While a new report from Bernstein Research may argue that (at least in the US) Google wins the mobile search battle hands-down on the strength of its brand, I believe that other factors (specifically, the quality of the user experience and the tie-up between mobile search and mobile social networking), will pave the way for other companies (and business models). BTW: I am scheduled for a podcast interview this week with Jeffrey Lindsay, Senior Analyst, Bernstein Research, to discuss the key findings of his milestone report, Google, IAC, Yahoo!: Mobile Internet – the Next Advertising marathon – Google and Yahoo! Moving to Front of Pack. In the meantime, I recommend you read Dianne See Morrison’s worthwhile summary post at MoCoNews.

In my view, social search – search that enables people to add their personal knowledge, opinions, and experiences to search results – has arrived in full force in online. (The market is already teeming with people-powered search engines – ranging from Wikipedia, which recently took the wraps off Wikia, a search service that combines computer-driven algorithms and human-assisted editing to Mahalo, a company building – and paying – contributor communities to direct searchers to relevant results, to nimble newcomers like NosyJoe, a private beta social search engine that relies on people to “sniff the Web for interesting content.”)

The mobile phone – a personal device we have with us at all times – represents the next frontier for social search.

We not only use our mobile phones to capture and share content; we also use them to interface with the world around us and connect with social networks on the fly. As cultural anthropologist Mizuko Ito pointed out in her milestone book Personal, Portable, Pedestrian: The mobile phone has a pivotal place in our daily lives based on the fact that it is personal (we customize and personalize mobile devices and consider them an extension of our personal identity); portable (even the Japanese name for mobile – Keitai, roughly translated “something you carry with you” – stresses the relation between the user and the device, and not between the technology and function); and pedestrian (because it is portable it’s a perfect fit with life as it happens, and activities that require partial or sporadic attention).

It’s on our mobile devices that we have come to expect – even demand – personalized and context-aware services and applications tailored to our lifestyles and life stages based on the clues we leave behind, such as preferences, past purchases, browsing patterns, and a deep understanding of our interests and passions.  What’s more, the form factors of the device – a small screen and a tiny keypad – naturally limit our interest in browsing the Web as we do on a PC. Put another way, users can’t sift through lists of blue links results; they require answers that are genuinely useful and relevant.

Indeed, Internet search retrofitted for the mobile Web suffers some serious shortcomings.

• First, it is one-size-fits all. Whether you are a student, a scientist, or a silver surfer, Internet search engines (horizontal search engines designed from the ground up to deliver the same results to all searchers based on queries and keywords) deliver a similar set of results, regardless of our individual information needs.
• Second, it tends to promote search engine optimized sites over the truly optimal ones. To complicate matters, the mobile Web remains the rather poor cousin of the real Web. There is no cross-linking data to power PageRank algorithms, which is a major reason why regular road tests performed by companies such as Mobile Commerce Ltd. – a U.K. company that, among its many other capabilities – possesses what the founders call a “piece of enablement” that gives them deep insight into the search queries passed through the operator portals in the U.K., and the results set returned to the user – reveal that Google and Yahoo! fall down on the job.
• Third, it has huge difficulty when it comes to connecting with the indexes that are growing and flourishing under the radar, such as blogs, user-created music and videos, and all the cool stuff that makes up the legendary Long Tail. Mobile users expect these content types to figure in their mobile search results, a variety and freshness of content Internet search engines cannot deliver.

Enter “people-powered search,” social search that harnesses people to deliver results tailored to searchers on the basis of who they are and what they like, addresses these issues.

The introduction of an approach that effectively infuses human preferences and human judgments into computer algorithms covers the bases to pinpoint truly relevant information and better answers. What’s more, the personal touch it gives to search results represents a perfect fit with the mobile phone, which we’ve already established is an intensely personal device.

