How evolving user behavior will propel mobile search

February 12, 2010

Brian Easter is CEO of NeboWeb

By Brian Easter

Nobody likes to be tied down. In a generation where job turnover can be measured in weeks and nobody has a hometown anymore, it only makes sense that our need for freedom would eventually affect search.

In the 1990s, search was restrained to the desktop computer. It was slow, clunky, and we hated it. In the past decade, an increase in laptop affordability brought search out of the home and into the coffee shop, but search was still limited to computers.

Now, search is breaking out – free to hit the streets and make our lives easier. With a variety of new devices such as netbooks and smartphones, it is possible to search from anywhere, at anytime.

The first decade of the new millennium ushered in a wide array of search-enabled electronics, and the coming decade will bring the infrastructure and support to fully use them.

The “whenever, wherever” mentality that has revamped how business is done has also had a dramatic effect on how the Internet is used. Accessing information from the grocery store, a restaurant, or wherever you happen to be is no longer viewed as a novelty but as a necessity.

Although mobile search advertising has been an option for several years, the power to harness it has been lacking.

Deficiencies in the mobile search system have relegated it to a second-tier position. The next generation of Internet-capable devices, and the infrastructure being implemented to support it, will make 2010 the year of mobile search advertising. 

Mobile usability
Thinking back about five years to the first smartphones conjures images that could best be described as, well, bricklike. This representation is apt, as it describes both the physical attributes of early smartphones – heavy and bulky – and the speed at which Internet access was available, which was creeping, at best.

Comparing modern smartphones to early models is like comparing a Lamborghini to a Model T. Speedy, sleek and even sexy, the newest iteration of smartphones can send email, stream video, access the Internet, and that is just the basics. With the unveiling of such models as the Apple iPhone, Motorola Droid and Palm Pre, people are starting to leave their laptops at home. 

In addition to the traditional search capabilities of a laptop, mobile search from smartphones offers greater opportunity for targeted results.

ROI for geo-targeted ads on Internet-capable devices has the potential to increase significantly due to much higher conversion rates.

Sitting in a warm, cozy house, searching for possible options in a local area is a much different proposition than wandering the streets, searching for your next stop.

With the new addition of near-me-now search, Google has taken location targeting to the next level. 

Using a settings link, users can specify that search results be limited to local points of interest, and further specialize the search results displayed. 

“Explore Now,” a feature of near-me-now, is particularly useful for cutting down on textual input by displaying popular local results with one tap of the finger.

Mobile search offers users the opportunity to view alternatives as they are actively, both physically and metaphorically, comparing products. 

Better search applications
Applications that enable easier searching have played a major role in facilitating mobile search adoption.
More specifically, mobile search has been transformed from a slow process of tapping out each individual letter in your search query to include easier options such as voice search. Now, by merely voicing your need, more relevant and accurate search results will appear.

Mobile applications have also incorporated the reoccurring need for maps and local directories by filtering the results to give the user the best available results.

Maps are acting in a way similar to custom localization, and are allowing advertisers to selectively display their ads to customers with the highest possibility of conversion.

Smartphone capability allows search to garner highly defined information about a user’s location, and ensure that the ads shown are extremely relevant to the location.

Comparison shopping
Long gone are the days of only one or two options for purchase. Today, hundreds of thousands of products are available to choose from, all with only slight variations.

Consumers now know that they have options. Mobile search has been quick to capitalize on the comparison-shopping trend by incorporating functions to facilitate this process.

Bar code scanning, previously relegated to the other side of the cash register, is now being used to quickly identify exact products and retrieve additional information about them from the Internet.

If even scanning the bar code seems too onerous, the next generation of comparison shopping is around the corner. Using visual search, consumers will merely take a picture of the item of interest, whereupon the image will be matched to options online. 

Social media impact
The emergence of YouTube as the second-most popular search engine indicates the trend of social media’s increasing share of Internet usage and represents just how dramatically social media has influenced search.

Social media sites have become the destination for users, rather than individual Web pages retrieved from search results.

Often, instead of looking for news or blogs through search engines, users gain information from sites such as Twitter or Facebook. Consumers use these sites to browse current conversation trends and remain up to date on popular topics.

Smartphones are providing enhanced capabilities for using social media sites, allowing for the possibility of displaying multiple ads relevant to a user’s interest as people check these sites, often while doing such mundane tasks as waiting in line at the coffee shop. 

Phone replace the laptop?
There are currently approximately 4 billion mobile phones in usage worldwide.

Overseas, and even among younger generations nationwide, smartphones are removing the necessity of owning a traditional computer. 

Google, as the largest search provider in the world, has recognized this opportunity. The company’s recent unveiling of the Nexus One phone reflects the anticipation of computer replacement by handheld devices. 

In conjunction with revamping Google AdWords to provide targeting by carrier or device, Google’s development of fully search-capable devices poises the company to continue its domination of search into the next decade. 

The heavy investment by Google can be seen both as a sign of mobile search’s potential and an additional factor to push mobile search strategies to the forefront of search engine marketing campaign development.

Not yet the tipping point
The old adage, “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” is a mentality many still adhere to, firms and users alike. The familiarity of standard search use, meaning from a laptop or desktop, makes shifting to mobile search harder to embrace.

In addition to resistance to change, the infrastructure for mobile search is not of high enough caliber yet to support a complete switch to mobile search.

While users are comfortable using their smartphones in addition to their computer, speed and browser design on smartphones is still not on par with traditional computers. 

Outages such as the one recently experienced by BlackBerry users, in which Internet services and messaging were unavailable for at least eight hours across most of the United States and Canada, lower customer confidence and decrease reliance on smartphones.

Additionally, some remnants of smartphones’ clunky forbears remain.

Most importantly, the amount of information viewers can use is limited by the screen size, which decreases the viewable portion of a browser screen. Newer versions continue to increase screen size, but it is still difficult for some users to see smaller font and images.

For advertisers, the clunkiness of ecommerce on smartphones is also delaying a whole-hearted embrace of mobile search.

Slow-loading times and poorly designed browsers are displayed to their biggest disadvantage here, with users rarely using their phones to make online purchases.

With mobile search having little incentive for ecommerce advertisers, significant advances in these areas will be needed before mobile search commands attention from the ecommerce industry.

Enter mobile search field
Without sounding too dramatic, the time to exploit mobile search is now.

This year will usher in new smartphones, new applications and, hopefully, better infrastructure. All of which will transform mobile search from a secondary option to a near-equivalent mode of search for many users.

Although the transition has previously been hindered by a variety of problems including speed, infrastructure and resistance to change, innovations are pointing towards a resolution that will result in fast, powerful and usable mobile search that will pave the way for more successful advertising.

Brian Easter is CEO of NeboWeb, an Atlanta-based interactive marketing firm. Reach him at .