Mobile search companies offer human touch

By October, the number of US users accessing mobile search reached 23.6 million, according to comScore. The growth came as services improved, 3G penetration and smartphone adoption grew and flat-rate plans proliferated. Stewart said a selling point of kgb is that it essentially can turn any phone into a smartphone without needing a browser or a data plan.

“We know the roots of the company have been in directory assistance, but the proposition is ‘ask us a question,’” Stewart said. “Every single phone is SMS-capable. Not everyone has an SMS plan, but every phone is capable. While lots of phones have browsing services, only 17% of people have a browsing plan. People still want connections to the Internet.”

Stewart stressed that kbg is offering a mobile find service, not a search experience. Still, Donovan pointed out that with a pay-per-text business model, the service is very much like directory assistance – a model that has been broken by the Internet and free mobile search and information services. Further, while consumers appreciate the direct response and human interaction, he also noted that it could be a potential pain point.

“Google has talked a lot about the energy consumption of a search, which is one cost component, but when you are talking about human-powered search, you have to have people standing by,” Donovan said. “That seems to be a place where the model is most likely to break down. There are situations where a service simply isn’t available because of the volume. That is not a super-acceptable experience when you train people to rely on what you are providing.”

From the perspective of the service provider, voice and text mobile find providers won’t be replacing the big dogs anytime soon. A consumer’s relationship with a third-party search vendor essentially cuts them out of the equation less the cost of the text. An exclusive partnership with an online search giant, however, can be lucrative for both.

“Verizon was very recently able to wrest hundreds of millions out of Microsoft in order to be the search provider, the one you bump into when you use Verizon phones – not that you can’t use Google,” Donovan said. “The amount of money Microsoft is willing to pay for that indicates quite clearly that all these search providers see a very lucrative market when it comes to mobile. It’s certainly a game none of the big boys want to be left out of.”