Mobile local search
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mobile Local Search, also known as MoLo, is a rapidily evolving technology that lets people search for local things using a mobile device such as a cellular phone or a personal digital assistant. Local things may be businesses, products, events or other local information.
Mobile Local Search differs from Mobile search in that it is all about local content as opposed to ringtones or games that can be delivered anywhere. MoLo is usually based on organized directories accessed through specialized search tools, rather than the web, although MoLo often provides links to mobile (WAP) web sites.
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[edit] Access Methods
Mobile Local Search may be screen-based using the keypad and display on the mobile device, or voice-based using spoken commands that are interpreted by a speech recognition application.
Screen-based search using the keypad to enter search terms into a form on the mobile screen is the most common access method today. It has the advantages of working in a noisy environment and avoiding speech intepretation problems. But the user has to enter search terms using a small keypad typical of most mobile devices, with results displayed on a small screen. Screen-based search may be awkward for people with coordination or vision handicaps.
Screen-based search may be supported by a specialized application running on the handset, by an SMS short code, or by a WAP page on a remote server displayed by the handset browser. Although most search tools today are based on handset software, the trend seems to be towards WAP-based services.
Voice-based search is becoming viable due to advances in speech recognition technology. It is useful for people who have difficulty using the small keypad, or who need to get information while driving. Spoken prompts guide the users through the local directory to find an entry. The service may include fallback to a live operator if the speech technology has difficulty understanding what they are looking for, or a 'silent agent' may assist the speech recognition software.
Results may be spoken and/or delivered to the handset in SMS or MMS format, where they may be stored for future reference.
Most often, voice-based search uses the voice channel to deliver the caller's utterance to a server-based search application. In some cases, a small application on the mobile device undertakes the first part of speech recognition, breaking down the utterance into a series of elementary components or 'phones', and then sending the phones over the data channel to a server application.
[edit] Types of Information
Mobile content includes information on businesses, products, services, events and other local things.
A search for businesses is the mobile equivalent of the printed Yellow Pages, but the search may focus on a small geographical area. For example, the caller may be looking for a nearby pharmacy or restaurant, or may want a local pizza delivery. The more advanced local search tools will vary the search radius depending on the type of business and the density of this type of business in the local area. For example, a caller looking for a coffee shop will probably want one within walking distance. If they are looking for a home furniture store they will expect to travel further. If they want a taxi, distance is not important: the taxi will come to them.
A search for products is more specific than a search for businesses. The caller is looking for a particular product and wants to find a local business that stocks this product. Although there are some experimental tools for local product search, they are only useful if the data is complete and up to date. This means all merchants must synchronise their product inventory with the search database. It is likely to take several years for this to happen.
A full-function mobile local search service will go much further. For example, the caller may want to find where a particular movie is playing, and what restaurants are near the cinema. They may want to hear about traffic conditions, the score from the local football game, the winning lottery number or where to go to vote.
[edit] Differences from Web Search
The main difference from web-based search is that, whether using the keypad or voice commands, the caller has limited 'bandwidth'. They do not want to hear or scroll through long lists of results. They want to quickly zero in on the type of local information they are looking for.
To make this possible, mobile local search services rely on well-structured directories, as opposed to the creative anarchy of the web. An entry for a business will be stored under a category heading, will include standard data elements such as latitude and longitude coordinates, name, address and telephone number, and may include structured data under sub-headings such as hours of opening, directions, payment methods and so on. An entry for a movie will also be stored in a well-defined data structure showing which cinemas are playing the movie and at what times.
Mobile local search services are thus more like information portals such as AOL or Yahoo! than like search engines such as Google.
Some of the advancements by the major portals in Internet search, such as Google's famous page-ranking scheme, don't apply in the wireless world since people aren't searching for Web sites as much as answers to specific questions. 2006 showed a significant movement to the question-answer model. In this model answers are sent in reply to direcotry service queries similar to the nature of conventional 411 operators. AskMeNow, Ask Jeeves and Windows Live Search all made efforts in this regard.
