text (SMS) ads on mobile phones are "only" 7% vs. 29.1% or more in countries in Europe where mobile text ads are more common. Obviously a response rate of 7% is higher than average response rates to sponsored search online. There are several competing studies, however, that argue consumers are least interested in advertising in SMS vs. other mobile formats.

Not to confuse matters, Yahoo's new mobile PPC launch is not about SMS. Rather it's sponsored ads in mobile web search results.

Earlier this week mobile marketing firm Enpocket released the results of a study conducted by Harris Interactive with 1,200 mobile users in the U.S. Europe and India. The survey found general acceptance of mobile advertising deemed "relevant" by consumers. A majority of respondents (78%) said that "they would be happy to receive advertising that is tailored to their interests. Of those, 64 percent would be willing to provide personal details to be analyzed to improve relevance of targeted ads."

In general response rates in mobile tend to be higher than online because of relevance and less ad clutter -- there are fewer competing advertisers to click on (or call). PPCall firm Ingenio has repeatedly cited very high PPCall response rates for its advertisers in mobile, partly for that reason.

Mobile advertising is also great opportunity for local search. People are often looking for local information when they're on the go and have traditionally had to rely on directory assistance (DA), which has been limited by "what city, what listing?" rather than offering the open-ended ability to conduct a category search. Newer services are seeking to broaden the scope of DA, which is starting to evolve into voice-enabled mobile search. Yahoo already offers most of its properties on mobile devices and in June of this year research firm Telephia found that Yahoo Mail was the most visited site by mobile users.

Google shows PPC ads on mobile search results as well.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 9:07 AM | Permalink

October 3, 2006

Mobile Phone Search: The Problem & Solutions

An excellent News.com article highlights some of the major problems with mobile search and explores some of the solutions and opportunities available to vendors and users. The problem is that "only 18 percent of wireless users in the U.S. have even tried surfing mobile Internet," estimates by the Yankee Group. Google, Yahoo, InfoSpace, JumpTap and Medio see this as an opportunity and continue to develop tools and technologies to bring more of the mobile population onto the mobile web via mobile search.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:47 AM | Permalink

September 26, 2006

The Internet, 'Family 2.0' And The 43-Hour Day

Yahoo and OMD issued the findings from the latest round of their ongoing global research project in 16 countries that involves online surveys and in-person interviews. What they found is that through technology and multitasking families are cramming the equivalent of 43 hours of activity into a 24 hour day. They also found that the Internet (and mobile phones) are a significant part of the fabric of daily family life.

There's a lot of interesting material in the findings. The top level data can be found in this release.

The following data are some of the more interesting findings published (some of this is verbatim from the release). Families spend more time online than watching TV:

Using the Internet 3.6 hours
Watching TV 2.5 hours
Using instant messenger 1 hour
Emailing 1.2 hours
Listening to radio 1.3 hours

Other results:

More than half (55 percent) of survey respondents age 18-34 agreed that without technology they "wouldn't be able to stay in touch with friends and family." More than a third in the 18-34 age group said their social lives would suffer without technology (34 percent) and that technology enabled them to overcome shyness (36 percent).

Two thirds (66 percent) of U.S. families surveyed use the Internet to research products, and 64 percent use a search engine every day. Families also use the Internet to share photos (62 percent), make travel reservations (60 percent) and research health (61 percent).

Internet now a primary resource for various categories of information, including some in local:

Families have adapted to new and changing media and technology, and now rely on the Internet as their top source of information on travel, jobs, finance and automobiles. Approximately half of respondents said they rely primarily on television for news (50 percent) and comedy (43 percent). Magazines are a significant source for celebrity gossip and other niche content. Newspapers are viewed as a strong secondary source, after the Internet, for information with a local flavor such as jobs, sports, concerts and events. And regarding advertising and media consumption...

Receptivity to advertising falls as ad channels become more personal. In the U.S., respondents reported that they were most open to ads in magazines and newspapers (72 percent), radio (60 percent) or TV (59 percent), and less receptive to ads on mobile phones or MP3 players.

Curiously there was nothing in the release about ads online or in search.

Postscript: Since viewing the report itself, I have a couple of things to add of interest:

Across the 11 categories of content that Yahoo-OMD explored (News, Travel, Jobs, Music, Movies, Finance, etc.) the Internet was the preferred source in all but two categories (News, Comedy/Humor), where TV was preferred with the Internet second.

Survey respondents in the U.S. were more open to ads ("It's okay to find advertising in each place") in traditional media than online or in mobile. The mobile finding is broadly consistent with other research in the market, but other studies have indicated people are open to paid-search ads and other forms of online advertising if it is perceived to be "relevant."

Posted by Greg Sterling at 11:44 AM | Permalink

September 21, 2006

Nokia To Integrate Live Search Into Mobile Devices

Echoing earlier deals with Yahoo and Google, Nokia, the world's largest mobile handset maker, has said it will integrate Microsoft's Live search into its mobile search offering. Here's more from Reuters. The handset makers are doing deals with search brands, while the carriers (at least in the U.S.) are seeking to favor their own search solutions over Google and Yahoo for fear that they'll be bypasssed, just as most Internet ISPs have been online.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 11:55 AM | Permalink

September 19, 2006

Local Matters and Mobile People Partner for Mobile Local Search

Directory, directory assistance and local search infrastructure provider Local Matters today announced a deal with European mobile search company Mobile People. According to the press release, "The collaboration between Local Matters and Mobile People is designed to bring new revenue opportunities to the Yellow Pages industry by combining mobile search capabilities with existing yellow and white pages information for competing in the growing search marketing industry."

There are already a range of yellow pages-like mobile content services on the market. (Nokia has relationships in Europe with most of the local directory publishers and uses their data to power its local search product.) But the mobile needs and interests of consumers requires expansion way beyond traditional yellow pages content. The user experience is critical in mobile (even more than online) and directory publishers will need to rely on third parties with mobile expertise to create that user experience.

For yellow pages publishers, simply announcing, "now our content is wirelessly enabled," will not be sufficient to gain consumer adoption in a segment that will be even more competitive and difficult than local search online.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 9:11 AM | Permalink

August 30, 2006

Yahoo 'Goes' for Windows Mobile

Yahoo announced today the availability of its Go bundle of services for Windows Mobile. According to the release, the content and applications available include: Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Search (Local, Web and Image), Yahoo Photos, Yahoo Address Book and Calendar and Yahoo News and related content.

According to mobile analytics firm Telephia, 34.6 million U.S. wireless subscribers accessed the Internet from their mobile phones in June, 2006. Yahoo Mail was the number one mobile destination, while Yahoo Search was number 10:

1. Yahoo! Mail 2. The Weather Channel (Weather.com) 3. ESPN 4. Google Search 5. MSN Hotmail 6. MapQuest 7. AOL Mail 8. CNN 9. Yahoo! Weather 10. Yahoo! Search

Although the mobile market is still young, the competition and adoption are both starting to accelerate. Mindful of what happened to most ISPs on the Internet (they were simply ignored by users, except for the bill), carriers are seeking to protect against "disintermediated" on the wireless web. Accordingly, The Wall Street Journal recently reported that U.S. carriers fear Google and Yahoo and are trying to work with smaller companies "that they can control."

We'll see whether that strategy will pay off given the enormous brand equity that Google and Yahoo have online. For their part Yahoo and Google have struck a number of deals with handset makers such as Motorola and Nokia.

The Yahoo Go initiative is about creating a unified experience across multiple platforms: mobile, PC, TV. Here's SEW's original post when the service first launched.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 11:57 AM | Permalink

August 29, 2006

New Search Patent Filings: August 29, 2006 - Yahoo looks at Interactive TV and VOIP

Yahoo patent filings include one detailing bidding for placement in paid search filed this past April, another that details a very interactive environment for watching television programming, a third describing a method of soliciting consumer reviews, and a granted patent for a Voice Over IP (VOIP) system that doesn't require Telephony Interface Cards.

Microsoft had two new patent applications published, including one which provides a means of suggesting alternative spellings for words, and another that interacts with searchers to help them construct queries.

IBM filed a patent application for building social networks within a business organization, and was granted a patent for a method of checking pages shown in search results for viruses.

America Online looks at the classification of queries in a manner which seems very similar to the editorial opinion decisions made in a recently granted Google patent.

Mobile search company Geovector comes up with a way to make quick hyperlinked image maps from mobile phones with cameras.

Yahoo

System and method for enabling multi-element bidding for influencing a position on a search result list generated by a computer network search engine Invented by Ted Meisel, Peter Savich and Thomas A. Soulanille Assigned to Overture US Patent Application 20060190354 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on April 24, 2006

Abstract

A system and method for enabling information providers using a computer network such as the Internet to influence a position for a search listing within a search result list generated by an Internet search engine. A database stores accounts for the network information providers. Each account contains contact and billing information for a network information provider. In addition, each account contains at least one search listing having at least three components: a description, a search term comprising one or more keywords, and a bid amount. The network information provider may add, delete, or modify a search listing after authenticated login. A search term relevant to the content of the web site or other information source to be listed is first selected. A search listing includes the search term and a description. A bidding process occurs when the network information provider enters a new bid amount for a search listing. The system and method then compares the bid amount with all other bid amounts for the same search term, and generates a rank value for all search listings having that search term. The rank value determines where the listing will appear on the search results list page that is generated in response to a query of the search term by a searcher.

Framework for providing ancillary content in a television environment Invented by Michael Mills, Philip Mckay, Michael Hoch, Kumiko Tanaka Toft, and Rod Perkins US Patent Application 20060184579 Published August 17, 2006 Filed on January 5, 2006

Abstract

The present invention provides functionality for retrieving ancillary content associated with the content delivered to a given user's client device. According to one embodiment, the method of the present invention comprises retrieving the context of a given user and identifying a plurality of characteristics associated with the user's context. The one or more characteristics associated with the user's context are displayed to the user and the user may select from the displayed characteristics. One or more items of content are retrieved based upon the user's selection and presented to the user on the user's client device.

Group polling for consumer review Invented by Norman Shi Assigned to Yahoo US Patent Application 20060190475 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on December 20, 2005

Abstract

Using a computer system comprising clients at which users interface to the computer system and at least one review server that maintains a collection of reviews, each associated with a presentation, a method of collecting the reviews including providing a first presentation to a first user via a first client associated with the first user; maintaining a trust network linking the first user to the other users in the trust network; receiving a request for a review from the first user via the first client; routing a request for a review to the users in the trust network who are linked to the first user in the trust network; and saving at least some of the returned reviews in the collection of review.

Voice integrated VOIP system Invented by Madhu Yarlagadda, Patrick Loo and David H. Nakayama Assigned to Yahoo United States Patent 7,095,733 Granted August 22, 2006 Filed on September 11, 2000

Abstract

An integrated VoIP unified message processing system includes a voice platform that processes data in native VoIP format. There is no use of hardware telephone interface cards (TICs) or software transcoding to transform data to PCM or other formats. Cost reductions are achieved by the elimination of expensive dedicated hardware and scalability is achieved by obviating the need for software transcoding.

Microsoft

Query spelling correction method and system Invented by Justin Harmon, Kyle G. Peltonen and Shajan Dasan Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060190447 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on February 22, 2005

Abstract

A method and system for providing to a user a set of alternative query suggestions is disclosed. The method, system and computer readable medium product in accordance with embodiments of the invention includes generating an index of all words in a corpus of documents available to the application, generating a popularity table for the index having a popularity value for each word in the index based on occurrences of the word in the corpus, comparing each entry in the popularity table to suggestions from a word generator, compiling a lexicon of word generator suggestion words that are found in the popularity table, submitting each word in the search query to the word generator to determine suggestion words, and displaying to the user one or more of the suggestion words from the lexicon that are more popular than the query word.

Dynamic client interaction for search Invented by Matthew R. Richardson and Robert J. Ragno Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060190436 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on June 23, 2005

Abstract

A system for guiding a search for information is presented. The system comprises a user interface that accepts a phrase and receives at least one suggestion based at least in part on the phrase. The system also includes a phrase suggestion engine that matches the phrase with the at least one suggestion. Methods of using the system are also provided.

IBM

Method, system and program product for building social networks Invented by Margaret A. Strong and Albert Tien Yuen Wong Assigned to IBM US Patent Application 20060190536 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on February 23, 2005

Abstract

Under the present invention, a user with an existing profile page who desires to have a social network built will first submit a subscription request. If approved, an existing contact list such as a chat list or the like for the user will be compared to existing contact lists for other subscribing users to establish commonalities. Based on such commonalities, a configurable social network of contacts is built. Using a graphical representation of the social network, the user can (among other things) provide or read testimonials about the contacts therein; access the profile pages for the contacts; provide or read "ratings" for the contacts; be provided with levels/degrees of separation between the contacts; validate trusts and business relationships, etc.

Virus checking and reporting for computer database search results Invented by Cary Lee Bates, Robert James Crenshaw, Paul Reuben Day and John Matthew Santosuosso Assigned to IBM United States Patent 7,096,215 Granted August 22, 2006 Filed on January 13, 2004

Abstract

An apparatus, program product and method integrate virus checking functionality into a computer database search environment to assist in protecting a user computer from contracting a computer virus when accessing search results. The generation of a display representation of a result set generated in response to a search request may be based at least in part upon virus status information associated with at least a portion of a plurality of result records identified in the generated result set. Moreover, an apparatus, program product, and method configure a first computer to receive virus status information generated by a plurality of computers, with such received virus status information stored in a virus database that is accessible by the first computer.

America Online

Web query classification Invented by Abdur R. Chowdhury, Steven Michael Beitzel, David Dolan Lewis and Aleksander Kolcz US Patent Application 20060190439 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on January 27, 2006

Abstract

A query phrase may be automatically classified to one or more topics of interest (e.g., categories) to assist in routing the query phrase to one or more appropriate backend databases. A selectional preference query classification technique may be used to classify the query phrase based on a comparison between the query phrase and patterns of query phrases. Additionally, or alternatively, a combination of query classification techniques may be used to classify the query phrase. Topical classification of a query phrase also may be used to assist a search system in delivering auxiliary information to a user who entered the query phrase. Advertisements, for instance, may be tailored based on classification rather than query keywords.

Geovector

Imaging systems including hyperlink associations Invented by Thomas William Ellenby, Peter Malcolm Ellenby and John Ellenby Assigned to GeoVector Corporation US Patent Application 20060190812 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on February 22, 2005

Abstract

Computer pointing systems include schemes for producing image map type hyperlinks which are associated and stored integrally with image data from which they are derived. An object being addressed by a pointing system of is implicitly identified by way of its location and position relative to the pointing system. A geometric definition which corresponds to space substantially occupied by the addressed object is rotated appropriately such that it perspective matches that of the imaging station. When an image is captured, the image data (pixel data) is recorded and associated with image map objects which may include network addresses such as a URL. On reply, these images automatically present network hyperlinks to a user whereby the user can click on an image field and cause a browser application to be directed to a network resource.

My usual reminder about patents: Some of the processes and technology described in patents are created in house, and some are developed with the assistance of contractors and partners. A percentage are never developed in a tangible manner, but may serve as a way to attempt to exclude others from using the technology, or even to possibly mislead competitors into exploring an area that they might not have an interest in (sometimes skepticism is good.)

There are times when a Google or Yahoo acquires a company to gain access to the intellectual property of that company, or the intellectual prowess and expertise of that company's employees. And sometimes patents are just purchased.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Technology & Relevancy area of the Search Engine Watch Forums.

