May 14th, 2007

Bill Gates on local advertising: Yellow Pages gone in 5 years

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 4:31 am

Categories: Advertising, Cell Phones, Google, Local, Marketing, Microsoft, Wireless

Tags: Phone, Voice, Vision, Bill Gates, Microsoft Corp., Local Advertising, Tellme Networks Inc., Donna Bogatin

Microsoft wagered 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 challenge, as I report and analyze in What Microsoft is telling Google about mobile search: Tellme Networks, Inc.

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

Mike McCue, co-founder and CEO of Tellme on what the Microsoft acquisition means:

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.

Bill Gates, Microosft Chairman, has a voice enabled mobile local search and advertising vision, and it doesn't include the Yellow Pages.

In a Q & A last week with Joanne Bradford, Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Chief Media Officer, at the Microsoft Strategic Account Summit 2007, Gates projected a short life span for the Yellow Pages.

GATES: A lot of these interfaces will be mixed voice/screen interfaces. When you have just voice, and you say something, let's say on the other end there's three or four possibilities, that voicing of, did you mean A, B, C, D, that's really slow and kind of painful. If you're just sitting there with your phone with the screen, then it will propose those, and the idea that, okay, if it's the one on top you just press enter, if it's the others you just cursor down, take that, and press enter. Then it's far more natural. And when I call up and I say, what is the movie schedule for this movie, voice has always been super slow, I have to sit there and hope that I'm listening right at the time it says the one thing that's in my lane. If I say that, and it just comes back up on that screen, you know, I may have additional links, get more information, then it's the voice/screen interaction that I believe in because it's far more robust in the face of some uncertainty of exactly what the input is as opposed to a voice/voice interaction that is very limiting.

BRADFORD: There's a big implication that I think about to the local advertising market, and I really think that if you can do those two things in the phone, and in the screen, that you change that. So the Windows Live Local data on the phone, it's a great experience. But I think it's going to be better when I can combine the speech and the screen there. You think that's coming sooner than later, and will it really wipe out Yellow Pages?

GATES: Well, the Yellow Pages are going to be used less and less. We should be able, when you go to the service that's going to take our technology and the Tellme technology that we acquired, when you ay something like plumber, the presentation you'll get will be far better than what you get in the Yellow Pages. After all, we know your location, and so we can cluster around that. We can take the information and show you the names, and then you can expand the information easily.

So, yes, I think that these things always take time, but Yellow Page usage amongst people in their, say, below 50, will drop to zero, near zero over the next five years.

ALSO: Craigslist vs. Facebook? Why Craigslist wins, big time and
Google vs. Microsoft Office? NO: vs. Open Office (.org)!

April 12th, 2007

Google's $19 billion 'scary' mobile advertising problem

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 6:28 am

Categories: Advertising, Business Models, Cell Phones, Google, Google Software Applications, Marketing, Print, ROI, Radio, Search, Search Advertising, TV, Television, Wireless

Tags:

Nineteen billion dollars worth of global mobile marketing and advertising is to be had by 2011 (ABI Research) and, in good Googley form, CEO Eric Schmidt is gunning for the lions share. 

And, despite Google’s inability to show any successful diversification offline, many are gunning for Google in the mobile space too, predicting an inevitable replay of Google’s online search dominance on the handset. 

After all, mobile Internet advertising should develop faster than PC internet ads, is the conventional wisdom, because the learning curve has supposedly already taken place on the desktop.

Why wouldn’t Google naturally achieve similar dominance in mobile that it has achieved in PC-based online advertising?

What’s more, Google will be its own mobile master, as it is online, so it is believed, not a mere third party agent, as it finds itself relegated to being in its radio, print, TV….initiatives. 

But alas, Google does not have clear mobile sailing.

In Google: The REAL Dish on EchoStar TV ad sales deal earlier this month I underscored:

Google (will be) a monopoly, an ONLINE ADVERTSIING one. But, what assets does Google really bring to the offline advertising table?

Google owns the online search market, literally, with its own 50% plus market share Google.com, backed up by a proprietary “massively scalable infrastructure.”

How about offline? What does Google own exclusively that an advertiser can not get elsewhere?

NOTHING, as I analyze in “Why Google Television will NOT make money,” despite the “groundbreaking, new advertising system” announced for EchoStar’s DISH Network's 125 national satellite programming networks. 

Google is not a proprietary slam dunk in mobile either, due to the pesky wireless carrier problem, a very “scary” problem for Google.

Christopher Sacca, Head of Special Initiatives at Google, including alternative access, communications, and related product development, decried carrier power last November during an appearance at Oxford University:

We've been getting notes from some of the telco carriers who are saying, look, you need to stop our customers from downloading this thing. They're inserting themselves in between you and an application that you want. I think that has scary, scary implications.

