Along with the announcement of real time search, Google have released Google Goggles for Android phones. As any hard core search nerd will tell you real time integration has been coming for some time now, and anyone could have predicted its imminent arrival. Whilst the announcement of real time search is important, its not in my opinion just as interesting as the Goggles application.
The mobile trend.
Image Idenfication
Of late Google have been investing, and developing further in the mobile space with an aim to establishing further market share. Goggles is another view to that end. The have also recently just awarded US$100,000 to Irish startup Plink in the recent Android Developer Challenge prizes from Google, which in my opinion would tie very closely with the Goggles Team – I have doubt in my mind that they are keeping a close eye on innovations within the company. Being a must have application for art buyers around the world that can compare price, (and perhaps authenticity?) in the future must be a goal the Plink Team are chasing.
Plink are utilising extremely similar technology, identifying works of art simply by pointing their handset’s camera at the piece, returning relevant information, from resources such as a Wikipedia. Google on the other hand are returning information directly from their own index, and can identify objects which have either at present their own visual footprint, or which contain plain text which can be OCR’d. Applications such as ShoppSavvy for the iphone are also utilising barcodes scanning to return information online through shopping results.
Location based Vouchers
Vouchers as a business model has become shit hot over the course of 2009 – with business looking to drive thrifty customers through the doors in a recession. Undoubtably it is going to become a whole new race in 2010. Two other startups which are innovating and making headway in this location & social space are Foursquare and Gowalla, both of which Techcrunch reports, are awating to unleash the voucher model through the backdoor.
In addition to that – popular voucher search engine BView recently announced a partnership with Google, which will see BView providing money-saving vouchers on the popular Google Maps search. Any vouchers created by local businesses on BView will automatically feature in Google Maps, adding tremendous visibility to a sector which has often struggled to reach target customers online. Another location based iPhone app which ties in with this is Flook, which playfully allows users to markup offline locations. Flook is built to be quirky, easy to browse and most importantly contextual-ad ready.
Why does it matter.
My prediction for how all of these innovations will shake out? Essentially this opens up a whole new market out there for companies who have little or no presence on the web, and presents an opportunity to reach and market to customers with mobile devices. Offline and online marketing campaigns are likely to merge with offers such as “snap it elsewhere on the highstreet for cheaper, and we’ll match it” – facilitating direct purchasing online from a mobile app there and then. Google has to get in on this action, and they have enough leverage, information and dollars to do it.
Combine image identification in a handset with location / GPS + an active user base and you’ve got a very clever way of reaching people, especially if your price point happens to be better. Increased competition is always good for the consumer, and mobile applications are likely to pressure many high street retailers into matching online prices. Like it or not, some traditional business will be dragged onto the web to compete. Whereas previously they could ignore that consumers were comparison shopping online through convienence, these retailers will find it hard to ignore a mobile phone being waived under their nose with a price that is 10% cheaper online. Readwriteweb reports that stores are still largely unaware of this sort of thing going on, but it won’t be long until they take action. Will we see our first ban of mobile applications in stores as folks get snap happy?
With many online retailers not having the overheads this is going to mean a serious headache for some. The likely path will probably be similar to the bait and switch of Foursquare and Gowalla, and the gentle drop of Goggle’s in the ocean, is likely to turn into a tidle wave at some point. The ducks are simply being put in a row at this point. In my opinion some of the mobile innovations have alot more opportunity to become profitable than their online competitors as they help to marry our everyday lives, and buying decisions 24/7. Google already knows that the future revenues are likely to come from mobile, and this announcement further cements their position.
linky
posted:December 9, 2009 8:03 am
Thoughtful article, thanks for the shout. For those who want to know more about flook, the site is http://flook.it.
Roger Nolan