aimClear Search Marketing Blog

The leaders in the local/mobile search industry gathered here in Denver to discuss state of the art, teach, share, and prognosticate.

Ironically, the most appropriate “takeaway” is that very little is static in this arena. The revolution is still in its infancy, however it is clear that a marketing explosion of nuclear magnitude is imminent.

There is SO much money on the table. There are SO many fragmented channels, many of which are critically important to understand and master. Will your marketing campaign be left in the dust as the world changes?Read the rest of this entry »

Discussion of one-box smart mobile search, both on deck (walled garden) and off deck (like Internet search), is all the rage at SMX Local & Mobile. There are many variables in how providers power mobile search results. There is a rapidly growing palette of options and the future is exciting- albeit fuzzy as hell.

This session, “Meet the Mobile Search Engines”, provided attendees with an above the treetop-overview of major mobile search players. Of particular note are the behind-the-scenes “white-label” providers who sell search to various wireless carriers.

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Overseeing local and mobile search marketing efforts can be daunting. Numerous providers offer ever-increasing abilities to target eyeballs by demographic criteria. How much should be budgeted to the greatest benefit?

What should we do first? Who are the players? This session explored the “tactical demands of running a successful local/mobile search marketing campaign.”

Chris Sherman, Executive Editor, Search Engine Land , moderated and led off the discussion. Chris gave us the good news first, that “local and mobile campaigns have a lot in common with traditional search marketing. However, local mobile is much more fragmented with dozens or hundreds of factors to keep track of.”Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Jones, Chief Technologist for Google Earth, Google Maps and Google Local Search is no stranger to mapping technology. Previously he was CTO at Keyhole, the company which developed the technology behind Google Earth and was acquired by Google. (Google Press Center: Press Release). He was also director of advanced graphics at SGI.

Michael discussed “The Future of Local Search, Google’s Strategic Vision”, which is all about the “broad for context” and the “minute for relevance”. He shared incredible Google-mapped big-screen examples including statistics and stories from the Darfur genocide (literally house to house and village to village). Other animated screen shots included regional, subway information, election results, restaurants, flood damage, and many other applications where geo-perspective provides context for information.Read the rest of this entry »

Good morning from Denver Colorado here at the inaugural SMX Search Marketing Expo Local & Mobile edition. The sun has not yet risen, but promise and excitement resonate in the Hyatt Tech Center halls. For those of you who love Sphinn, Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman invented it, along with SES (Search Engine Strategies, from which they have now moved on).

Local & Mobile are Huge.
Local and Mobile search encompass an immense search marketing frontier. Pundits forecast that ad-spends will skyrocket to $8 billion by 2010. Home on the range, it’s still the Wild West with platforms springing up practically every week. Leading edge technologies are evolving at scorching speeds, and it’s vital not to be buried in the ongoing avalanche of advancements.

Read the rest of this entry »

Local and Mobile search comprise a massive search marketing frontier. Most marketplace pundits predict that ad-spends will rise to $8 billion by the year 2010. It’s still the Wild West, home on the range, with numerous platforms springing up every month. Frontline technologies are maturing at blazing speeds and it’s critical not to be left eating dust.

Shootout At the O.K. Corral
The major search engines and online directories all have guns drawn are they’re taking aim at heaps of glittering gold. Other niche-contenders are circling the wagons. They too are bent on staking out product and service segments. Factor in the ambitions of mobile carriers and you’ve got the makings of an epic hoedown.Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t get me wrong. I’m excited about the iPhone and we believe that mobile devices empowered with more serious (and simple) operating systems will further propel the the mobile revolution which is already well underway.

I’m certain our company will own future iPhone models and frankly I can’t wait. The iPhone raises the bar in a way that will fuel competition between convergence device manufacturers to the benefit of search and civilization. For now Apple has seen fit not to offer the iPhone in our home-market (like may others) which is a double edged sword discussed later in this post.

