Google has modified the way its location targeting controls function on AdWords to give advertisers more control over who sees their ads. Most importantly, advertisers can now distinguish between people that signal a location as part of their search query, and others that search from an IP address or GPS location in the area. For […]
Microsoft’s Bing team announced some significant changes and updates to Bing For Mobile. The core changes include better HTML5 support, better and faster image search, real-time transit and directions, iPhone app search, improvements to shopping, weather and movie search results. The new interfaces and features currently work on all smartphone browsers that support HTML5, so […]
For those who believe that mobile search is just done by users “on the go,” guess again. A series of research reports and findings have come out over the past couple of weeks that show heavy smartphone and mobile search use also happens at home and even while other devices are being used, such as […]
GetJar released data from a “global survey” about mobile apps and user behavior that offers positive news for the Android platform, which reportedly beats the iPhone in terms of “next phone” purchase demand by more than 2 to 1. The survey was sent to 25 million users in 190 countries. However there were only 2,500 […]
Austin’s beloved Amy’s Ice Cream got a shout-out from Google’s Marissa Mayer at the SXSW Interactive conference today, as the new head of local shared her vision for a future enabled by the search company’s technologies. In the scenario Mayer described, she was at Amy’s — which she’d visited for the first time last night […]
We don’t know yet whether the much-discussed deal between Nokia and Microsoft will yield the hoped-for results for both companies. But one thing is clear: it has already helped create a perception that there are now three mobile platforms that matter and Windows is one of them. The other two are of course Apple’s iOS […]
comScore has released “The 2010 Mobile Year in Review,” which compiles data the company has mostly already released in various forms from the previous year. However it’s nice to have it all in one place. The report covers the US, EU and Japanese markets at a high level. It largely depicts the growth of smartphones […]
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Today, as widely expected, Nokia adopted Windows as its smartphone software. Its other mobile operating systems, Symbian and MeeGo, will not entirely disappear but Nokia will be building and distributing Windows Phones as its primary competitive offering to go head-to-head with the iPhone and Android. That could […]
Google has been planning its ThinkMobile event for three months. Google’s Jason Spero (former AdMob VP) is on stage first and says he’s been anticipating an “event like this” for “about four years.” He says it reflects the fact that mobile is ready. Google’s Dennis Woodside reports that Google has seen a “400 percent increase […]
A number of reports out underscore how strategic mobile is now for Google’s business. The first, from IDC, says that there were more smartphones shipped in Q4 than PCs. Think about that. And earlier analyst reports found that tablets (read: iPad) have cut into PC sales. The PC era is now officially over. PCs will […]
The latest mobile data from comScore are out, showing Android handsets continuing to outpace others in the market. These new figures obviously pre-date the release of the Verizon iPhone, which is coming this weekend. More interesting will be seeing what these figures look like in March. Reportedly Apple has prepared two million CDMA iPhones for […]
Google CEO Eric Schmidt, writing in the Harvard Business Review (via RWW), says that Google’s 2011 initiatives are “all about mobile.” In his short piece he explains that geolocation on smartphones enables contexual personalization and a range of new possibilities and user experiences. But to realize that vision there are three infrastructure elements that must […]
Two sets of data released today show that Google’s mobile strategy is working incredibly well, if not flawlessly. Its AdMob unit reported that it now sees more than two billion ad requests on a daily basis. And comScore also stated that, according to its survey data, Android has just passed the iPhone as the number […]
Perhaps this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) should be renamed “AES” for Android Electronics Show — given all the handsets and tablets featuring the Google mobile OS that are being shown and rolled out. And today Google provided a sneak preview of the tablet version of Android (3.0), dubbed “Honeycomb.” The screens and the video […]
Over the past few months, I’ve been testing various Android phones. Overall, the platform has continued to improve, to the degree that I can easily swap an Android phone for my iPhone 4 and not feel a loss. But unlike the one-size-fits-all iPhone, each Android phone has its own individual characteristics. Below, a look at […]
Google’s Android smartphone operating system is poised to overtake Apple’s iPhone for market share, and its Chrome browser has reached a major milestone, capturing 10% of the market. The smartphone figures come from Nielsen in November, while the browser numbers were measured in December by Net Applications, an Aliso Viejo, Calif. company that tracks market […]
It’s Christmas Eve, and you know what that means. Santa Claus is busy delivering toys to boys and girls around the world. Where is Santa Claus right now? Below, our annual round up of ways to find Father Christmas, from tracking Santa on Google Earth to monitoring him from your iPhone. NOTE: If you’re looking […]
An Ask.com survey, conducted by Harris Interactive (n=1,538 US mobile phone users), finds that user expectations on mobile devices (especially in a local context) are different vs. the PC. The study is intended in part of promote Ask’s Q&A mobile app. But the data also reflect and confirm interesting differences between mobile and PC user […]
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Googler Quits To Build Browser To Block Google Tracking TechCrunch reports Brian Kennish, a former Googler, quit Google a few weeks ago in order to build a browser that essentially blocks […]
In case you hadn’t noticed Google is focusing more and more of its energy and resources on local. Let me count the ways: Marissa Mayer’s move to local, Google Place Search, Google Places upgrades, Google Maps for Mobile and Navigation, Google local product search, Google expandable map ads, Click2Call ads, Call Tracking, Google AdWords location […]
