Mobile Search continues to be a hot topic as more publishers are putting up mobile websites and off-deck site discovery continues to be a challenge.  Through our Publisher Network of over 200 mobile websites, we see that off-deck traffic is growing and now represents nearly 40 percent of mobile web traffic.  Surprising to some, unlike the online world, less than 4 percent of total mobile web traffic is driven by search engine discovery. 

Perhaps the recent announcement by Yahoo! (see this article in MediaPost) that they are opening up their search APIs to third-party developers will improve these numbers.   By allowing publishers to integrate search into their applications, Yahoo! will hopefully enable more relevant search results, improving user experience and reducing the number of clicks it takes to get the information mobile users need.  Other advancements in voice-enabled search from the likes of Yahoo! and V-Enable will hopefully also improve the quality of mobile search.   Of course, as discussed in a recent panel at CTIA, most voice recognition requires a certain level of human intervention (think 411), which is what inspires companies like ChaCha.  During a panel discussion at Search Engine Strategies, Crisp’s Tom Limongello participated in a panel on mobile search, describing the realities and challenges in effective mobile search.   (Read more on MobileMarketer.)

While mobile search continues to grow, to promote site discovery publishers need to market their mobile sites through existing channels and enable visitors to easily access and bookmark their site.  For example, if you visit CNNMoney.com, and click on mobile, the site allows you to enter your phone number to receive an SMS message with a link to the site.  Other companies, such as Visa Signature, are including a short code or mobile website URL in their outdoor and event marketing to create an immediate call-to-action.  Liken mobile to the early days of the web when suddenly companies began putting their website address on all their marketing materials and advertising. 

Tamara Gruber | RSS 2.0 | Comment it , or trackback this post.