Making search better - where's my mobile passport?

In my last post I outlined the process I endured to find a Starbucks in the 80124 area code. Later on I went back and test drove the same request using the desktop. It was actually much easier. Why? Well for one, Google defaulted to “local search” with the first answer. So naturally I clicked on that link and it showed me the location of the Starbucks and asked me if I wanted driving directions. It would have been easy to simply type in my current address and Google would have completed the transaction for me. Easy on the desktop, virtually impossible on my mobile device, especially if I’d been driving.

So why the difference on mobile? Well for one there is no such thing as “auto-complete-this form”. Google sees the request come in from a PDA and then things change in a hurry, and not for the best. So I thought I would try the same thing with Microsoft’s Live search. It was a similar experience with one exception. Microsoft asked me to log in with my Passport account (all my personal data is held on their servers) so they could personalize the experience. Ah, someone’s thinking about my experience on the Internet. This is good.

So back to the title of the post – where’s Google’s, Yahoo’s, AOL’s, Ask’s passport? There isn’t one. Why not? The whole goal here is to reduce the friction in the transaction. If I can take six steps down to one that’s a tremendous savings. If I can know where the person is currently then I can deliver more relevant results. More relevance means more revenue for the search engines.

Remember the desktop is fixed, the mobile device is by definition mobile. Search engines need to adjust to that mobility. The passport function simply allows me to share information that I want to as opposed to having it stored on the server. This way I get to opt-in or out as I chose. With Microsoft passport the only option is to simply not log in, and then you lose the whole idea behind personalizing the experience.

So where do I download the search engines passport that allows me to enter my data and then control what the web gets to know about me?

Reducing the friction in Mobile search through personalization (i.e. Make it easy for me to find something on my mobile phone :)

I tried an interesting exercise today… I logged on to Google with my PocketPC and decided to do a search based on Starbucks 80124. What I wanted to record was the number of steps required to complete the search.

I can’t show screen shots very easily on Blogger so I’ll do my best to describe the experience…

Step 1… I type in Google.com on the PocketPC. It automatically redirects me to http://www.google.com/pda this is good news because they’ve determined that I’m using a PDA so they want me to look at a different screen format. It now offers me 4 choices. Web (default) Images, Local listings & Mobile Web Beta. I take the easy route and keep the default. I type in Starbucks 80124 and hit enter.

Step 2… I arrive at a new page with the search results. It shows listings for Starbucks in 80124 area code. I don’t recognize anything

Step 3… So I scroll down to “Web listings” and see there’s a web result with a map for Starbucks 80124.

Step 4… I click on the map for Starbucks 80124 and it redirects me to City Search (wonder why not Google Maps?).

Step 5… I arrive at City Search and I see Starbucks at the bottom of the page. (formatting is all messed up however that’s another story)

Step 6…I click on driving directions to Starbucks. Nothing happens because the link doesn’t have my current information

Six steps and I arrive (pun intended) at a dead end.

Now lets think about an alternative…

This time Google gets to know some information about me. I send it in real time, my name, address, and email (pretty much all public domain these days). I also send it information about my PocketPC – current screen size and dpi settings, and then I include my current area code, zip code and my GPS information in real time. In short Google now knows Who, What and Where I am on the planet.

I’m fine sharing this data with Google, why? Because search on a mobile device is about finding not browsing (desktop) and I'm in a hurry and want answers now. So now let’s reconstruct the above search with my personalized data.

Step 1… I arrive at Google.com and simply type in Starbucks 80124. It presents me with a page that shows my current position and a map to the nearest Starbucks.

That’s it. ONE step. And I never have to enter any data apart from the initial search query.

Starbucks has a happy customer, Google has served another page, and I’ve got a hot cup of coffee and I know exactly whose search engine I’m going to use next time.

For the techies reading this blog - it's all about sharing more data and then allowing the search engines to participate in that event. Without knowing me it's six steps to frustration - knowing me it's one click shopping.

That's taking the friction out of the search transaction.

Proximity Marketing - it's all about Me

Proximity Marketing is all about knowing “Who” I am, “Where” I am and “What” device I’m using

Rudy De Waele has a great post about this on his blog site (link) Interpreting the Wikipedia definition of proximity marketing there are three critical elements to solving this problem…

The web/business has to know Where I am. Here you have several choices – area code, zip code, GPS. I’m opting here for GPS – why? Because it places you at an exact place at an exact time. This is critical information to close the feedback mechanism for the marketing folks.

Secondly the web/business has to know What the device terminal capabilities are. No good sending me something if it’s not formatted correctly so I can read it. (Think mobilization not miniaturization).

