DD: Mobile Search: Mobile Monday at the Googleplex
(--- from 10/12/05 but don't think this was posted on ihub ----)
Related Topics: General — Permalink - [by rafat]
[by Jake Kaldenbaugh] Was it the fact that it was located at Google’s HQ? Was it because “mobile search” is the next “big thing”? Or was it simply a bubble2.0 carryover from the Web 2.0 conference earlier this week? Whatever the reason, it was clear that the searchSIG and Mobile Monday organizers were somewhat surprised by reaching 300 person registration limit for Mobile Monday hosted at Google’s headquarters on Monday, October 10th. Tim Roseborough, President of start-up Vocals Only and attendee of previous meetings indicated, “Before this meeting there were maybe 20-25 attendees, so I’m kind of floored to see so many people at this meeting.” Clearly, integrating search with mobile services is starting to motivate people to give up Monday Night Football to come to the latest Jeff Clavier and Dave McClure chaired show-and-tell.
Another motivating factor was the line-up. Google’s Elad Gil was there, which was expected. Interestingly, arch-competitor Yahoo was in attendance as well, with Mihir Shaw on the speaker panel and demoing Yahoo’s latest mobile search apps. Other speakers included Zaw Thet of 4INFO, Mark Grandcolas from Caboodle Networks and Jack Denenberg of Cingular Wireless. It would normal to assume there may be fireworks between Google and Yahoo, but the real sparks flew between the audience and Mr. Denenberg of Cingular. It was clear that while the room was filled with entrepreneurs and companies that would love to exploit the carriers’ market size but are unhappy with the carriers’ dominance of the channel to the customer. Several audience questioners pointed out their beliefs that the carriers are stifling innovation and holding back the market. The moderator, Dave Weiden – a consultant working with Morgan Stanley, jumped in to defend Mr. Denenberg and the carriers in general by pointing that not all carriers have the same revenue splits and they do carry the costs of supporting the customers. Cingular’s Denenberg did a commendable job on focusing on presenting the opportunities as seen from the carrier perspective.
Another interesting dynamic in the meeting was Mr. Denenberg’s assertion that Cingular (at the least) believes that best interface for search and mobile data applications is the voice gateway. He asserted that one of the primary environments for mobile usage was by professionals who are in their cars driving. In this scenario, it’s clear why using voice commands to navigate menus and obtain information would appear to be superior than using small mobile device screens. Additionally, Cingular receives 1 million mobile “411″ calls a day and they believe that there are 3 million per day across all US wireless carriers; implying approximately 1 billion calls per year. At an average price of $1.25 – 1.50, it works out to $1.25 – 1.50 billion in revenues a year. Cingular believes that this is an opportunity to be extended and that is where they are focusing their efforts. Google and Yahoo’s representatives both conceded the importance of voice gateways by saying that they expect multi-modal access to be critical, but they clearly felt that their graphical interfaces would be important. The undercurrent in the communications indicated that controlling the first-line interface that the consumer uses will be an important battleground between the carriers and third-party search and information providers.
A big problem that all panelists, including Cingular, agreed upon was that current interfaces and process-flows for obtaining ring-tones and other media are too complex today. Caboodle’s Mark Grandcolas indicated that their research shows that 90% of mobile users can’t find their desired content on their first attempt and they never make another attempt again. Improving the experience by reducing the number of steps to find information and making it easier to find desired content at all would significantly improve mobile media consumption immediately. Cingular’s Denenberg agreed, making it one of the few areas of consensus for all panelists.
On the specific meeting question of how to drive traffic to mobile search, panelists provided a number of specific tactical measures they’re using. Google is using multiple channels such as including a Point-of-Sale “tip sheet” with a carrier provider but indicated that their significant broadband presence is a strength. Yahoo’s Mihir indicated that they’re using a “send-to-phone” concept that will allow someone at a computer to find the information and send it to a mobile phone by SMS or other means. 4INFO’s Ted Burns indicated that they’re using a “Print-to-Web” strategy, putting text codes on movie posters, in the USA Today’s Sports Section and other avenues to drive traffic.
Another important question posed to the panel was Where will the money be made in mobile search/What is the business model? Google didn’t provide many specifics but indicated that they see a blend of services and “multi-modal” as their strategic direction. Yahoo stated simply that they’re already seeing revenues with a UK partnership with Orange using the paid placement model in mobile, so they’re seeing one revenue generator already. 4INFO’s Burns responded that they see contextual content, or content designed around a user’s specific circumstances (location, time-of-day and search terms) as a winning strategy.
The panel meeting ended with a Q&A that had some interesting moments. First was a questioner that pointed out that the panel had four people trying to deal with a difficult playing field and one person (referring to Cingular’s Denenberg) who was trying to keep the playing field unlevel. When Denenberg pressed for specifics regarding the carriers’ misdeeds, the questioner indicated the revenue split controversy, the 160 character limit on SMS and the lack of location-based services (LBS). Denenberg demurred the revenue split issue but agreed that 160 characters is limiting and he personally doesn’t understand it and also stated that LBS is “coming soon”. The second issue that received discussion was the concept of “the Mobile Context” which refers to the carriers possession of numerous significant facts that can be coordinated to provide relevant offerings. It was pointed out that carriers will know a user’s demographic information, location at time of usage, time-of-day, frequency of certain search requests and other items that will be extremely valuable in delivering context targeted information and services. Lastly, Google’s Alad indicated that platform issues present an obstacle to developing mobile services. Client/server latency, supporting the range of mobile device platforms and understanding platform evolution is critical to Google’s ability to plan for the market.
While the 300-plus attendees made it clear that the gold rush is on for mobile search and services, it is clear that they’ve been warned of the obstacles in that stand in the way of easy riches. Navigating a relationship with the carriers, creating a truly usable interface for consumers and overcoming existing platform hurdles are all issues that these mobile “49ers” will have to resolve. With venture capital of course
AI