Posted by Bill Slawski at 2:33 PM | Permalink

August 25, 2006

New 411 User Survey Points To Mobile Local Search Demand

Many Internet companies, especially some of the much-hyped Web 2.0 startups, are busy building tools and applications for which no mainstream consumer demand actually exists. In my view that's what killed many of early Internet companies after the first bubble burst – there was no existing use case to sustain them.

But the opposite is true of nascent "mobile local search," a set of half-baked tools and embryonic applications that seek to deliver local content to wireless users. People are eager for local information on the go; and when wireless data services become fast, easy to use and more affordable, you'll see adoption ramp quickly. Remarkably, the user demand for local content on mobile devices is much more developed than the carriers' and wireless content providers' current mobile offerings.

It's in this larger context that I write about a new study released this week from Tellme, an automated voice services provider and directory assistance (411) wholesaler. The company engaged Harris Interactive and surveyed 1,425 adult Americans about directory assistance usage. The study was conducted between March 31 and June 7 of this year.

At the highest level, the survey revealed that the majority (55%) of people calling 411 these days are doing so from wireless phones. (That makes sense because the Internet/local search is often a 411 substitute.) The study also revealed demographic differences in behavior and attitudes toward directory assistance. The findings showed, in addition, that mobile 411 callers are most interested in entertainment (restaurants, bars, movies), shopping and travel-related information. And reading a little deeper you also get a fascinating sense of the immediacy and intensity of user interest in local content in the mobile context.

Directory assistance is a mature, multi-billion dollar industry in the U.S. and Europe (although the industry structure in Europe is different). It is based on a consumer pay-per-use model, although a number of providers in the U.S., such as 1-800 Free-411 and 1-800-411-Metro, are now offering free, ad-supported 411 to consumers.

But as I lay out some the Tellme survey findings don't think about "directory assistance" (i.e., "What city, what listing?") per se, think about mobile local search with a voice interface. That's where directory assistance is headed anyway: category search with a voice front end.

From a user-experience perspective the wireless industry must address some of the more challenging usability issues before mobile data becomes mainstream in the U.S. Imperfect though it is, voice is one of the potential responses to some of those wireless usability questions.

On to the survey . . . First, the demographic findings:

As mentioned, 55% of all U.S. adults used 411 in a mobile context. That number was even higher for 18 to 28 year olds (63%). According to the findings only 26% said they used directory assistance most frequently at home. Almost half of women use 411 one or more times a month as compared with 37% of men.

The survey segmented the data by gender and according to three demographic groups: Boomers (41-60), GenXers (29-40) and Millennials (18-28). You can read the segmentation breakdowns by content category usage in the release. In the aggregate, however, when users called 411 they were typically looking for the following information:

• Restaurants & Bars: 43% • Retail Stores: 36% • Hotels/Lodging: 24% • Movie Theaters, Amusement & Recreation: 20% • Transportation: Taxis & Airlines: 10%

Another interesting cluster of findings surrounded use of 411 "alternatives." In other words, what did people do when they didn't call 411? (I for example pay Sprint $1.25 every time I dial 411, so I don't.) Again, there are differences by age and gender. But here are the overall data:

• Called a family member: 58% • Called a friend: 46% • Stopped at a phone booth: 29% • Called a colleague: 27% • Torn page from phone book: 7% • Booted up computer in the car: 7% • Driven to wireless “Hot Spot”: 5%

These creative alternatives – we've all done some version of this – reflect both the determination and the immediate need of mobile users to get information en route to their destinations. I believe these alternative behaviors also show a pent up desire for mobile applications that are more flexible and versatile than today's 411 (i.e., "What city, what listing?"). In other words, it reflects the demand for true "mobile local search" capabilities. Friends at home, for example, can also look up reviews, menus, store hours and so on.

According to mobile analytics firm Telephia 34.6 million U.S. wireless subscribers accessed the Internet from their mobile phones in June of this year. However, none of the top 10 mobile sites had a reach of more than 3%. Here are Telephia's top 10 sites:

1. Yahoo! Mail 2. The Weather Channel (Weather.com) 3. ESPN 4. Google Search 5. MSN Hotmail 6. MapQuest 7. AOL Mail 8. CNN 9. Yahoo! Weather 10. Yahoo! Search

Last September, Telephia reported on the top mobile content categories:

1. Email 2. Weather 3. Search 4. Sports 5. News/Politics 6. Entertainment 7. City Guides/Maps 8. Games 9. Portals 10. Business/Finance

Earlier this year AOL released the results of its own mobile user survey. Among the findings of that survey were that maps were the number one "must-have" new feature. And last July TNS found that local content (driving directions, restaurant reservations, and weather and traffic alerts) topped the list of services that users wanted on their mobile devices.

These myriad data points show the demand among wireless users for local content is strong and that they'll go to some lengths to get it. And unlike some of the startups online -- that will be waiting for a long time for consumers to show up -- users already have an expressed desire for mobile local search. It's now a question of the carriers and content providers getting all their "ducks in a row" and making wireless data services more affordable and more usable.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 12:51 AM | Permalink

August 24, 2006

Mobile Search for TV Listings

TV Guide and mobile local search content provider 4Info have teamed up to permit cellphone users to access TV Guide's listings content via SMS or WAP. Here's the announcement.

This is obviously for people who MUST know when their favorite TV shows are on (but wouldn't they already know?). While this is probably ultimately about PR and branding for TV Guide, it probably will get some usage. My question is: wouldn't it just be easier to get a TiVo?

Posted by Greg Sterling at 4:01 AM | Permalink

August 22, 2006

NearbyNow Brings New 'Inventory' To Local Search

The "holy grail" of online shopping is local inventory information. Paradoxical as it may sound I say that because the overwhelming majority of transactions occur in local stores and that isn't going to change any time soon. Though e-commerce is growing fast, growing much faster is the influence of the Internet on offline transactions. Those Internet-influenced local transactions, worth more than $350 billion annually and climbing, typically start online in the form of price comparison shopping or product research.

Yet real-time inventory information has so far been elusive for most shopping sites – even those that offer local information, including ShopLocal, Yokel, Froogle, CNET and Become. All of these, to varying degrees, have local data but most of it is "proxy information" for inventory (i.e., item is normally carried or on special).

A new site called NearbyNow is pulling together real-time POS ("point of sale") inventory information from retailers large and small and presenting it through local-mall portal sites. The first up is for the company is Eastridge Mall in San Jose, Ca. On this site you can search for specific products and sale items. Nothing can be purchased online; it's all about driving people into local stores.

NearbyNow CEO Scott Dunlap says that virtually 100% of inventory is going to be there for all the stores in the mall. For example, here's a search for "kids shoes." I can see every store in the mall that sells kids shoes, the prices and the specific shoes available. It's much more efficient for consumers and the conversion rates for merchants are going to be very, very high. Retailers are also going to get a better sense of how the Internet is directly driving offline sales than from buying general paid-search.

A noteworthy site feature is the "reserve this product" in-store pickup capability (like Circuit City's very successful in-store pickup feature). Every item online can be "reserved" for onsite purchase at the local store. Consumers can be contacted by email or a store clerk to confirm the item is at the store or to otherwise inform them it's not (offering the opportunity to direct consumers to another store that does have the item).

Think about holiday shopping and how efficient this would be. Consumers could do all their local shopping online and then simply go from store to store at the mall picking up and paying for those items.

Another critical dimension of the offering is that NearbyNow is also working with in-mall kiosk vendors to provide the same product search onsite. In other words, a local shopping engine that offers comprehensive, structured data for only the stores in the mall, in the actual mall. NearbyNow has said it will sell contextually relevant or competitive ads on those kiosks (and its mall sites). And one can imagine that as much as the site will drive conversions, those in-mall searches and kiosk ads are going to drive even higher transaction rates.

The kiosk use case is similar to the wireless scenario that everyone has been salivating over for the past couple of years. The idea is that in a wireless context, the consumer is very close in time to a purchase and the need for the product or service is immediate. That's equally true for NeabyNow's mall sites and, even more so, for the in-mall kiosks. But there's the additional opportunity to expose and sell even more stuff to onsite consumers through the kiosks (or to users accessing the site on wireless devices).

Wireless users with smartphones (Motorola Q, Treo, Blackberry, etc.) will be able to perform those same local product searches, whether in transit or at the mall, by accessing the local mall site on their mobile devices. Dunlap said that text messaging is coming (and so are contextually relevant text-based advertising opportunities).

I also spoke to Dunlap about in-store kiosks as another potential layer of this offering – consumers within a Macy's or Bloomingdales search for inventory items and then are exposed to specials or offerings from other departments.

NearbyNow is currently buying paid search to build consumer awareness (driving people to product-specific results pages within the local mall site). But considerable promotion is going on within the local mall. In other words, the mall itself promotes its local shopping portal powered by NearbyNow. This is a highly qualified consumer audience that will likely be eager to use the mall site in the future.

In addition to providing the infrastructure for these local mall sites and kiosks, NearbyNow is in discussions to potentially license its local inventory data to third parties (think shopping engines, local newspapers, directories, etc.). Dunlap wants to do that in a careful way that doesn't promote e-commerce at the expense of the participating retailers. But I would expect NearbyNow's biz dev team to be very busy fairly soon.

I've argued many times in the past that shopping sites and portals will need to include local inventory information or be outflanked by those that eventually do. It's inevitable -- even more so now.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 4:34 PM | Permalink

August 9, 2006

Yelp Now Mobile With Help From Palm

Yelp Mobile is now live. The site is optimized for the Treo but works on any web-enabled phone. Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppleman said that the idea originated with Palm, which approached Yelp and wanted to create a mobile version of the site for the Treo. The new site (mobile.yelp.com) is co-branded with Palm.

Palm believes that this will be something of a differentiator for the Treo. Palm's marketing VP Page Murray said in the press release, “Fast access to Yelp's trusted and insightful reviews will help accelerate user adoption and engagement with Treo smartphone web-based services.”

The new Yelp Mobile allows for searching and browsing by category and neighborhood and delivers Yelp's valuable user reviews of local businesses. There's an average star rating that appears at the listing level, but users can also drill down and see the full range and text of user comments. Currently there are no ads in Yelp Mobile.

There's no GPS or triangulated location awareness. But users can input an intersection or address and narrow or expand the search radius (1, 3, 5, 10 miles, etc.) from where they are or where they're going.

Yelp doesn't have an SMS application currently but may develop one in the future.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 3:51 AM | Permalink

July 25, 2006

Real-Time Traffic From Google Maps Mobile

Google Maps has rolled out a new mobile version offering real-time traffic information in 30 US cities. The service also offers directions designed for those who are walking, in addition to driving.

The mobile version is explained more here from Google. It requires downloading Java-based software which works with many mobile phones but certainly not all of them. Count me among the ones out of luck. It also won't work on Palm devices nor, from what I can tell, Windows Mobile/Pocket PCs. The FAQ explains more. All supported devices are here.

Google's also made a new version of its personalized home page for mobile devices, using this tool. Google Personalized Homepage on Mobile Phones from Google Blogoscoped and Google Beefs Up Mobile Home Page from Micro Persuasion cover more on how this works.

Very oddly, regular Google Maps hasn't gained either traffic information or pedestrian directions. That's too bad, because if they did, I could use the regular browser on my phone to get this type of information. Since Google fails to do this, here are alternatives from its competitors.

Yahoo rolled out real-time traffic information into Yahoo Maps well over a year ago. Our SearchDay article Yahoo Offers Real-Time Traffic Reports covers more about this, and help info from Yahoo is here.

Meanwhile, Windows Live Local from Microsoft added real-time traffic info about two months ago, as our past blog post Windows Live Local Adds Traffic and Sharing covers. Help info from Microsoft is here.

Mobile Access to Info: See The Traffic from us in the past has some tips on seeing real-time traffic via the TrafficLand web site, which has expanded since our original article to cover more cities.

Ask Maps doesn't have traffic info but it does provide an option to get directions both for those driving and for walking, something Google only gives you on your phone.

Nobody walks in LA -- or The OC -- for that matter. But if Ryan on The OC really was trying to walk between locations as the TV series would make you think (see my personal blog for more), here's a rough idea of how the three hour trip by foot gets turned into only minutes through the miracle of television. Oh -- and it also demonstrates how walking directions work on Ask.

And speaking of my personal blog, I couldn't resist doing a quick post about my new favorite way of getting traffic information, via my watch. See Real-Time Traffic Via My MSN Direct Spot Watch for more on that.

Postscript: Gary Price has listed some additional real time traffic resources here

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:07 AM | Permalink

July 21, 2006

More 3D Maps, an iTunes Video Podcast Directory, .CA Goes Mobile & Wildfires Database: Specialty Search Wrap Up

This weeks specialty search wrap up from Resource Shelf includes more 3D mapping tools, a iTunes video podcast directory, the Canadian government mobile edition, a resource for locating primary sources with international news and a wildfires and forest fire real time database.

Loving 3D satellite mapping tools? Want to spot more North Korean Missiles & Chinese Helicopters? Gary posted a roundup of free open source 3D satellite and aerial imagery. You can even check out images of places outside of this world, seriously! More details at Resource Shelf.
Like to watch videos on your iPod or on iTunes? Well, Gary has the details on Search For Video adding a method of searching for videos that can be downloaded directly to your iPod and iTunes. To view the directory listing of these videos go to Podcast Video portion of the directory. More details here.
Oh Canada on your mobile phone! Do you have a love for the Canadian government? Are you on the road a lot? If so, you can now get your fix at the Mobile Canada Site. You can learn more at http://canada.gc.ca/mobile/wireless_e.html or at Resource Shelf.
Do you hate getting your international news via second hand sources? Gary writes about Diplomacy Monitor, a site that gives you access to "primary documents and news releases from various governments and government agencies."
Is your house burning down? I hope not! This is the season for wildfires and forest fire and Gary has compiled a listings of database that offer real time information and reports. Check them out at Resource Shelf.

That is our specialty search roundup for this week.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:12 AM | Permalink

July 20, 2006

Motorola To Add Yahoo Go for Mobile On Phones

Reuters reports that Yahoo and Motorola have teamed up. The Yahoo Go for Mobile service will be added to many new Motorola phones. The multi-year deal sets Motorola to add this Yahoo service on new mid-priced and high-end Motorola phones. No specific models numbers were provided.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:01 AM | Permalink

July 17, 2006

Mobile-Local Search Now In 3D

Point and search mobile technology vendor GeoVector, which partnered with mapping company Mapion to bring a pointing-based mobile local search offering to Japan, is now introducing 3D search on Japanese mobile phones. Here's an example of the 3D rendering on the phone.

GeoVector also says it's in talks with a "major US carrier" to bring its technology to the US market.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 7:48 AM | Permalink

July 6, 2006

Wi-Fi Comes to New York Parks

The New York Times today is reporting on the progress of a project to unwire New York City parks, which was announced three years ago. Reportedly by early August of this year 10 of New York's "most prominent parks" will have Wi-Fi access. The project is being implemented by a small company called WiFi Salon. Mobile handset maker Nokia is now underwriting the project as a sponsor.

Nokia has taken an exceptionally strong interest in mobile-local search and has partnered with yellow pages publishers in several countries to offer local business and entertainment information though its content portal on its handsets.

And though this New York park Wi-Fi offering isn't mobile-local search per se, it does present the possibility of location-based content and advertising. According to the article, "at each hot spot, users will encounter an initial Web portal with information about the park and local history and advertisements for Nokia and other sponsors, which could include retail kiosks that do business in the parks."