Finally, and this is the most CRITICAL element of any proximity marketing campaign – it has to be opt-in. The holy grail is to send information that is so targeted and so relevant that the customer is compelled to read it. (Oliver Starr in Mobile Cruch: link)

To see how proximity marketing could work log on to Google with your mobile phone and do a search for Pizza. You’ll get all kinds of interesting results. What’s most amazing is that Google has no idea where you are when you make the request. It simply assumes your on your desktop.

Imagine instead if you could get this – a phone call from a local pizza hut asking you for your order. That’s the power of proximity marketing. All of a sudden the local Pizza store knows “Who you are, What device your on i.e. your mobile phone number and most importantly Where you are.

Proximity marketing enables local search – which enables a better user experience for “Me”.

Me and Japanese spam

I keep getting these spam emails from Japan. It’s a minor annoyance as Outlook picks them up and dumps them into my junk folder.

However I got to thinking about something. Why doesn’t the Web know what language I speak? I would love to read more foreign language sites, however my French is only good for getting around and everything else is non existent.

So why when an email arrives or I land on a foreign Web page can’t that site know I only speak English and automatically do one of two things – either redirect me to the appropriate language page OR translate the page on the fly for me.

All this would take is a client side application that obviously knows Me – it would then intercept content arriving at my desktop or mobile device and translate it on the fly. How hard would it be for a MIME filter to pull that off?

PC’s are now much more powerful, translation libraries are much more sophisticated, if only the Web knew Me, life could be much better.

And I’d get to read all that Japanese spam.

The Next Step in Mobile Personalization

And I do mean the next step. Not the mobile Internet, but shoes, the ultimate mobility tool! Earlier this month, a company named Jibbitz was purchased for $10 million by Boulder, CO based Crocs – the company that makes those funky rubber-like shoes with the holes in them that have become all the rage (my friend’s 12-year old son declared me “cool” for owning a pair).. You can read the details in the Daily Camera (Crocs snaps up Jibbitz).

So what does any of this have to do with personalization? Jibbitz makes and sells decorations to put in the Crocs holes. They have Crocs decorations for every major sport and athletic endeavor (in every school color, of course), hearts, bugs, flowers, snowmen, jack-o-lanterns, beach balls, flags from many countries, happy faces, peace signs, animals, fruit, monsters, dice, and even multi-colored spikes – a stunning compliment to Boulder’s unique ‘anything goes’ dress code.

Since their humble beginning as boat shoes & garden clogs in a few muted colors, Crocs has experienced dynamic growth through adding numerous and vibrant colors along with dozens of new styles – boots, flip-flops, sliders, etc. The colors and color combinations are spectacular and allow the consumer to express his or her individuality (a common trait among the anti-fashion Boudlerites in Crocs’ hometown.). Personalization begins at the Croc’s Web site where you can change the color of each style to see which best fits your personality and needs.

With the purchase of Jibbitz, Crocs has embraced the next level of personalization in their market sector. This is no different than the ring tone and wallpaper download phenomenon for cell phone owners. Whether we express our individuality subtly, with a family photo on our computer desktop, or in dramatic fashion with yellow & black shoes with purple spikes, and a bumble-bee tattoo – it is clear that people like to personalize their environment and themselves. Businesses who integrate the power of personalization into their products, services, and customer interactions position themselves to win the minds and wallets of the consumers.

Way to go Crocs! Score another one for personalization.

liz.coker@5o9inc.com

What will make Mobile Advertising Tick? - Me of course!

Chetan Sharma writes a great blog today – here’s the link.

I just want to hit the highlights. He starts out showing the potential size of the market… it’s huge. Next he talks about what are the critical technology elements that will be required. In a nutshell it’s Pushing with Permission™. What’s does that mean? – you can only send “Me” advertising if I say you can. Pushing without permission is barely acceptable on the desktop – on the third screen it’s definitely not.

Finally he sums things up nicely with this quote… “It is clear that mobile advertising and marketing has big potential if industry strives to take into account the user considerations that matter the most”.

The highlights are mine – if you want to advertise to Me on mobile then you have to take into consideration Me and what I like/dislike. Of course this solution should also scale across all platforms, not just mobile, but also the desktop and UMPC.

The New Definition of http://www

The traditional interpretation of WWW in front of a web address is “World Wide Web”. It’s a simple, concise description that describes the Internet ecosystem. When Tim Berners Lee invented it he did so with a very broad brush stroke. Up until now the description has worked pretty well. However I think it’s starting to show its age and here’s why.

As reported in Erin Mays’ Autoblog blog back in June, 2006, Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google) talked about the following – imagine you’re driving down the road and that pair of jeans you’ve been wanting to buy is now in sale 5 miles further up the road at the local Wal-Mart. If you get there in the next 15 minutes here’s a $5 dollar off coupon, just show your mobile device to the cashier and she/he will scan the coupon for your discount.