• First, it recognizes the rise of a participatory culture and the role of people in the equation. These are trends that combine to give individuals more of a say over their content experiences. Book marking, tagging, voting, blogging, and networking – all of this is possible on the mobile, allowing us to turn our conversations into content. The rise of mobile social networks and communities paves the way for us all to have more input into our search results.
• Second, it benefits from the increasing popularity of peer recommendation. A recent survey from Jupiter Research shows 64 percent of users will try a service or content recommended by a friend, and 69 percent will pass what they like along to between two and six friends. Naturally, search results – particularly those in response to queries seeking cool new music or good restaurants nearby – would benefit from some crowd-sourcing.
• Third, it taps into new mobile search behavior trends. Mobile search is no longer an action-oriented activity; it has become a recreational pastime. Recent user surveys conducted by comScore, and new research from made-for-mobile search engines Taptu and Abphone, reveal the main emphasis is on content discovery and new ways to amuse ourselves during long commutes or breaks in our daily routine. We do search for information, but we are also interested in cool new stuff, interesting trivia, and ways to have fun.

In summary, the idea of people helping people isn’t about idealism; it’s the basis for an ideal business model. In mobile search, where algorithmic search can deliver neither personalized search results nor peer recommendations, social search and variations that tap the wisdom of crowds to deliver the right mix of answers and entertainment have a clear competitive edge over the plain-vanilla search we know from the PC.

This post sets the stage for an in-depth look at cool new mobile search services – some in beta – sure to leave their mark, so please check back regularly.

Disclaimer: abphone, ChaCha and Taptu have collaborated with MSG on white papers and research.

In the course of conducting interviews with some 35 industry movers and shakers for the Netsize Guide – an in-depth analysis of the mobile industry – I learned that, across the board,  senior executives viewed the march of Internet giants such as Google into mobile, and the advance of handset makers such as Apple and Nokia into content and apps, as more of a cause for concern than celebration.

Qualcomm takes a different approach, crafting a one-of-a-kind mobile Internet strategy that allows mobile operators to control their own apps store – and their destiny.  We saw it coming back in April when the company snapped up Xiam Technologies (a move, as I wrote in my post, which gave them “the corporate DNA for a full-force push into the delivery of targeted, dynamically personalized content, apps and advertising”).

But the launch of Plaza (a comprehensive widget ecosystem I detail further down in this post) and tie up with Amobee Media Systems, a provider of advertising solutions for mobile operators that counts mobile operators among its investors, paves the way for operators (and publishers!) to ad-enable widgets and measure the results. Connect the dots, and Qualcomm is pulling together a capabilities mix fully focused on helping mobile operators – as well as brands and publishers – get feature-rich widgets in front of a mass-market audience and make some serious money in the process.

What’s next for Qualcomm? In the run up to Mobile World Congress (MWC),  I caught up with Noam Raffaelli, managing director of Plaza for Qualcomm Internet Services, to discuss the evolution of Plaza (and how it can be leveraged as a monetization platform); the role of widgets; and the increased focus on mobile advertising. Special thanks to Richard George, Qualcomm account manager at Hill & Knowlton, for arranging the briefing.

Excerpts from our Q&A:

By way of background, Qualcomm launched the Plaza Mobile Internet platform last May. The platform-agnostic service provides a framework for the development of mobile widgets — Web-based applications for mobile devices – and features a catalog of mobile widgets that will be made available to mobile operators worldwide. (Good move since mobile operators have already proven content creation is not their strength. Operators’ understanding of the developer community – and how to encourage innovation – also has its gaps.) The Amobee Media System comes in to help operators monetize the use of these widgets. Put simply, Amobee’s integration into the Plaza Mobile Internet platform means operators can create and sell new advertising inventory to brands and agencies that will run on these widgets. Amobee will dynamically insert relevant ads into appropriate widgets and round off the offer with analytics tools to measure and optimize these campaigns.

Q: Advertising and widgets are a good fit. We’ve seen Nokia sharpen its focus on ad-enabling widgets – in that case WidSets – through its own mobile advertising activities. But Plaza is more than ad-enabling. It seems to be focused on creating a kind of workflow that allows any company – operator or publisher – to monetize widgets any way they want. Is that correct?

