More Scoops: AOL Ramps Up Mobile Search; Reveals Mobile Search “Recipe” & Plans To Shift The Mix
By PEGGY ALBRIGHT & PEGGY ANNE SALZ
As regular readers will know, we are deeply engaged in an extensive mobile search research project, road testing mobile search services, documenting the user experience, and developing a list of key performance metrics. During this process, we have learned “scoops” and statistics about the companies, and their mobile search and advertising activities, that we are eager to share. (This series kicked off last week with an in-depth post outlining JumpTap’s observations and business objectives.)
We continue the series this week with the news and insights that came out of our briefings with Chris Spanos, General Manager, AOL Search Verticals; Jared Farber, Director, Mobile Search Verticals; and Farhan Memon, Senior Product Manager, AOL Search.
MARKET EXPANSION:
MSG outlined AOL’s likely expansion plans here, but now Chris, Jared and Farhan reiterated this strategy and added details.
To date, AOL’s mobile services are available only in the U.S. and the U.K. However, AOL revealed an ambitious strategy to expand into Europe and Asia this year, plans that include upgrading the mobile search service AOL offer in the U.K. (one based on an earlier version of its technology). The U.K. upgrade will incorporate mobile entertainment and information provided by the aggregator, WIN, which AOL partnered with this past summer.
Overall, AOL revealed substantial growth plans through 2009. The company intends to offer desktop and/or mobile services in 40 countries by end-2009 (up from 29 countries/regions where AOL offers its search services - in most countries this is desktop search - as of October 2007). Expect this to change as mobile gains traction across countries. In line with this trend, AOL told us it has particularly high hopes for the rapid growth of the mobile search/advertising space in these regions - and we are inclined to conclude they are indeed well-positioned to benefit from this growth.
iPHONE:
What will drive this growth? Like most companies in this space, AOL is upbeat about the iPhone, a device that has become synonymous with mobile Internet access and usage. In fact, AOL tells us the iPhone became the second-most popular device used by consumers to access AOL Mobile Search by June 2008, just two months after AOL introduced its search product optimized for that device. Against this backdrop, AOL is banking on the positive press it got from its iPhone-optimized search service, and the iPhone’s international expansion (the device is already available in 47 countries and coming soon to another 28), to spur demand for its mobile search service.
PERSONALIZATION:
As AOL takes its browser-based mobile search service to new markets, it will adapt its engine for display on dominant device types, just as it did for the iPhone. This summer, it launched a customized search page for BlackBerry devices. It is currently working on search products customized for Google’s Android and Symbian devices.
COMING - SMS SEARCH:
The company is also planning to introduce SMS-based mobile search “soon.” It believes SMS search might be the preferred approach in countries like India.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE:
What are the features and functionality that play in AOL’s favor? It’s beyond the scope of this post to analyze them all, but one fundamental feature that stands out is what Farhan calls the company’s proprietary “recipe” or formula for each category of search conducted. Based on the system’s interpretation of the user’s intent, this recipe approach determines which content sources to draw from to best answer the query, and how to rank the presentation of the content categories (modules) on the mobile screen to best serve the needs of the individual user.
As Farhan explains it: The recipe system for mobile search - in many ways similar to AOL desktop search - is a mix of input from the system’s proprietary technology (that tracks user queries, assigns queries to specific categories, tailors results to context such as the user’s device and location, etc…) as well as click-through rates observed on previous similar searches.
To date, the recipe system requires substantial “human” analysis and editorial evaluation of queries/CTRs and other variables to determine how to program the ranking of modules for a specific search. But this is going to change. One goal AOL has for this year is to automate the presentation of “recipes” so the system can take over ranking the modules. As Farhan put it: “The Holy Grail is to make the system self-sustaining and self-aware.”
Another objective: AOL aims to tweak the recipe to identify search trends generated by circumstances in real-time that create “query heat.” (This refers to what happens when search terms suddenly become highly popular, as a result of a major news event, for example.)
OPEN MOBILE PLATFORM:
An update on another fundamental piece of AOL’s overall mobile strategy: The Open Mobile Platform (OMP). By way of background, OMP is a client-server architecture AOL announced in February, that is based on technologies AOL acquired when it purchased Airmedia. In a nutshell, the platform enables companies to create, efficiently port and distribute applications that can run on any mobile device or operating system. AOL confirmed to us that it is on track to launch this powerful platform in the next few weeks, and when it does, you can be sure we’ll post our take on it here.
OFF THE MARKET:
A clear comment on MyMobile: In mid-July, AOL revealed that - due to overall budget constraints - it would eventually cease offering its downloadable client, called MyMobile. Previous to this, AOL indicated it would introduce a MyMobile client for other platforms. (It had already released one for Windows Mobile.) In any case, AOL confirmed to us that the product will be “completely” discontinued by the end of this year.