What is really “scary’?

Google’s “fundamental lack of understanding of the mobile data space,” Shawn Conahan, Intercasting Corp., suggests:

To put it simply, the carriers are not “inserting” themselves between consumers and the applications they want as Chris says, rather, Google is inserting itself into a relationship that the carrier already has with the consumer. 

I talked to three people at carriers who thought Chris’ comment was an indication of Google’s arrogance (The first guy brought it up unsolicited, like, “Hey – did you see that Google guy’s comment?”),

The carriers have a direct relationship with their customers and they make a lot of money on those relationships. They would like to make more, and that means offering their customers 3rd-party content and services. The 3rd-party content and service providers would also like to have a direct relationship with the carriers’ customers, but there is the pesky carrier trying to make sure it doesn’t happen, and in a relatively closed network environment such as a proprietary wireless network, the carriers have the ability to protect that customer relationship. And they should, not just from a competitive standpoint, but because spectrum costs a lot of money.

The 3rd-party content and service providers calling for the carriers to open their networks and be dumb pipes should consider the effect of flooding such a network with unmetered access to broadband content. It’s not like you can just light up more dark fiber whenever you want. Google just doesn’t understand what it means to operate in a closed network environment.

The bottom line is that, believe it or not, Google needs the carriers more than the carriers need Google. Yes, Verizon Wireless would like to see higher data ARPU, but let’s not forget that regardless of data revenue, they throw off well in excess of $6 billion in free cash flow, and it isn’t coming from ringtones, games and Google Maps. As such, the carriers are in a position to dictate the terms by which they will have Google on their networks.

Google dictated to?

Eric Schmidt believes the “Power Law” is inevitably in its favor, but may need to come to terms with the fact that other organizations sometimes actually do have more power than Google.

SEE: GOOGLE'S BIG, BAD RISK

ALSO: Google Engineering: The REAL story and
Google aims to usurp campus email systems and
What Microsoft is telling Google about mobile search and
Google News is NOT newspaper driven: Zell vs. Schmidt and
Why Google IS afraid of Microsoft, big time

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

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

IAC's Peter Horan: Front door content drives local strategy

Posted by Donna Bogatin @ 10:01 pm

Categories: Advertising, Business Models, Cell Phones, Internet Data, Local, Marketing, Media, Search, Search Advertising, ecommerce

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Can a “21^st century content package” fulfill the promise of the local opportunity?

Peter Horan, CEO, IAC Media & Advertising, a self-professed “guy who runs Websites for a living to sell stuff and make a profit,” believes a blending of editorial and viral components just may bridge the vast “Grand Canyon of local.”

Keynoting at the Kelsey “Drilling Down on Local” Conference today, Horan made a case for why “Service Journalism” is the cornerstone for local success online because “local isn’t about reading.”

“Usefulness is the litmus test,” Horan said, for both consumers and merchants, underscoring “you can’t bore someone into buying something.”

The Web today is an intent-driven media, according to Horan. “Consumers are on a mission, they want to “Search-Find-Obtain.”

When someone arrives at a Web page, there is a five second window to attract the user, Horan indicated, “users have their finger on the back button.” Consumers want the ability to easily review information, decide and execute the transaction, Horan said:

Every page on your site is the “front door,” because most people arrive at a detail page, rather than the homepage. Consumers need a smooth click stream from question to answer.

While “specifics drive out general,” from the consumer perspective, narrow subject matter relevant to small audiences cannot be funded with editor-generated content, Horan put forth.

Broad subject matter relevant to a large audience can be cost-effectively provided for with editor-generated content, though.

A “21^st century content package” integrates professionally produced content with user generated content, Horan believes.

Horan noted IAC’s Citysearch is a ten year brand powered by a 75 person editorial team with 25 million visitors a month.

Recently acquired InsiderPages, on the other hand, is a smaller, consumer reviews focused property.

InsiderPages will continue as a separate brand, as part of an IAC multi-brand strategy, Horan said. IAC’s common infrastructure will drive different, tailored communities.

All communities must provide consumers relevance, resonance and actionability, Horan underscored.

Relevance: Information tailored to the task at hand

Resonance: Advice from trusted authorities

Actionability: Ability to act on information (book a reservation, buy a ticket)

AskCity offers just such relevance, resonance and actionability for consumers making dining decisions, Horan noted:

1) Search for restaurants,

2) Map the restaurant,

3) Make a reservation with OpenTable,

4) Send to phone.

Perhaps AskCity will soon add a step 5): Review the restaurant at InsiderPages!

STAY TUNED FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM DRILLING DOWN ON LOCAL:

Nokia gets local: Mapping, navigation smart2go platform
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 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

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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