Posted by Greg Sterling at 7:55 AM | Permalink

July 3, 2006

'Point and Search' Redux

After my most recent post on "point and search" mobile technology, prompted by last week's NY Times' article on GeoVector's efforts in Japan, Search Engine Watch alum (now Director of Online Information Resources at Ask) Gary Price directed me to a number of his earlier posts on mobile search using camera phones. In this post he discusses Google's voice search patent, "point and search" mobile technology from Microsoft and several-other camera phone search tools.

Last week, when I was out, I was also contacted by representatives of Intelligent Spatial Technologies Inc., who pointed out (pun intended) that they also have a mobile local search technology based on pointing. The company claims in its press release it's more versatile than GeoVector's offering in Japan.

There are several use cases (or, if you prefer, "modalities") now developing in the mobile search world: SMS, free ad supported directory assistance, automated voice-driven mobile search, the wireless web and the perhaps more provocative "point and search." Because of the multiplicity user scenarios, some or all of these models may co-exist for awhile. (It's likely that we'll also see blending of models and technologies.)

I believe, however, that a couple of models/user experiences will emerge as superior, drive more adoption and come to dominate the space. Those models will attract ad dollars accordingly. It's too early to pick winners yet.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 4:05 PM | Permalink

June 28, 2006

'Point and Search' on Japanese Cellphones

The NY Times covers "Point and Click" mobile local search in Japan on GPS-enabled mobile phones using technology from American firm GeoVector. I wrote about GeoVector's technology and the very different user paradigm it represents earlier this year.

Beyond the intriguing possibilities of tying together the mobile and physical worlds, there are two things that are quite interesting about the technology and use case: 1) it accommodates the current limitations of cellphones and 2) it's more "passive" than other forms of mobile local search. In other words, the input mechanism is more like taking a picture than "triple tapping."

There's a natural advertising model here too that marries the user location with a "search mentality." When a user is searching online, he or she is seeking information about a product or service. As they say in the yellow pages industry, there's a "ready to buy" mindset ? or at least potentially ready to buy. (As we know, search engine users typically don't buy in the same session.) But mobile users looking for a place to eat are probably "ready to eat."

Indeed, mobile phone users looking for a local restaurant or retailer can receive offers/coupons from a location nearby or immediately in front of them using this technology. One might argue that's no different from relevant paid search ads on mobile devices (which Google is testing in Japan) when I've searched for a local restaurant or other local business category. But the "point and search" simplicity makes it different.

Whatever creates the best user experience and thus drive broad adoption of mobile data services will also determine the ad model. User experience precedes monetization: let that be the mantra for the mobile local search industry. Once the user experience is right (and there may be a few that "work"), effective mobile advertising can follow.

It's incorrect to assume that whatever's happening in Asia in mobile will necessarily make its way to the US "a couple of years from now." But GeoVector is an American company and in this case we can probably expect some version of "point and search" technology to roll out in the US (although GPS isn't widely enabled yet, though there is cell tower triangulation) as competitive carriers seek to differentiate their services.

Until then we'll just have to read about it.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 10:30 AM | Permalink

June 23, 2006

Japan's Softbank Mobile Phones To Use Yahoo As Content Portal

MarketWatch reports that Softbank, who acquired Vodafone, will be using Yahoo to "bring the broad world of the Internet" to their mobile users. The mobile phones will have some sort of direct link to the Yahoo portal, to bring the content of that portal to Softbank's mobile users.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:00 AM | Permalink

June 5, 2006

Kozoru Opens Public Beta Testing Of Byoms

Kozoru opens public beta testing of byoms (build your own mobile search) today. I mentioned this was coming last week. Today, I've spent some time exploring some of the byoms that are available, and creating my own. I found the system easy to use, reasonably intuitive, fast and generally effective. As a searcher, it's going to be something that will be a useful addition to the search tools available; both the ready made byoms and more importantly those that you make yourself.

The system is not difficult to use, certainly if you just want to use one of the byoms that have been created by kozoru. Simply open your AOL chat client (AIM) and add any of the following screen names to your system:

byomsWikipedia (Wikipedia) byomsFedMeda (Federated Media) byomsDailyCandy (Daily Candy) AIMTicketmaster (AimTicketmaster) byomsHuffington (Huffington Post) byomsWorldChange (World Changing) byomsWebMD (WebMD) byomsGlobalVoice (Global Voices)

Next, open up a chat window with the one that you?re interested in, and type in your search term or query. After a few seconds you should receive full sentence responses. I used the byomsWikipedia and searched for ?stonehenge? and had three replies (the pre-defined limit for that byom) which told me what it was, where it was and its composition. Two other replies provided information on Stonehenge II and Stonehenge Aotearoa, together with the URLs for all three entries. Obviously the information was limited, but this is an IM application after all, and the point is not to get huge amounts of data, just straightforward responses in a sentence form that answer the query.

In order to get the most out of the byoms, the searcher really needs to know their source and which search terms to use; a regular search that doesn?t give good responses isn?t going to be much better if consulted via an IM client. Having said that, the result from the Stonehenge example used above was in my opinion rather more helpful when searched via the byom service than the site itself, so it?s not an unbreakable rule. Generally however, it?s going to be important to treat each byom differently, and structure searches according to the source used, rather than assume you can treat each one in the same way, simply because you?re using the same method to get the required information. There may also be a temptation to ?chat? to the byoms feed, and put in too much information, leading to a poor response, when a terse query may well provide better data. People who use IM on a regular basis may need to cultivate brevity!

Now, this sort of service isn?t entirely new; Gary recently mentioned that users of MSN Messenger can send a request to encarta@conversagent.com and interrogate the Encarta product via IM for example. However, with the byoms application users can create their own feeds and this does give an interesting spin to the concept. This takes slightly longer than just adding one of the ready made byoms to your AIM.

Firstly you have to create an AIM screen name for the byoms feed. Next, go into the byoms system, create a byoms with the same name, add one or more trusted sites to your byoms, then save it, use it and share it. Of course, it?s not quite that simple, and in order to create a good feed it is necessary to do some tweaking. It takes time to balance different sites in order to create a good mix; I found trying to create a feed with both a thesaurus and an acronym finder didn?t work well, so had to take one out for the searches to work the way I wanted them to. While creating the byoms feed you need to decide which of the main indexes you want to use ? Google, Yahoo, Gigablast or Microsoft (it's worthwhile exploring this, since you can get quite different responses), add and edit keywords to fine tune the search and finally give it a description so that others can find and use it.

My experience was that it was best to create a byoms that just searched a single site, though of course others will find many situations where a byom will work with several similar sites. I wouldn't advise trying to combine very different types of site into the same byom. However, it was very easy to check what worked and what didn't - I just had to add in or remove specific URLs, test the byom in my AIM client and continue to fine tune. Once someone has created a byoms feed it can be shared with others by adding a button to their site ? visitors click it, and the byoms feed is immediately added to their AIM client. Website authors may well want to create a byoms that just searches their site, giving users another way of finding the information they need; particularly useful if they are out and about and not close to a desktop machine.

As a searcher, I have found byoms useful in several ways. If I have a browser that already has a lot of tabs open, the last thing that I want to do is to open another, just to check something quickly. It?s much easier to open the IM client, run my query, get the response and carry on working. There are times when I don?t want a large set of results to pore over, and a quick and simple response from the byoms is just what I need. I can of course get quick answers from many of the search engines now, but that doesn?t help if I?m trying to find information on a large site that doesn?t have its own search engine; a byoms feed would be more helpful in that situation. Of course, the main advantage is the mobility of the system. If I?m out and about and need to find something on the net I can of course start up my PDA, log into a search engine, run the search and hope that I can drag out the answer I need quickly, given the slow nature of the connection. An IM client is quicker to load, I get a swift short response to my query and I can then continue what I was doing with limited disruption.

The system does have drawbacks of course. At the moment it is only possible to use the AOL IM client, so if you use Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, Google Talk or Jabber you will either have to wait, or install AIM on your desktop or mobile. With the exception of the byoms created to search single trusted sites I would not be happy using ones made by other people, since I would not have control over them; they may decide to change the sites searched, number of results returned and so on. I think it?s far easier to simply create my own, and then I have complete control.

The pre-configured byoms didn?t always give me the result I was hoping for; a search for Tony Blair?s birthdate using the byomsWikipedia gave me Gordon Brown?s, while another result pointed me to an entry on dates in Harry Potter. To be fair though, I didn?t get an exact answer when I typed in the same query in the Wikipedia, so is it the fault of the algorithm, or the site(s) being used? A search for ?dyslexia? using the byomsWebMD didn?t give me much helpful information, while the same search at WebMD itself was more informative.

Is a failed result the fault of the source used, the way in which the user has set up the byom, the algorithm, or the ability of the person searching? Ultimately, as a searcher I just want accurate results quickly. The byom adds another layer to the search process; the more layers there are, the further away from the original resource the searcher becomes and greater the opportunity for error.

Is there a place for this sort of search service? There?s certainly a growing market for, and interest in instant messaging. A 2004 Pew Internet Study showed that 4 in ten online Americans use IM, which equates to about 53 million individuals. In my own field it's becoming increasingly common for librarians to add their IM details as well as their telephone number and email address. An increasing number of librarians and libraries are using IM in their day to day enquiry work, and I'm beginning to see IM details included on library home pages for example. In a more general field, Microsoft are running a contest to get developers to create conversational robots for their IM systems. We also shouldn?t forget another market ? that of children who use IM without thinking about it and for them, searching the web for, and pulling down information using a resource they understand well is a next obvious step.

The use of IM to obtain information quickly and effective is a logical convergence of both search and mobile communications. It allows us to take search with us wherever we are, and whatever we're doing. As a searcher I don't want to be tied to a book, a desk or a computer, and search over IM is a very attractive proposition. Consequently, while it's a relatively quiet field at the moment, I think it's going to get much busier in the coming year.

Posted by Phil Bradley at 5:27 AM | Permalink

May 30, 2006

Kozoru To Launch Chat-Based Search Technology, Byoms

Internet search is in many ways fairly standard now, and although existing search engines bring out new features, or new engines appear, it isn't often that you see anything that's really different. However kozoru is launching a chat based search resource called byoms or 'build your own mobile search', with a public beta going live on June 5th. This is something of a departure from traditional search, by allowing users to run their own searches using a chat client.

There are a lot of interesting implications for searchers, given that IM is becoming much more widespread within a library setting. I'll talk more about byoms when it goes live and will look in detail at how a user can create a feed, how it compares with traditional search tools and the implications that it has for searchers.

Posted by Phil Bradley at 5:33 AM | Permalink

May 11, 2006

Google & Yahoo Are Challenged In Mobile Search Space

A Wall Street Journal article reports that InfoSpace, amongst other startup search engines, are providing a challenge for Google & Yahoo in the mobile search space. I believe both Yahoo and Google are taking mobile search very seriously. The market is still extremely new and there is a lot of opportunity for startups to make key partnerships with the carriers.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:10 AM | Permalink

Finding European Flights On The Move

Stuck in a European airport and looking for a cheap flight while on the move? Skyscanner has got a new tool for you -- a mobile-friendly version of its site, Skyscanner Mobile.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:52 AM | Permalink

May 9, 2006

GeoVector and the Mo-Lo Search 'Use Case'

I continue to think about the challenges of mobile-local search, where there is arguably a more compelling consumer use case than on the Internet -- user needs are generally more immediate. Microsofts Search GM Erik Jorgensen publicly stated that he believed the majority of local searches will eventually be conducted on mobile devices. In concept it's not hard to agree. But the question is one of timing and technology. The form factor (hardware), the business model and network speeds will all need to come together to drive consumer adoption. Once the use cases are established then we can think about how to monetize them with advertising.

Bill Slawski previously covered GeoVector's recent patent for "pointing based" local search on mobile devices here. GeoVector's technology is already on display in Japan and the use case it offers could be something of a breakthrough for mobile-local search and location-based services.

Here?s how it works according to the company:

?Users can point their phones at retailers, restaurants, billboards, banks or historical sites to instantly retrieve information on what they are looking at, or find what they are looking for. Utilizing GPS technology and a digital compass built into wireless phones, GeoVector allows users to ?Click on the Real World? similar to how computer users point and click with a mouse to access information, conduct transactions or play games.?

The problem with mobile-local search is that waiting for mobile users to adopt smartphones will delay the mainstream development of the market for location-based services for 10 years (it may take that long anyway to mature). But GeoVector?s technology and approach is interesting because it doesn?t rely heavily on screen size or keyboard entry. And it?s not the mobile Internet per se. It?s about coding the real world; the use case is pretty simple and conceptually compelling.

I haven?t used it so I don?t know how well it works in practice, though it should be deployed in Europe soon. Mobot and NeoMedia are also in this space (let the patent disputes begin). But these companies' technologies all create connections between the digital and the real world in ways that are more immediate and more trackable than the Internet today.

The ?mobile Internet? and location-based services may develop in ways that are completely different than the Internet itself, which would make sense given the limitations of the devices and the use cases. Accordingly, monetization scenarios would follow usage and consumer adoption. And these technologies start to point to the ways that all could happen.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 1:05 PM | Permalink

April 25, 2006

20% Of Google Mobile Searches Are Adult Specific

eWeek has a very interesting blog post covering how one of every five Google searches on a phone are for adult oriented keywords. That means, Google mobile searches are twice as likely to search for porn related items as compared to normal Web searches on Google. The story comes off a Google research paper you'll find here (PDF format).

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:35 AM | Permalink

April 14, 2006

Microsoft's Search By Camera Phone Research Project

Microsoft's Camera Phone Search Project and Other Camera Phone Search Tech from ResourceShelf covers a new Microsoft Research project allowing you to take pictures of things in order to get search results back about it.

Snap something with your camera phone, then that goes into an image search database, which identifies the object or type of object in order to run other types of searches about it. Or that's the idea. You can't try it yet, and Microsoft isn't even certain what they may do with it.

How about searching by taking pictures of bar codes? Completely different idea than this project, but thanks for asking! The ResourceShelf post gives you resources on the whole Amazon bar code searching in Japan thing, for the curious. And Frucall, mentioned yesterday by Brian, deals with bar code searching as well. The downside is you have to key in the numbers.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:31 AM | Permalink

April 13, 2006

Talking With Frucall, New Comparison Shopping Service For Your Phone

Frucall, a mobile shopping comparison service, launched in beta last week. There's already been some good coverage.

I've tested Frucall for books and electronics and found the system fairly easy to use (figuring out bar codes turned out to be the most difficult part of the process). More importantly, when I tested Frucall in a local BestBuy, the service consistently delivered competitive prices. I'm still waiting for a barcode scanner to attach to my phone (as I believe this product exists in Japan), but Frucall is a solid solution.

Following is my e-mail Q&A with Nasser Manesh, CTO of Frucall:

How many individual product SKUs are covered? "Right now we are covering Amazon's database, which is a few million items. See below for more details."

Where does the product database come from? Are you just working through Amazon's API? "The initial launch of the service was with Amazon only. Work is already under way to expand the search beyond Amazon, and take advantage of not only e-retailers such as Amazon, but comparison shopping engines. The goal is to provide the best possible online prices to the in-store shopper."

What is your relationship with Amazon? Is it a basic affiliate relationship? "We are an AWS (Amazon Web Services) developer, and the business relationship at this point is the basic affiliate relationship."

Is there a certain category that you focus on like Books or Digital Cameras? "The vision is to cover everything, and our software is designed to handle that. However since the initial focus is on UPC codes, our service in its current state is more helpful with books, CDs, DVDs and movies, games, and electronics because the shopper can easily spot the UPC and call us to perform the search."

