B-u-d-g-e-t: Yeah, search that on your mobile

By Giselle Abramovich

January 17, 2008

The right execution to extend social networks into a mobile context could have profound implications

When volume meets hype and technology, mobile search’s day will have arrived. Still, there’s no denying that as more people use the mobile phone as their gateway to the Internet, search activity will increase. Local search will be the biggest beneficiary.

Phil Stelter, director of business development at Range Online Media, is a cautious man. Tracking, content, accessibility and audience addressability: these are some of the issues that will determine mobile search’s growth. That said, marketers are beginning to experiment with mobile search, he tells Mobile Marketer’s Giselle Abramovich. Here’s the detailed conversation.

What is the key trend you see in mobile search this year?
Watch for an accelerating evolution of mobile use cases. In the U.S., as much as I hate to cite the iPhone as a major driver, people are truly beginning to regard their mobile phone as a gateway to the Web – a means of accessing the information they previously only got via their laptop Internet connection. As this happens, search volume, especially around local or contextual content, will undoubtedly increase.

Already in the U.S., according to ComScore, the average person does 74 searches a month. With an estimated 243 million U.S. mobile subscribers and JupiterResearch reporting at least 10 percent of them browsing the Internet on their phones in the last six months, the potential for mobile search to hit critical mass in the near future is undeniable.

How will 2008 differ from 2007 in mobile search?
I don’t know that it will differ much from 2007. Clearly mobile search has garnered more attention from marketers. But as a legitimate channel of significant volume, not to mention capable of satisfying search marketers’ direct-response goals, I wouldn’t bet on significant budgets being put against it.

Phil Stelter, director of business development at Range Online Media

As tracking improves and volume increases, marketers will move from testing the waters to truly beginning to understand how mobile search marketing can actually benefit their overall marketing program. It will happen but more gradually than the hype might lead us to believe.

What does this mean for mobile search marketers?
While the revolution will happen, there is considerable groundwork required before we get there. This is the stage when mobile marketers can get ahead of the curve and prepare. Have you built out content to address mobile audiences? Are you prepared for accessibility issues? Planning to address mobile audiences?

Good preparation from a mobile SEO perspective in the coming year could mean the difference between capitalizing on an emerging channel in the early stages or facing a significant opportunity cost down the line.

Consider the companies that optimized their sites for search engines in the late ’90s. They reaped a massive volume of traffic and learned key lessons when it was not costly to do so. There are companies nearly a decade later that are still just beginning to realize the work they need to do and the cost of their delay.

What were some key developments in mobile search advertising in 2007?
Okay, I’ll say it again: the iPhone. The iPhone really pushed mobile back into the spotlight legitimately for the first time in over half a decade.

I still think we’re seeing a lot of experimentation going on, with mobile search taking a variety of forms including the classic browser search box, SMS searches and Goog411.

The variety of players and strategies at this stage, from Medio  to AOL or Yahoo’s oneSearch, for mobile versus Google’s ubiquitous search box all indicate a focus and momentum that bears attention but also a frustrating landscape of development for an audience that doesn’t really yet exist.

Tracking is the other piece that seems to have taken some form in 2007 but still needs to be sorted out in 2008.

What other trends do you anticipate in mobile search for 2008?
In mobile search specifically, I would expect more experimentation.

I would also keep an eye on the impact social networks may have. The right execution to extend social networks into a mobile context could have profound implications on the way in which we use our mobile phones. Search could benefit from such a shift.

Who do you anticipate will be the key players in mobile search in 2008?
Medio, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL and countless creative mobile search marketers who will unlock the real potential of what these companies are building.

What is the size of this market?
It’s not the size, it’s the potential. Mobile search today is inconsequential for most marketers.

If the question is, why mobile matters for search, the best company to ask is Google.  Did I mention the 243 million U.S. mobile subscribers? According to MediaMark, the number of households that are mobile-only now outnumbers the households with only landlines.

What challenges does mobile search face in 2008?
The short list is volume to gain legitimacy, education to help marketers understand the opportunities, companies and content providers willing to adapt their sites for mobile platforms, and tracking to bring metrics that justify marketing budgets.

This, of course, excludes the more fundamental challenges of carriers, manufacturers, ad networks, content providers and users all battling for control of the mobile experience.

In terms of growth, expensive carrier data plans are probably the biggest obstacle. JupiterResearch did a study that showed 27 percent of respondents would be motivated to use Web-based services on their mobile phones if the pricing came down.

Is this medium fully integrated with the other channels? Will it be in 2008?
Mobile search is not fully integrated in most marketing plans. It doesn’t carry the critical mass necessary and I would be surprised if it gained that mass in 2008.

What is the one thing marketers should do in 2008 in mobile search?
Adapt their site and content for mobile audiences to access. If you do nothing else to address mobile searchers, make your site accessible and usable. Even if you choose not to invest a single dollar to promote yourself to this growing audience, take a few simple steps to ensure your site can be found and that the experience is a positive one.