Our next mobile search interview is with Barry Schwartz better known as Rusty Brick. One of the industry voices for Search, barry has put together one of the leading forums called Search Engine Roundtable. Thank you barry for the interview.
Joe: Can you tell my readers a little about yourself just in case they are not familiar with you and your work.
Barry: Sure Joe. I own and run the Search Engine Roundtable, a site I launched in 2003 to track and report on the most interesting topics found within search forums. It has grown tremendously over the past few years, thanks largely to the SEM community. I also work with Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land as the News Editor over there. Finally, I own and manage a web development firm in New York that specializes in building out custom web software and high-end e-commerce sites.
You can found out more about me at my personal blog at http://www.cartoonbarry.com/ and click on the About Barry page.
Joe: What kind of phone do you have?
Barry: I am proud to say the Treo 700p, but I am looking forward to Verizon Wireless supporting the iPhone one day.
Joe: When you are performing mobile search what do you normally search for?
Barry: Most of the time I find myself searching for local information. Where is store X located, how can I get the number for this or that place. I also search for traffic on Google Maps mobile. I sometimes search for information. I have been using mobile search a lot more frequently in 2007 then in 2006.
Joe: In your opinion, how can mobile search help the smaller companies.
Barry: Mobile search, to me, is more about local search. Small companies can thrive off local search. Be it on a mobile or standard platform, local search can be huge for small businesses. If you are looking for a local dentist, dentist [zip code] searches can be crucial for that dentist. I do frequently see mobile based sites listed in Google Mobile search, but I rarely click on them if I see that. I rather click on a more relevant search result as opposed to a mobile results, while on my mobile device.
Joe: What opportunities do you see for American companies to utilize mobile foreign search?
Barry: Since I believe, at this time, mobile is about local – that being said, I don’t currently see much there for American companies in mobile foreign search.
Joe: What hurdles do you have as a mobile search user regarding usability?
Barry: The main one is locating the mobile editions of web sites. When I search for continental airlines, I want the mobile version if I am on a mobile device. But I still have to search for congenital airlines mobile site, to get that information. There is also limited functionality supported by the built in browsers, this is becoming less of a problem as the technology gets better, but currently, it is an issue.
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