Do you hope to develop your own database of merchants or will you partner with a shopping comparison engine? "We prefer to stay focused on our area of expertise, which is delivering information to the communication device of the user's choice. We are establishing partnerships with comparison engines to extend the reach of their data to the mobile shopper."

How do you plan to make money? Affiliate relationships? Advertising? "A combination of different channels. Both affiliate relationships and advertisement are in our plans, as well as other types of partnerships."

Is this just a test program to prove Millenigence CBU's technology? "No, this is not a test program. Millenigence is fully committed to making Frucall the number one brand for mobile comparison shopping."

Are there other companies doing this? "There are a few other companies or experiments with services that may seem similar to Frucall, but Millenigence is the only company with a commercial focus and established partnerships for promoting mobile comparison shopping. Early on in the process of building the service, we filed patents and we continue to see Frucall as a key area of fast growth and high demand in our Consumer Business Unit."

Posted by Brian Smith at 1:39 PM | Permalink

April 7, 2006

Yahoo Go Mobile Search & Portal Tools Coming To BlackBerry

The Yahoo Go mobile search and portal applications announced earlier this year are coming to BlackBerry users. The companies announced a partnership yesterday. You can't get it yet, but watch this page for more. That page also has tips on how to get some of the same Go services now on your BlackBerry until the Go application makes it easier.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:02 AM | Permalink

March 31, 2006

MSN Local Adds Send To Mobile Phone Feature

Russell Beattie reports that MSN Local has added "Send To Mobile" feature from your business listing. For example, go to my listing here and you will see a link under the address that says, "Send to Mobile." Click on it and a DHTML popup will ask you to input your mobile number. I tried it myself and it sent a text message, with a mobile link to my Treo. Russell accurately notes that Yahoo Local has a similar feature, just the link placement is at the top of the result, on the right and the text used is "Sent to Phone". See my Yahoo Local listing here, to see for your self.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:18 AM | Permalink

March 27, 2006

Mobile Search in China

A week ago we wrapped up our first Search Engine Strategies China conference, and it was a fascinating event. I'll be running both my own coverage and reports from others in SearchDay over the coming weeks. We kick off coverage in today's SearchDay article, Search Engine Strategies China, with notes on a "vertical" search panel that focused primarily on the state of mobile search in the country with the second largest group of internet users in the world.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 10:09 AM | Permalink

January 27, 2006

An Introduction to Mobile Search

Hardly a week goes by when we don't mention some new mobile search service, enhancements to what's already out there, or something I think we will be seeing more of, partnerships between large media and mobile search and info companies. We saw an example of this last week in a deal between Gannett and 4INFO.

If you want a brief overview of what mobile search is, how it differs from other forms of search, mobile business models, and more, this paper, "Introduction to Mobile Search" (7 pages; PDF) by the Mobile Marketing Association is worth a read.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:48 AM | Permalink

January 22, 2006

More on Mobile Search, Free Directory Assistance, and Voice Activated Info Services

Matt Marshall's article: Silicon Valley start-ups rush to bring you information on the go, does a great job of not only reviewing but adding several insights to some of the mobile search news we've been blogging about. Matt also discusses a couple of services that offer FREE directory assistance information. That's right, dial a number and ask for a phone number AFTER listening to an ad or a product pitch.

Marshall's article mentions the recent 4INFO deal with Gannett that we blogged here last Wednesday. We read that 4INFO's CEO, Pankaj Shah, wants to go head to head with Google in the mobile portal space.

When it comes to free directory assistance service, Matt writes about inFreeDA and Jingle that both offer this type of thing.

+ To try out inFreeDA dial: 800-411-METRO (6387). It also works for a landline phone. Residential and business listings.

The service is paid for by advertisers, who give short brand announcements while people are waiting for their answers, or who pitch discounts to lure customers to their competing service. When I tried the service I asked for a friends number. After providing the name and number into an automated system I listened to a 2 second ad for an auto dent repair service. Then, an operator came on the line, confirmed what I had spoken into the phone a few seconds earlier and I had my number.

+ Jingle Networks brands its service as 1-800-FREE41.

My experience with 1-800-FREE41 was also positive. No ads (I asked for a residential number) and within seconds I had what I needed. It was a completly automated experience.

Another mobile search service (SMS-based) that Matt mentions is Synfony. However, I'm guessing he's writing about Synfonic. We've been blogging about them since they day they launched (a day before Google launched Google SMS). One post discussed that Synfonic's technolgy had been licensed for use in China.

Matt has a bit more in his Silicon Beat post.

Postscript 1: For another interesting mobile service, check this post from last week where we talk about mobile search provider UpSnap now providing audio (news, music, etc.) on your phone.

Postscript 2: Testing the free directory services reminded me of Tellme, a speech activated (free) info service that's been around for years. You can try it by dialing 1-800-555-TELL. They offer news, sports, movie times, stock quotes, and more. TellMe Networks technology powers services from many other companies.

It's probably also worth mentioning that Yahoo offers Yahoo by Phone and AOL, AOL By Phone. Both services are fee-based. Google Labs once offered a search by phone feature featured called Google Voice Search. It's no longer available but you can read about it here.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:31 PM | Permalink

January 18, 2006

Mobile Search: Gannett Invests in 4INFO; Upsnap.com Acquires XSVoice, Now Offering Streaming Audio on Your Phone or Device

Two more mobile search items to report today.

A joint press release from mobile search provider 4INFO (a service I blog about and also use very regularly) and media giant Gannett (USA Today is one of their properties) informs us that Gannett is making a minority investment in 4INFO and also entering into a marketing and distribution agreement with them.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Collaboration between the companies will begin with USA TODAY and be introduced to other Gannett newspaper and broadcast operations, including Captivate Network. This will include promotion of 4INFO?s mobile real-time information such as sports scores and weather within relevant sections of USA TODAY.

Congrats to the 4INFO team. Could today's announcement be the beginning of a time where we see other large media organizations getting more involved in the mobile search space? We will be watching.

Next, UpSnap, another mobile search company has acquired XSVoice, a mobile entertainment company. The news release focuses on how XSVoice will now allow UpSnap users to receive streaming audio (music, news, sports, etc.) via their mobile phone or device. The UpSnap home page today includes links to how to access this streaming audio content like this rock music "station."

If I'm not mistaken, UpSnap is leveraging an XSVoice service called the Mobile Broadcast Network (MBN) to power this new feature. MBN has been around for some time (and now shows that is part of UpSnap). I've used it several times in the past and the audio quality can vary from ok (spoken word, news, etc.) to poor. Of course, various conditions including bandwidth issues, weather, and the quality of your speaker or headset can go a long way in determining the audio quality. I'm looking forward to taking another look at this audio service and seeing what develops. Cool idea.

You can learn more about MBN here. In a nutshell, MBN and now UpSnap allows the user to have audio content delivered by simply dialing a US phone number. The service works on both mobile phones as well as landline phones. Example: To access a station playing ambient music, + Dial: 1-615-727-9201 + Login (Registration, web-based, is free) + Enter the station code for Ambient, 1760 + That's it. Music should begin playing immediately.

Of course, make sure your phone (whatever type it is) offer lots of long-distance minutes (assuming your outside of the 615 area code). Otherwise, this could start costing. The content itself is free.

Web access to the content directory is now available either via UpSnap or on your mobile web browser. Check this page for info.

The biggest question I have about the audio content is that with some mobile phone providers now allowing people to download and/or purchase and play MP3's, iTunes, and even listen to satellite radio, will the audio quality that's now available suffice in the long run? I think the service might have a brighter future focusing on non-music content like interviews, news, and sports. Streaming podcasts anyone? Of course, many Smartphones have offered MP3 players for years. For example, using my Treo and some software for the Palm (Pocket-Tunes), I cannot only play any MP3's but also stream LIVE any station offers an MP3 stream. For example, most Shoutcast stations and feeds are in MP3 format.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:36 PM | Permalink

January 17, 2006

JumpTap Introduces Keyword Sales Program for Mobile Search and Releases Stats About What Mobile Searchers Are Looking For

JumpTap, a company that offers many mobile search solutions has just introduced a hosted Keyword Sales Program for mobile search providers.

JumpTap's Keyword Sales Program allows mobile operators to leverage the vast potential of performance-based marketing by bringing turnkey, Pay-per-Click and Pay-per-Call programs to mobile handsets.

JumpTap also released their first set of statistics about what people are mobile searchers are looking to find.

Despite conventional wisdom that the numeric keypad would be a barrier for mobile search text entry, searchers still entered unusually long queries, including "don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me", "the killers all the things that i've done", and "what are you doing the rest of your life". The first example query, referring to a ringtone by the Pussycat Dolls, is 45 characters long.

For the month of December 2005, the type of search for the top 100 queries included:

27% Categories. Top 3 terms searched: Christmas, Hockey, WWE (Worldwide Wresting Entertainment).

22% Adult. Top 3 terms searched: Sex, Porn, Girls.

20% Artist Name. Top 3 terms searched: Eminem, 50 Cent, Madonna.

14% Game. Top 3 terms searched: Tetris, Poker, Snake.

9% Music Genre. Top 3 terms searched: Country, Themes, Reggae.

5% Music Title. Top 3 terms searched: My Humps, Jingle Bell, Gold Digger.

3% Website Names. Top 3 terms searched: Google, MSN, Yahoo.

Much more about JumpTap, it's new ad program, and these new statistics in a news release.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:30 AM | Permalink

January 15, 2006

Tools that Optimize Web Content for Mobile Web: Google Joins Skweezer and IYHY

Since lots of web content has not been optimized for the mobile web, thanks to Nathan Weinberg* at InsideGoogle for the news tip about a new (it's new to me) resource from Google that optimizes most html-based web pages for a mobile phone, PDA or any other wireless device with a web browser. You'll find the interface here. No documentation is available.

Google is not the first to offer this type of service. I've been using Skweezer for about six months but the it has been around for much longer. It works well. You don't have to register to use Skweezer but if you do (free), you can personalize the home page and basically create your own mobile ready web portal.

This handy user guide explains the Skweezer's features and how their patent-pending technology works. Questions? A user forum is also available.

I've also just learned about another player in this (will check out soon) space named IYHY that also optimzes content for mobile web browsers. More about the service here. It comes from WebJillion.

Try them all and see which service works best for your needs and browser.

* On a personal note, a big congratulations to Nathan on his his just announced engagement to Raquel. The wedding will be this summer.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:10 PM | Permalink

January 12, 2006

TailRank: A Social News Recommendation and Filtering System Gets a New Look

Scoble points out that Tailrank a service that, "finds the best content from thousands of blogs" (think digg or Memeorandum) that provides a "custom ranking specific to the user" (think Findory) has a new look and design.

TailRank also offers a mobile version (cool!) an API and is searchable. Registered members (free) can also import blog subscriptions to build a personalized reading list. Findory's personalized reader which was released last September also allows you to import your blog subscriptions.

The TailRank home page has a feature-filled left column that allows you to focus the page by time (1 hour, 2, hours, etc.), view "hot" tags, and find links to "hot" posts.

Registration (not required unless you want more personalized results) is simple and fast. Once registered you can add tags to items you read via the service and are also given additional tools to narrow your results page. You an also add your comments to any entry.

Although the TailRank home page mentions it finds material from blogs I also quickly spotted material from mainstream news sites like MSNBC and ABC News. I also found press releases like this one from the Nikon UK site and pages from company web sites.

Finally, most TailRank entries includes an image of the page, a permalink link, a text snippet, and and a number with the total amount of inbound links to it. Clicking the "inbound link" link shows you where the links are coming from.

TailRank comes from San Francisco and is lead by Kevin Burton, a co-founder of NewsMonster and Rojo.

I'm looking forward to spending more time with the service, especially its mobile version which might be great for quick pop-ins to see what's happening in areas I'm interested in. More later.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:36 PM | Permalink

January 9, 2006

4INFO's Top SMS Search Queries of 2005

In case you need one more Top Searches of 2005 list, 4INFO recently posted a list of the Top 25 terms queried using 4INFO's SMS (text messaging) service in 2005 along with some analysis of the results.

Here's the Top 10: 1. RED SOX 2. YANKEES 3. NFL 4. PU 5. MLB 6. ASTROS 7. WHITE SOX 8. SHOT 9. HELP 10. DRINK

Posted by Gary Price at 4:08 PM | Permalink

January 6, 2006

Nokia's Own Mobile Search Application

Want mobile search for your Nokia smartphone? There's the Yahoo Go tool out today. But Nokia also offers it own mobile search application that's been out since last year. It runs on the 6630, 6680, 6681, 3230 and N70 phones so far and lets you easily tap into a variety of search tools for local (with cool mapping feature), general, image and other type of searching. There are different providers offered for different countries. Yahoo is the default for the UK version. Downside? It's really designed mainly for European mobile searchers, at the moment.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:14 AM | Permalink

Yahoo Go Puts Yahoo Services Into Cell Phones, TV & PCs

Yahoo has launched Yahoo Go (link via PaidContent), a suite of products designed to let people reach information whether they're on their PCs, phones or using TV. The suite will be formally announced by Yahoo CEO Terry Semel at CES keynote today

Yahoo Go Mobile currently works only for Nokia Series 60 phones. It will allow you to sync your contacts, photos and mail with Yahoo. Yahoo says that in the near future, Yahoo Go Mobile will be preinstalled on the Nokia 6682 from Cingular Wireless. Beyond Yahoo Go Mobile, plain old Yahoo Mobile has a wide range of services, some of which involve no special software at all.

Yahoo Go TV is a coming application for Windows XP machines that allows you to see photo slide shows, listen to internet radio stations, search for movie info and clips and find video from the web. What's the TV part, then? It will work with a PC-enabled TV, News.com reports. Or, I suspect, a PC that displays TV in addition to a PC desktop, such as the Windows Media Center does. This application looks to tap into existing Yahoo products but perhaps make them easier for users to be aware of through a more customized software interface.

Yahoo Go Desktop / PC is another coming application that looks incredibly similar to the Google Sidebar. It allows you to apparently tap into and sync more easily with existing Yahoo services such as Flickr photo sharing, blogging on Yahoo 360 and Yahoo Mail. A new "social browser" is also promised, though this seems to be the sidebar or dashboard-like application I mentioned. From various reports, Yahoo Go Dashboard appears to be the name of this.

Yahoo To Launch Go Initiative; Mobile, Connected TVs & Desktop Access over at PaidContent has a nice summary, and v ia Russell Beattie, a number of articles have some additional details.

Yahoo goes mobile over at News.com says Yahoo Go Mobile will work in 10 different countries (I suspect this actually means it will work with 10 different Yahoo country specific editions, such as Yahoo US versus Yahoo UK). Yahoo Go TV is promised for download before April and remote recording of TV shows is planned.

Yahoo Launches Content Service for Phones from the AP covers Yahoo working with Motorola to bring Yahoo Go into its phones, though Google still looks to be the preferred search provider for Motorola, given its deal announced today.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:33 AM | Permalink

January 5, 2006

bblocal and Other City Guides, Travel Resource, & Local Info Tools for Mobile Users

I just learned about a new mobile service with info about various cities and maps bbLocal for Blackberry devices. Since I'm a Treo 650 guy, I'm unable to check it out. bbLocal uses Google Maps and currently has info for 30 U.S. and Canadian cities.

Phea Duch from bbLocal tells me that they have plans to have info for all U.S. cities with a professional sports franchise available by the end of the month.

Duch added that listings for businesses will be free, but we do offer other services like creating websites that are compatible with the Blackberry browsers. The company also hopes to partner with other services. For example, the ability to reserve a table at a local restaurant directly from bblocal. Services like this already exist on the web. OpenTable.com is one example that is now available in the U.S. and launched in the UK mid-2005. However, I was unable to spot a mobile version of their web site. OpenTable also has thoughts about adding a mobile version.