The Google Nexus S is out today. It was previewed incognito by Google CEO Eric Schmidt at Web 2.0 a few weeks ago. A Samsung Galaxy S-based handset running Android 2.3, it’s the new Android Flagship phone and reputedly best Android device out there — according to early reviews. We’ll get our proverbial mitts on […]
Online metrics firm comScore released some new (October) data about the US mobile market. One of the headlines is: 60.7 million people in the US own smartphones. That, according to comScore, is 25 percent of the total mobile subscriber base. Android continues to be the largest gainer on a percentage basis among the major smartphone […]
Presentations from SMX East, October 2010 As print yellow pages and newspaper classified ads go the way of the buggy-whip, local search engines and online yellow pages providers are growing fast, especially with the explosive increase in smart phone use where people want location-specific info on demand. For any business that provides products or services […]
Yesterday afternoon during the Apple earnings call we heard a lot of what might be called, on the basketball court (and elsewhere), “trash talk” from Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Jobs was “on fire” and took on various Apple competitors but especially Android and why he thought that Apple’s “integrated” approach was better and ultimately would […]
Get in, get out. That’s the idea behind the new Windows Phones: get access to content quickly and “get back to your life.” Personalization and simplicity are also key themes of the new Microsoft mobile experience, which officially launched this morning with speeches from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la […]
Yesterday Google announced that it was shutting down 800-GOOG-411, the free directory assistance (or voice search) service it launched in April, 2007. Back in those days the mobile landscape looked very different than it does today. It was challenging to conduct searches on most mobile phones and the iPhone was in its infancy. The first […]
Google announced they are discontinuing 1-800-GOOG-411, a voice activated local search service they launched in 2007. The service will go offline on November 12, 2010. Google said they offer many smart phone search options now, including voice search, voice input and voice actions. Google promised to put “all of our resources into speech-enabling the next […]
News broke yesterday that Microsoft was suing Motorola for Android-related patent infringements. Microsoft said in a blog post that its patents cover a range of software functions used by Android devices (presumably this would apply to the iPhone as well): The Microsoft innovations at issue in this case help make smartphones “smart.” Indeed, our patents […]
Pardon the baseball metaphor but it seemed appropriate: the impending debut of Windows Phones (Windows Mobile 7) is a very high stakes moment for Microsoft, especially in the wake of Kin’s recent failure. Redmond is now poised to spend a great deal of money to promote the new mobile OS in a highly competitive environment […]
Speaking today at the IFA consumer electronics event in Berlin, Google CEO Eric Schmidt painted a vision of the future in which search is fast, personal, and all-knowing — even to the degree of providing search results when searches haven’t been conducted. “A new definition of Google would be, we’re trying very hard to get […]
StreetSpace is a company you probably haven’t heard of, but it’s not a so-called “patent troll” seeking to cash in on unimplemented intellectual property. Rather StreetSpace is a company that has been around since 1999 and installs internet kioks in public spaces, such as airports, retail locations and restaurants. Here’s a description of its main […]
Google’s having an impromptu small press “gathering” today at its offices in San Francisco. Topic? “Cool new mobile features.” Want to know more? Stay tuned, as I’ll be live blogging the event that begins at 10am. This is all we know so far: We’ll be unveiling a couple of cool new mobile features at the […]
“Where’s the revolution,” I asked when Google launched its Nexus One phone earlier this year. There had been plenty of rumblings that Google would shake up how cell phones were sold in the US. Google’s Eric Schmidt once predicted we’d all be using free phones paid for by ads. But the Nexus One simply offered […]
Since the beginning of the year, many of us have predicted that mobile will be the top driving force behind local search growth in 2010. A rapidly-increasing number of smartphone users — combined with faster mobile technology, better search offerings, and higher advertiser engagement — suggests that consumers will be more likely than ever to […]
At this point is there anyone who questions that the “mobile internet” has arrived? While marketers and many search marketers in particular are still “experimenting” with mobile, consumers are checking in, accessing social networks and searching on their handsets in stores. A trio of new reports released in the past two days confirm the growing […]
Responding to Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ declaration that on mobile devices “search hasn’t happened,” we’ve now written several times about how mobile apps of various sorts are essentially search by another name. Just to refresh your memory, here’s Jobs making that statement in April of this year: [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuQWPGTBVE4&feature=player_embedded[/youtube] The specific app he references (in case […]
Microsoft is apparently no longer the target for Google. Apple is now the symbol of all that’s wrong with the world. I was struck at yesterday’s Google I/O Android keynote by how directly and repeatedly Google’s Vic Gundotra slammed erstwhile partner Apple about its philosophy and its devices. Again and again the message was “we’re […]
When Google started selling its Nexus One android phone earlier this year, it raised many issues. Was Google now competing with people it depends upon for distribution? Would consumers buy from an online-only store? To the latter, apparently no. Google’s closing its shop, and perhaps never offering another Google-backed device in the future.
Yahoo announced this morning that its services will be pre-loaded on millions of Samsung phones worldwide. The new deal expands a relationship between the companies that began in 2007. Samsung is the second largest handset maker in the world, by unit sales, according to hardware tracking firm Gartner. Samsung is the third largest handset maker […]
In his iPhone OS 4 preview keynote last Thursday Apple CEO Steve Jobs made the following provocative (some would argue inflammatory) statement about search on mobile phones: On the desktop search is where it’s at; that’s where the money is. But on a mobile device search hasn’t happened. Search is not where it’s at, people […]