A: Correct. But let me give you some context about Plaza. Plaza is a mobile Internet platform for mobile operators that want to bring the true Internet experience to their end-users. It allows them to mobilize the Web developer communities, and address fragmentation issues [inherent in] mobile devices, applications, and platforms. What’s more, it allows operators to make short- and long-tail content available to their users. On top of that, Plaza is structured around widgets. We are therefore speaking about a platform that is not necessarily BREW dependent or dependent on the Qualcomm chipset or anything like that. It’s completely platform agnostic. That’s what the Internet is all about: To mobilize the Internet [content and apps] you need to be able to get maximum reach and get to mass-market as well as high-end phones.

Q: There’s a lot of buzz about widgets. What are they and – more importantly – what aren’t they within the Qualcomm strategy and framework?

A: There is hype around widgets. You see a lot of companies coming up with all sorts of platforms that are basically just about launching in-built device applications, and stuff like that, and they call it widgets. A widget is – in the true sense of the word – obviously a Web-based application. In other words, those are applications that are basically acting as front-end to the Internet. It’s an important point, because we see widgets as a means to enable this long-tail creativity of Web-based applications to be mobilized, and be presented and present on mobile devices. The user experience is all about the ability of the user to personalize his phone and bring just a snippet of the information they want to the phone. Sure, some are much more accustomed to the experience of opening a full Web page on a desktop or on an iPhone or high-end phone. But, when you get to the mass market phones and feature phones, it’s [opening up a full page in a browser] not the perfect experience. We think that widgets, because of the limited screen and other constraints of the mobile device, are definitely a way forward in terms of the user experience. And we also think that widgets, because they leverage Web tools and the existing tools that Web developers use, represent a huge opportunity to unlock the long-tail of Web applications out there and mobilize them.

Q: Let’s talk advertising. What business models do you enable and what role does Amobee play in this?

A: We present Plaza as a platform, and advertising is a part of it. Operators are able to choose whatever business model they desire to implement. There could be markets where operators are going to say ‘I think that I can have some free widgets to provide to my end-users’, and others are going to say ‘I can offer some premium widgets or enable some content providers that want to sell widgets’. And there are going to be some opportunities for end-users to have user-generated widgets -  widgets created by end-users as utilities. In this scenario, a student at a university will be able to create their own widget, submit it, put it on a phone, and [through Plaza] viral-share it with friends and the community.

So there are going to be different business models. If we take the case of an operator that would like to offer widgets for free, then obviously the model would be around opportunities to derive advertising revenues in return for those free services. That’s what we’re trying to do with our relationship with Amobee. If you think about it, the ability of end-users to personalize their phone with different Web online preferences opens up a lot of possibilities for [companies] to create advertising push, relevant messaging, and relevant marketing [for different segments of users]. So if I’m a user and I have downloaded a Formula 1 widget, it tells you about my preferences and – obviously – allows companies to target their marketing message [to those preferences]. It creates the same kind of model and paradigm that exists on the Internet today.

Q: Amobee is the first. Are there more deals with mobile advertising solutions providers in the pipeline? I imagine you would want other mobile marketing and advertising companies to get onboard…

A: It’s not an exclusive relationship. Amobee is important because Amobee is by far the biggest in terms of market presence and in terms of their mobile advertising platform. So we see working with Amobee [as] creating a win-win between the two platforms, and creating use cases that are exciting for publishers and advertisers as something unique. But it’s not an exclusive relationship. Operators will come to us with different network preferences.

Q: Plaza is for operators and publishers and brands. And it’s not about BREW…

A: It’s platform agnostic, and I think that’s why we’re getting the traction. We’re creating a solution that will be based on the Web tools. It’s about making it possible for Web developers to create for the Web and also for the mobile phone, and make it as simple as possible to start developing mobile applications.

