April 11th, 2007

Google Engineering: The REAL story

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 3:54 am

Categories: Cell Phones, Google, Google Software Applications, Mobile, Usability

Tags:

Who said Google equals Chaos? Besides a Fortune cover story hook, that is? 

I heard Leland Rechis, Google User Experience Designer, give a methodical presentation last evening of the methodical Google Engineering development process, at a methodically run event at the NYC Googleplex in downtown Manhattan. 

Despite the fancifully spun Fortune Magazine tale last October of a Google “edgy management style,” the Google $150 billion market cap genius is not the serendipitous fruits of a company “thriving on the edge of chaos.” 

Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky even proposed a rewriting of the business card of Google’s senior vice president for business operations, Shona Brown, offering up COO for “Chief Chaos Officer,” not Chief Operating Officer.

Lashinsky on Google operating principles: 

Where failure coexists with triumph, and ideas bubble up from lightly supervised engineers, none of whom worry too much about their projects ever making money. 

Perhaps that is the Google Engineering philosophy that Eric Schmidt and company would have Fortune Magazine believe, but it is not the way that Google actually operates to fuel its $150 billion market cap.

In discussing how Google creates applications for mobile applications, Rechis portrayed a well thought out and precisely implemented Googley agile development process designed to efficiently support the realization of strategic Mountain View driven engineering initiatives. 

Rechis addressed the April meeting of the NYC Chapter of the Usability Professionals Association, hosted by Google at the NYC Googleplex.

The event marks the first in a planned Google reach out series to NYC technology organizations, as Marcus Mitchell, Google Engineering Director, told me last week: See Google challenges NYC software engineers.

After putting forth the requisite Google mission statement—organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful—Rechis described his typical challenging, and non-stop, work routine; As the Mobile team comprises engineers around the world, Rechis interfaces with collaborators around the clock: Japan, England, California…

In Google’s inaugural NYC Speaker Series presentation, Google Vice President Adam Bosworth showcased the Google need for speed: See Google’s Adam Bosworth to NYC technologists, Speed rules

Rechis reiterated Google builds for scale, speed and reliability, measuring performance “on the order of milliseconds.”

With almost half a billion monthly unique visitors worldwide, Google must deliver, Rechis underscored.

Rechis confirmed new ideas can perculate up from anywhere within the Google organization, and Google “encourages people to think big,” but the potentially big ideas are subject to stringent, collaborative analysis.

The Google agile development process begins with “upfront ideation,” Rechis said, and “story creation” follows. Once “stories are in place,” a highly managed “weekly sprint” development cycle is set in motion, with multi-functional teams working to meet supervised deadlines.

Development teams typically are comprised of a Project Manager, a User Experience Engineer and a Technology Lead prioritizing workflow. Project schedules are set and reviewed for compliance in regular and frequent team meetings:

Engineer finishes task,
Produces build for User Experience approval,
Engineer releases into build,
Build QA’d.
Build stage for release…

The Google “weekly sprint” methodology enables flexible iteration integrating user feedback during the development process, Rechis indicated.

As is the Google rule, he concluded, “focus on the user and all else will follow.”

During the Q & A, I asked Rechis:

“What is the Google Phone, when will we see it?”

Following appreciative chuckles from the audience, Rechis replied to my question:

“There is no Google Phone.” Next question.

ALSO: "Google NYC First Look: Top Google engineer talks to NYC software industry"

April 9th, 2007

Google upstaged by Microsoft, Yahoo

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 5:55 am

Categories: Business Models, Cell Phones, Culture, Google, Google Software Applications, Microsoft, Mobile, Music, Social Web, Software, TV, Television, Yahoo

Tags:

Google Phone? What Google phone!

Microsoft and Yahoo are announcing a few gadgets with “great pride,” however.

How about a Yahoo super charged, new “portable MP3 player set to free you from the USB cable chaining you to your PC, allowing you to listen to personalized radio, download music, share music with friends over Yahoo! Messenger, and view photos from Flickr, all direct over any Wifi network, aka “SanDisk Sansa Connect.

Features not shared by either iPod or Zune, according to Yahoo:

• Personalized streaming LAUNCHcast radio
• Unlimited music downloads for $12/month direct over Wifi from Yahoo! Music Unlimited
• Dynamically updated “mix lists”
• Share music recommendations with friends via Yahoo! Messenger (your friend doesn’t even need the Sansa Connect)
• Photos from Flickr

What about Microsoft’s new and improved instant messaging enhanced Xbox 360 “largest social network on television”?

Your Xbox LIVE friends list is about to get a whole lot bigger. Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of Windows Live Messenger on Xbox 360, connecting friends across Xbox 360 consoles, Microsoft Windows-based PCs and Windows Mobile-powered devices. With this update to Xbox 360, friends and families can easily connect and chat directly from their television using Windows Live Messenger, a network of more than 20 billion relationships and more than 260 million active accounts.

Where is the Google Phone?

No where, according to Google’s latest, but undoubtedly not the last, inkling: Google disconnects Google Phone chatter.

