News: Mobile Search Threads

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Mobile Search Threads

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==> TOPIC: Mobile Surge
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Originally posted in SR #112
New Discussion

From: SearchReturn <digest@searchreturn.com>

Essentials: Mobile search is staged to grow at an increasing pace as more users begin using mobile devices for additional tasks other than simply making a phone call. The barometer for just how quickly mobile search will do in upcoming months is the consumer electronics industry.

At the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) and MacWorld earlier this week both Apple and Motorola unveiled convergent devices that incorporate the Web with mobile phones in a comprehensive way. Such devices aren't new but higher quality with wider appeal can make a breakthrough product such as what Apple did with the iPod. Mp3 players certainly weren't new when Apple released the iPod.

Phones now have tremendous capability, many bundling WiFi connectivity and applications for the Web such as email clients and Web browsers. Apple's device will use the Safari browser.

All of today's major search providers offer mobile versions, and both Yahoo! and Google are pushing into mobile search with considerable effort. Some say Yahoo!'s strong mobile search play is one way the company can continue to try unseating Google as Yahoo! Mail has as an application that bests GMail.

What's true is that, with the unveiling of the new iPhone, Apple hopes to capture as much as 1% of the mobile phone market in 2008. Steve Jobs showed off the integration of Google Maps at the show, and how the phone can be used to order lattes with a query result populated with nearby Starbucks locations.

The new Apple phone generated a lot of buzz and reaction from other manufacturers, including a lawsuit from Cisco that manufactures an WiFi "iPhone." The result of the suit, as a worst case scenario, would be a simple name change by Apple.

What is interesting is that Steve Jobs evangelized mobile search at one of the most public showcases where he makes appearances - perhaps the most public appearance of all for him. If the iPhone can drive the market half as well as the iPod has driven the mp3 player market, it indicates a windfall for mobile search towards the tail end of this year and into the next - with no end of growth in sight.

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==> TOPIC: Google Mobile App
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Originally posted in SR #104
New Discussion

From: SearchReturn <digest@searchreturn.com>

http://www.google.com/press/pressrel/mail_mobileclient.html

Essentials: Google has released a mobile application for GMail that should work on most mobile devices. This includes phones with small screens and slow data connectivity speeds as long as J2ME is supported. The application can be installed over the air on some devices after pointing to gmail.com/app (a BlackBerry test recognized the device, provided us with the download link and connected to GMail messages within seconds).

Message headers are viewed in familiar GMail layout and attachments get converted to fit small screens. Filters, known as Labels in GMail, is available through menu options. Message search functionality and other options are also available through the menu where the starring system of tagging messages can be performed, along with archiving and spam reporting.

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==> TOPIC: Ask Launches Mobile Search
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Originally posted in SearchReturn #099
New Discussion

From: SearchReturn <digest@searchreturn.com>

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/061012-000113

Essentials: Barry Schwartz wrote at the Search Engine Watch Blog a nice rundown covering features and showing screenshots of the new Ask Mobile Search product. The services offered do not differ greatly from what Yahoo! Mobile Search already offers, however it seems important to note that using either Yahoo! and now Ask provides a better user experience than what Google has done for mobile to date.

At Google, there is SMS search for the esoteric geek, but if you visit Google XHTML, you get access to far fewer offerings: Web, Images, Local listings and Mobile Web (Beta). There are also links to: News, Gmail and Personalized. If you try Personalized, you will discover it is trimmed of third party widgets and even some Google powered widgets don't make the cut for small screen devices.

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==> TOPIC: Yahoo! Mobile Ads
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Originally posted in SearchReturn #097
New Discussion

From: SearchReturn <digest@searchreturn.com>

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/061004-090744

Essentials: Yahoo! beta launches paid mobile search ads in the US after testing in the UK and Japan. Mobile ads will allow users to visit advertiser sites, and includes a phone number so users can go ahead and dial right there. It's important to note the ads are to display in Mobile Web Search, and not through SMS which is typically powered by the carrier.

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==> TOPIC: Microsoft Mobile Moves
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Originally posted in SearchReturn #093
New Discussion

From: SearchReturn <digest@searchreturn.com>

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060920-085458

Essentials: Microsoft has a new distribution deal with Nokia's N series phones, and has entered the China market with China Telecom. In the case of China Telecom, this could add as many as 25 million users exposed to Microsoft Live's sandtrap.

The word sandtrap is used here to refer to software with shortcuts on the desktop, and default file association settings. The term normally is used in conjunction with new computers as shipped by the manufacturer, and this older term applies to search distribution deals now as it still applies to newly purchased machines (and the valuable desktop real estate for icons etc.).

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==> TOPIC: Google Mobile Ads
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Originally posted in SearchReturn #089
New Discussion

From: SearchReturn <digest@searchreturn.com>

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060906-125242

Essentials: Starting in the US, UK and Germany, Google is now moving past the experiment phase with mobile ads. The AdWords interface has recently added a dialog to create mobile ads, and now it looks like all the facilities are there to get to critical mass with mobile text ads now available through Google.

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==> TOPIC: Yahoo! Go For Mobile
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Originally posted in SearchReturn #087
New Discussion

From: SearchReturn <digest@searchreturn.com>

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=6600

Essentials: Yahoo! Go for Mobile is a download that offers easy access to Yahoo! search, email and other services. The service is newly available ported to Microsoft platforms for mobile including Smartphone and PocketPC.

The launch also saw the announcement of a distribution deal with device manufacturers to feature Yahoo! Go for Mobile in default installations on their products as they ship.

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==> TOPIC: Yahoo! Ads Served With Go2 Mobile Search
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Originally posted in SearchReturn #084
New Discussion

From: SearchReturn <digest@searchreturn.com>

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060816-093457

Essentials: Mobile Yellow Page directory service Go2 has signed with Yahoo! to integrate Yahoo! ads with search results pages. Although there are concerns about ads on mobile phones as intrusive because people think of their phones intimately as a more personal device than a full machine, ads on a search result page for the Yellow Page directory service can make sense. Mobile search has not reached critical mass, but is certainly a growing area.

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==> TOPIC: Google Powering Up Mobile Search In Japan And Asia
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Originally posted in SearchReturn #064
New Discussion

From: SearchReturn <digest@searchreturn.com>

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060518-102746

Plus...

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060518-091741

Essentials: Google will provide mobile search applications for Japanese mobile operator KDDI. The deal may include desktop applications for enhanced services. Also, Google is in talks with China Mobile. Google's Eric Schmidt and China Mobile's Wang Jianzhou have met at least twice, and apparently share the vision that mobile device access in China may turn out to be the primary access mode of the population, turning cell phones into "a new kind of Internet search engine."

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==> TOPIC: Google Nokia Crawler
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Originally posted in SearchReturn #047
New Discussion

From: SearchReturn <digest@searchreturn.com>

http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/003513.html

Essentials: In order to fetch code intended for mobile devices, Google has a new crawler that feigns a Nokia 6820 mobile phone using user-agent spoofing. The user-agent information supplied at the front of page requests is simple (and sometimes useful) to spoof. Some websites are configured to deliver mobile-friendly design when they detect mobile devices. The most common detection mechanism is identifying devices through their user-agent string.

By spoofing user-agent, Google has begun indexing code it would not otherwise get from the regular crawl process. This may help Google provide mobile friendly links in results. Google normally translates site code into mobile friendly versions, and there is a facility to control whether Google translates your code or not. Sites are faster without it, but then Google cannot verify the site will display properly. With this new crawler, Google has more choice for how to list certain mobile sites.

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