15-12-2012, 04:14 PM
Is Mobile Search finally going mainstream? An attempt to reconcile expert views
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Abstract:
This paper describes the preliminary results
of a recent (April 2010) online survey of the evolution
of mobile search. As part of the study, 54
questionnaires were received and an expert workshop
with academics, industry representatives and market
analysts, was organised to discuss and analyse the
techno-economic and socio-economic aspects of mobile
search. We found that experts have great expectations
about this application field which, however, are not
yet supported by economic markets evidence, although
there are clear positive signs. Development work for
creating new applications for the mass market is still
needed, although there seems to be no fundamental
technological barrier to that. Location-based services,
augmented reality, real-time information search, and
social network search and recommendations, have
been identified as some of the key trends that may
shape the future of mobile search. User demand for
innovative mobile search based applications is largely
given for granted, but experts have no clear view on
suitable business models that would allow for
sustainable economic development.
INTRODUCTION
The rapid expansion of mobile communication, the everincreasing
availability and affordability of both mobile
broadband connections and smartphones [1-4] has further
propelled the market for digital content which, though
still fragmented, is rapidly growing [1, 5-6]. This growth
of mobile content, in turn, has triggered the emergence of
a mobile search market, which is deemed to represent a
major business opportunity in the mobile sector [7-8].
Search applications on mobile devices span over a
continuum that ranges from a mere adaptation of existing
web search services to the mobile environment on one
extreme, to novel services leveraging on the unique
features of mobile devices and the way they are used, on
the other. In the first case users submit a query in a
'traditional' way by typing some keywords to get a list of
results matching the search criteria [9]. In the second case
contextual information is used in the search [10] to
retrieve results that are highly relevant for the user,
overcoming the approach of conventional web search [2,
11] and paving the way to mobile augmented reality [12-
13]. The more mobile search evolves to become a
gateway to the mobile Internet, the more it is expected to
to respond to information seeking patterns that demand a
strong link between informational and physical worlds
[14-15].
THE APPROACH
A key aspect of this explorative workshop was to pull
together a panel of experts conveying different
perspectives on trends and dynamics of mobile search.
The panel was composed of 16 participants including
policy experts, analysts coming from academia,
consultancy companies and standardisation bodies,
researchers with an expertise in interaction design, user
studies and mobile search technologies, and finally
entrepreneurs and innovators that have built and are
marketing new mobile search applications and services.1
First, each expert was invited to present and discuss the
aspect of the mobile search that they find most important
to shape the future of the area. Then, a round table was set
up to discuss the experts' opinions of major future trends
by addressing three major issues, namely: i) the
transformation of mobile information needs and search
usage patterns on the move; ii) the evolution of the mobile
search market - discussing bottlenecks and challenges
ahead; and iii) the position of Europe with regard to the
rest of the world.
Technological Factors
Previous IPTS investigations show that technology is only
a minor barrier for the deployment of the mobile search
applications [7, 25-26]. The recent IPTS Mobile Search
survey (April 2010) confirms this. 78% of respondents in
this new survey consider that the main technological
bricks (devices, networks, applications) for mobile search
are already available. However, development work is still
badly needed: about half of the respondents state that
technical aspects make up a major barrier to the full
deployment of mobile search services. Workshop experts
confirm that –in spite of the general availability– the
technology is not yet mature and reliable for high
performance in a mass user environment.
Socio-economic factors
The availability of mobile broadband connections coupled
with large deployment of smartphones and their operation
in 3G networks is rapidly increasing consumption of
digital content from mobiles [28]. According to
ComScore 2010, covering UK, France, Germany, Italy,
Spain, the usage behaviors are changing and mobile
devices are not longer only phones. In March 2010, there
were more than 17 million additional mobile Internet
users compared to March 2009, which represents a 43%
growth. In the same period, 13.7 million additional people
made use of media applications or downloaded content, a
growth of the 22%. At first glance the numbers look
impressive, but could be much higher. The penetration of
unlimited data plans - the most important enabler for
mobile media consumption – is still limited in these five
EU countries (6%), compared to the USA where
unlimited data plans is four times higher.
CONCLUSIONS
The "Exploring the Future of Mobile Search" workshop
aimed to identify the main factors shaping the evolution
of this segment of the mobile sector. The main messages
that can be drawn from this qualitative exercise are that
there is no consensus on what mobile search is about in
terms of both user needs and mobile specific search
requirements. Mobile human-computer interaction is a
young domain that needs further support so as to drive
innovation in the field. Many are still the unknowns
concerning the specificity of search behaviours coupled
with mobile technology and they require in-depth
research. Experts do share a great deal of consensus when
asked about technical constraints, (e.g. screen size or
information input aspects) and technical opportunities (e.g.
taking advantage from sensing contextual information).