Since we're talking about info that might be useful to travellers, many other online and offline tools come to mind. Allow me to mention three. More later.

+ First, the fee-based Vindigo City Guides for (Palm and Pocket PC/Windows Mobile). U.S. data only. Vindigo also offers a bunch of other programs for mobile devices and phones including real-time traffic info (mapped) and a mobile edition of MapQuest.

+ Second, the well-known Metro: The ultimate public transport guide for your PDA or Smartphone. This is a free service that's available in many languages and for more than 300 cities. You'll find maps and routing info. A web-based version of Metro, i-Metro, is also available. Btw, many sites including iPodSubwayMaps.com offer subway maps formatted for iPods.

+ Third, and as I mentioned yesterday, a wireless version of the popular SeatGuru site is now available. This site, either on the web or via a mobile browser is a must for frequent flyers who don't want to get seated in a middle seat at the back of the airplane.

More mobile travel tools soon.

Postscript: Of course Google Local has a new mobile client version (for some phones) and Yahoo's mobile platform also has local listings. The same is true at 4INFO and Synfonic.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:05 PM | Permalink

January 4, 2006

Purchase Items and/or Compare Prices With Your Mobile Phone or Device

Bob Tedeschi's article in the New York Times: Those Born to Shop Can Now Use Cellphones, takes a look at how eBay, Amazon, and others are allowing shoppers to purchase items via their mobile phone or device.

Along with services where you can buy items directly from your phone, numerous mobile search services allow users to obtain comparison pricing info. Examples include: + Froogle (via SMS) + PriceGrabber + Smarter.com (via SMS) + Synfonic (Gas Price Comparison info) + UpSnap + Yahoo Shopping for Mobile

Not only can mobile phones and devices offer you the opportunity to purchase items from eBay or Amazon.com and compare prices with Froogle or Yahoo Shopping but it's also becoming increasingly easy to check airline schedules, change your travel itinerary etc. Examples include: + Northwest Airlines + British Airways

CarRentals.com released a mobile interface in 2005 that lets you book a car from your phone. The very popular and useful SeatGuru.com, also has a mobile version

Another area of mobile commerce gaining steam is the purchasing of non-travel tickets from your phone. Examples include: + MovieTickets.com + Fandango

As mobile data becomes ever more popular, look for more commerce opportunities to follow.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:28 PM | Permalink

December 28, 2005

New Entry: Medio Joins Mobile Search Space in U.S.

Earlier this month, the Red Herring story: Medio to Debut Mobile Search, looked at Seattle based Medio, joining other companies in the U.S. mobile search space. The company already offers its service in Europe in a deal with Nokia.

The Medio site shows client software available for various phones. It included the following passage:

Searches are federated and results collected amongst numerous databases. These databases are all generated by mobile-centric crawlers or filtered from web-centric real-time feeds.

Yes, federated database searching. Something I've been talking about for a long time. (-: One client, one interface, many databases. Federated searching mobile or non-mobile coupled with personalization (which database(s) do I choose) continues to gain steam. From a searcher standpoint, a personalized, single interface, will be easy to use and easy to learn. Plus, it's easy to see contextual advertising and sponsorship opportunities directly on the client for advertisers.

According to the Medio CEO, the U.S. roll-out would be gradual to 4-5 million users but the wireless provider that Medio is working with was not provided. Some searching on my part proved useless. I'll dig more next week.

You can read more about Medio in this October article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In October, Medio received 11 million in venture capital financing from Frazier Technology Ventures, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Dot Edu Ventures and others.

Recently, I blogged that 4INFO and InfoSpace are both planning to offer a mobile search client software. The InfoSpace client was supposed to become available two months ago.

Will client software (remember, Google just launched a client for Google Maps) for mobile searching be a big story of the new year?

Posted by Gary Price at 5:45 PM | Permalink

December 26, 2005

4info.net Adds New Services for Mobile Web Users

4info.net is a mobile search service (SMS, Web, Mobile Web) that we've blogged about a lot in 2005 and I continue to be impressed with. I also use it on a very regular basis. The San Francisco company is ending the year with even more search tools for the mobile web user.

The following links will take you to pages with more info about the service and how to access it. A mobile emulator also allows you to demo or use the service via a regular web browser.

+ Package Tracking Track FedEx or UPS packages.

+ Hotel Rates

+ News Headlines Enter a keyword, city name or Zip Code.

+ Fantast Sports Alerts "Set up text message alerts whenever your fantasy player scores, turns the ball over, or at the end of each period. Currently available for NFL, NHL, NBA." Logon to My4info.net for more info.

+ Enhanced Sports, Rankings and Standings: "We've also added the ability to query for college and professional sports rankings and/or standings. Try texting "ncaab rankings" or "nba pacific standings" to 44636 find out how your favorite teams are doing."

Here's A List of a Few Key 4info.net Postings from 2005 + Mobile Search: 4Info.net Has Plans to Release Client Software

+ Accessing Flight Info on the Web

+ 4INFO Releases Directory of Mobile Web Sites This small but growing directory was a welcome addition this year! I hope it stays as dynamic as the mobile web and continues to be updated with new services.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:51 PM | Permalink

December 14, 2005

Mobile Search: 4Info.net Has Plans to Release Client Software

4INFO, the mobile search and info provider I like and use quite a bit and that has been mentioned many times here on the blog has plans to release some client software will that run on J2ME, BREW, Symbian, BlackBerry, and Palm devices in mid-January, according to the PC Magazine article: From Phone to PC. Currently, 4INFO is available via mobile web, web, and sms (text messaging).

From the article: The concept isn't so much about creating new content as it is about refining access to this information...the new client will let you group all your favorite mobile content providers into one feed that you can modify via your PC and browse or query remotely. Your preferences are saved in a 4INFO account, also known as your Digital Locker.

If you're interested checking out what 4INFO is up to, you can sign-up to be on the beta test list here. I'm registered and will report back if/when I receive the beta.

Google recently released a mobile client app of Google Local for some platforms and we've also posted about InfoSpace planning a release of client software for mobile devices (it was originally planned to go live in October).

Posted by Gary Price at 10:46 AM | Permalink

December 6, 2005

Local Search from Promising Upstarts

Local search is emerging as an important vertical service for Google, Yahoo and the other major players. But local search is still comparatively new, and isn't always as effective as global web search. In today's SearchDay article, Two Alternative Local Search Services, I take a look at smaller services offering a different approach to finding businesses and services in your own neighborhood.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 5:13 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

November 29, 2005

Searching Via Your Camera Phone

Search technology comes to the camera phone from News.com looks at new developments in letting people take pictures with camera phones as a way to do visual searching. Take a picture of a billboard, and you'll get a film trailer sent back to you, for example.

Postscript From Gary: We've been mentioning about cameraphone searching for some time here on the blog. Here are two posts that might be of interest. + Japan: Mobile Version of Yahoo Shopping Now Available and Searching With Your Cameraphone (7/2005)

+ Two Roundups of New Search Technology and Services Available (8/2005)

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:13 AM | Permalink

November 25, 2005

4info.net Enhances Content and Adds More Info

A quick note to point out that 4info.net, the mobile (text messaging, mobile and non-mobile web search) and email search tool has enhanced some of their impressive services and added some new content. Via the 4info blog we learn that they've upgraded their movie listings (demo here) with info from the IMDB including:

+ IMDB User Ratings (w/web searches) + IMDB Movie Year (w/web searches) + IMDB Synopsis (w/web & WAP searches)

Also, 4info.net has enhanced the weather info they offer with: + Radar Image Added (on web) + Removed Day/Night Forecast + Sunrise/Sunset Times Added + Feels Like (if not the same as Actual Tempurature)

All content accessed on the web version (non-mobile version of 4info) can be sent to a mobile phone with just a click or two as a text message.

Finally, if you're a fantasy basketball player, you can get the latest player stats. Just enter and search a players name.

Postscript: Here's a 4info "Fast Fact" that I learned from the 4info Blog: + 73% of 4info.net queries are not "location" based as some might think. Interesting read. + Almost forgot, Matt Marshall from the Merc recently posted a look at 4info.net in the aritcle, "Hot idea attracts VCs' cold cash"

Posted by Gary Price at 9:36 AM | Permalink

November 17, 2005

UK: Send Maps to Mobile Phones With Multimap and Other Send to Phone Tools

Netimperative reports that online mapping service Multimap has added a "map to mobile" feature that allows the searcher to send the url of a map to their mobile phone/device via SMS (text messaging) and then click to view the map on their mobile phone/device.

The MultiMap "map to mobile" feature is currently only available in the United Kingdom but it should be online in other European countries in the "not-so-distant-future." The service is fee-based so make sure to review the article for that info. This new service sounds similar to what Yahoo has offered with it's "send to phone" feature for local search info, driving directions/maps, and shopping info here in the U.S.

Another service that I regularly use, Vazu.com, allows the sending of text, imagery, MP3's and more via SMS (U.S. and Canada only). I plan on taking a closer look at this service in the near future.

Finally, the Firefox version of the Google Toolbar offers a "send to phone" extension (U.S.) only.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:24 PM | Permalink

November 16, 2005

Access Local Gas Prices via SMS with Synfonic

When we chat about SMS-based (text messaging) search we usually include the big players including Google, Yahoo, MSN (their real-time traffic alerts are very useful) and 4info.net a Bay Area start-up that is doing some great work and offers several ways to access their service. One of several other company's that don't get a great deal of attention in this space is Synfonic. This company, also based in the Bay area, has been around for over a year (they launched a day prior to Google launching their SMS offering) and we've mentioned them several times here on the blog.

So why the mention today?

Synfonic offers what you would expect from an SMS provider including local directory info (powered by Yahoo), movie showtimes, stock quotes, sports scores, and more.

However, I noticed the other day that Synfonic also provides local gas price comparison info for the U.S. I haven't seen this info available via any other SMS service. You'll need to be a registered Synfonic user to access this service. However, registration is free and fast. Once that's done, simply enter a Zip Code and in a few seconds you'll receive three prices from gas stations in the Zip Code you've entered. It makes sense to have this info handy when you're out and about. Instructions here.

Web-based gas price info tools include Gas Buddy and Gas Price Watch. Btw, Gas Price Watch says they'e working on a mobile version of the service.

Posted by Gary Price at 7:14 PM | Permalink

November 7, 2005

Google Local Goes Mobile

Adding to its various search services for mobile phones, Google has introduced Google Local for mobile, a stripped down version of its web-based local search, with heavy emphasis on maps and driving directions. It's a nice, but limited service, and only works on Java-enabled mobile phones at this point. More about the new service in today's SearchDay article, Google Launches Local for Mobile.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 12:00 AM | Permalink

November 1, 2005

On Microsoft Live, Live.com and Start.com Personalized Portals

Plenty of coverage of Microsoft's new Windows Live services today:

The early Windows Live beta is here and more MS live services (also beta) are listed here including Windows Live Search beta-mobile (not yet available) and the Windows Live Favorites beta. I'm sure more services are coming. (-:

We can save discussion on the entire project for another time but what is interesting (IMHO) is that Windows Live beta (not available for Firefox by the way) looks, acts, and feels just like Microsoft's nearly year old "incubation experiment" Start.com (it works with Firefox) personalized portal that we've been posting about for some time.

Officially, this is what Microsoft has to say about Start.com, "[The] site is not an officially supported site. it is an incubation experiment and doesn't represent any particular strategy or policy."

Well, it should look and feel similar. Why?

In fact, the Live.com Blog points out that the same development team has been working on both projects. Well, it looks like the incubator has been turned off and we now know something about a particular strategy. Btw, the Live.com Blog also explains how you can move some of your Start.com feeds to Live.com.

Btw, the search portion of Live.com includes inline answers and spelling correction. Unlike Start.com it also offers access to Hotmail and the new Windows Live mail service (not yet available). The mail service will offer 2GB of space. Surprised? Not!

Postscript: It appears that the MSN Home Page Beta that I blogged about a few months ago (then went away) and offers many personalization features is back online (IE only). Here's a screen cap taken at about 9:30 PST.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:54 PM | Permalink

October 13, 2005

Pimp My Mobile Bookmarks

As many of you know I come from a research (library) and content background. It was great to hear from several of you who appreciated our first "pimping" post with useful but hidden features of the Internet Movie Database. I think the only one unhappy was my mom when she heard I was now in the Internet pimping business. Oh well. Believe me, there is much more to come in this series about plenty online search and research tools for all.

Those of you who read the blog regularly know that two extra special interests of mine are mobile access to information and specialty/vertical databases. Since I regularly talk about both types of tools, I thought I would share a few info resources that I presently have in my bookmarks file of resources optimized for mobile web browsers. Btw, many of these will also work in your regular browser.

Here are fifteen of many favorites in no specific order:

Bloglines Mobile
Rovenet Flight Checker Unlike other mobile web flight checkers, this service gives all sorts of data like altitude, air speed, direction etc. Just like what you would find from many web-based services. Data direct from FAA computers
Skweezer.net Compresses and reformats web content for a better looking result (most of the time).
National Weather Service for Wireless Browsers
ConvertIt.com Time, distance, calculators, etc.
Wireless TV Guide
FAA Wireless for Airport Delays
Speaking of travelling, the mobile version of SeatGuru.com
Dictionary.com
Basic Business Info via Mobile Version of Hoover's
Wireless TVGuide
Basic Business Info via Mobile Version of Hoover's
Mobile Searchable Interface to PubMed*

* The National Library of Medicine makes a number of mobile info tools available.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:46 AM | Permalink

October 11, 2005

Chris Pirillo's Gada.be: Metasearch Plus Ease of Use For Mobile Searchers

When Scoble mentions something that might be of special interest to the mobile searcher, I'm of course going to give it a look. Yesterday, he wrote of a new metasearch service from Chris Pirillo called http://gada.be. By the way, Gada.be also works on regular web browsers too!

Basically, enter your search terms as part of the url BEFORE the domain gada.be and run your search. For example, interested in searching for the term "airlines"? Simply enter http://airlines.gada.be (in other words, the query terms become the subdomain) and you'll be shown top results (no descriptions, however) from Yahoo, MSN, Flickr, Wikipedia, FindArticles, Google News, and others.

At this point, results pages show no advertising. Cool! I wonder if this will continue? It will sure make the pages load a bit more rapidly. Would mobile users be willing to pay for no advertising but faster load times?

Here's another search, this time for [FBI AND CIA AND Washington AND Offices]: http://FBI-CIA-Washington-offices.gada.be.

By the way, if you begin your search on the gada.be homepage you can also run your search in more specialized database categories like multimedia, photos, news, and shopping.

Have you noticed that my searches use both dots and dashes? What about search syntax? Well, there is just a bit. Pirillo writes:

A dot between two keywords implies a quoted statement (chris.pirillo.gada.be)
A dash implies the AND operator (robert.scoble-blogger-microsoft.gada.be)

Chris: How about a list of those category slugs and a way to limit to only words in the title? Also, a list of all of the search services available throughout the service?