Lets dissect Mr. Schmidt’s vision… what is Google going to need to know? First of all it has to know Who I am (Me). Secondly it has to know What device I’m currently using to access the web (in this case a UMPC installed in my car) and most importantly it has to know in real time exactly Where I am. Google needs all three pieces of information to “close the deal”.

• Who is important so that I get sent only the information/advertising that I’ve requested
• What is important, I’m getting notified on my UMPC, however the discount coupon needs to be emailed to my Pocket PC/Smartphone
• Where is critical because unless the content provider knows where I am they can’t send me the offer specific to that retail location

The concept presented by Google is right on. The current attempts to execute against this strategy are incomplete and flawed. Shawn Conahan, the founder, Chairman, and CEO of Intercasting Corp. posted a blog on The Mobile Ad Model back in June supporting this point. He likens the current mobile advertising dilemma back to the origination of the Yellow Pages by Reuben H. Donnelly.

“So say you want to own 90% of the supply of mobile advertising but you don’t want the user to have to walk around with gigantic phone books. What would you have to do?” Mr. Conahan and I agree on the fact that the mobile advertising model that wins big requires the equivalent of a, “…local directory that is thin to the user/buyer and robust to the business/seller”

He goes on to talk about the players who are positioned to “own” that 90% of the market. I have my own opinion on who the winner will be, but that’ irrelevant to this discussion. What is relevant is how we get there. I believe that Who, What and Where is the key.

What the content providers and advertisers do with Who, What and Where information will determine who wins really big. Respecting the consumer and turning a profit do not need to be conflicting goals. When this information is opt-in, advertisers spend their budgets on consumers who are receptive to their message and not on the uninterested masses. Ad expenses decrease and ROI increases.

The Yellow Pages was a technological innovation in the printing world. The publisher wasn’t an expert in ad creation, promotion or messaging. They helped those who saw the value of the technology optimize their ads, messages and promotions for their particular medium. The World Wide Web is a global communication ecosystem - with close to 100 million web sites out there (Netcraft). Not one of them can solve this problem on their own. But once the infrastructure to support personalization using Who, What, and Where information is in place for both the “user/buyer“ and “business/seller” everyone in the Web ecosystem will benefit from applications such as:

1. Proximity Marketing
2. Permission Marketing
3. Personalized Content
4. Emergency Notifications
5. Location-Based Services
6. P2P Protected Data Sharing
7. E-Coupons & Mobile Coupons
8. Local Advertising - Local Search

And I’m sure there are a few I haven’t thought of. So, if we go back to Google and Mr. Schmidt’s vision of the mobile promotion, let’s see which ones apply - Proximity marketing, Permission Marketing, Location Based Services, E-Coupons & Mobile Coupons, Local Advertising and Local Search. All of these activities, whether for profit, public service or social networking, are enabled by knowing Who, What and Where.

So while the World Wide Web is alive and well, I think it’s time for all of us to start thinking about a little differently. Think http://www.Who What & Where

The Power of Personalization

There are lots of exciting things happening in both the Web and marketing worlds these days, and I can barely contain my excitement. I was reading Bambi Francisco’s blog from the other day regarding where Social Networking is going next, and she spoke about Wallop, the Microsoft spin-off that is letting MySpace users personalize their online spaces or rooms with virtual home décor – rugs, tables, posters, etc. I think this is brilliant! Personalization is profitable. My business, 5o9, Inc. is counting on it. Personalization drives serious revenue for mobile phone carriers (think ring tones and wallpaper).

Well, I just recently did a bit of digging into a new technology called ShotCodes. They connect the real and virtual worlds by giving us URL bar codes. Scan a ShotCode from a pop bottle top or billboard with your camera phone and you are taken to a URL, where if a company is smart, you land on a promotional page to take some sort of action. Whey is this so powerful? It’s the impulse buy mechanism for the Web. No data entry required to get there, which is a big bonus on a cell phone or PDA. The inconvenience of typing things in is high and ShotCodes removes the initial barrier to action. It’s the Web-based equivalent to putting the candy bars at the checkout counter.

The only problem? What do I do once I get to the URL? Do I now have to type in a bunch of personal information to enter a contest or get my discount coupon for fifty cents off my next Coke? If the Web just knew who I was, if it knew Me, then I could truly navigate the Web, and all it has to offer (socially & commercially), without having to fumble around on my tiny little keyboard. The impulse buy cycle can be completed without turning me away. It has to be simple, simple, simple.

And to take this one step further. Consider urban gaming and interactive promotions. If you can ad geolocation to the mix, you can connect the physical world to the virtual world through strategically placed ShotCodes around a city center or resort. The codes can direct you to URLs for clues, directions or gaming scenarios that direct you to take some action that connects you to other gamers or businesses in the same vicinity. The possibilities are endless!