Q: But it’s also about making it simple for operators to go the way of an App Store on their own rather than give it all up to Apple or Google – and any other company getting into this space. I heard Samsung is thinking about content and apps…

A: You’ve got it. It’s about creating an ecosystem of content, of content across platforms, and of content that is not part of a walled garden in that it is specific to a particular device, platform, operating system, or device manufacturer. It’s about enabling the operators to open up their network and their portfolio to the many long-tail developers out there. Definitely.

Q: And where does Qualcomm fit in the picture? What are you saying to mobile operators, for example?

A: If you look at it, everybody attacks the mobile operators and comes down very hard on mobile operators and their walled gardens. But if you look closer, the iPhone and even some of the Internet companies themselves are very successful walled gardens. So what we’re saying to mobile operators is: You don’t need to be ashamed of what you’re trying to do [with walled gardens] because at the end of the day, the ability to control and to create something is important.

If you’re mobilizing the Internet, and if you think about mobilization without any control mechanisms, well, it’s going to be the wild, Wild West in terms of quality of service. There’s definitely a need for mobile operators to guarantee a certain quality of service, a quality of service [that applies] to the applications and to the overall end-user experience. There’s also an opportunity [for operators] to open up to Web developers and create an ecosystem that also addresses the long-tail needs of the different user segments.

Q: Aren’t you asking companies to choose between Plaza and app stores? We know companies want to monetize their content but isn’t it also limiting their options?

A: You don’t have to choose, Peggy. Operators will be able to say ‘we have apps on the iPhone. It’s part of our portfolio on devices.’ But for the mass-market phones, here’s a solution that will allow them to offer and monetize long-tail content. And again, the good thing about it is, it’s not only addressing mass market, but is also is based on Web standards and Web legacy tools. If you look at the evolution of mobile, some 2-3 years ago there were a lot of ODPs. These on-device portals gave users access to apps within a kind of walled garden, and allowed them to personalize their experiences to an extent. But at the end of the day the on-device portals were very proprietary. The widget changes that, and now we see applications evolving in one direction, evolving into one [Web] standard and one paradigm of [Web] tools.

Q: Still, the business model sounds quite similar to the Apple App Store. What’s the difference?

A: We’re providing a monetization platform for mobile operators to be able to monetize apps in terms of Internet revenue streams. That’s what it is. It allows mobile operators to choose their model and revenue share deal they do with the Amobees of the world as their app platform and with the developers. We are providing the enabling platform, and it’s up to operators in different markets to decide the different models they wish to implement.

Q: So you’re giving them a platform and the nuts and bolts of what is essentially their apps store. They cut the deal with Amobee and the revenue share is up to them.

Exactly. And let me emphasize that the implementation will include Java. Just as it will include BREW. It will also include others. If an operator is to be successful in monetizing the new revenue opportunities, they need to get maximum reach. And for the non-BREW operators, [we know] you need to address their device platforms and how to put those applications on the devices.

Q: It’s the only app store approach focused at mobile operators. Do you have mobile operator clients to announce?

A: We’re already engaging with operators, and we are in very progressed stages with operators, and we will soon announce those customer relationships and the deployments.  The platform puts operators in control, and there are a huge number of use cases. It unlocks a huge portfolio of opportunities for operators, allowing them to deploy applications that use the unique aspect of mobility and mobile retailing and marketing [apps] based on location information the operators have, for example.

My take: Apple does it, Google does it and RIM and Microsoft are next in line. Operator rivals have their app stores in place, and the market is wide open for solutions that potentially level the playing field and put service providers on a more even keel with this new breed of challenger. Qualcomm’s offer covers the bases – and now it’s up to operators/publishers to respond.

That day may come sooner than we think.

Qualcomm has invited me to speak at the Plaza Mobile Internet Forum, an exclusive event at MWC on February 18, where my topic will be mobile Internet, mobile advertising, and the strategies that will likely allow media companies to take advantage of the upswing in both. I’m excited about speaking, and delighted at the prospect of meeting attendees – including executives from Amazon, Turner Broadcasting System, and Universal McCann - during the cocktail hour following the forum. My personal thanks to Julian Harris at Qualcomm Europe and the rest of his team for reaching out to me with this exciting opportunity.