Mahalo » mobilegroove

MSG is proud to have deep ties with AltSearchEngines (ASE), a destination synonymous with news and quality analysis on all things related to alternative search engines (defined as all search engines other than Google), and a deep friendship with Charles Knight, ASE publisher and the "Voice of Alternative Search" (as he is regarded by a growing community of professionals and practitioners passionate about search). So, when Charles asked me to support him in his annual effort to showcase alternative search by asking readers to go a day without Google, I naturally agreed. To be clear, this is not about being anti-Google; it's about encouraging people to explore the choice of alternative search engines available to them. Last count there were some 1,500 alternative search engines - ranging from Faroo, which enables peer-to-peer Internet search, to Kosmix, a new twist on old meta search that delivers search results across a multitude of categories, including opinions from Omgili, video from Truveo, social search results from Mahalo and the basics from sources such as eBay, YouTube, and Wikipedia. And the list goes on... Charles tells me his annual call to action was as popular as ever this year, resulting in posts, tweets and emails from readers sharing their experiences as they went through a day without Google. For just one day, I would like you to use an alternative to Google when you perform searches on your mobile phone. I know from my own work researching mobile search and compiling a comprehensive directory of mobile search providers, that the choice in mobile search engines is impressive. If you want to know results that really resonate with real people, then you might consider

Wrapping up an exciting mobile search white paper project this week with Peggy Albright, founder of Albright Research and MSG research associate. We can't give away too much before the formal launch next week, but the research - which evaluates Google, Vlingo (Yahoo) and ChaCha - has also drawn our attention to social search, the Achilles heel of universal search engines Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. (In fact, a comparison between mobile answers/search services ChaCha and Google SMS, ChaCha achieved 70 percent of Google's SMS search volume in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to data from the Q4 Mobile Messaging Report from The Nielsen Company.) 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.