The current debate about the outlook for mobile search sounds like the plot of a Hollywood movie. Global giants clash head-to-head in a battle for a multi-billion dollar prize where the US$130bn mobile data market collides with the US$25bn search market. But this portrayal of the market as a scene from Gladiator is an over-simplification that misses the point, says John Cassidy of Accenture 

Yes, in the mobile search market huge revenues are at stake and there will no doubt be winners and losers among the protagonists, who include household-name operators, portals and device manufacturers.

But currently, there is no major market for mobile search, and nobody is going to get paid unless players combine to give customers something that adds value to their lives. Equally importantly, hardly anyone actually uses mobile data services at the moment − and search is only one (and not necessarily the most important) driver for mass customer adoption.

This suggests that the real problem with the current market rhetoric is that the customer’s voice is getting drowned out. Even if one of today’s providers were to launch the world’s most compelling and user-friendly mobile search offering, there is no guarantee that consumers would start using it.

Three key elements
What will make mobile search commercially viable is a combination of three critical elements. First, as mentioned above, it will have to add value for customers. Second, it will have to make optimal use of mobile’s unique channel and device characteristics. And third, it will need a business model specifically geared to the dynamics and nature of mobile search and the way customers use it.

First, adding value. When consumers use a PC to search the web, the information they look for is as vastly diverse as the individuals seeking it. But early evidence from mobile portals suggests that people on the move are generally looking for a smaller subset related to their location and immediate needs: travel or route information for example, such as trains times or maps.

Why does this matter? Because each participant in the mobile search value chain has one piece of the jigsaw to deliver this. Operators have real-time location information plus detailed behavioural customer data built up from customer’s age, gender, calling patterns and payment information. Search engines have a terrifying wealth of information about people’s previous searches and personal interests. Handset vendors have detailed knowledge of people’s interaction with the device, including the form factor and data entry interface.

Finding the right platform to share this information between parties will be key. BT’s innovative Web21C initiative shows how operators can externalise their assets to provide a platform to create services on. To execute the mobile search proposition successfully, operator initiatives of this type will need to be combined with existing search and advertising platforms.

So, when it comes to making mobile search compelling for customers, everyone has unique and vital assets that no-one else possesses. This means the key is to put it all together. And the question isn’t who the winners and losers will be, but how the different players can co-exist to create the right experience.

Making best use of the channel
The second prerequisite for successful mobile search will be optimising the way services use the characteristics of the channel and overcome its limitations. For example, typing into a mobile handset is fiddly and time-consuming, so applications should help reduce the number of keystrokes by offering URL suffixes, predictive word endings, bar scanners and voice entry where possible. There are excellent examples in Japan, where sites such as the music store Tsutaya allow customers to search using bar-codes, and provide URL suffixes that reduce data entry by up to nine key strokes.

Portal and search providers also need to think carefully about how search results are fed back to the user. Customers on the move are unlikely to have a pen and paper to hand to jot down an address or train time, so services should offer the option to receive the information via text or media messaging of screen shots.

New business models
The third and ultimately most critical element is how everyone gets paid. We have already pointed out that various parties must bring their assets to the party. The question is what they get back in return − and from whom.

Certainly not from the consumer. Accustomed to free search on a PC, users will not be prepared to pay for search on their mobile. So, as with internet search, the most like business model is advertising-funded. But, given the limited screen size, can this be made to work in a mobile context?

The answer is yes − by prioritising the search results for the user, and agreeing an equitable share of revenues across the value chain. Accenture’s Global Content Survey suggests 25 per cent of leaders in the Media and Entertainment industries see mobile as a place where they will be spending their digital advertising budgets in the next five years. In my view, search providers looking to capture this cash have two choices: prioritise the results by what advertisers want users to see, or by what users themselves want to see. The first is a non-starter for consumers. So the way forward is the second route, provided that services can make sponsored and non-sponsored links co-exist on the screen.

Assuming this is achieved, the limited screen real estate and correspondingly smaller set of results may make users more likely to click through to sponsored links. Also, the localised power of mobile will make it attractive to traditional ‘Yellow Pages’ advertisers. For example, local firms such as restaurants could tell people they have tables available or are offering a special pre-theatre menu. For providers, the revenue potential of these advantages could offset the paucity of screen space.

Time to talk
Overall, the much-vaunted ‘battle’ for the mobile search market will be won not by bluster but collaboration. ‘Search’ and ‘mobile’ are two of the sexiest words in today’s lexicon, but their union will only succeed if it provides an experience that the consumer finds compelling. Providers should start by focusing on what the user wants, not on the alleged − and currently hypothetical − size of the potential market on offer.

 

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