• ClickZ, Friday, November 17, 2006 9:45 AM

Has local search successfully converged with mobile phone content? Sort of. In a technological sense, local search has improved by leaps and bounds in the last few years. The service on mobile devices like Blackberrys 3G-enabled phones is good and getting better.

According to mobile specialist Joe Herzog, "Both users and non-users say they would prefer to use a free 411 service with advertising over paid carrier services. Consumers are willing to accept a lot of advertising ... if the relevancy's there," he says.

Which is great, but the problem for content providers and advertisers is that ownership of new phones is not where it needs to be; many Americans have yet to upgrade their cell phone hardware. For marketers, it's also an infinitely more confusing environment to navigate than search marketing on the Web, partly due to the labyrinthine relationships between carriers, hardware makers and Web service providers.

The idea behind mobile search is that you can find information anywhere and at any time, yet local search on the Web requires you to know and enter your information. True convergence, as far as search specialists are concerned, has not arrived.

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