SEE: Why Google IS afraid of Microsoft, big time

ALSO: What Microsoft is telling Google about mobile search and Google CEO gets feisty over Microsoft monopoly  and Google’s high-speed battle with Microsoft and How Google SPIN trumps Microsoft PR

April 7th, 2007

Why Google IS afraid of Microsoft, big time

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 12:44 pm

Categories: Advertising, Google, Google Software Applications, Local, Metrics, Microsoft, Mobile, ROI, Search, Search Advertising, VC, Venture Capital, Web 2.0

Tags:

Is Google celebrating the "death" of Microsoft?

Paul Graham believes so, proclaiming Microsoft (rich but) dead.

But are Eric Schmidt and company really “not afraid of Microsoft anymore”?

Hardly. Google does indeed fear Microsoft, big time, and rightly so.

Below are just a few billion dollar reasons why, in rebuttal to Graham.

Graham: I know when we started Y Combinator we didn't worry about Microsoft as competition for the startups we funded. In fact, we've never even invited them to the demo days we organize for startups to present to investors. We invite Yahoo and Google and some other Internet companies, but we've never bothered to invite Microsoft. Nor has anyone there ever even sent us an email. They're in a different world.

Different, yes, by design.

Google vs. Microsoft, in two key, sought after market opportunites: In-Game Advertising and Voice Activated Local Directory Assistance.

In-Game Advertising

Google: Recent acquisition of AdScape, described as a San Francisco-based “small in-game advertising company” offering technology to dynamically deliver advertising with plot and storyline integration.

Business Outlook: Does Google already have deals signed with game developers?

Google in announcing the acquisition: “We have been in discussions with many in the game development community and hope to partner with both large and small game publishing companies."

Price tag? Rumored at $25 million.

Microsoft: Acquisition of Massive a year ago, described as a “world-leading network for video game advertising” to help deliver dynamic, relevant ads across Microsoft’s online services, starting with Xbox Live and MSN Games.

Headquartered in New York with offices in London, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Paris, Sydney, Cologne and Toronto.

Business outlook: Katherine Hays, Senior Director of Operations at Microsoft, and a co-founder of Massive, reporting to Microsoft investors last month:

Massive is the leading in-game advertising company.  Our experience to date spans over 200 advertiser campaigns which we have aired across the network for more than 100 blue chip advertisers.  Robust technology and operations, the Massive Network has been live and serving campaigns to the gaming audience for over two years, and a large network of game publisher and partners.  Massive has over 50 game titles live in the network today. 

Massive aggregates the gaming audience to enable advertisers to, for the first time, broadcast real-time advertising simultaneously across multiple video games, whether played on the console or PC.  This is made possible through our technology, and back end operations which were built from day one to be platform agnostic, and therefore have the capability to aggregate the single largest gaming audience worldwide.  

Massive is a thought leader in the industry, driving measurement standards and accountability, and working with industry players, such as the IAB to help set standards and grow the end game advertising market overall, for example, by working towards providing third party audited data in the coming year.

Connectivity is driving, for example, Xbox 360 has six times the connectivity rate of prior platforms, which drives a very sticky experience for audiences.  As of March 2007 there were more than 6 million users connected through Xbox, representing over 2.3 billion hours of game play. 

Price tag? Rumored at $300 million. 

Voice Activated Local Directory Assistance

Google: Announcement of “experimental” service “to make local-business search accessible over the phone,” Google Voice Local Search, disclaimed as “still in its experimental stage. It may not be available at all times and may not work for all users. We’re fine-tuning the service to get better at recognizing your requests.”

Business Outlook: “It's free. Google doesn’t charge you a thing for the call or for connecting you to the business.”

Price tag? “Voice recognition systems are changing the landscape. Operator assisted calls are relatively expensive averaging roughly US 16 cents wholesale…by using a voice input instead of live operators, Internet ad models like AdWords can theoretically make monetization possible,” Matt Booth.

Microsoft: In its impending acquisition of Tellme Networks, Inc., Microsoft aims to bring the “power of voice technology to everyday life.” Tellme is: “a leading provider of nationwide directory assistance, enterprise customer service and voice-enabled mobile search. Microsoft and Tellme share a vision around the potential of speech as a way to enable access to information, locate other people and enhance business processes, any time and from any device.” 

Business Outlook: Mike McCue, co-founder and CEO of Tellme: “We now have about half of all directory assistance calls are processed on our voice platform, and roughly one in three Americans use Tellme every year to get things done. You might not know it, but it's a Tellme technology powering a lot of these services, whether you call American Airlines to get flight information, or you call Dominos to order a pizza, it's our technology underlying that that has been powering that, and powering our business. It's created profits and good success for the company.” 

Price tag? Microsoft is wagering an estimated $1 billion of its competitive kitty that it will loudly beat search nemesis Google in both the mobile search and local advertising $50 billion games.