Personalization is what takes the Web to the next level. It connects Me to others in both the physical and virtual world. But it has to be simple or I’m simply not going to bother. And it has to be seamless between all my devices or it will rip apart over time. Those businesses and technologies that embrace personalization and view the Web in its entirety, rather than as contrived segments (Mobile, Desktop, Device) will be rewarded by the market. Whether we live in the real or virtual world, I’ll spend my time and dollars with people and businesses who know who I am.

Liz Coker

liz.coker@5o9inc.com

What if the Web knew Me?

Oliver Starr over at MobileCrunch sums it up perfectly… (link)

“We’ve already seen Google’s ability to generate substantial revenue without charging the customer for much of anything. What if their ability to tailor useful advertising to the consumer via a next generation handset equals or exceeds their efficiency on the web? The “third screen” is clearly the most personal, direct and thus valuable arena left for the advertiser. Cracking the code that makes this a viable place to explicitly target consumers by delivering advertising so targeted that the handset user actually welcomes it is the grail that all the competing parties - the carriers, the advertisers, handset manufacturers, etc. are seeking.”

The Internet was never designed to know Me. Sure we’ve come up with lots of tricks to think that it knows Me, but sadly it fails. Let me give you a for instance. This morning I wanted to download the latest version of Vista. I went to Microsoft’s site and followed the links. The first thing it did was ask me to log in with my Windows Live account information. No matter how many times I tell it to “remember Me” – it never does.

Anyway I’m now logged in and I start clicking on more links to get to the download. The next question it asks me is “where is your location”. What do you mean – why don’t you know where I am?. Now I know there are lots of technologies that purport to “know where you are” however they never really come close. I know where I am – why can’t the web know where I am? I have a GPS hooked up to my PC for some testing we’re doing – why can’t the Microsoft web site know “where I am”? (With my permission)

When I talk about the web knowing Me – I mean the following “Who I am”, “What device am I’m using” (at the time) and most importantly “Where am I”. Now for the techies reading this blog I know what you’re thinking (well I think I do)… we have cookies that know who I am… and we have the browsers “user_agent” field to know what device I’m on. There is nothing for “where I am” unless you do some tricky things with reverse DNS lookups.

So let’s talk about cookies for a moment. I fire up my mobile device, cookies are enabled and log into my Gmail account. Google asks “Me” for my user name and password. What! It’s “Me”… you have my “cookie” – it doesn’t work, they still ask me for my username and password. Now I do a search on the device – bingo, back comes the data – only one problem, it’s not formatted correctly for my device – and I scream “you have the user_agent data” what’s the matter with you. I now look at the results of my search – relevant to my search HOWEVER NOT RELEVANT to Me. Why because Google really doesn’t know anything about “Me”. What my personal preferences are, and my likes and dislikes.

Oh yes – one more thing, I did a search on Pizza’s. If the search engine “knew where I was” they could not only send me a relevant link, but also a “mobile coupon” good at the nearest Pizza Hut which they conveniently direct me to.

Back to Oliver’s quote…. Cracking the code that makes this a viable place to explicitly target consumers by delivering advertising so targeted that the handset user actually welcomes it is the grail that all the competing parties

I think the solution is twofold… first of all the web has to know Me… AND (this is critical) the mechanism for the customer has to be Convenient AND allow them to Control their own Privacy i.e. opt-in. The content providers will embrace this simply because it makes them more money. How? Because the more you know about “Me” the more you can customize goods and services around what I like. All of a sudden the web now becomes more relevant to Me. Right now the web really doesn’t know Me, in the future it will.

Employees, VC’s and Visto

Fascinating post over at VentureBeat (link) – which talks about employees paying the price of the VC. In simple terms the new rule of thumb is that investors get 40% of the company, founders get 40% of the company and the employees get 20% (in the old days it was 1/3 – 1/3 – 1/3).

I don’t have a problem with this; it’s still all about creating value not valuation. However then the post goes on to discuss Visto… this is a company that does push email for the Motorola Q. It has just raised $51 million and added a rock start CEO (it cost them at least 7% of the company and a boat load of cash). Now here comes the kicker… the VC’s are washing out the common stock, which means the employees get whacked on their options. Apparently the company has already started layoffs.

How can you pump $51 million into a company and then layoff employees? It doesn’t make sense to me. First of all you already have an investment in these employees… now you have to start again and you will have to incentivize them with guess what “more options”. Of course these will be at a new valuation. And of course you lose the momentum while you start hiring again.

I’m sure there’s more to this, as they say the devil is in the details and we don’t have the details, however it amazes me that Visto gets $51 million for push email (already part of MS Exchange) and whack their current employees on their options. Of course the new CEO is fine. Lots of “well priced” options and a nice compensation package. It will be interesting to watch how they perform from here on out. With this kind of investment the post money has to be in the hundreds of millions – which makes the buyout in the billions. I wonder if push email is worth that kind of money?