If San Francisco accepts Google’s wireless proposal, the testing it does on location services might be a model for local search or even the much-rumored GoogleNet.
There’s a lot of altruism in the Google Wi-Fi proposal as disclosed by the city with the proposal it received. If the reader didn’t know who wrote it, one might think it came from Apple:
“We believe that ubiquitous, affordable Internet access is a crucial aspect of humanity’s social and economic development, and that working to supply free Wi-Fi is a major step in that direction.”
That’s all very nice and everything, but what does Google get out of the deal? The joys of being an ISP? That type of service would be one Google could and probably will outsource to a partner firm. They’ve left open the possibility of a Wi-Fi service involving a partner or two as this comment referring to that “crucial aspect” suggests:
“(W)e also believe that there will never be either one form of online connectivity or one company that exclusively provides it.”
We know that for deployment, Google would turn to San Diego-based Wireless Technologies to do the heavy lifting involved. Wireless Technologies has experience in rolling out cellular networks as well as Wi-Fi. Partnering with a firm to manage the customer service and tech support side is virtually a lock.
If Google wins, then what? Like the other search engine players, Google wants to gain a stronger position in local search. Part of that strength would come from refining its location technologies.
Targeted advertising takes on a whole new realism if Google can narrow down a user’s location to a spot on a particular street. If that location is between two restaurants, and one has a well-crafted ad being displayed to the user on their laptop or cellphone, the advertiser would have an edge in bringing that customer in to grab a table.
David Utter is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