Nevertheless, Graham insists Google is the prime “killer” of Microsoft”:

The most obvious is Google. There can only be one big man in town, and they're clearly it. Google is the most dangerous company now by far, in both the good and bad senses of the word. Microsoft can at best limp along afterward.

Microsoft limping? Really?

Microsoft is Massively overshadowing Google’s AdScape and Microsoft is Telling Google’s directory laboratory project it is on GOOG 411 hold.

Graham also has the audacity to diss America’s beloved “Grandmas,” saying:

All the computer people use Macs or Linux now. Windows is for grandmas, like Macs used to be in the 90s. So not only does the desktop no longer matter, no one who cares about computers uses Microsoft's anyway.

Doesn’t Graham know that “Grandmas” are the hottest demographic in this millennium, despite all the hip, hacker noise?

ALSO: What Microsoft is telling Google about mobile search and Google CEO gets feisty over Microsoft monopoly  and Google’s high-speed battle with Microsoft and How Google SPIN trumps Microsoft PR

PLUS: Why Google WILL pay for content

March 30th, 2007

First Presidents club: Clinton, Bush go wireless

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 10:52 am

Categories: Cell Phones, Mobile, Self-Promotion, Wireless

Tags:

Only in America?

Two directly competitive former Presidents of the United States from opposing political parties join together on a business conference stage in a for (large) fee inspirational talk to expo attendees: William Jefferson Clinton and George Herbert Walker Bush.

What’s more: One of the retired Presidents’ son is the sitting President and the other retired President’s wife is a declared presidential candidate!

Staci Kramer captured the moment from CTIA Wireless 2007.

President Clinton is cited:“I think all these blog sites are creating a whole new opportunity for public debate that may revitalize our politics in an old-fashioned, good way.”

Perhaps, but one thing is certain: Bill is helping wife Hillary the good old-fashioned political money machine way, as I discuss in “Clinton ‘double-team’ in race for campaign millions,” the latest installment in my “User Generated Politics” special Digital Markets Series.

ALSO: Google wants Presidential candidates and their money and Hillary Clinton, Democrats lead Republicans in Web race to the White House and Google wins big as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama battle 

STAY TUNED TO THIS DIGITAL MARKETS BLOG FOR CONTINUING COVERAGE OF WHAT I AM CALLING “USER GENERATED POLITICS” 2008

March 27th, 2007

Google vs. Yahoo smackdown: Do you dare?

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 10:41 am

Categories: Advertising, Cell Phones, Google, Microsoft, Mobile, Search, Search Advertising, Wireless, Yahoo

Tags:

The Google Search Kingdom is feeling the competitive heat: Ask.com, Google competitor and partner, engaged in guerrilla search warfare in London, and number one search rival Yahoo is calling out “Dare to Compare!” us against Google in Mobile Search!

YAHOO, in its own Mobile Search words:

Finally mobile search that works! Yahoo! oneSearch is now available for internet—enabled phones. oneSearch results are delivered to you in a new, breakthrough format that redefines search for the mobile phone. It’s all about getting instant answers with just one click—no need to sift through a bunch of links to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Looking for a new camera? oneSearch gives you what you need to make the best choice including product reviews, images of different models and where to buy. Tracking a hot stock? oneSearch gives you the important info you need to stay up to date including stock quotes, company news and the latest products.

oneSearch results are easy to read, scroll through, and expand when you want more information—like more images to view—with a single click. You don’t have to “feel lucky” to be lucky every time with oneSearch! Find practically anything. Yahoo oneSearch gets you the answers you seek for just about anything you need: driving directions, maps, movie showtimes, sports, upcoming events, news, weather, celebrities, images, shopping—you name it.

And, oneSearch gives you results based on where you are. For instance, searching for a movie title will give you local theaters and showtimes. Searching for a city name will give you the latest weather, traffic reports, local news and more for that city.

GOOGLE, in its own (new) Mobile Search words:

Get the information you care about, right from your homepage. Ranging from movie listings to stock-market updates to website feeds or news snippets, these gadgets can be added with a simple click. You can then reorder, replace, or modify your gadgets however you like.

Get the answer you want with an absolute minimum of clicks. No one likes having to click on link after link to get the information they need. With our new mobile search UI, you'll never be more than a click or two away from the answer that you're after. One of the ways we've made this possible is to remember your recent search locations to serve relevant local results in subsequent searches—no need to retype the location every time; just select your location from the dropdown menu. Once you've entered a location, try searching for [movies] to see top movies playing in your area. Clicking on one of those movies directs you straight to the movie showtimes; one more click and you can even purchase tickets.

Yahoo also seeks to one-up Google on the mobile advertising front, announcing today Yahoo Mobile Publisher Services:

A suite of services designed to enable publishers to increase the discovery, distribution and monetization of their content on mobile phones. The new services publishers will have access to are the Yahoo Mobile Ad Network, Mobile Content Engine, Mobile Media Directory and Mobile Site Submit.

The Yahoo! Mobile Ad Network will allow mobile publishers to have syndicated advertising served on their mobile content and services. Publishers will be able to select the ad formats they want to have run, such as display, sponsored links, video or in-game placements.

