In-Brief: New report reveals Japanese access the Web via QR codes, not mobile search.

Regular readers will know that I spent a considerable amount of time researching and writing a 300+ page tome on mobile content and commerce, known as the Netsize Guide. One message that came across loud and clear in my interviews with luminaries, including Netsize’s own CEO Stanislas Chesnais, was the importance of mobile as an entry point to commerce both in the virtual and physical worlds. A popular scenario, and one fast gaining traction in Europe, is where users connect with content by scanning a 2D barcode (also referred to as QR forQuick Response) codes to initiate a purchase.

For example, ScanBuy, a global provider of mobile marketing solutions that use the camera phone as the link between the physical world and the digital world, recently reported it was extending its 2D barcode pilot program with SFR in France. The service, called Flashcode, has received positive results after launching with public trials late last July. But the one to watch may be the U.S., where this year ScanBuy expects big things – especially since it has successfully convinced Sprint to do a six-month trial of the technology.

But it’s not just about connecting with content or streamlining commerce; it’s also about connecting with people, as this image (courtesy of ScanBuy) illustrates. And a recent post from Tomi Ahonen – author, consultant and mobile guru at Communities Dominate Brands – tells us that 2D barcodes now enable a new kind of speed dating.

The spread of 2D barcodes began in Japan about five years ago, where we know they are today a primary means to access content and commerce via magazine advertisements, posters and promotional flyers. But this report, translated from Japanese, based on a survey of 300 mobile phone users conducted by Cross Marketing Inc., reveals barcodes also have a huge influence on the way users access URLs. In fact, this method is vastly more popular than mobile search.

Among the highlights:

· When asked how they access information when an advertisement catches their eye, 41.7 percent answered they scanned a QR code or a barcode, while 30.7 percent used a keyword search.
· Some 34.7 percent send a blank email and access the URL in the reply, a rather odd behavior that Cross Marketing says may be the preferred method since Japanese culture may possibly frown on the action of taking a picture of the barcode, and users may be embarrassed by the accompanying sound.
· When asked how they access the mobile Web on their mobile phone, top results from respondents were from bookmarks (58.3 percent), from the start page menu (44 percent), from QR codes (30 percent), from manually entering the URL (20 percent) and from a keyword search (20 percent).
Granted it’s a small sample, but the results underline the central role QR codes will likely play as an access to mobile content and destinations. Little wonder that QR codes came up often in-between sessions at the last mobile search conference I addressed in London (MSG coverage here). I have often written that mobile search is the de facto interface to content, but QR codes may someday soon become the no-brainer method that beats it by a mile.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 21st, 2008 at 2:15 pm and is filed under Barcodes, Content Discovery, Location-based services, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Content, Mobile Research, Mobile Search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.