Smart Phones, Local Business, and Search

So, if I have this right, Search is an excuse for targeted advertising. Customer use of Search is the justification for expansion of advertising designs, right? The products and services, the data and knowledge that user's search for is the entry into their buying process, right? The "monetizing" of Search, through Pay-Per-Click and display ads, and the monopoly established by Google, Yahoo and Microsoft (MSN-Bing)- together over 85% of Search Traffic-add up to... what?

A better experience for Mobile Consumers? Maybe, maybe not..

It isn't that current search and browser Programs aren't good, they're "sufficient." that's all, driven by the need for allowing universal access and user simplicity in delivering results to search inquiries. They're not the best choices, they are the only choices.

But they could be much better.

What happens when SWOA (Search With Out Advertising) gets some traction? Maybe even a Paid Content service? If Google, Yahoo, Microsoft (MSN) and others are the libraries, and their Search Algorithms are the Librarians, how do we make them an "honest broker," a truth-directed and neutral trusted adviser, when their goals and ours sometimes differ?

Everything from moon phases to Keyword and Key-phrase manipulation, over-weighting of sources, traffic generating programs by Search Engine Optimization (SEO) companies, and a host of other factors determine the "organic" results (the search algorithm's natural selection process) of rankings presented in a search. Advertisers use Search agencies and expert internal personnel to carefully design web pages to maximize their retrieval by search algorithms, the software "bots" that crawl the web for web sites and pages that match or relate to each individual inquiry. Sometimes, the designs and keyword placement within the design are truly reflective of the site's content, and are designed to get the most "hits" from the search engines. Sometimes not.

Now, Mobile delivers just which category of Search results? The Paid Rankings, or the Organic ones, or both? What criteria determine the ranking of Mobile Search Results? The over 250,000 Mobile Apps have made some headway here,by allowing users to use an Application to select say, Restaurants by Cuisine, by Distance (from your application-enabled GPS location) by Rating-5 star, 4 star- and other criteria. Pot Retailers in California? No problem, there's an App for that. Using dedicated Apps rather than Mobile Search may create the battle of "free" versus paid-the App cost. But, just turning on the phone costs money, right? The fight continues.

Search results are more an art than a science, and for some, that presents the question of whether users are getting the "best," the most credible, the most honest, the most relevant, search results. Does anyone really go beyond the first page of results to see if what they observed contains all the information they need? According to Google, Yahoo, and MSN's own numbers, there are few "clicks" beyond the first page-meaning 99% of Results are ignored- and only then when "poor" search terms were selected by the User, diffusing and confusing the results. And an average search obtains thousands, sometimes millions, of results.

Non-organic search, known as Paid Rankings, dominates search results presentation; just look at any Results page to see what is presented first. Clients, through their marketers and ad agencies, pay Google, and Yahoo, and other search engines for the links to client sites and offers, sometimes up to $50.00 or more for just one link, one Click. A rational person might wonder why an Advertiser would pay so much, if not for the realization that advertisers calculate it is worth that much to get a new customer with that level of interest in their product or service. That high bidders get the best placement may not be a true indicator of the value of their content and relevancy to the user's search query.

So, does being first or in the Top Five influence user's "clicks?" You bet your Online and Offline purchase it does! And, that's why companies pay so much for "placement" rankings through Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

There might be a better way to deliver a service with so much potential for consumers, and business for that matter, that meets their needs, without the "Pay to Play" potentially influencing the results you see, since Consumers seem to value the information and shopping process of search quite a bit.

I'm not suggesting, as some do, that search should be totally FREE; in fact search IS free- BUT advertiser-supported. Google, Yahoo, AOL, Bing and the rest had gross advertising revenues of over 22 Billion dollars in 2009, and that was a down year. Therein the conflict. Would everyday users pay for a Search Algorithm that was able to pick the Top Ten and only the Top Ten that best offered the results you -the user- wanted? Would they differentiate between searching for Information or data, and search for shopping, for sales...for horrors...discounts, and pay more for one over the other?

Oh, and have you ever asked yourself if the advertising you get with your ISP subscription is a "free" benefit, or generates profits for search engines and ISP's at your expense? Personally, I don't care about the advertising, but I would feel better about the process if I were confident that search results were not influenced by advertising. Am I getting the best, most relevant, most honest information from my query?