Still, Many are Waiting.
Most of our friends and associates are waiting for version 2.0. Their hesitation is born out as prescient in early reviews. The New York Times reports that “much of the hype and some of the criticisms are justified. The iPhone is revolutionary; it’s flawed. It’s substance; it’s style. It does things no phone has ever done before; it lacks features found even on the most basic phones. ”

PC Magazine writes “It’s the best portable media player ever. It’s possibly the most fun we’ve ever had with a handheld device. It browses the Web like a champ. Yet as a voice phone and a messaging device, it’s a loser. The iPhone is full of contradictions.”

AT&T is a Consensus Low Band Wireless Provider.
Why on earth did Apple pick AT&T? In survey after survey, AT&T/Cingular ranks at or near the bottom of the barrel for mobile service. New York Times writer David Pogue wrote “If Verizon’s slogan is, ‘Can you hear me now?’ AT&T’s should be, ‘I’m losing you.’” Early indications bear AT&T’s reputation out as true including nightmarish anecdotes about long activation times.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple first negotiated with Verizon to offer the iPhone exclusively but Verizon refused to cede Apple complete control. Apple then cut a deal with AT&T, a company which so desperately needs to bolster it’s flagging market share that they were amenable to giving Apple CEO Steve Jobs whatever control he wanted. At least from our perspective AT&T’s slow network makes the iPhone impracticable even in it’s revolutionary beauty.

Slow Data and Insecure Connections
Apple tooled this build of the iPhone to only function with AT&T/Cingular’s turtle-speed EDGE data network. It’s only slightly faster than your old 56K modem. Considering that smartphone Internet on Verizon and Sprint’s “fast” EVDO networks is still relatively slow and unreliable, AT&T’s network is downright untenable. It seems kind of ironic that the first mobile device truly savvy to multi-media accesses such a slow mobile network.Read the rest of this entry »

First, for a sobering look at how your site parses in mobile browsers, check out these mobile preview applications: Skweezer, Google, and the live demo of Opera Mini. Chances are your site is not immediately navigable in the mobile environment or you’ll hate what it looks like.

When polled during a recent Chris Sherman mobile search web event, most pro SEM attendees indicated that they had not yet geared shop production to consider and exploit the rapidly expanding field of mobile search. This will certainly change.

“… it’s really not a matter IF the mobile phone will become the dominant internet platform any more but WHEN…” - Yahoo! analyst Russell Beattie

Adopt Mobile Early
Compared to traditional web search, mobile search remains a relatively small piece of the pie. That said, the looming mobile marketplace is vast and can’t be ignored. We advise our clients to consider mobile versions of their sites for any web production with an expected shelf life of over 18 months.

Last September comScore Networks estimated that in the United States only about 19% of mobile owners were use phones like Treos, Blackberries, and Q’s to access the Internet. However there were approximately 2 billion mobile phone users globally compared to a measly 750 million Internet users. In some European countries like Spain nearly 25% of mobile phone owners use mobile search to access the Internet, mostly via big-engine portals like Google and Yahoo. I recommend mMetrics as a source for statistics on mobile usage.

There are a number of issues. This post discusses tips, tricks, and techniques for successful development of alternate mobile versions while demystifying the action-steps required to design, build, deploy, and market mobile websites.Read the rest of this entry »

There has been a lot of buzz lately surrounding the field of mobile search. At SES conferences and in subsequent web presentations I’ve seen Chris Sherman do informal polls of audience SEM firms. He asks which of us already include mobile search strategy in working with our clients. The majority of SEM firms say “not yet” but you can count on that changing. For our part we feel it’s irresponsible not to take mobile search into account for web development that has an intended shelf life over 12 months. We’re already making first generation mobile sites with big clients in the space.

Why Care About Mobile Search?
Compared to web search users mobile search is still a relatively small universe. However the opportunity is significant. In September comScore Networks estimated there were slightly more than 2 billion global mobile users as opposed to a paltry 750 million Internet users. While in the United States only about 19% of mobile owners were using phones like Blackberries, Q’s, and Treos to access the Internet, it’s already much more popular in Europe. This likely portends the future here in the United States.

You can see that abroad populations accept and have adopted mobile Internet technology and the opportunity looms large here in the USA. Because we are still in the mobile-early-adopter age, search competition (even among SEM firm clients) is still relatively low creating palpable opportunities.Read the rest of this entry »