Is 2007 the year of mobile and video search?
Apr 06, 2007
There are small signs that the mobile search industry is showing up and this year might be the one many of us have been expecting
for a long time.
Users are getting more acquainted to mobile searching and more and more monetization solutions emerge which is a good sign that
this industry is maturing.
Yahoo takes the lead by far compared to other organizations competing in this industry. Yahoo recently expanded its OneSearch
mobile search application thus more mobile web users can reach these services. This year in February Yahoo introduced Mobile Ads
available in 19 countries and extended its publisher services with tools to submit their content to Yahoo Mobile Media Directory or
the OneSearch index.
The OneSearch platform is using Yahoo's websearch technology and the algorithm used is specific to mobile devices. Yahoo's
scope is to be a top leader in mobile search and monetization solutions.
Google has also announced that mobile search plays an important role especially in Europe and has been testing mobile search for a
long period in US, UK and even more in Japan.
Microsoft also launched its version of mobile search in February this year at 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona which includes local
searching by category, maps and directions as well as sending SMS to friends. Microsoft has also presented a new mobile browser
called Deepfish with the main scope to improve the mobile browsing experience. With its recent acquisition of TellMe, Microsoft
will improve its mobile search capabilities with voice-enabled mobile search technology. Voice-enabled search has become one of the
most user-friendly forms of mobile searching and with TellMe it has extra capabilities allowing mobile device users to choose
between text messaging and voice input, as well as output search results.
According to Ralph Kunz Nokia's VP the new mobile search application 'smart2go' will allow users to pan in and out
digital maps in 3D and will be preinstalled on Nokia's mobile devices by the year 2008. This will bring new advertising
possibilities with branded icons, coupons or sponsored listings. In Nokia's mobile strategy is to involve the 'three-screen'
integration of PC, mobile and TV.
Now what about video?
With the accelerated popularity of YouTube throughout the marketplace new ways of advertising methods emerged with the production
and distribution of advertising video content for small businesses.
The major roles are played by Spot Runner and TurnHere which are producing and distributing video ads for small businesses for
lower prices they previously had. For some businesses a video ad is more valuable as being more attractive to their target audience
than other forms of online advertising. There are already very good signs that local video advertising is indeed rising.
It is still not clear where and how these video ads would be distributed and watched; one option would be the Cable television and
a possible move to IPTV or on the web, a video player embedded in some online Yellow Pages listings. Video ads could also be
embedded into landing pages of local businesses or in local search portals like Google Local and Yahoo Local.
We have to admit that we are in the early stage of adopting video advertising affected by many factors like distribution models,
technology, and user and advertiser adoption.
Both video advertising and mobile local search have a long way to go before reaching their adoption and revenue-generating potential.
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