Launch partners in the Yahoo! Mobile Ad Network include MobiTV, the global leader in mobile and broadband television and music services, Opera, the leading provider of Web browsers for mobile devices, and go2, the leading location-enabled mobile content network in the U.S. The first advertisements will go live in the second quarter of 2007. Yahoo! has established a leadership position in global mobile advertising and is already working with advertisers, publishers and operators to create new revenue streams. In February 2007, Yahoo! launched its mobile display advertising platform on its Yahoo! Mobile Web service in 19 countries. In October 2006, the company also launched search advertisements in beta in the U.S. and U.K.

How is Google faring in Mobile?
See “What Microsoft is telling Google about mobile search.”

What else is Yahoo targeting in Mobile?
See “Yahoo unlocks local advertising value online.”

ALSO: Google disconnects Google Phone chatter  and Google vs. MySpace: Is YouTube doomed? and Google, LookSmart power Ask.com advertising  and Skrenta vs. King Google, sometimes

March 26th, 2007

Google disconnects Google Phone chatter

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 7:04 am

Categories: Cell Phones, Google, Google Checkout, Google Software Applications, Mobile, Wireless

Tags:

Is Google really disconnecting the Google Phone?

Should we take Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering and research, at his Googley word that:

“WE’RE NOT DOING A MOBILE PHONE,” as cited by Bloomberg.

Google Phone frenzy is almost as intense as the GBuy mania last year forecasting an Ebay-PayPal online payments category killer from the world’s top search engine.

When Google Checkout (not GBuy) finally debuted, excitement checked out as well!

This year’s Google “impending” launch drama is “Will Google Phone or won’t it.” Google Phone chatter is a drama in itself. Here is a recap to date, cited verbatim.

“The future for Orange could soon be Google in your pocket,” The Observer, 12/16/06

The internet giant has held talks with Orange, the mobile phone operator, about a multi-billion-dollar partnership to create a 'Google phone.' Their plans centre on a branded Google phone, which would probably also carry Orange's logo. The device would not be revolutionary: manufactured by HTC, a Taiwanese firm specialising in smart phones and Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), it might have a screen similar to a video iPod. But it would have built-in Google software.

Tony Cooper, a telecoms consultant at Deloitte, said: 'There are numerous situations in which people say "I wish I had Google in my hand.

“The real Google Phone,” Sim Simeonov (Polaris Ventures) blog, 3/6/07

A widely reported blog post at the time of publication, but it has now apparently been obliterated from the Simeonov blog; in its place, the message: "Doh! Something has gone wrong, the page you're looking for can't be found."

Citation below from Don Dodge’s discussion of the post at the time of original posting.

There are rumors that Google and Samsung will build a new phone, codename Switch, together. Here is what I have learned from my inside source:

Blackberry-like, slick device

C++ core w/ OS bootstrap (some version of Linux?)

Optimized Java running on the C++ core (similar to what Andy did at Danger)

Vector-based presentation courtesy of Skia’s technology

Many services, including VoIP Google is planning to build distribution relationships with multiple carriers by allowing them to minimize subscription and marketing costs. In other words, Google will market the phone online and carriers will fulfill.

“Q & A, Google’s chief Internet evangelist” Sydney Morning Herald Blogs, SJ Hutcheon, 3/8/07

An edited transcript of my interview with Google's chief internet evangelist, Dr Vinton Cerf . I've massaged my rambling questions so they're a little more concise. Dr Cerf is one of the founders of the internet. The interview was conducted over the telephone on Wednesday evening. He was in Brisbane, I was in Sydney. I asked about recent reports that Google had a so-called G-phone in the works and that it was collaborating with Apple on a hardware project. Was Google getting into hardware?

I don't think so. On the other hand, we're very interested in the platforms that other people are building. We are quite eager to be part of the mobile revolution. People are acquiring mobile equipment which is much more elaborate that simple a telephone. Becoming an equipment manufacturer is pretty far from our business model.

“Google Phone-It’s for real,” The Register, 3/16/07

A Google executive has confirmed the existence of one of its best-kept secrets. The advertising giant is designing a mobile phone, according to the company's Iberian chief. Spanish IT site Noticias quotes Isabel Aguilera, Google's chief for Spain and Portugal, as explaining the move as a way of extending the "information society" (translation: Google's advertising business) into less developed countries.

As the personal project of co-founder Larry Page, Google's phone is also one of its best-protected secrets. When a report surfaced in the New York Times discussing the possibility of a mobile phone project, the famously grumpy Page threw a hissy fit, and the suspected leakers took the bullet. Google has announced some fairly conventional advertising programs recently, including "dead media" such as print…Google's phone is unlikely to generate the media hype induced by the iPhone - which outside the style-starved USA looks like a toy in search of a wealthy fool.

“Google has no plans for yet another mobile device,” Bloomberg, 3/23/07

“We’re not doing a mobile phone," Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering and research, said. "I'd like to find something that is broader, rather than do yet another mobile device."