Well, I'm off to use gada.be with my mobile browser. Let's take a look. Sometimes the default search offers too many choices. Here are some early suggestions:

The results are fine but what about a tool to make the pages I click on from the results links more "mobile" friendly. I'm thinking of a service like Skweezer or access to a proxy that reformats pages for mobile devices.
Also, titles often tell little, what about a link to see the full snippet right from the actual results page?
Automatic source selection with an option to see more. Especially in a mobile situation I sometimes want only a few sources. Do I really need results from Technorati, Feedster and IceRocket and the same time? Yes, maybe I do. But what about giving me one or two choices and then a offering link to see others.
Perhaps I missed them (likely the case) but services like Answers.com and IMDB would also be useful.
Gada.be would be another great use of dynamic clustering. Allow users to cluster by topic, source, url, etc. Kind of a Clusty for the mobile searcher.
Chris, you should talk to Dave Pell at Rollyo. How about a Rollyo/gada.be hook-up that would allow a user to search only the domains they want.
If you go for some personalization in the future, the addition of Greg Linden's Findory would make lots of sense.

Well, I'll keep playing and report back soon. First impressions, not bad in concept at all. Kudos.

Posted by Gary Price at 8:21 AM | Permalink

October 5, 2005

Group Formed To Help Develop Mobile Search

Group Plots Future of Mobile Search from ClickZ covers a new "Mobile Search Working Group" that's been formed by the Mobile Marketing Association. The MMA group aims to help carriers bundled branded mobile search solutions into their service packages. Frankly, I'd like the group or any group to bang carriers over the head that I don't want to be tied to any one search solution. I want the freedom to choose whatever I like. The groups home page is here, but the additional information the page points you at has yet to actually go live.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:39 AM | Permalink

October 1, 2005

Yahoo Testing Mobile Search Ads In Japan & Britain

Bloomberg News reports that Yahoo is testing paid ads on search result pages delivered to mobile phones and devices in Japan while also auctioning off ads on the Yahoo Mobile travel site in the UK.

"The way that Yahoo is going to stay relevant and essential is by extending our services beyond the PC browser to all devices that consumers use," Garland, who runs Yahoo's mobile group, said Wednesday in an interview at a conference in San Francisco. "There will be a paid search market that develops."

More in the article: Yahoo! is testing cell phone search ads.

In August, AOL Mobile Search began to show paid listings at the top of some pages.

The other day I posted a few thoughts about branding specific mobile search and answer tools as another way for search providers to make money in the mobile search space.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:33 AM | Permalink

September 30, 2005

Trying to Find the Mobile Searcher

Ben Charny's eWeek article: Mobile Search Struggles to Find an Audience, reports on why some say that mobile search is having problems finding users.

The most oft-cited reason here for search's cell phone failure is the phone itself. Typing in any information, like a Web address or a search inquiry, using a phone's cramped keypad is a chore many people aren't willing to put up with. Handset makers have tried to ease the thumb strain using any number of innovations, such as adding miniature QWERTY keyboards, or software, to complete words as they are typed. But it has obviously not been enough.

Yes, I'm a frequent mobile searcher with my Treo 650 that has a mobile browswer and a QWERETY keyboard. When I go out and do demos about mobile search in general (not just what's available on a Treo), the response I get is what I often here when it comes to other forms of web searching.

+ I had no idea that I could do "that" on my phone!

+ You mean I can get addresses, maps, weather, sports scores, and more on my mobile phone?

+ I can search for info on my regular computer and then send the info to my phone as a text message.

+ I don't have a mobile browser, I guess I'm out of luck.

How can people use a service if they don't know about it? How can they take advantage of an SMS search tool like 4info.net if they don't know it's out there and more importantly, what it can offer them?

Of course, these are the early days of mobile search (and I'm still very bullish), but it's going to take search service providers doing more to get the word out not only on paper but with live demonstrations to not only the "classic" early adopters but to other groups who might find the services useful. In other words, get to potential users by going directly to them not wait for the technology to slowly move into the mainstream. Right now, medical and legal professionals are increasingly becoming big users of mobile search. Heck, the National Library of Medicine has offered a mobile versions of their PubMed database for years.

I also think the move that we're seeing in "regular" web search from only providing lists links to answers to actually returning a specific answer to a factual query (Who won the academy award...?, What is the population of Chicago?, Where is Timbuktu located?) also lends itself perfectly to the mobile searcher.

So, where is the money in all of this? Who's going to pay for it? How can you get ads into a very small amount of space. As I said at Search Engine Strategies one model that should be looked at is branding answers and databases. For example, if you're searching for sports facts, that type of query might be branded by a certain company. Let's call it, "Nike's Mobile Sports Search." Searching for movie facts? What about the, "Netflix Mobile Movie Search?" You get the idea. A local search could be branded by a local company or merchant. You might also include a line preceding a mobile search answer like, "this info is provided by xxx company."

Have you ever heard of Guinness beer? Of course, you have. (-: Have you ever seen, searched, or read Guinness World Records. Well, this classic reference resource began as a branded tool to settle bar bets by the brewery.

Why can't companies/services do the same and brand mobile search tools?

Posted by Gary Price at 10:36 AM | Permalink

September 26, 2005

Infospace Gets Ready to Launch Mobile Search Client

The Seattle Times article: Cellphones emerge as local-search tool, reports on some new mobile search/local search client software that InfoSpace (there's a company we haven't blogged much about recently) and Action Engine will launch in October.

The new product require users to download client software onto their cell phones and then pay for access to the database How much InfoSpace will charge and which wireless carriers will offer access, is unknown.

InfoSpace hopes for a model in which merchants will pay when a user clicks on information about that merchant, said Joe Herzog, InfoSpace's director of emerging products.

The article goes on to say: Herzog said that InfoSpace will not support a model in which advertisers pay to be at the top of the list ? a common practice in PC searches ? because consumers would find that irritating, especially since such listings could clutter the mobile phone's small screen.

Huh? I'm unaware of any major web engine where the advertiser can pay for placement at the top of the organic results. Perhaps the writer should have done a bit more research.

As many of you know I'm the mobile search guy around the SEW Blog and as soon as I can get my hands on the software I'll give it a test and report back. I'm not saying it can't be done but getting the typical cell phone user to first download and then pay for software to access local listings, etc. is going to be an uphill battle for InfoSpace especially when many other companies offer similar services for free via WAP and SMS. More in this news release.

Postscript: If you have a Treo SmartPhone and some models of phones from Kyocera and Samsung, I've found Rick Whitt's Directory Assistant 3.2x client worthy of attention and use. Local listings from YP.com, maps from MapQuest, and more. Directory Assistant 3.2x is donationware.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:33 PM | Permalink

September 13, 2005

Yahoo Shopping Goes Mobile

Yahoo has just released a mobile version of Yahoo Shopping. Details and instructions here. The mobile version of Yahoo Shopping will work on mobile phones/devices with a WAP 2.0 enabled browser that has access to one of the following networks: CingularOrange, CingularBlue (formerly AT&T Wireless), Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, and TMobile.

Along with the new (beta) mobile version Yahoo Shopping, the folks in Sunnyvale have also added a feature to the web version of Yahoo Shopping that allows the searcher to send product info directly to their phone (via SMS, text message). Look for the "Send to Phone" link on "product pages." Yahoo also offers the send-to-phone feature for Yahoo Maps and Yahoo Local.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:50 PM | Permalink

Mobile Search Done By Few, But Still Popular Mobile Internet Activity Overall

How's search as a mobile internet activity? The Utilitarian Life of the Mobile Internet at ClickZ cites stats saying it's the third ranked category in the US for June 2005 according to Telephia, behind email (done by 4.8 percent of mobile users) and weather (3.9 percent). Search is done by 2.9 percent of the mobile audience. As you can see, all categories have a small number of the 191 million estimated mobile internet users doing anything -- but when they do go online while on the move, search is strong.

Most likely category of users to do mobile search? Those aged 35-41 (32 percent). OK, that's the most likely category to do email and weather, as well, suggesting to me they've got tech savvy plus the money to spend on devices and access. But interestingly, search is the most likely mobile activity by 18-24 years olds over others, including email and weather.

Most popular mobile search site? Google, with 2.1 percent of the mobile internet audience reach. Yahoo comes next at 1.4 percent. But Yahoo Mail is the second most popular destination overall at 2.4 percent, and Yahoo Driving Directions makes the list with 1 percent reach.

The ClickZ article has all the charts; original charts and details from Telephia here (PDF file).

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:50 PM | Permalink

August 30, 2005

Goin' Mobile with Google Sitemaps

Word just up on the Google Blog that an extension for Google Sitemaps is now available that allows webmasters to submit content for inclusion in Google's mobile web index. Details and examples here. More about Google Sitemaps in this blog post. In June, Google introduced an index of content that has been written/optimized for mobile web browsers.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:54 PM | Permalink

August 19, 2005

4INFO Releases Directory of Mobile Web Sites

4INFO, a company we've mentioned on the blog several times, that provides both SMS and mobile web search services, has just unveiled a new directory of key web sites optimized for mobile browsers on the 4INFO mobile web site. Go to: http://wap.4info.net and click the Web Directory link. If you don't have a mobile browser, these links can be viewed on a regular browser.

More than 15 categories are listed and include: + Business + Shopping + Reference + Traffic Direct links in the directory include: + News.com + XE Currency Exchange + Ebay + Froogle + Price Grabber A well-organized and maintained hierarchical directory like this has been sorely needed for some time. Kudos to 4INFO, we look forward to seeing new links on a very regular basis.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:17 PM | Permalink

August 14, 2005

Microsoft Adds Local Search and MSN Spaces to MSN Mobile

MSN is joining many other players (the big names as well as many smaller companies) by adding local search* (listings from Yellow and White Page directories) to the MSN Mobile service. Each entry also contains links to a map and turn-by-turn driving directions. More on MSN Search's WebLog. You can demo the beta (along with a beta of a mobile version of MSN Spaces using this url on a non-mobile browser. Learn more about MSN's mobile services here.

* The location box on the mobile search interface lets the user enter a location, Zip Code, or postal code. As expected, US locations/Zips work fine. However, I tried using Canadian locations and postal codes and came up empty.

Btw, in April I blogged about another mobile service from MSN that I find useful. Up-to-the-minute traffic reports delivered via SMS (text messaging.

Posted by Gary Price at 4:11 PM | Permalink

August 5, 2005

New Services for the Mobile Web Geek

A couple of new/updated services I've found in the past week or so that might be of interest to mobile web users.

1) 4INFO is on the web with a redesigned version of their informational site. Also, 4INFO is now providing a version of the service for mobile web browsers at: http://wap.4info.net. The company continue to offer SMS access. A couple of new and what I would call "fun" lookups are available: + Drink Recipes + Pick up Lines (-: + Jokes If you don't have mobile web or SMS access, 4INFO provides an emulator to use their service on the web.

The Mobile Traveller 2) The popular SeatGuru.com site that has seating layouts for many airlines has a new mobile version at: http://mobile.seatguru.com

3) CarRentals.com has just release a version of their comparison database for mobile browsers at: http://mobile.carrentals.com. I found rates from most of the major rental companies.

Posted by Gary Price at 4:07 PM | Permalink

August 3, 2005

On the SMS and Mobile Search Beat

The Forbes article: Web Search Hits The Streets, offers a recap of what SMS search is about and includes mentions of Google, Yahoo, and 4info.net (a service I like a lot).

Stat lovers will be happy to a few numbers about SMS usage:

U.S. has 180 million cell phone users compared to 125 million PCs.
Europeans alone exchanged 239 billion such messages last year, up from 100 billion in 2001.
Americans exchanged only 37 billion messages last year

We really don't generate revenue right now," says 4Info Chief Executive Officer Pankaj Shah, who founded the company last year with $8 million in funding from venture firms Draper Fisher Jurvetson and U.S. Venture Partners. His plan is eventually to sell ringtones or wallpaper and to channel relevant interactive ads that generate transaction fees, as in movie ticket purchases. "Yahoo and Google getting into this area validates everything we've done," he says.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:00 PM | Permalink

July 29, 2005

Goin' Mobile With Technorati

I've been wondering when one of the well-known RSS/XML engines (Feedster, Technorati, Daypop, Bloglines*) was going to be the first to offer a version of their service for mobile browsers. We now have an answer.

Word from Technorati today that they've just released m.technorati.com Technorati Mobile.

Technorati's mobile home page consists of a search box, a list of the hours top search terms, and links to top stories in three categories. Results pages do not show paid links. Caveat: Although the Technorati search interface and results pages have been optimized for mobile browsers, many of the underlying blogs/news services that Technorati offers links to have not been optimized. This doesn't necessarily mean that you can't view these pages/posts but does mean that the formatting might. I'll be interested to see if Technorati begins converting blog posts (similar to what Google and Yahoo offer) into a mobile friendly format.

* Although Bloglines Mobile is a service I've mentioned and use regularly, they currently don't provide access to the Bloglines search engine on their mobile interface.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:09 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

July 26, 2005

litefeeds: A New RSS/XML Aggregator for the Mobile Web

I said a few weeks ago that Bloglines Mobile is one of my favorite resources when I use my Treo 650. Things change quickly in web world but as of today, Bloglines Mobile remains a favorite. However, I've just learned of litefeeds, a new mobile web RSS/XML service that I'm going to try out. I'll post more about litefeeds after I have some time to use try it out.

Notes:

litefeeds requires a small download direct to your Java Phone/SmartPhone, Blackberry, Palm or PocketPC.
All configuration (adding,organizing etc) is done online so you never have to type anything on your mobile device.
Feeds are cached, compressed, and stripped so that they are mobile optimized. If it's not a full text feed, you can click and then view an optimized version of the actual post.
Ability to view Flickr/Buzznet images.
Option to clip articles to an "online clipboard" and create a feed of clips.

litefeeds comes from Vancouver-based Webpost.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:38 PM | Permalink

July 20, 2005

SMS Search Provider 4INFO.net Adds Email Search Service, WiFi Hotspot Search Coming Soon

Two quick news items from Palo Alto's 4INFO.net, an SMS (text messaging) search service.

For your "what's old is new again" folder...Email Search

If don't have SMS capabilities on your phone or mobile device (or SMS messages cost too much) but you do have mobile email access, you're now able to access all of 4INFO.net's info services via email by sending a message to 4INFO (4@4info.net) with your query. You can find a list of services and query syntax here.

Find WiFi Hotspots

4INFO.net announced yesterday that they've partnered with JiWire to provide SMS and email search access to a database of WiFi hotspots. This new feature will go live on August 1st. Yahoo SMS and Synfonic also provide SMS access to databases of WiFi hotspots.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:13 AM | Permalink

July 10, 2005

Search SEW With YubNub Command & YubNub Mobile

Danny blogged a great overview of YubNub, a service that "gives you a command line interface for search" a couple of weeks ago.

Two quick updates. First, you can now use YubNub to search all of Search Engine Watch (via Google).

The command is sew [foo].

You can also use the command sewb [foo] to search only the SEW Blog.

Second, a post on the YubNub blog points out that YubNub now has an interface optimized for mobile web users.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:02 PM | Permalink

July 9, 2005

Google SMS Graduates from Google Labs But Remains in Beta; Web Demos Now Available

Those of you who watch Google closely might be interested to learn that sometime yesterday (about 24 hours or so after Yahoo released (beta) their SMS search tool) Google SMS for both the US and UK graduated from Google Labs. The services themselves remain in beta.

I've also noticed that Google now allows you to demo both their US and UK SMS services on the web using a mobile web emulator. You'll find the US demo here and the UK demo here.

In case you're wondering, when Yahoo's SMS service launched on Thursday, they began offering this web-based demo. Yahoo also provides this demo for their other mobile web search tool.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:20 PM | Permalink

July 7, 2005

Yahoo Now Offering SMS Search Tool; Expands Reach of Mobile Web Search

A new Yahoo SMS Search service is now available, allowing searchers in the US to get back certain types of information from Yahoo via text messages. In addition, Yahoo has expanded its web search service designed for mobile users to work with WAP-compatible browsers.

