Mobile search is an integral aspect of mobile marketing in many respects, but still, mobile browsers inhibit the use due to their core design.

Of course the iPhone and other “full browsing” capable devices do a much better job these days, but looking at the big picture, most devices still in use today feature very limited browsing capabilities compared to the speed of the networks they run on.  Even with an iPhone, more searches are performed using search-based apps then with the browser itself, so why is this?

The overall search experience, while all the resources are in place, still isn’t where it should be.  The problem lies in the fact that most search engines rely on the publisher of the content to optimize for mobile instead of the search engine itself.  Most people start with a search engine when searching for mobile content, which works well, but when directed to content from the SERP, the experience weakens substantially due to the fact that 9 out of 10 websites aren’t optimized for mobile- meaning they’re slow-loading, full of flash and other content not viewable on a mobile device and so on.

The mobile search engine should take care of optimizing the experience for the end-user since it’s the first point of contact for most mobile-Web experiences.  SMS search services are becoming ever-more popular due to this fact.  It’s much easier, most of the time, to text-in a query and have it returned instantly.  Services like KGB and ChaCha are growing rapidly due to this fact, but mobile browsers should make the experience as easy and intuitive as it is on the desktop.

For mobile search to really gain traction, mobile browsers need to get better.  The potential for mobile search is huge, but the browsers they run on are limiting their potential.

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My favorite local radio station started promoting that their listener VIP club now has a way to join by texting in to their short code. Yesterday my favorite morning show on that station was doing their popular call in trivia segment. A listener called in and mentioned that she and her husband text message each other from their separate cars to guess the answer.

Snap! An idea hit me that the DJs could announce that once a week the trivia segment would be answered not by call in, but by text in. The catch would be that only VIP members could guess the answer by text message.

The VIP membership would soar. Plus, instead of getting 5-10 guesses from callers who could get through on the limited phone lines they could get thousands of guesses.

I quickly fired off an email to the show to tell them my idea.

The first answer I got back from one of the DJs was that this sounded boring for the listeners. So I replied back to suggest that the texted in guesses could be read out on air as they came streaming into their email from the phones. I said that listeners would love being able to participate.

Her response left me perplexed. She said very bluntly “we don’t really care if more people can participate” and furthermore went on to say that “how they get people into the VIP club is not really my concern.”
Read the rest

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I guess when you’re a darling of the tech media, you can eschew best practices and do what you want, like allow your service to be used for ill. At least, that seems to be the case with HeyCosmo, a marketing platform created by Arsenal Interactive Inc. that allegedly bridges social networking, texting, and telephony.

I received a call to my cell phone yesterday from a number I didn’t recognize. When I picked up, I got a weird recorded message that introduced itself as “HeyCosmo” and then proceeded to speak familiarly, and yet robotically, about plans for the weekend. I hung up–and instantly received another call from the same ‘bot!

That did it. I Googled HeyCosmo and came across the service’s site. After digging around I found out that I could put myself on its “do not call” list by going to a special “block/unblock calls” page. But when I inputted my number and hit the “submit” button, nothing happened. I hit it again and again, and nothing.

Furious at this point, I searched for a contact email address. I politely, but firmly, explained the situation in a message. I asked either to be removed from the database by HeyCosmo/Arsenal Interactive staff themselves, or else to be told an alternate method of how to remove myself. All I got was a lengthy automatic response that didn’t tell me anything useful. (Editing this post at 1 a.m., I checked my email again. No joy. Though the block feature finally worked.)

Sad thing is, HeyCosmo generated positive buzz as recently as this September at the big confab DEMOfall ‘08. There, it unrolled its Blaster and Concierge services–both with the potential to elevate mobile marketing. So sure, it might be unfair to blame them for what might be the misbehavior of one user.

Then again, that doesn’t excuse the block feature on the company’s site being broken. Or the lack of company response when contacted. Unacceptable–everyone knows that message marketing best practices require a quick, easy opt-out process. Though best practices were thrown out the window the minute the perps decided to cold-call consumers, and regardless of whether or not they are on the U.S. Do Not Call Registry.

Also consider that this has been going on for at least three months now. That’s right, there’s been hundreds of other people who’ve had the same experience with HeyCosmo on their cell phones as I. Check some of them out here and here and here.

But even as people began filing complaint after complaint during the days after DEMO, the mainstream tech press had nothing but praise for HeyCosmo. I’m talking the  San Jose Mercury News (”a robo-calling idea you like,” seriously?); CNet News; and VentureBeat, among others.

I don’t know what’s more disappointing, media cluelessness or the fact that Hey Cosmo has fallen from potentially compelling to absolutely irritating.

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EDITORIAL / CONVERSATION STARTER

My recent post here about the walled gardens of mobile carriers and seeing Jared Reitzan’s segment “Boiling Point” in his video series about mobile marketing has got me thinking about the place of free speech and capitalism in mobile marketing. Specifically, I’m thinking about these fundamental freedom concepts as they relate to carrier control over what is sent out on their networks.

As Jared frankly points out in his video, carriers have complete control over all aspects of text message campaigns. They get to approve or disapprove campaigns before they are able to go online. They can shut down campaigns without notice for any reason whatsoever. While I think we all agree that no one benefits if we let mobile messaging SPAM run wild we also need to consider the implications of carriers being allowed to approve or disapprove a campaign based on the content of a campaign.

My take on it is that if a text message campaign follows all the industry best practice guidelines (especially opt in and opt out procedures) and is legal according to all applicable laws it should be allowed. Period. Cell phone carriers should not get to decide anything about whether or not the campaign has merit or is acceptable to their customers. Last fall’s fiasco between Verizon and NARAL should serve as an example of what should not happen again.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
What do you think about the carrier approval process of text message campaigns?
Does it take too long?
Is it a necessary evil to prevent out of control SPAM?
Should the carriers have the ultimate control since it is their infrastructure?

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Why doesn’t Twitter let you login and follow directly from someones Twitter page? Man, what a pain! I’m not a huge Twitter geek but occasionally, I get the “someone is following you on Twitter email” and so I click to see who it is. Naturally, I’m not logged in to Twitter so I have to sign in and upon doing so I never get routed back so that I can “follow” my follower.� It forces you to go back to you email, copy and past the url or manually enter the follower on the end of the twitter url.

Am I Twitter challenged or what? This is preventing me from adopting the product on a more frequent basis.

If you want to add to my pain and follow me here’s my Twitter page.

Ok, going back to mobile stuff shortly…

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