Google will "look across all of the devices" rather than focusing on individual handsets, Eustace said. "Right now it is very difficult for companies to deploy applications," he said. "Mobile is a space where it's very difficult to reach a lot of users. That's a premise we're thinking about." Google will continue to work with device makers, including Motorola Inc., and service providers such as Vodafone Group PLC to develop and promote mobile products, Eustace said.

Is Google telling the Google Phone full story?

I have heard Eustace take Google-centric liberties in the Google Checkout ecommerce world, as I report in “Google to eBay, Apple, Dell, Amazon: Ecommerce is a ‘disaster’”:

In a fear-mongering diatribe trashing online commerce and casting doubt on consumer financial safety online, Eustace disparaged ecommerce players on the Web. Google gives a firm thumbs down to the payment processing systems used by its strategic partners, by its key advertising clients and even by a company where the Google CEO is a member of the Board of Directors.

The Google-centric view of the world does not always reflect the world’s reality. In touting Google’s latest underperforming initiative, Google Checkout (see “Google miscalculates with Google Checkout”), at an investor Q & A in New York City yesterday, Alan Eustace, Google SVP Engineering & Research, characterized payment right now on the Web as a “disaster.”

“Everybody who has ever tried to buy anything on the Web right now, you don’t know who the person who is selling the goods are, you have to input your credit card to a thousand different places out there, who knows what those people are doing with my credit card. It takes a long time to get through a transaction process, honestly if it took as long for you to get through the checkout at your supermarket, as it takes to do an ecommerce transaction right now, you may never do it," Eustace said.

What about the “Can you hear me know” situation in the mobile world?

Isn’t Eustache aiming to solve a “cell phones are a disaster” problem, to declare in the not so distant future that: Honestly, if it took as long for you to get through on your land line, as it does on your cell right now, you may never do it.

Google speak may be disconnecting the Google Phone chatter of others, but Google CEO Eric Schmidt and company undoubtedly are conjuring up a Google to the mobile phone rescue Googley solution.

How is Google really faring in Mobile? SEE:
WHAT MICROSOFT IS TELLING GOOGLE ABOUT MOBILE SEARCH

March 25th, 2007

What Microsoft is telling Google about mobile search

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 9:55 am

Categories: Advertising, Cell Phones, Culture, Google, Google Software Applications, Metrics, Microsoft, Mobile, Profits, Radio, Search, Search Advertising, TV, Television, Wireless, Yahoo, Yellow Pages, YouTube

Tags:

Google recently warned investors about the “formidable competition” it faces from number one rival Microsoft, underscoring in particular that Redmond bests Mountain View on the cash resources front.

In its acquisition of Tellme Networks, Inc., Microsoft is wagering an estimated $1 billion of its competitive kitty that it will loudly beat search nemesis Google in both the mobile search and local advertising $50 billion games.

Headquartered a shout out from the Googleplex, Mountain View based Tellme’s goal is to "let anyone say what they want and get it, from any phone,” similar to Google’s mission to make the world's information “universally accessible,” on any platform.

In buying Tellme, Microsoft aims to bring the “power of voice technology to everyday life.” Tellme is:

a leading provider of nationwide directory assistance, enterprise customer service and voice-enabled mobile search. Microsoft and Tellme share a vision around the potential of speech as a way to enable access to information, locate other people and enhance business processes, any time and from any device.

Mike McCue, co-founder and CEO of Tellme:

Tellme was founded with the idea that anyone should be able to simply say what they want and get it from any device, starting with the phone. Now, with Microsoft, we’ll be able to extend that vision to millions of businesses and consumers around the world.

This combination allows us to really fulfill our vision and bring it to billions of consumers, literally, on any phone. We love the idea of allowing people to be able to simply pick up a phone, push a button, and say find the nearest Starbucks, and then get a map and driving directions to that location, or be able to push a button and say, give me the latest score on the Yankees.

Last June, while addressing publishing executives over lunch in NYC, Google CEO Eric Schmidt shared his vision for the role of voice in driving local transactions, literally!

Schmidt believes that when he is listening to the radio in his car, radio ads should personally address him about his needs. For example, while driving past a clothing store, a radio ad should remind Eric that he needs a pair of pants and instruct him to turn left at the upcoming clothing store.

Schmidt has publicly shared his “fantasy” about a future Google one-stop advertising shop, for booking the world’s advertising. His musing about the delivery of targeted personalized radio advertising also appears fantastical, as Google has been unable to launch even an “old-school” radio advertising product in the marketplace.

With Tellme, Microsoft does not need to fantasize about voice technology:

McCue: We now have about half of all directory assistance calls are processed on our voice platform, and roughly one in three Americans use Tellme every year to get things done. You might not know it, but it's a Tellme technology powering a lot of these services, whether you call American Airlines to get flight information, or you call Dominos to order a pizza, it's our technology underlying that that has been powering that, and powering our business. It's created profits and good success for the company.

