Future of search isn't on the desktop

Subscribe to Goobile

In iMedia Connection Noah Elkin, iCrossing's director of industry relations, explains why the future of search isn't on the desktop.

"...I do find it gratifying when one of my predictions, however minor, comes true. Back in mid-October, I lamented the state of mobile search on iCrossing's Reverse Direct Marketing blog, musing that perhaps the right stakeholders had not yet connected and that what was called for was a dedicated search button on mobile handsets."

Motorola and Google have now teamed up and the result will be a dedicated Google icon on many of Motorola's upcoming mobile handsets.

Of course Japan's NTT DoCoMo invented the search button on the mobile back in February 1999 and it was a key UI design element, and very conscious one, of the i-mode service.  The i-mode button is iconic in "i-mode circles" - see i-mode Business Strategy.

Despite the US-centric awareness, Elkin writes an excellent commentary on mobile search in the US context, and notes the different strategies being pursued by Google and Yahoo!  It is well worth reading.

He notes that the battle for control of the mobile phone screen has traditionally been the province of the carriers:

but lately, as services, devices and content converge, the walls have been coming down, making the Motorola-Google announcement a small but significant step for mobile search -- for several reasons.

Part of what has limited mobile searching to date is the mobile infrastructure, at least in this country. Slow networks traditionally have been kind only to the most patient of WAP users. Infrastructure constraints, however, are beginning to recede as 2.5 and 3G networks become commonplace across all the major carriers.

Another complicating factor has been the user interface (UI) and compact number pads on most mobile handsets, which can prove frustrating to those used to the ease of full-size QWERTY keyboards and external pointing devices.

And finally, there are issues surrounding the output of a mobile-initiated search query -- how to make relevant results appear on mobile device screens that are far smaller than computer monitors and do not, unlike monitors, conform to any set of industry standards.

Elkin concludes this part of his article with a conclusion:

the Google icon or button on Motorola handsets resolves just a fraction [of the mobile search challenges]. What it does, though, is put search directly in front of the mobile user, which is sure to boost usage (here's hoping that network and browser development will keep pace), and, in turn, bring mobile marketers closer to mobile users (who numbered 202 million in the United States as of the beginning of January, according to CTIA -- The Wireless Association).

Is there a mobile search item that you think we should feature? Email tips@goobile.com. Thanks!

Technorati Tags:
Japan mobile mobile GPS mobile local search GeoVector

---

Call, for strategy, business and partnering advice. | | Email Walter Adamson | Call (Australia) +61 403 345 632.

Comments

[twisted]

That's great (Mr. Elkin), but must EVERYONE point out the benefits of these search strategy implementations from the MARKETER'S point of view!! the users count a great deal and although the loyalty to a search engine is expected to be inherently stronger on a mobile device (which, by the way, may have something to do w. the fact that many will buy their 'loyalty' by simply being the default search engine/a business deal), the one that WINS the users' mind+heart shall lead ... idealistic? Yes. The right way to think? No doubt about it!!