This has been a fantastic week - and I can’t wait until the weekend! That’s when I start my trek to the Bertinoro International Center for Informatics for Search Goes Mobile. The mobile search workshop/think tank brings together a  high profile group of mobile operators, search engine company execs and academics, to discuss the state of mobile search and the future of the mobile Web.

I am looking forward to multiple mind-melds and meet-ups with super-cool attendees and speakers including Enrico Bagnasco, Head of Research and Trends, Telecom Italia; Usama Fayyad, Chief Data Officer and Executive VP, Yahoo; John Gage, Chief Researcher and Vice President of the Science Office, SUN Microsystems; David Maguire, Chief Scientist & Director, ESRI; Andrei Broder, Vice President of Computational Advertising, Yahoo Research; Hans-Christian Haugli, Senior Vice President and Head, Telenor R&I; Phyllis Reuther, CTO, MCN (a white label mobile search platform provider), and researchers and faculty from universities/institutes across Europe.

My sincere thanks to the organizers and to Geoffrey Canright, Senior Research Scientist, Telenor R&I, for inviting me to speak on my favorite topic - federated mobile search. Naturally, I will want to dedicate my complete time and attention to the event (I’m also not sure of the rules on live blogging), so I may chose to circle back with impressions and analysis when I return on May 1.

And while I am thanking the people who have made my day, and brought MSG a giant leap forward in the process, allow me to recognize Charles Knight once more. His site, AltSearchEngines, widely referred to as “the voice of alternative search” is the only destination of its kind and caliber. I am proud that Charles chose to feature my recent Q&A with Thumbplay as a guest post . Through email exchanges and now frequent phone calls Charles and I recognize we share a passion for search - in all its forms. We have therefore pledged to collaborate more closely to ensure our sites showcase the alternative mobile search solutions (and vendors) sure to have a profound impact on the space. If you would like to be considered, then please contact me.

Today I also had the opportunity to connect with Christian Hernandez Gallardo, Head of Distribution Partnerships, Google. Thanks to Anthony House at Google for setting up this private briefing on short notice.

I didn’t attend the Mobile Marketing Forum in London last week (a mistake I’ll not repeat), so Christian walked me through his complete presentation, providing me with ample material for MSG as well as a feature article on paid for mobile search strategies. While I am an independent analyst, I do accept article commissions on topics where my passion and abilities intersect. In this case, it’s an in-depth article on search advertising for New Media Age magazine - and you can be sure it has given me inspiration for future analysis and coverage.

Indeed, I have a follow-up briefing with Google to deep-dive into the company’s mobile search and advertising offer when I return from Italy (wonderful timing given today’s news that Google has formally launched mobile image ads - Christian gave attendees at MMA the scoop on this last week, BTW).

In the meantime, I have been asked to provide analysis/commentary on mobile search and mobile advertising for upcoming issues of Mobile Entertainment magazine, so - as always - I encourage you to reach out to me directly or contact Andrea, my PA - andrea@msearchgroove.com. I am ever open and eager to hear your pitches!

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 24th, 2008 at 6:53 pm and is filed under Mobile Advertising, Mobile Search, Mobile Social Networking, Web 2.0. 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.