Jeff Raikes, President, Business Division, Microsoft:

One of the key attractions fro us to come together with TellMe was their vision for using their technologies in the mobile search area. We have great strength there with our mobile search and local search. Frankly, today TellMe already does more mobile search support than Google and Yahoo combined.

How profitable has Google been on the mobile front?

Schmidt, Q4 2006 earnings call:

We are investing in new categories of using mobile devices. For example, YouTube content is being used and can be viewed on mobile devices in various partnerships that we're doing. Those are as much opportunistic for us, and they're not really driving revenue yet; although in theory, you could imagine a combination of video, video advertising on a mobile phone that would have the best entertainment value but also very, very high monetization rates. It's not material today in a financial sense. We are making a significant investment in technology around mobile because of the growth rate of mobile and the ultimate scale of that business. You won't really see its financial impact until '08.

How has soon to be Microsoft owned Tellme fared on the revenue front?

McCue: We processed about 2 billion calls a year, last year, on our platform. And we get paid for every one of those calls.

Telllme is looking for even more ways to get paid, currently testing beta multimodal mobile applications.

I heard Sanjeev Agrawal, VP Marketing, Tellme, share his excitement for the new “Tellme by Mobile,” Tellme by Text,” and “Tellme by Voice” platforms at the Kelsey “Drilling Down on Local” Conference last week:

With this capability users can speak a command or enter text and receive interactive data that allows them to quickly find, connect or transact with a business right from their screen. Tellme’s beta product for local search, Tellme by Mobile, is one of the first examples of how voice and visual come together. Anyone can download Tellme by Mobile for free.

Tellme by Mobile, “Say what you want and see it”:

Find any business in America by talking or typing.

Thumbs tired of typing? Now you can use the power of your voice to find a business. Just say what you're looking for and get the address, map, and directions.

Not sure what you want? Just say a category like 'restaurants' or 'pizza'.

Voice-Enabled Search: Just say what you want. No typing necessary.

Just say what you want. No typing necessary.

Interactive Maps: A map in your pocket. Easily navigate a map to find out where to go.

A map in your pocket. Easily navigate a map to find out where to go.

Simplified Directions

Get step-by-step directions. Tellme automatically saves the last business for easy point-to-point navigation, great for running errands.

Tellme has a lot more “great” applications in the works, and is looking forward to Microsoft’s “help.”

Agrawal on the business development landscape:

There are exciting business problems to solve over the next five years. There are efficiencies to be had and money to be made in solving the “last mile” local problem.

McCue on the business opportunity landscape:

One of the things we are really excited about is the idea of combining a voice and visual interface, Tellme By Mobile. It's pretty cool, a cutting edge application.

We think this is representative of how things will ultimately work as the phone gets more and more powerful as the computing device. And similarly with cars, and with the PC, with your television, why do you need to navigate through all these menus on TV when really you should just be able to say, show me The Daily Show, and now you're watching what you want to watch on TV just by speaking to it. So this voice and visual interface, we think, really represents the future, and we're very excited about it.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt can not be very excited, however, that Microsoft has made a billion dollar commitment to “represent the future” in combining voice and visual interfaces on the PC, in mobile, in cars, on the TV…

ALSO: Google’s high-speed battle with Microsoft and Google Local squeezes Yellow Pages, Online Directories and Is Google doing advertising evil with new model? and Google disconnects Google Phone chatter

March 21st, 2007

Nokia gets local: Mapping, navigation smart2go platform

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 5:43 pm

Categories: Advertising, Cell Phones, Internet Data, Local, Marketing, Metrics, Mobile, ROI, Search, Search Advertising, Wireless, ecommerce

Tags:

Are you smart2go? “The world in your pocket,” Nokia promises, literally.

Ralph Kunz, Vice President, Multimedia, keynoted at the Kelsey “Drilling Down on Local” Conference today, unveiling the Nokia intention to pre-install Nokia Maps and Nokia Mobile Search on 100 million devices by 2008.

Kunz announced to an audience of hundreds of decision makers in the local online content and advertising space that “it is time to change the rules of the game, it is time for a location based experiences platform,” and Nokia has it.

Kunz evangelized “location aware content in the mobile,” made possible by Nokia’s smart2go mapping and navigation platform, Kunz advised:

"Smart2go for mobile handsets is a client side global map and search application for GPS-equipped mobile handsets, enabling mapping and routing in over 150 countries and has support for full turn-by-turn satellite navigation in over 30 countries. The application allows people to view where they are on a map, search for points-of-interests (POIs) around them and create routes to get them there free of charge.

It is a hybrid map solution combining the advantages of on-board and off-board navigation. Maps and location-aware content only need to be loaded once, they are then always available on the client."

Smart2go is available for free download and will be pre-installed on all future Nokia Nseries multimedia computers, it will also be available for a variety of other operating systems such as Windows Mobile 5 and Linux, in the future.

