The Mobility Is The Message

Posted on March 23, 2008

Upon the completion of my master’s degree I swore that I would never repeat the much touted Mcluhanism, “The Medium Is The Message“. Since that time I have come to realize the phrase that I thought was mere puffery is actually deeply ingrained in the communications fabric of the 21st century. And so this phrase has, yet again, become an integral part of my life.

I came across a short blog post on ZDnet today about a mobile feature that Google is launching. The purpose of the feature is to allow one to search without actually entering a search query. A user can sift through relevant content that has been grouped into verticals.

At first I thought to myself, “who cares?”, but for some reason I kept thinking about it. When Google makes a move it is hard to avoid scrutiny.

My analysis of this feature can be summed up by a few ideas:

Google’s realization of the importance of both search and discovery
Google’s insight into the mobile consumer’s behavior

As soon as GPS enabled phones reach critical mass, searching your environment will take on new meaning. It is apparent that Google realizes this and is taking steps towards taking advantage of the impending shift in consumer behavior.

Technorati Tags: google, mobile, search, discovery, marshall mcluhman

Google Blog Search Now Reads Links on Web Pages (labnol.org)
From Static to Realtime Search (list-your-blog.com)
Grow Bigger Ears in 10 Minutes (chrisbrogan.com)
Can Google’s Ambition Turn into Hubris? (domainmacher.com)

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5 Responses to “The Mobility Is The Message”

csven
Mar 23, 2008

Seems like another link to Google Earth and local-/location-based advertising.
adam
Mar 24, 2008

csven

Totally does. Location based advertising is indeed the future!
David Berkowitz
Mar 24, 2008

Thanks for this week’s column idea. It’ll be out tomorrow.
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