I am suggesting, hoping, that in a dark dorm room somewhere, in quiet workspaces, a converted garage, somebody is working on Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based Search that not only knows how to find the precise answers, but is guided by empirical knowledge of You. Who, What, Where, When, Why, How. An "overlay " that intelligently predicts the result you need, and delivers it, even "vets" the results for credibility as it delivers them, based on criteria you have established, and the type of search you undertake. Your own Personal Search Engine. Your AI, (mine would be called Leonardo (DaVinci), would know the difference between, "Locate Holly" and "Find steakhouse in Baltimore City." Or, "Find home health blood pressure software." Or, "Find Maryland maps oil and gas well locations." "Place house in Standby, activate Security when I leave."

"Leonardo, prepare a Caesar Salad." Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself; wishful thinking.

Language skills might grow in importance to enable better word and phrase usage in assisting to define a search or inquiry, as will the AI's skill in translating what you said to a result you can use. And, these search programs could be either advertiser-supported, or subscription-based as part of, say, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) Agreement.

Much is still happening in Search Engine development, and much more will happen. New products and services like Internet Cloud Computer Services-Health, AI-assisted Education and Cloud Commuting Programs that will change our lives in ways we have only just started to consider, and change for the better.

The Internet really is the gateway for the 21st Century economy and society; everything from substantial increases in leisure and family time though Cloud Commuting, a rocket science leap forward in technology-based education and learning through Cloud Education programs, both at Home and in Classrooms, even a whole new dimension of Health Care through wireless devices that monitor your health at home through Internet Cloud Health programs.

Since most of it will start with a search and a click, we need to make sure choices are ranked and presented honestly, and, as we hopefully do now, recognize that "advertiser supported" gives rise to caution when evaluating the search results you see.

For many businesses and institutions in the last few years, just getting to the point of having a website, developing the content to support it, along with support service like Online Ordering, Customer Relations management and a whole bunch of other considerations, has really impacted their marketing budgets, and for most, no discernible Return on Investment is gained. Less than 20% of the websites of companies, government, institutions and commercial businesses get over 80% of the traffic.

That doesn't mean that the business community should give up on presenting their story online.
An online presentation for local businesses is growing in importance every day, becoming their sales brochure, 24-hour sales representative, question and answer channel, and more. As newspapers go out of business or transition Online, and their readers follow for information, including sale and product information, Local needs to become the dominant force in marketing.

As more and more search goes local in prioritizing results, business needs to recognize their need to be part of that process. Local Search, local referrers like Angie's List, Service Magic, Yellowpages.com and newer ones being created, will become the source for information about most business.

Add to that the trend for local search to originate through newer local portals and gateways from Internet Service Providers, and now Mobile Search, the need for business to be part of the process by securing their place in search by providing consumers information about products and services, means that usage grows daily. If you imagine a future where newspapers become the ISP portal to local search and advertising (because if the FCC and FTC do their jobs, Cable and Telco will be forced to separate the ownership and management of Content from the pipleline-the Internet and Communications/Entertainment/Information/Data delivery service), local search results will become the driving force in business.

The I-Phone and Smart Phones in general are creating huge demand for more Mobile bandwidth to supply rapidly increasing consumer and business demands for information, entertainment, business data and more (Over 150,000 Mobile Applications so far, and more daily); more mobile apps on more smart phones using more bandwidth, and many of those apps are oriented to local-shopping, "friend" location, dining, individual and multi-player gaming, personal security.

The driving factor, the force pushing more and more mobile is the idea of Convergence AAA (AnyThing, AnyTime, AnyWhere) through search on Mobile.Business has to ask themselves , "Are we prepared, do we participate through search marketing programs, is our marketing fully integrated with the Mobile space?"

This leaves local business retail and service companies with a strong need to establish their presence in Search Results and superior Online presentation if they are to prosper in the future, because that is where their customers will find information, and make buy decisions.

Mobile has made "local, local, local" THE important factor for some business categories. There is more to come in the Mobile App vs. Mobile Search fight for consumer wallets and choices.