Battle Lines Drawn Up for Mobile Search

location based services

Nokia announced their foray into mobile search late last week, with a pretty low key press release, for what is a strategically important initiative.

Nokia’s offering is available in 5 European markets - Denmark, France, Italy, Norway and Spain - and is a free application for N series and S60 handsets. They offer local search via a series of partnerships with content providers, such as Yell.com and Findexa. Once the user has found the listing they want, digital mapping shows the location and instructions on how to get there.

In France and Sweden (coming on board shortly), the application also includes a buddy finder.

So the battle lines are being drawn up and look like this:

1. Traditional online search engines, such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!

2. Handset players like Nokia - expect others to follow soon.

3. Operator services, provided via third party players, such as Jump Tap.

The first two categories have clearly pitched their hats at local search, which I don’t think is going to be nearly as popular as these players believe. Yes, some searches are going to be about the area, but it’s not going to be the most important part of a mobile search service by a long way. Most people know the area they live and work in and the idea of getting your phone to find the nearest ATM or pizza restaurant is not something they need most of the time.

Could it be that the road warrior managers in these companies are mistaking their own requirements for the mass market? People who travel all the time are a tiny percentage of the population, which could explain why these location based services have failed in the past.

I wonder what percentage of computer based search related to local information? I’d guess that the mass market for any kind of search lies elsewhere.

So, if I had to bet on the big winners in mobile search, my money would be on the independent approach, like Jump Tap actually. This is partly political - I don’t think operators are going to play ball with the larger companies for the simple reason that they’ll feel better able to control a white label partner. The other reason is focus. I think a specialist mobile search company has a better chance of inventing the market than a player coming to the table with baggage.

But that’s only an initial feel for the game and it’s going to be a fascinating one to watch in the next few years.

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