Once upon a time a company called America Online (AOL) provided their customers with access to the internet, email, desktop wallpapers and some of the first social tools (chat rooms) through a simple portal. Their web pricing model was “by the minute” and later became unlimited web plans. AOLs’ most prized feature to users was easy access to the internet. Users were presented with interesting sites to visit, their email was all in one place, and they could chat with friends on IM or in chat rooms. In comparison to today it took longer to find what was desired on the web due to slow dial up speeds and pc equipment, lack of tools to find information, products and etc. AOL was able to build a successful business around helping non text savvy people discover new content on the web, providing an internet starter kit, so to speak. Later down the road the technology advanced, web content rapidly increased, users became more aware of the web’s potential, and pricing to access the web became more competitive. These evolutions created the necessity for web browsers which allow users to move easily about the web and discover new areas on their own terms. Thus, the launch of Netscape and Internet Explorer in the mid 1990s made this concept of browsing the web a reality. At this point user behavior started to evolve into what we see now, search engine navigation. Starting from the mid to late 90s Yahoo and Google stepped in to assist users in finding the information they were accustomed to finding in libraries, newspapers, magazines, and etc at their beck and call (search query).
Mobile Search Expands Possibility…
Today, some of the same business models of the early “traditional” web exist in the mobile space, users pay by the minute but unlimited access plans are gaining momentum. Mobile users are now using their mobile phones to access the web through internet portals often referred to as “on deck”. These portals can be looked at as mobile web starter kits for the non tech savvy group or those that are just discovering what the mobile web and what their phone can accomplish. The on deck portal started as a tool that enabled user’s access to popular web content, email, ringtones/wallpapers and limited search (similar to AOL’s original offering). The mobile industry started with some of the same hurdles experienced during the growth of the traditional web. Such as, devices were slow, network speeds were not the fastest, it was hard to find information, and users did not have access to browsers that granted them freedom from the walled garden of the portals. Some of these issues still exist today but as the mobile space maturing we are seeing advancements similar to those in the mid to late 90s. Mobile devices such as the iPhone, G1, and Windows Mobile phones have shown the world that the phone is more than a device used only for voice calls. Just as there were challenges in finding content on the web during the days of AOL they have now been addressed by the same search engines. In the last year Yahoo, Google, as well as MSN have been enlisted by the carriers to address the issue of the limited portal search. Users can now use the search power of the top three search engines to discover information such as news, entertainment info, products, directions and more. Browsers such as Safari, IE and Android’s Chrome are giving the world freedom to surf the web outside of their limited portals.
Mobile Browsers Headed in the Right Direction
There are still a large number of people who use the carrier portals but we are seeing an increase in information accessed through mobile browsers. For instance mobile search accessed through browsers have increased 62% from Feb 2008 – Feb 2009 according to M:Metrics. Mobile has experienced very similar growing pains and advancements but we must also keep in mind the mobile experience is still very different from the desktop computer. The mobile device is with the user when they awake in the morning, when they are at the bar, watching the news, and when they are bored in the waiting room of the doctor’s office.
Even though the start of the mobile web has been similar to the traditional web, we will start to see mobile development take the unbeaten path as the industry matures. We are seeing that today with technology such as SMS search (ChaCha) and GPS enabled local search (comparison shopping apps). It is mind blowing to think of where the internet was in the mid 90s in comparison to today. The mobile industry is gearing up for a fast paced ride as users escape their portals for the 2nd time.
