The search engine: a mix of partners

Originally published on EuropeMedia.net, 04/04/2002.

In a series of articles, Duncan Parry has talked to the UK versions of search engines including Google, Ask Jeeves, MSN and Lycos about their experiences in the current economic climate, their plans for 3G and their plans to expand search services.

In this second part of a two-part article, he summarises the trends that have emerged – and looks at some of the developments that may take place in the future. To read the first part, please click here.

Partnerships with pay-per-click search engines are just one example of an established trend in the search engine world that will continue to grow in importance. These include partnerships with third parties to enhance their search results and services, or to reach new markets.

Some may buy new search technology companies outright. For example, Ask Jeeves bought Teoma in the US, and now includes search results using its technology on the US Ask Jeeves site. Teoma itself is re-launching as a possible competitor with Google – perhaps its technology will begin to be used in Europe soon.

Already Lycos and LookSmart use a third party to provide their meta tag-based search results (FAST and Google respectively), while MSN uses Inktomi, which recently lost its position providing results for LookSmart in the UK and in France to Google. LookSmart’s business model is built partly on providing its directory for a fee to other search engines – including MSN and AltaVista in the UK.

Beyond these partnerships with each other and PPC engines, search engines are looking to form new partnerships to access new audiences – for example providing searches on platforms like TV-based internet access, 3G mobile phones and wireless internet devices.

Ask Jeeves already provides results on the interactive service of troubled ITV Digital in the UK, as does Espotting on the Pogo device. Google has established partnerships with Palm, Vodafone, and others, while providing results in Japan on i-Mode and other mobile devices.

Expect more partnerships like these, but don’t expect a great leap into 3G or an amount of hype similar to what followed the introduction of the disappointing WAP standard.

When GPRS and then 3G finally roll out across mobile phone networks in Europe, the search engines will approach them with caution. But they will be able to build on the experiences of WAP, as noted by Ask Jeeves ( See “What now Jeeves?”).

“Since those heady days [of the hype around WAP], the uptake of WAP has certainly proved disappointing, largely due to the lack of available content and poor user experience,” company spokesman Nick Mason-Pearson said. “We believe that WAP is all but gone now and was simply a stepping stone to 2.5G and 3G.”

Many of the engines will wait and see how things develop in Europe, as explained by Espotting founder Sebastian Bishop (See “Espotting: 'we are looking to Asia for the future'”). “…3G is still in development and there are few usability studies to draw on at the moment,” he said. “We are waiting to see what happens, but we can supply results when the time comes.”

This is common stance taken by LookSmart, MSN and the other search engines: wait and see how the market develops, then consider providing 3G services, sharing the costs with partners – whether they are the company providing the new search technology, making the mobile phones or the mobile phone network.

Localisation, search technology and FAST

However, there is one company that has already started to develop services for the next generation of mobile phones and networks – to the extent they can be integrated into mobile portals by Nokia and Ericsson.

This is Fast Search and Transfer, which powers Lycos searches worldwide and showcases its search technologies at AlltheWeb.com. Stephen Baker, director of business development and marketing at FAST, told EuropeMedia in February: “our enterprise division has created a mobile search platform designed to be integrated with Nokia and Ericsson mobile portal platforms. Although our mobile features are not something we are currently promoting, FAST is prepared to lead in this area when the market is ready for it.” (See “FAST winning the search engine race”)

Expect FAST to develop this technology further, and to become the 3G partner of at least some of the major search engines – it’s already providing webpage search services to Lycos, after all.

Another area that may one day attract search engines to mobile platforms is location-based services (LBS). Although mainly a topic of speculation and research at the moment in Europe, these sorts of services could be a big money spinner for mobile phone networks and any search engines they partner with, providing a potential “killer app” to attract consumers to buy new mobile devices.

On the surface, the idea of localiastion services is quiet simple: your localisation-enabled mobile phone device will detect where you are to within a distance of a few streets, and then provide details of the nearest shops, restaurants, facilities, etc., that match the requirements you enter into your device.

So you could use the technology to locate the nearest pizza takeaway just by selecting “Food>Takeaway>Pizza” on a menu on your mobile device. Or, you could order a pizza from that company to be delivered to the office you are in using your mobile, paying for it on your own mobile phone bill.

The potential revenue stream for search engines – apart from charging the mobile operators to use their services and technology – is in charging businesses to be listed in their search databases. This could range from charging a global chain like McDonald’s or the Gap, several hundred thousand pounds for global coverage, to charging a small business £50 (E80) a year to be listed for their service in their area.

Of course, exactly how, and if, this revenue stream for the search engines (and the technology itself) develops – not to mention how enthusiastic consumers are for it – isn’t clear. But already, FAST has started to develop technology to enable these services.

“FAST has developed geo-location software that achieves these goals,” FAST’s Stephen Baker said. “As these applications are demanded by the mobile phone user and as standards for providing geo-coded content are developed, FAST will be a lead player in the mobile industry."

FAST isn’t alone in this. Google has already stated that it is researching location-based services, and the other search engines are all waiting to see what market develops for these services alongside 3G.

But it seems search engines will seek to partner with technology developers here as they have in other sectors, as noted by MSN. “In the first instance it is more likely that MSN will provide these sorts of services through its partners,” the company said. “But looking forward, MSN is looking at this sort of functionality. Mobile devices are likely to be even more pervasive. People will use them to plan things on the run, and to this end location based services will be important.

“The technology here is still emerging. There are still concerns around privacy and finding a common platform on which to develop these services. We are looking at how we can work in this space and provide compelling, time/location sensitive services.” (See “Where do you want to go tommorrow, MSN?”)

It is interesting to note MSN’s attention to the possibility of privacy concerns with localisation services – do we want our mobile phone network to know where we are all the time?.

There is potential here for a new advertising and marketing sector of sending adverts to mobile devices based on profiles of their users, both in terms of what services they buy via their mobile, and where they regularly travel.

For example, if a business man travels from London to Paris once a month by train, in future he may receive adverts on his mobile offering cheap flights between the two destinations, as well as accompanying special offers on accommodation, dining out, etc.

Targeting potential customers won’t just mean focusing on broad demographics, but on individual profiling based on exact, measured spending habits and traveling habits.

Of course, there is a danger of an increase in spam adverts using localization technology. Imagine an advertiser setting up their system to send an advert to every British-registered mobile device passing through Amsterdam airport, offering “adult massages” in a less-than-respectable area of the city.

Obviously, the technology needs to be developed to prevent this, or consumers will simply view localization services as little more than a new tool for junk mail senders.

Conclusion: searches get smart, revenue is key

So, partnerships will continue to be the way forward for most search engines as they seek to attract new users and keep pace with new technologies.

These new partners will offer new technologies and services that will enable search engines to offer more accurate results and related services, as well as highly-targeted advertising solutions. All of this will potentially create new revenue streams – a trend we can see emerging now in partnerships with pay-per-click search engines.

The details of these partnerships – who works with whom, and how to get your website/business details listed in their databases – will be the key information for anybody promoting a website or business on these platforms, just as knowing which search engines and portals are teaming up is crucial now.

The role of the search engines in 3G services in Europe will depend on how consumers react to the technology and services it offers. But if the demand is there, expect to see FAST and Google leading the way with technology solutions, closely followed by the remainder of the search engines as they integrate these technologies with their own.