Mobile Search – is 2007 the big break through?

It’s been tipped to be the next big thing for the last couple of years but, so far, mobile search has yet to really take off in the way that many predicted it would. 

So is 2007 the year for the big breakthrough?

We’ve heard big noise from all of the major search engines over the last few years, but it seems the market may now have matured for a full assault on our mobile phones. 

I think one of the problems with the take off of mobile search has been finding out how best to engage with a mobile searcher. Their needs and desires are entirely different from a PC searcher – the mobile user is on the move with less time and is generally far less susceptible to advertising and branding.  Adapting to and predicting the behaviour of mobile searchers has needed some fine tuning & how the search engines can drive advertising revenue is emerging as the key question.

So who is leading the way? At the moment Yahoo! are well ahead of rivals Google and MSN. They’ve already launched a Paid Search Mobile platform last year and mobile display advertising was launched in February in no less than 19 countries. So with Yahoo! blazing a trail, it is perennial over-achievers, Google, who seem to be on the back foot for a change.

Should you be looking at mobile now? 

A survey of European advertisers and agencies carried out by Jupiter Research, showed results that mobile search, video search and pay per call are areas where advertisers plan to spend more in 2007, compounding the growth of mobile search this year.

We’ll keep you posted as to how things are developing in 2007, but it looks set to be the year that mobile comes of age and starts being a revenue driver for online businesses. In the meantime, get in touch if you are keen to start moving with mobile search, or have a look through our suggested background reading:

Yahoo! mobile search
Yahoo! expands mobile search options
Google mobile search
What is mobile search?