The platform contains over 15 million POIs that help people explore sights, restaurants or accommodations around them. Customers can select their favorite locations and send them to friends by multimedia message, Bluetooth wireless technology, infrared or e-mail. They can also send map excerpts and routes or save map screen shots to the gallery on the device.

Smart2go software turns mobile computers, smartphones and PDAs into local mapping and routing engines with a navigation option, providing worldwide mapping free of charge.

"Nokia is on track to build the world's most connected location based platform for mobile devices which also opens up interesting opportunities for future services," according to Kunz.

For Nokia, smart2go “creates discontinuity through technology and business model innovation.” Kunz asserted a news ecosystem is being created and “we want you to be part of it.”

Kunz underscored that the free mapping service will enable development of mobile community and “income through upselling and ads.” Future monetization opportunities include:

Sponsored Messages
Coupons
Voice Landmarks
Microsites
Transactions
Premium Content
Enhanced Functionality
Local Ads

Currently, marketers may purchase “Sponsored Search Links“ and “Branded Icons” placed “across the world's digital maps downloaded onto millions of mobile devices.”

Kunz is confident in the opportunity for Nokia Maps and Nokia Mobile Search, citing data suggesting strong user interest:

65% of users click on “Show On Maps” after a local search,
82% of users click on “Browse” after a Web search.

Kunz is certain of the Nokia opportunity:

850 million people use a Nokia mobile phone daily,
100 million devices were shipped in Q4 2006,
1 million devices are shipped daily,
Nine devices are manufactured each second,
One new model a week was developed in 2006.

The worldwide mobile opportunity is on track to set a key milestone in 2007, Kunz happily noted: 3 billion people with a mobile phone worldwide.

Nokia aims to make as many of them as possible smart2go!

STAY TUNED FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM DRILLING DOWN ON LOCAL:

Deal time: Partnering drives local ad sales ecosystem
Yahoo unlocks local advertising value online
Online advertising meets ‘The User Revolution’
Growing local ad spend: Top seven predictions
The future of Local Search: Report from the field

March 20th, 2007

Yahoo unlocks local advertising value online

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 11:39 pm

Categories: Advertising, Business Models, Content, Internet Data, Local, Marketing, Media, Metrics, Mobile, Newspapers, Print, ROI, Search, Search Advertising, Yahoo, Yellow Pages, ecommerce

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Hilary Schneider joined Yahoo last Fall, charged with the mission of developing “new ways of monetizing transaction listings across Yahoo,” as senior vice president of Marketplaces, a newly formed business unit for the company.

Schneider’s operations responsibilities include Yahoo Marketplaces properties in the U.S.; Autos, Classifieds, HotJobs, Personals, Real Estate, Shopping & Auctions, Travel and Yellow Pages.

Prior to joining Yahoo, Schneider led the digital efforts for several print media companies such as Knight Ridder, Inc., Red Herring Communications, Times Mirror Interactive and The Baltimore Sun Company.

Schnneider keynoted at the Kelsey “Drilling Down on Local” conference this morning and proudly presented a promotional video showcasing Yahoo’s strategic partnership with a consortium of seven newspaper chains (representing 176 daily papers across the country) to share content, advertising and technology, a deal announced shortly after she joined the company.

The video was inspirational, but short on specifics. Schneider’s personal remarks on Yahoo’s aim to “unlock the value of local advertising,” however, were substantive.

The local advertising market is “big and growing,” Schneider said. Citing Bank of America data, she noted today’s almost $4 billion local online advertising spend is projected to grow to over $12 billion within the next five years.

Local searches are growing as a percentage of overall Web searches, Schneider underscored. At Yahoo last year, local searches accounted for 14% of all searches conducted versus 11% the year before.

For Schneider, the “research online, buy offline,” component of local activities on the Web represents the greatest opportunity, a “$ 1.3 trillion marketplace.”

Out of the 130 million monthly unique users of Yahoo last year, “116 million of them came to Yahoo with local intent,” Schneider said. Local search, mapping and local news and information are some of the local activities engaged in by users at Yahoo.

On the mobile platform, local intent categories are the most sought after data: maps and directions, directory listings, restaurants and stores, flight information and local movies. Mobile is a “massive opportunity to reach consumers beyond computer screens,” according to Schneider.

Mobile advertising revenues are expected to grow from about $1 billion today to over $11 billion by 2011, Schneider said.

At Yahoo, local content is a priority. Yahoo has data on 60,000 cities, 80,000 zip codes and 17 million businesses, Schneider indicated.

The Yahoo local advertiser value proposition is delivered via diverse product offerings:

Online Marketplace
Website
Storefront with Billing
Content Match
Keywords
Branding/Promotion
Targeting Capabilities

The Yahoo local advertising ecosystem is designed to show the “right ad to the right audience, in the right format.”

Yahoo targets local advertising messages based on three types of user behavior:

Declared; Yahoo user registration data,

Observed; Click stream activity,

Inferred; Behavioral modeling.

Next generation advertising platforms, available today at Yahoo, are delivering “Smart Ads” Schneider proudly underscored.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM DRILLING DOWN ON LOCAL!

