In real estate, its all about “location, location, location.” Perhaps in some sectors of the digital economy, it’s going to be about “location, navigation and transaction.” At least that’s what I started wondering about after reading a New York Times piece by John Markoff and Martin Fackler, and a Wall Street Journal story by Mylene Mangalindan.
The Times piece focuses on a new service launched this year by Japanese cellular carrier KDDI, in partnership with networking company NEC Magnus Communications, and Mapion, a firm that distributes map-based information via the Internet. It uses software developed by GeoVector, “a small American technology firm.” It is currently available on three handsets from Sony Ericsson and provides “detailed descriptive information or advertisements about more than 700,000 locations in Japan.”
One subscriber, Koichi Matsunuma, walked through the crowds in Tokyo’s neon-drenched Shinjuku shopping district on Saturday, eyes locked on his silver cellphone as he weaved down narrow alleys. An arrow on the small screen pointed the way to his destination, a business hotel. “There it is,” said Mr. Matsunuma…”Now, I just wish this screen would let me make reservations as well.”
Mr. Matsunuma showed how it works on a Shinjuku street. He selected “lodgings” on the screen. Then he pointed his phone toward a cluster of tall buildings. A list of hotels in that area popped up, with distances. He chose the closest one, about a quarter-mile away. An arrow appeared to show him the way, and in the upper left corner the number of meters ticked down as he got closer. Another click, and he could see a map showing both his and the hotel’s locations.
Mr. Matsunuma said he used the service frequently in unfamiliar neighborhoods. But it came in most handy one day when he was strolling with his wife in a Tokyo park, and he used it on the spur of the moment to find a Southeast Asian restaurant for lunch.
The WSJ story is about Google, which is active on a number of fronts in the local/mobile search and advertising market and is, of course, the dominant player in Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising. It notes that Google “is set to introduce a test version of its GBuy online-payment service as early as this week, according to people briefed on the situation.”
Here is how the service will work: Consumers who search for items like “shoes” or “strollers” on Google’s search site will see text ads with a symbol or icon designating advertisers that accept GBuy payments. Shoppers normally would have clicked on an ad and been linked to that merchant’s Web site. Now, while they will still be linked to the merchant’s site, they will go through a different checkout process integrated with Google if they choose GBuy for their transaction.
As I discussed in an earlier post, some believe that a move from “pay per click” to “pay per action (or transaction)” can go a long way toward addressing the click fraud problem and bring even more accountability and efficiency to the advertising market. And, if Google emerges as dominant in this new ad space, the search giant could substantially expand the scope of its influence, entrenchment and revenue capture in the emerging digital economy.
That brings me back to Mr. Matsunuma’s comment that “Now, I just wish this screen would let me make reservations as well.”
How about if KDDI’s service was linked to a PPA (pay per action) system that did allow him to make reservations, and also generated commissions when he did? And, with its GPS capabilities, maybe it would also generate some commission if he walked over to a targeted hotel (which the GPS system would presumably know) but chose not to spend the night there (not quite a transaction, but a potentially valuable action).
And what if we also apply this to the restaurants he checks out and dines at on his way to the hotel, as well as the drugstores, bookstores, department stores, etc. he uses his phone to locate along the way, to pick up the umbrella he forgot to pack, some books or magazines, a gift for his wife, or whatever?
Mitch Shapiro at 1:59 PM|Comments(0)
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