Internet search engine Ask Jeeves said it will bring its service to wireless devices later this year, joining an already crowded playing field of mobile-search providers. But whether wireless subscribers will use their phones to access search engines-or how they might do it-is anybody’s guess. Some of the first substantial mobile-search offerings debuted last summer, as Yellow-Pages.com, SearchGuy.com and LexisNexis all deployed services bringing their Internet-based offerings to handhelds. Google made news in October when it launched a beta test of a service enabling mobile users to access a local version of its search engine via short message service. From their handsets, users simply type in subjects and locations-for instance, “pizza” and a ZIP code-for information on nearby businesses.
Yahoo! rolled out its own mobile-search service two weeks later. In addition to offering local information, the WAP-based offering allows users to look for images or search for Web pages.
There’s no question that Google’s SMS information is more simple and takes less time to access than Yahoo!’s service, which requires users to start the search from Yahoo!’s home page on a handset. But a WAP application allows a service provider to send much more than just a name, address and phone number.
“We think a WAP search offering provides the best user experience,” said Thad White, senior director of product management at Yahoo! Mobile. “For example, with SMS, you would not be able to provide a color map or driving directions. We think we’ve created the best user experience possible.”
IceRocket, an Internet search engine launched by billionaire Mark Cuban, offers an e-mail-based service. From handsets, users send blank e-mails with search terms in the subject lines to get results from IceRocket’s engine.
But while some service providers may see a day when wireless subscribers use their handsets to compare prices, do research or even find a date, analyst Seamus McAteer of the consultancy firm MMetrics said the only thing users are likely to search for is local information. And there aren’t many people who want to do even that.
“The whole idea of a Web search on a phone is ridiculous,” McAteer said. “First, it redefines the universe of the Web to a phone interface. There’s no need for that in wireless.”
Local search services have failed to gain traction due to a lack of advertising and user education, McAteer said. Most providers have launched their offerings quietly, hoping users discover their wireless services from their Internet home pages or by seeing offerings on their handsets.
“(Making users aware of the service) is a very substantial challenge,” said Heath Clarke, chief executive officer of Interchange Corp., a Laguna Hills, Calif.-based provider of paid-search services that began beta testing a mobile search last week. “A lot of people don’t even know they have SMS on their phone.”
And the carriers may have a vested interest in keeping it that way, at least in terms of text-message search services. Most carriers charge more than a dollar for a basic 411 information call and are reluctant to push SMS offerings that generate far less revenue.
“It’s a cash cow for (carriers),” McAteer said of voice operator assistance, “and they don’t want to cannibalize that.”
Like Google’s service, Interchange’s SMS LOCAL uses a short code to provide names, addresses and phone numbers of businesses. And like Google’s service, Interchange’s offering will always feature courtesy listings-that is, basic information free to users outside normal carrier charges.
But Clarke said he eventually plans to launch a WAP-based offering and to create premium listings for businesses that pay to advertise through the service.
“In due course, we’re looking to list paying businesses,” Clarke said. “Part of our business model is that we’re not a consumer-facing company. We have a network of consumers and advertisers, and we try to connect them.”
Yahoo! is working to get its users to integrate desktop services with wireless, and its search offerings are no exception. Last week, the company launched a feature that allows users to send search results from their desktops to their mobile phones via SMS, and some users will be able to call businesses directly from the text message.
“Our goal is to deepen that relationship with users on the desktop by offering their favorite applications on mobile devices,” said White. “Yahoo! has a pretty large audience today … and we think we can leverage that existing audience to win in the mobile search space.”
White maintains that Yahoo! is “very pleased” with user uptake of its mobile-search services, but the definition of winning in the space is up for debate. Most providers don’t charge users for their services, so users pay only normal carrier fees for text messages and airtime. Like many areas in wireless data, business models have yet to be established, and the viability of the market is far from clear.
Even businesses modeled on advertising revenues instead of usage fees can’t succeed if users are unwilling to access information from their handsets. There’s a reason such services are basically free to consumers, said McAteer.
“The business is sustainable if you can use short codes and charge a premium,” McAteer said. “But guess what? Nobody wants it. There’s a law of supply and demand. There’s supply and no demand, so the price is zero.”