[edit] Beyond Basic Search Results
Once the user has found the entry they are looking for, they may want to drill down to obtain more information and to navigate to related content. The well-structured directories used for mobile local search make this more practical than with generic web-based search.
For example, a user may have checked the reviews for a movie they are interested in, decided to watch it and found a cinema that is playing the movie. They ask for the show times and find they will have over an hour to wait. They can request a map, ask for pubs to be highlighted on the map, check descriptions of the pubs, ask for walking directions from the tube station to a pub and from the pub to the cinema, and so on.
Specialized software components support this type of content linking and navigation optimized for small mobile device displays. Several different vendors may be involved. Perhaps one provides the local business directory, another provides maps and a third specialises in movies and reviews. Although there is fierce competition among vendors, some consensus is starting to emerge on the types of hand-off that are needed between components and the content and structure of the information exchanged.
Different people look for different things. Mobile local search services may build caller profiles based on the mobile device identifier, recording what search requests have been issued in the past and which results were selected from that device. They may use this information to detect 'clusters' of similar businesses and clusters of similar users. A caller may find that when they search for restaurants in a town they have never visited before, the first results are for the type of restaurant they generally like.
User profiling makes search results more likely to be relevant, but raises concerns over privacy.
[edit] Business Models
Mobile local search services are usually provided today by mobile carriers, directory enquiry providers or Yellow Pages publishers. Behind these outlets, there is a growing network of agencies, distributors and software providers, some of whom are now starting to offer service direct to the public.
The services are provided through a caller-pays, advertiser-pays or hybrid business model.
In a caller-pays model, as with voice-based directory enquiry services, the caller pays each time they access the service. Caller-pays voice-based local mobile search services are common outside North America, but have been slow to emerge in the USA due to regulatory restrictions.
In an advertiser-pays model, standard for screen-based search and starting to emerge with voice-based 'Free DA' services in North America, businesses pay to be placed early in the list of results, or pay each time a caller chooses to connect through.
In hybrid models, advertising revenue lets the service provider offer reduced rates.
As with TV, magazines and other media, mobile local search services will most likely continue to be offered under all three models, but the hybrid model may predominate. That is, callers will probably accept a limited amount of advertising (which they may actually find useful) in exchange for reduced prices, but may be less willing to use a free service where they are bombarded with advertising.
The value to an advertiser will vary depending on their type of business, and may range from a dollar or less for a taxi or sandwich shop to well over ten dollars for a real-estate broker, attorney or debt consolidation service. Consultants forecast that the global industry will grow to over US$1 billion by 2010.
[edit] Industry Analysis
Some of the most authorative sources of research into commercial technology trends are themselves commercial, selling research reports at high prices. In accordance with Wikipedia's anti-spam policies, these sources are therefore not cited.
[edit] Service Providers
The most direct way to find more about what is happening in the MoLo space is to check out the websites of the MoLo service providers and see what they are offering. There are many of them. Almost all mobile carriers have mobile local search offerings, including Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel, Orange SA and so on.
Many Directory Assistance providers also offer mobile local search, including free DA providers Jingle Networks and 1-800-San-Diego in the USA, Yell Group, Pages Jaunes, Seat Pagine Gialle, Eniro etc. in Europe, and many others. One of the more fully-functional services is provided by Contact Center Americas in Colombia.
The Yellow Pages Group in Canada provides one of the first voice-enabled local search services.
[edit] Software Vendors
For a look behind the scenes, it is interesting to review the websites of the software and content vendors. It is impossible to provide a complete list of vendors in this highly competitive and rapidly evolving field, but a partial list follows. Wikipedia does not in any way endorse the products or services provided by the vendors in this list.
Add2Phone, Apptera, AskMeNow, AtlasCT, btsLogic, Call Genie, CellWand, go2, Ingenio, JumpTap, Leiki, Local Matters, m-Spatial, mobilePeople, MobilGates, Nuance Communications, PocketThis, Promptu, V-Enable, Volt Delta, WebforPhone, Tellme.