Online advertising meets ‘The User Revolution’
Growing local ad spend: Top seven predictions
The future of Local Search: Report from the field

ALSO: Read up on Local Advertising challenges and opportunities:

When will Google Local reap $39 billion local ad sales opportunity?
Should Google really buy Intuit?
CitySearch bails out InsiderPages: What’s the deal?
Spot Runner vs. Google: Let the TV advertising battle begin!

March 20th, 2007

The future of Local Search: Report from the field

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 3:05 am

Categories: Advertising, Google, Local, Marketing, Media, Mobile, Search, Search Advertising, Social Web, User-Generated Content, Yellow Pages, ecommerce

Tags:

What is the future of local search?

Number one search engine Google wants to determine the local search future, just like it aims to lead all the myriad forms of search and advertising it is setting its eyes on.

Several hundred local search and advertising executives have convened in Santa Clara for the Kelsey Drilling Down on Local Conference this week and they have a few ideas of their own, however, for how the local search opportunity will unfold in the coming years.

At the pre-conference reception last evening, I polled conference attendees for their take on: “What is the future of local search”?

Steve Cissel, Founder & CEO, Lawn & Garden Yellow pages, (LGYP.com) is “betting the house on” niche verticals.

Cissel believes aggregation of knowledge by sectors is the future of local search, His formula: Local Content + Local Commerce = Local Advertising.

For example, at LGYP, “On each page you will find the searchbox in the top left corner to help you find products (categories), companies (names) and plants. Just type in what you're looking for, select a state or zipcode and Find It!”

Kevin Leu, Public Relations Manager, MerchantCrircle (merchantcircle.com), predicts in the future the Internet will be “less of the World Wide Web, and more of the Local Wide Web.”

“A lot of sites will have a section where you can put in zip code or area code and do a search for an area that is pertinent to find relevant business information and maps,” according to Leu.

At MerchantCircle, the “evolution of the web into the Local Internet makes it possible for businesses to target and advertise directly to potential local customers who are online right now, searching for deals, recommendations and information in local communities. Free tools help merchants develop dynamic business listings and raise visibility in search results.”

Roger Treese, Managing Director, New Era Strategies (newerainc.net), sees mobile as the tool that will spur online-offline local connections, with search a fundamental component. As richer, more relevant local data comes online, searchers will interact socially, such as through personal recommendations, and then transact locally, Treese believes.

New Era helps develop “non-traditional end user enhancements and revenue-generating strategies that pair online with offline click-and-mortar initiatives as well as assists in location-based business partnerships, enhancing directory assistance services.”

Lou Morsberger, CEO, ValueStar (valuestar.com), preducts the future of local search will be about creating content that isn’t currently online, because “what is already online isn’t worth much for local and is worth less than print Yellow Pages.”

For Morsberger, the current online experience of basic business listing data and “thin user reviews for anything beyond restaurants,” needs to be improved. Local services represent super verticals and with easy functionality providers such as dentists or plumbers could schedule visits, Morsberger believes.

ValueStar “turns customers' satisfaction ratings of local service businesses into a sales tool to help quality-focused businesses differentiate themselves from their competition, attract new customers, build loyalty with existing customers, and increase their visibility in their local area.”

Terry DiNatale, Founder, WebVisible (webvisible.com), sees a local search future “so bright, you got to wear shades.”

“It will be a hybrid between those of us who facilitate adoption and those of us who facilitate self-provisioning,” DiNatale believes, with a combination of SME on-premise sales and push marketing tools such as email and telemarketing.

According to DiNatale, because SMEs “don’t buy advertising, they are sold advertising, there will always be a role for local advertising sales reps.”

WebVisible’s software service suite includes “local search marketing, locally-targeted banner advertising, fixed placement ads, profile and landing page technologies, and call-related services packages, privately branded and sold by resellers in the yellow pages, newspaper and online marketing industries.”

Erron Silverstein, CEO, Solfo, a stealth mode start-up, predicts local search will be the “distribution of enhanced content and advertisers through open APIs so that any end user can find relevant advertiser-based data in their search results.”

“In the future, all sites will have to provide high quality search results to their end users or their economic model will be unsustainable,” according to Silverstein.

Matt Booth, Senior Vice President and Program Director, Interactive Local Media, Kelsey Group, looks to “The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy” for inspiration on the future of local search.

But is “42” the answer?

Booth believes the future is about the transition of ad dollars from offline to online. Both ad dollars and consumers will transition over to the Internet on a vertical by vertical basis, so predicts Booth.

Increasing specialization around vertical content and specialized selling is the thesis for local search, according to Booth.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM DRILLING DOWN ON LOCAL!

For now, read up on Local Advertising challenges and opportunities:

When will Google Local reap $39 billion local ad sales opportunity?
Should Google really buy Intuit?
CitySearch bails out InsiderPages: What’s the deal?
Spot Runner vs. Google: Let the TV advertising battle begin!
Google QuickBooks 2007: Death of Yellow Pages, local newspapers?