Running an Yahoo SMS search is easy. Simply send a text message to Y-A-H-O-O (92466) and enter the required shortcut. For example, to get a local weather report, message 92466

weather [Zip Code] -or- weather [City, State].

such as

weather 92663 -or- weather newport beach, CA

Actually, you don't even need to enter the word "weather" to access a local forecast. Simply typing the letter "w" and a location will work, such as:

w 92663 -or- w newport beach, CA

Here's a list of the shortcuts Yahoo is currently offering with their new text message service:

Local Listings from Yahoo Local
Weather
Stock Quotes
Word Definitions
Horoscopes
Area Codes
Zip Codes
Wi-Fi Hotspots

Yahoo SMS Search also allows users to respond to text messages replies from Yahoo to receive updated information.

For example, you send a text message to Yahoo asking for a stock quote. Twenty minutes later you want to get an updated quote. Instead of sending a new text message to Yahoo, you can simply respond to the first message.

Yahoo SMS Search also will embed useful URLs into some text messages. Simply click, and assuming you have mobile web access, a web browser will open with more info. For example, a stock quote might also include a link to a complete stock chart.

To see a complete list of shortcuts, send a text message to 92466 with "help" in the body of the message or visit this web page. At launch, the service is available to Cingular, Sprint and Verizon users.

Yahoo joins Yahoo joins Google, 4info.net, UpSnap, Synfonic and Smarter.com in providing some SMS search services.

A SMS-based version of Yahoo Messenger is also available. Check the Yahoo Mobile site for more details on this.

Aside from SMS search, Yahoo is also making Yahoo's regular web search service more accessible to mobile users. Previously, Yahoo web search could only be accessed by those with mobile devices that had HTML browsers. Now, WAP 2.0 (XHTML) capable can access the service.

Simply visit the mobile.yahoo.com site using your phone, and a specially optimized version for mobile devices should appear. By the way, the same Yahoo Shortcuts that work with Yahoo SMS Search are also available with Yahoo's mobile web search service. They've been online since late 2004.

FYI, if you want to see that service from a non-mobile device, you can try it here.

Finally, we mentioned when covering Google's new index of mobile web pages that Yahoo was developing its own mobile web index and taking submissions here. That index is not part of the new launch, Yahoo says, and there's still no timeline on when it will go live.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:00 AM | Permalink

July 5, 2005

Japan: Mobile Version of Yahoo Shopping Now Available and Searching With Your Cameraphone

The InfoWorld news brief: Yahoo launches cell phone shopping in Japan lets us know that the service has just gone live.

Presently, the Yahoo Mobile service here in the U.S. doesn't offer an interface to Yahoo's shopping database. However, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see shopping added to this mobile platform in the future.

We've posted about a couple of SMS-based (text messaging) shopping services that are currently available in the U.S. They include:

UpSnap

See the SearchDay article: New Mobile Phone Search Service

Smarter.com

Froogle.

One of the most interesting mobile shopping tools that I learned about in 2004 comes from Amazon.com Japan. They're offering a service that allows the user to access comparison pricing info by simply pointing their mobile phone's camera at a UPC symbol.

This story also points out that if you have a Nokia 3650, you can use the camera to do some comparison pricing for books.

Boston-based Mobot, is also doing work in visual search via mobile phone cameras. Very cool!!! A demo is also available.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:47 PM | Permalink

June 16, 2005

Google Now Offering Index of Pages Optimized for the Mobile Web

Google Search For Tiny Screens from InternetNews.com report on Google releasing a new beta service for mobile web searchers that allows searching an index of pages that have been, "optimized by their publishers for the small screen."

Google does a special Web crawl to create a separate index of XHTML pages, [Deep] Nishar director of wireless product management for Google, said; he wouldn't disclose how many pages were in the Mobile Web index, but said, "Many sites are using formats that are more conducive to a better user experience on mobile devices." Users can point their mobile browsers to Google's search site, type in the query, then select Mobile Web (beta) as the search option.

Google's other mobile services including web search, image search, and local search remain available.

FYI, Yahoo is planning a similar index which authors can submit to now here. The submission page has been live for about a month or so. Yahoo hasn't yet set a date for when the actual mobile index will go live.

Google also blogs about the service here today, but the link they use to point at hasn't been working, so far. Postscript: Content owner advice on getting listed here; submitting here; the actual service for those on non-mobile browsers here.

Want to discuss? Visit our forum thread, Google Mobile Web Search Launched

Posted by Gary Price at 10:26 PM | Permalink

May 23, 2005

Personalization for the Mobile Web Searcher

TheFeature's Peggy Ann Salz conducts an interview with search engine personalization expert Barry Smyth about using personalization to improve the online experience of the mobile searcher by using informal communities.

TheFeature: Some argue that strong brands like Google and Yahoo! may cost mobile operators portal traffic since users may simply go to the search engine to locate content. How can your technology put operators on more even footing?

Smyth: The technology doesn't have to reside in the search engine, so operators can provide it as an additional layer on top of the search engine. This approach allows operators to capture important information from the user communities and deliver better search results. But it could also go beyond better search to a whole list of value-adds.

You can learn more about Smyth's work on his home page and from Changing Worlds, a company that's developing personalization technology. Barry Smyth is CTO. Thanks to G.L. for the links.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:00 PM | Permalink

May 19, 2005

SMS Search Provider Licenses Technology for Use in China

Last October I blogged about a new info service available from a Bay Area company named Synfonic that provides stock quotes, local listings (using Yahoo data), flight info, wi-fi finder, sports scores, and other info via SMS aka text messaging.

I'm mentioning Synfonic today because the company has just inked a deal to license their technology for use in the booming Internet and text messaging market of China.

A few minutes after reading the Synfonic announcement I came across this article.

The spread of Short Messaging Service (SMS) continues unabated in China with its volume increasing by 39 per cent in the first quarter of the year to 67.21 billion messages, the state media reported. During January-March, the volume of SMS reached 67.21 billion, increasing 39 per cent over the same period last year, averaging 750 million SMS per day.

Posted by Gary Price at 8:39 PM | Permalink

May 4, 2005

NY Times Talks Mobile Search

Hey, this is cool. Lisa Guernsey has written an article in The New York Times: The Cellphone's Potential as a Search Tool Gets Tapped about one of my favorite topics, mobile search. Most of the services mentioned in the article have been reported on and linked to on this blog numerous times. Nevertheless, I'm thrilled to see mobile search getting attention in The Times, kudos Lisa!

Btw, I've also posted here about location-based sevices starting to come on strong. Word of two new services from Sprint that only requires a mobile phone and monthly subscription fee.

WirelessWeek reports: Whether a customer needs roadside assistance or driving directions, Sprint is ready to deliver, thanks to a pair of newly introduced location-based services (LBS). The Roadside Rescue subscription runs $4 per month and gives Sprint customers the ability to request roadside assistance, as well as have their location pinpointed. Sprint said it has the ability to deliver turn-by-turn driving directions to a location based on a customer's whereabouts.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:56 AM | Permalink

April 25, 2005

Mobile Access to Info: See The Traffic

Yes, I'm the mobile search/info guy and although what follows isn't exactly search and might only be of immediate value to those of you who live in the Washington DC/Baltimore region, I still wanted to share it because in the next few years we're likely to see (no pun intended) similar services from companies (Yahoo? Google?) for cities located around the globe.

Over the past several months we've blogged about new services that allow you to view current traffic "incidents" mapped using Yahoo Maps and also with MSN Maps. MSN will also send current traffic reports via SMS. However, wouldn't it not only be cool but very useful for you to actually view the traffic in real-time on your mobile device? It's one thing to see an icon on a map alerting you to an incident, it's another thing to see exactly for yourself how the traffic is moving.

Here in the metro DC area, a free service called TrafficLand.com has been around for over a year and allows you to view real-time images (updated every couple of seconds) of traffic conditions via feeds from more than 400 cameras.

I've found TrafficLand very useful prior to leaving my home/office but when I'm driving "on the road" I don't have a computer to use.

Now, for a small monthly fee, Trafficland is offering a mobile version of their service that they're calling AirVideo. It that allows users to view the live cameras from throughout the region on many types of mobile web browsers. It's not only making a useful service even more useful but I also think it's a sign of things to come.

I know the City of New York also offers real-time traffic images but I don't think they provide a version optimized for mobile browsers, yet. If they do or you know about other mobile web traffic services, I would love to hear about them. Email me at: resourceshelf@myway.com.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:19 PM | Permalink

April 19, 2005

Multimap: Wireless Web Access to Maps for More than 50 Countries

Danny blogged today about the launch of Google Local, Maps and Mobile for the UK. In his post he mentions 192.com, an online directory that offers aerial/satellite images. Later I blogged about Yell.com offering local search and maps via SMS for the United Kingdom.

Allow me to toss out another service for mobile access to maps. Multimap offers both web-based (some local info also available) and wireless web access to maps for more than 50 countries including Australia and Canada. The wireless version of Multimap is at: http://www.multimap.com/.

Multimap also offers aerial/satellite images for a fee. However, they do provide free access to aerial images for a few UK locations. Enjoy!

+ Buckingham Palace + The Lake District + Stonehenge + Stamford Bridge + Windsor Castle + Tower of London + York Minster + Millennium Wheel + Hampton Court Palace + Lulworth Cove

Btw, watch what happens when you place your cursor on an aerial image. You should see a map overlay the image. Cool!

Posted by Gary Price at 7:44 PM | Permalink

Yell.com Offers Local Search For Mobile Searchers in the UK

Although my article for SearchDay yesterday focused on mobile search tools for local info here in the U.S. that doesn't mean that MANY (if not more) tools for local mobile searching outside of the U.S. exist. I plan to cover some of these tools in the future. Danny's post below points out that Google is now offering local search for mobile users in the UK.

Another service that has been offering local search for mobile devices and phones in the UK for some time is Yell.com. They provide info about 2 million businesses, driving and walking directions, and maps. Most of the services are either free or available for a very low fee. Those of you in the UK can learn more by sending a text message to 80248 or by visiting this web page.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:29 AM | Permalink

April 18, 2005

Searching via your Mobile Phone

Google's new Local Mobile search isn't the first such offering, nor is it the most comprehensive. In today's SearchDay article, A Roundup of Local Mobile Search Tools, Gary describes more than a half-dozen local search tools for U.S. mobile phone users.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 12:00 AM | 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

April 13, 2005

Real Time Traffic Alerts via SMS

With another round of new SMS (text messaging)and mobile web search news going on this week, I want to mention another in a growing list SMS-based services for mobile web users. No, it doesn't come from Google or Yahoo. It's an SMS alert service from MSN.

In many metropolitan areas, traffic an all to frequent headache (one that comes on each day here in DC). MSN Autos offers real-time traffic alerts delivered via SMS. You'll need to have a .net passport to set up your alerts (free). The alerts are also free but don't forget that you might be charged for text messages by your cell phone provider. If you don't have SMS access you can also have alerts sent via e-mail.

Real-Time traffic alerts are available for more than 65 metropolitan areas in the United States. After selecting an area you're able to easily narrow your alerts to selected parts of the metro region. For example, here in DC I can get select alerts for various parts of the city and many suburban areas. You can also limit by "incident severity" and have alerts sent only during certain parts of the day.

Drive safely!

Posted by Gary Price at 1:47 PM | Permalink

April 5, 2005

Searching For WiFi Hotspots

Heading off on that big trip and need to locate the nearest WiFi hot spot? WiFi Search Sites Offer Spring Freedom from Jennifer Laycock at Search Engine Guide has a rundown on resources to try. Also bookmark Geektels, a directory to hotels offering high speed acccess. Chris Sherman did a review of the service back in 2002: Searching for High Speed Hotels, and it still looks to be going.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:44 AM | Permalink

March 29, 2005

Answers.com Goes Mobile

Yes, I love my mobile search tools and once again news about a new service. Today, Answers.com has released a mobile interface for their database. I think this is a perfect fit and to be honest, something I've wanted to see and use for a long time. To access, simply point your wireless web browser to: http://mobile.answers.com

Posted by Gary Price at 10:01 AM | Permalink

March 28, 2005

InfoSpace Plans to Launch New Mobile Search Engine

It's becoming increasingly apparent that along with vertical engine, currently the "next" big thing, that mobile search/info retrieval is very rapidly becoming the next "next" big thing. We've blogged about many new services over the past few months from established names (Google and Yahoo) along with new companies like 4info.net, FeedBeep, and Synfonic.com).

In the current issue of The Puget Sound Business, Jeff Meisner takes a look at what Infospace is planning to offer in the mobile space. His article is titled, Next wave for InfoSpace: cell phone surfing.

Meisner reports that InfoSpace will launch a new mobile search tool in the next 12 months that can be searched either via typing your query or voice recognition. The company also plans to offer new location based services but specifics are not mentioned in the article. Last week I blogged about Nextel and MapQuest now offering location based (via GPS) mapping and local info. Infospace still hasn't decided how the new search tool will be branded.

The company already offers several mobile tools available from many mobile providers and is a major player in the ringtone market.

"The holy grail of InfoSpace Mobile over the next five years is to translate the search and directory services we have on the Web to the 170 million cell phone users in North America," said InfoSpace CEO Jim Voelker. Chris is quoted in the article.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:09 PM | Permalink

March 24, 2005

Here Comes Location-Based Mobile Info

This isn't really a search news item but it's still worth a mention given the massive amount of interest these days in local search, mobile search, and online mapping tools.

About 10 days ago Nextel and MapQuest announced a service that delivers location-based maps and local info (shops, restaurants, etc.) to any Nextel GPS-enabled phone. The service is called MapQuest Find Me. The service also allows you to share your location with trusted people (via the web) and even send text messages through the service. Cool! According to the Find Me web site the service is powered by technology from uLocate.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:34 PM | Permalink

March 22, 2005

More Press For the Vertical Search Biz

Olga Kharif's Business Week article: Search, the Next Generation, takes a look at the increase in specialized tools (aka verticals) that haven been coming fast and furious lately and several of which have been mentioned on the SEW Blog or in SearchDay before. You'll read about: + Become.com ||| SEW Blog Post

+ Nextaris ||| SEW Blog/SearchDay Posts

+ BlogStreet

+ FactBites

+ Snap.Com ||| SEW Post

Posted by Gary Price at 10:49 AM | Permalink

March 16, 2005

RSS Delivered via SMS: FeedBeep Opens Beta

A few weeks ago I mentioned a new service called FeedBeep that notifies users of new RSS headlines (based on keywords) via SMS (text message). I just learned that the beta is now open to anyone (in the U.S. or Belgium) who can access text messages on their phone or mobile device. Registration is free and takes only a few seconds. Details on the site. I'm off to give it a go.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:25 AM | Permalink

More On FAST's Mobile Search & Better Change That Name!

Gary blogged earlier a new mobile search product that FAST has rolled out. FAST Into New Mobile Search from InternetNews.com provides a few more details about the mSearch service. Pity about the name, though. mSearch also the same name for the new search marketing agency brand being rolled out worldwide by WPP that I wrote about earlier this year. I mean, it's exactly the same right down to the use of a little m before the word search!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:08 AM | Permalink

March 14, 2005

More Mobile Search and Info News

I'm starting to wonder if we'll soon need a blog that only focuses on mobile search and info retrieval. (-: Three news items from the mobile front today.

+ Yahoo and AOL have both announced deals that will provide Blackberry users with preinstalled versions of Yahoo Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger clients on their devices. Versions of Yahoo Messenger and AIM are already available from several wireless providers.

