MSearchGroove

In-Brief: Analysis of the conference concludes with a roundup of some cool business models & companies, a sneak preview of one mobile operator’s soon-to-be-launched mobile search service, and a final word on the crying need for more creativity in mobile advertising campaigns.

It was a pleasant surprise to hear the words “federated” and “vertical” in reference to mobile search from persons other than myself. It is encouraging to know the rest of the industry is picking up these trends and understands that their impact will be truly transformational. In a word, mobile search will never be the same. One person who is on my wavelength on this one is Matt Snyder, Founder & CEO of ADObjects Inc., a company specialized in mobile advertising strategy. Veterans like myself may recall Matt was formerly in charge of Nokia’s mobile search app and partner program. Ever the born-connector, Matt was focused on building a mobile search ecosystem during his time at Nokia and he has taken this passion with him to his newest venture.

Speaking on the panel discussion aptly titled Innovative Mobile Search, Matt treated us to his vision of “hyper-local, hyper-personal” search that would enable the proactive recommendation of content, services and search results - the works - to individual users based on factors unique to them.

The concept is at the core of an explosion of vertical search services we can expect to see in the very near future as companies, ranging from shopping malls to amusement parks, harness mobile search, local information and personalization to create more engaging content and community services. (Matt later told me companies from a wide variety of sectors are seeking out his expertise to put search at the center of all they do…) After all, if search is, as many say, a navigational tool, then why shouldn’t it be at the center of a variety of services (not just search) offered by a variety of players (not just the usual mix of mobile operators)?

One example Matt offered is an entertainment company that is interested in developing a “360 degree” vertical search service that encompasses everything about a specific artist and could even be branded after the artist. (This also reminds me of a post I did very early on - reading it now it has new relevancy. Check it out and let me know what you think…) As Matt put it: “Why can’t everyone - why can’t we all - be mini-Googles” and participate in the mass verticalization of mobile search. “It’s 1995 all over again,” Matt added. “And this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Another flavor of search to watch is social search — search that enables people to add their personal knowledge, opinions and experiences to search results.

The explosion of social search services over just the last months in the Internet is proof that social search has arrived full-force. In fact, some question if Wikia doesn’t cover the bases to take Google down. I wouldn’t go that far, and I certainly see no reason to take down an extremely valuable search service, but the debate shows there is room for (and interest in) approaches that inject human preferences and human judgments into computer algorithms to pinpoint truly relevant information.

A prime example of this is Taptu - a company specialized in socially-assisted search. During the conference Bob Last, who heads Taptu’s business development, reported the company is set to expand the number of categories beyond music and fact-finding and on track to meet its objective to become a universal search provider. Search advertising is on the list, but likely to show up around the end of the year.

Local information and social networking companies are also tweaking their offers to make room for mobile search. Mobiluck, SuperLocal and Jentro are companies high on my radar, so count on me to circle back with a more in-depth look at their business models.

SuperLocal, a company offering “location-aware search and networking services,” has gone “hyper-local” (to borrow a phrase from Matt at ADObjects) and developed a service targeting the Muslim community in the U.K. It allows Muslims to find others in their faith, connect with local mosques (that can also publish or quasi-broadcast content to the community) and receive location-aware ads for local restaurants and businesses that have importance to the local Muslim community. The service is making money offering an intriguing mix of premium services and advertising. More about this later when I dedicate a post/profile to the company…

In this vein, I should mention that GeoSentric, another cool company that “gets” the convergence of location-based services, social networking, search and web 3.0 technologies is also on board to be a part of the MSG podcast series.

Delivering value at the intersection of content and context presents the industry with a challenge, but some companies are turning this problem into a huge opportunity to deliver hyper-personal services that move mobile search into a whole new realm.

These new search services will no doubt demand a new approach to UI development and deployment. This thinking is at the center of TeliaSonera’s new mobile search service. Arto Mustikkaniemi, Director, Content Business Management, Mobility Services, told me after his presentation that the soon-to-be-launched service will create “intelligent profiles around location.”

More importantly, it will provide users with a “consistent way of browsing” that features the same usability regardless of handset. If users are all on the same page, then they will be in a better position to access and appreciate mobile search and the advertising that makes it a lucrative business for operators and others in the value web. Arto reports a whopping 60 percent of users surf the mobile Web and reckons this new UI feature will raise the total to a new high.

And finally, an edgy and insightful view on mobile advertising from the final session of the day (which I recounted in the earlier post). Is paid search the revenue spinner in mobile? Thomas Curwen, Planning Director, Publicis-Dialog, was a brave voice speaking out against the status quo. As he put it: “The industry is shooting itself in the foot with click-throughs.”

This singular focus forces agencies to write short, snappy ads that fit the mobile format but are “useless as a branding experience.” Translated: Ads that scream: “Free content - click here” or any other number of other one-liners short change users and the industry. As Thomas correctly pointed out: “The mobile is a personal and intimate device …yet all we can talk about is click-throughs. We can do better.”

In fact, the industry must do better if it wants to get more brands on board and grow beyond mobile downloadable content and companies in that space. As Charles Sword, Yahoo Head of Mobile Monetization, sees it, getting past CTRs is important. But, for the moment, it’s a measurement advertisers understand and an indication that search advertising is working.

It’s also a reflection of where we are. Yahoo search terms and logs show mobile downloadable tops the list. More content will no doubt encourage more searches and more variety all around. To borrow from Charles’ closing remarks: It’s early days and the number one priority has to be to grow the amount of content, the level of interest and fight the perception that its hard to build a compelling customer experience on a mobile device.

• Posted in
• Web 2.0, Location-based services, Mobile Search, Mobile Content, Local Search, Mobile Advertising, Content Discovery

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