+ More about other mobile services AOL plans to release in the Infoworld article: AOL unveils set of new mobile services.

+ FAST Search and Transfer has launched a new mobile product called Fast mSearch that can intergrate a variety of mobile content. More info here.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:32 AM | Permalink

March 12, 2005

Mobile Access to Your My Yahoo RSS Feeds

As Danny pointed out the other day, mobile access to info and search services continue to be of interest to me. Services from new players as well as from established companies are appearing on a daily basis.

As this CMPNet Asia story points out, that the mobile version of My Yahoo now allows you to view your RSS feeds via your WAP browser. In other words, My Yahoo joins Bloglines from Ask Jeeves as services offering mobile tools to access your feeds. More info and details about how to access your feeds via My Yahoo Mobile in the story: Yahoo Launches Mobile RSS News Feed and in the Yahoo Search Blog post: My Yahoo! Mobile RSS.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:11 PM | Permalink

March 10, 2005

Search Players Want Your Mobile Phone

Local mobile search? Hold the phone from News.com takes a look at how search companies are eyeing the mobile market as a way to extend their reach. If you're an SEW member, see the our Mobile category below for a guide to past reviews of some mobile search services out there, primary written by Gary. He lives for mobile search on his Treo!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:06 PM | Permalink

February 24, 2005

RSS via SMS

Philipp points to a post about an interesting mobile service (in beta) that I spotted a few weeks ago but haven't had time to mention yet called FeedBeep. You can use it to deliver RSS alerts as SMS text messages. According to FeedBeep site, their working with PubSub and other services. Btw, I signed-up for a password to access their beta three weeks ago but still haven't heard back. When I do, I'll report on how the service works. Currently, I use the Bloglines site optimized for mobile web browsers to access RSS feeds. Very nice!

Posted by Gary Price at 1:47 PM | Permalink

February 10, 2005

4info.net Enters Mobile Search Space

I've blogged many times about the rapidly growing world of mobile search and info tools. Chris has also written about mobile search in SearchDay.

Today, I've learned about another new company entering the mobile space called 4info.net.

4info.net provides a variety of content that's accessed via SMS (U.S. only) including: + Local Info + Stock Quotes + Sports Scores + Flight Info + Movie Times According to their web site, several services are "coming soon" including driving directions and comparison shopping.

To access, send a text message to: 44636 (4INFO on a phone keypad). This page has info and examples about how to format your query. An SMS emulator is also available to try the service without SMS access.

Early Thoughts? I ran searches for sports scores, movie times, and weather. My results were available quickly and the material was accurate. In other words, 4info.net made a good first impression.

Thanks to BlogHop for the news tip.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:29 PM | Permalink

February 7, 2005

More Yahoo! Mobile Services Coming to Yahoo! Europe

Netimperative's article: Yahoo! expands mobile services, reports that Yahoo! Europe has signed a deal with Mobile 365 to provide mobile connectivity for various Yahoo! Europe services.

In Europe, Yahoo! aims to extend its communication, information and entertainment services from the desktop to any mobile device.

Current services include the mobilization of Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, the ability to compose SMS messages from the desktop, the latest finance and news information, plus a range of ring tones, videos, games, logos, and picture messages.

About two weeks ago, Yahoo! Local (U.S.) began offering a service that offers the user the ability to quickly send a Yahoo! Local entry (phone number, address) from their web browser to their cell phone or mobile device via SMS.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:12 PM | Permalink

January 28, 2005

Search Engines Going Mobile

Spotted via Search Engine Lowdown, Search Engines Go Mobile recaps how search engines are reaching out into our cell and mobile phones, focusing mainly on the Yahoo local search-to-cell phone service Gary wrote about yesterday (Now Available: A New Service from Yahoo! Local) and the Froogle SMS service rolled out at the end of last year. More from Gary on that here: Two New Ways to Search Froogle Via SMS.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:20 PM | Permalink

January 27, 2005

Yahoo Factor: Victory In Search Wars Through Vertical?

Last to the game with desktop search, The Yahoo Factor from Technology Review argues that Yahoo may succeed in the search wars through a strategy of conquering through vertical search, such as mobile and local.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:46 AM | Permalink

Now Available: A New Service from Yahoo! Local

Yahoo Local users can now easily and quickly send phone numbers and addresses from the Yahoo! Local database to their cell phones or mobile devices as text (SMS) messages. The service is free but your phone provider may charge for text messages.

Each Yahoo! Local entry now contains a link labeled, "Send to Phone." Click the link and enter a phone number (U.S. only). Then, click "send." In a matter of seconds the name, address, and phone number of the Yahoo Local entry you've selected will be accessible on your phone or mobile device. Some phones even hyperlink phone numbers so don't even after enter the number. More info about this new service here.

The new Yahoo! Local mobile service is similar to another free service called Vazu that I've been using for several months. It works well. Vazu allows you to send text material from any web page to any phone around the world as a text message. Vazu also automatically recognizes phone numbers on web pages and you can even import, upload and send contacts from Outlook, Outlook Express, Apple Mail, or Ximian Evolution. Vazu requires a small download and only works with IE.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:00 AM | Permalink

January 23, 2005

Ask Plans Mobile Search In 2005

I said several times in '04 that mobile search and access to info would continue to grow in both usage and the number of mobile services available.

An IDG News story: Ask Jeeves Developing Wireless Search Service, reports that the butler will have a mobile search tool available sometime in 2005. I think mobile access to Ask's Smart Search technology (ANSWERS not only links) will be a plus for the mobile searcher since research time and other issues are major considerations when searching via a mobile device.

In developing its wireless search services, Ask Jeeves will focus on providing very specific information to queries and not try to replicate the conventional Web searching experience, given the nature of wireless communications and devices, he [Daniel Read, Ask Jeeves' vice president of product management] said.

The second half of 2004 was a busy time for mobile search. We saw new releases from Yahoo (who already had a very robust platform), Google, Smarter.com, and others. Btw, RSS and other syndication formats also work very well on mobile devices. Bloglines already offers a special interface for mobile web users.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:52 PM | Permalink

January 12, 2005

Mobile Search: New and Improved Access to Hoover's Business Data

Those of you who are mobile web (yes, I love my Treo 600) searchers might be interested to learn that Hoover's, the well-known provider of business data, has recently released a new and improved mobile interface to access/search their content. You can access Hoover's company profiles (more than 40,000), news headlines, etc. for free (just like you can do on their "regular" web site) and also login for more comprehensive data if you have a Hoover's subscription. The url for mobile access to Hoover's is: http://mobile.hoovers.com.

Posted by Gary Price at 4:25 PM | Permalink

November 10, 2004

More Press Attention About Mobile Search

In today's Forbes article about search: Calling All Web Search, Arik discusses mobile searching, a topic I've been posting on quite a bit in the past few weeks.

Here's a list of some of the companies featured in the article (with links to SEW mentions): + UpSnap + Synfonic + Smarter.com

You'll also read about the soon to be released, Crunkie (another interesting name, sounds similar to Clusty) from Emeryville-based Wavemarket. "Crunkie that will combine social networking, blogging and tracking friends on wireless phones. Think Friendster meets Blogger meets AOL buddy lists meets mapping--all baked into mobile phones--and you get the idea."

Posted by Gary Price at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 4, 2004

UpSNAP and Looksmart Announce Partnership

UpSNAP, the SMS-based search tool Chris wrote about last month has announced a partnership with Looksmart.

The company [UpSNAP] will offer its customers a new way to extend their reach off-line and directly to consumers via text-enabled cell phones under a pay-per-click/call model...Until today, consumers had to pay to find merchants in the cellular world," said Tony Philipp, President and CEO of UpSNAP!. "UpSNAP! reverses this model. Consumers can contact merchants for free, and local merchants can now take advantage of a performance-driven advertising model even without a web presence. LookSmart, with its large base of advertisers and flexible paid listings platform, was the obvious partner to work with to power this advertising service...For the first time, advertisers have a performance-based revenue model via text-messaging on cellular telephones.

The complete news release is available here.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 3, 2004

Two New Ways to Search Froogle Via SMS

When Google launched their SMS-based search tool about a month ago you were only able to search the Froogle database by using a specific product name (Treo) or general product category (PDA).

Today, the company added two new search options for SMS-based Froogle searching.

+ Search for books by using its ISBN (International Standard Book Number).

+ Search for a specific product by using its UPC (Universal Product Code).

Smarter.Com's is another recent entry into SMS search world. It offers pricing info for more than 100,000 computer and consumer electronic products

Posted by Gary Price at 1:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 1, 2004

Who2 Offers Mobile Search Option

Yes, another mobile search tool to tell you about. This one is designed for those of you with mobile access to e-mail.

You're now able to access Who2's biographical profiles using Who2 Mobile Search.

Who2, a well-know reference database with biographical info about hundreds of celebrities, newsmakers, and historical figures.

If you've never visited Who2, it's worth a look. Ask Jeeves incorporates Who2.com content into their Famous People Search service.

Want to try it?

If you've got email capability -- on your cell phone, your Blackberry, or on your WiFi laptop -- you can get the full text of any Who2 profile simply by sending email to search@who2.com.

Put the name of the celebrity in the "Subject" field and send the mail. Quick as a flash, by return mail, you'll get Who2's profile in plain text format.

E-mail based search seems to be getting more attention these days (an old idea suddenly new again) as another way to interact with the mobile searcher. We've recently seen e-mail based search tools released by IceRocket and CitySearch. CapeClear offers a service to conduct Google searches via e-mail.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 27, 2004

Yahoo Adds Local, Web and Image Search To Mobile Lineup

We've said several times that mobile and sms search tools are rapidly gaining steam in the U.S. Today, Yahoo Mobile has introduced a few new services.

Yahoo has added local search, web search, and image search to their already large set of mobile services (news alerts, games, IM, etc.) delivered to your wireless web browser.

Yahoo Local is now available for mobile users. Results include ratings, maps, and directions. If you have a My Yahoo account, your saved locations are also available. You can also dial the phone number included in the result listing directly from the results page.

I wouldn't be surprised that sometime soon Yahoo will begin working with wireless carriers to automatically detect the searchers location (at the time of the search) and base directions off of that data.

Today is also the debut of the Yahoo image and web databases on Yahoo Mobile. Your wireless web browser will need to be HTML capable.

Image results pages contain three images per page while web results contain five links per page.

Mobile searching is the perfect place to use search shortcuts and we've seen Yahoo introduce a number of them over the past several months. For example, entering weather [city name, Zip} will place the current temperature and conditions at the top of the results page. NOTE: At the moment not every Yahoo shortcut works on the mobile service. I tested several of them and found that these work: + weather + calculator + sports scores + stock quotes + dictionary definitions

Search results page accessed via Yahoo Mobile do NOT contain keyword or contextual advertising.

To access Yahoo Mobile on your wireless browser, go to: http://mobile.yahoo.com

I've been using Yahoo's mobile services for over a year (I'm a Treo guy) and the addition of these new services is great. Search is quickly becoming more than a desktop only service.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 7, 2004

Google & Synfonic Both Launch SMS Search Tools

Google has a just launched a new site that allows you to search and access content via SMS (short message service/text messaging) that's very popular in Europe and Asia. However, this new Google beta is only available in the United States.

They've offered a version of Google optimized for wireless browsers for a couple of years.

Yahoo also offers numerous services for wireless web users. For example, you can receive keyword news alerts via SMS.

Recently, we've posted about a service in the UK that allows you to ask questions and receive answers via SMS.

Google SMS returns answers not links for certain types of queries. Examples include: + Dictionary definitions + Product comparison info + Local business (name, address, phone) info.

Btw, just yesterday, Berkeley based Synfonic launched an SMS-based search tool called Synfonic411 that offers directory and local business info from the Yahoo Local database.

Finally, a "tool" for SMS that's been getting press lately is Vazu. It allows the user to send any phone number found on the web along with other contact info to their cell phone/wireless device. I'm a Treo 600 guy and have found it very useful.

Wireless access to search tools (via SMS and the wireless web) will continue to come online as the wireless web and SMS continue to grow in popularity. Even specialized databases are developing "mobile" interfaces. The National Library of Medicine already offers a version of PubMed for wireless web browsers.

Want to discuss or comment? Visit our forum thread: Google SMS Search.

I've posted the complete text of the Google and Synfonic announcements below.

===== ===== Today, Google announced the beta release of Google SMS, a new offering that enables people who are away from their computers to quickly and easily get instant, accurate answers to specialized queries through text messaging. Using a cell phone or handheld device such as a Blackberry, users can obtain local business listings, dictionary definitions, product prices and more--all available through Google.

Google SMS returns specific information related to a user's query as a text message to their mobile device. For example, to find a pizza joint in a specific neighborhood, users can send a text message to the 5-digit U.S. shortcode 46645 (also GOOGL on most mobile phones) with the query and city or query and zip code, i.e. [pizza 94043], and immediately receive the name, address, and phone number of local pizzerias in that area. This type of concise information can help mobile users find exactly what they're looking for anywhere and any time.

Using Google SMS, people can: . Find names, addresses and phone numbers for local businesses and residences . Look up dictionary terms to get definitions, expand their vocabularies, or even settle bets . Compare online product prices with those they find in retail stores, i.e. to find the price of an iPod, users can enter the message [price ipod 20gb]

Google SMS, currently in beta on Google Labs at http://sms.google.com, extends the reach of Google's search services to mobile phones and devices, while staying true to Google's mission to bring more of the world's information directly to users. Google SMS currently works with wireless providers in the U.S. only, including AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint PCS.

Google is continually developing innovative ideas to improve our users' search experience, and as always, we welcome your feedback. For instructions on how to get started, users may send a text message to 46645 with the word [help]. More information about Google SMS can be found at http://sms.google.com. ===== ===== SYNFONIC LAUNCHES FREE 411 SERVICE

WIRELESS APPLICATION COMPANY PROVIDES DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE SERVICES FOR TEXT-MESSAGE ENABLED WIRELESS PHONES

BERKELEY, Calif., October 6, 2004, Synfonic Inc., a leading provider of on-demand data services for wireless phones, today announced its new Synfonic411 service providing directory assistance and local business information using text messaging short-message service (SMS). Cell phone users send a text message to Synfonic411 with the city, state, and business name, and Synfonic returns a text message with the desired address and phone number in seconds.

Unlike conventional directory assistance service, Synfonic411 also provides additional information on similar businesses in the vicinity. “A user in Berkeley might look up the name of their favorite Japanese restaurant in order to make a lunch reservation,” said John Chen, co-founder and chief executive officer of Synfonic. “Within seconds, our free service will send the user the address and phone number of the restaurant, as well as two or three other restaurants in the neighborhood.

The service is exactly the same as today's directory assistance, but you don't need to write the number down, and we add a couple of alternative suggestions too.”

All cell phones manufactured within the past three years are SMS enabled, and text messaging usage is increasing in all age groups. Synfonic is aiding this trend by developing on-demand mobile services for consumers and businesses to get information sent to their cellular phones. Synfonic411 is the first in a series of SMS-based information search services from Synfonic, turning your cell phone into a mobile search engine.

How to use Synfonic directory assistance service: Synfonic's directory assistance service is available at 650.430.7183. Simply send a text message with the city, state initials, and business name, separating each item with a comma. For example, to find Oakland Airport, type “Oakland, CA, Oakland Airport” and send the message to Synfonic411.

About Synfonic Synfonic is a Silicon Valley based developer of on-demand information services for cell phone users. Using its patent pending mobile services platform, Synfonic brings the power of the internet to mobile handsets, stripping and formatting web content to fit cell phones. For more

Posted by Gary Price at 1:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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