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Mobile Web Search is not working very well

robin.jewsbury | 16 March, 2008 19:13

Mobile search is poor - it produces inconsistent results and can often fail to tell the difference between mobile and fixed sites.  This article details the failings...

 

Let's start with a few of definitions.  The Mobile Internet is the collection of sites which have been specially built/formatted for small screen devices/phones.  The Fixed Internet is the Internet as viewed on large PC screens.  Mobile Search is the attempt to search for content on the whole (fixed and mobile) Internet where the results can be displayed and formatted on small screens (examples are m.google.com and m.yahoo.com) .   The problems for the mobile search engines are that Mobile Internet is still very small so the search engines include (actually they prioritise) content from the Fixed Internet and then display on the phones using a transcoder.  A transcoder takes fixed Internet content and reformats it for the small screen.  Transcoders have what I believe is the impossible job of taking a web page and putting into a long thin column on a small screen and then paginating it if it's too long.  The reason why I believe this job is impossible is because the fixed internet consists of a vaste array of web site formats and there is no way anything can know how to cut up a page and put it neatly in a long thin band on a phone screen in a user friendly way.  Its true that good transcoders can make a reasonable job of 2/3rd of the Internet.  For example 3 column web-site can often display OK on a transcoder, although because the left hand column of web-site is often the navigation this does cause transcoders an issue - some display this navigation at the top of the page and the user has to scroll all the way through it before he can read the content he really wants to.  Others more successfully hide the navigation and take the user direct to the content and then allow the user to open up the navigation later.  The better transcoders also realise their impossible tasks and do not transcode if the device has the capability of displaying a web page (eg for a Series60 running the Safari browser devices or the iPhone).  The good search engines can tell the difference between a mobile site and a web page and not transcode

Now let's get into specifics how do Google and Yahoo mobile search engines compare on these things.  Please be aware this is the siutation in March 2008 and because of the fact that nothing really worksperfectly what is actually happens is changing daily.  So if you read this more than a month after March 2008 be aware it may not be the same.

First both Google and Yahoo present web and mobile web results separately, although Google does put mobile results marked with a little phone symbol in the web results when there is a significant result and real mobile web content is an extra click away on Google.

m.google.com m.yahoo.com

Only uses transcoder with fixed Internet sites – does not transcode Mobile web sites

Yes, generally works

Only thinks wml sites and ones beginning m. are mobile.  Other real mobile sites are incorrectly sent through the transcoder

Does not use the transcoder with web enabled devices

Only iPhone is given full web page

iPhone and Series60 Safari browsers gets full web pages

Transcoder hides original web page navigation from user

Attempts to but often fails to find the beginning of the real content

Yes works well.

Transcoder works well

No, produces poor transcoding and often errors

Better than google but still has confusing content

Displays mobile web content

Yes, but several clicks to find it and then often contains m.youtube or wap.mtv content rather than the long tail.

Yes, but contains mostly wml content.  The better mobile sites cannot be found.

Finally, I think the main problems result in there not being enough Mobile Internet content.  For me transcoders are an temporary technology in place because there is not enough Mobile content.  Long term webmasters will either create mobile specific sites or use tools such as Mippin to quickly convert them.  Once there is significant Mobile Internet content in place search engines need to start prioritising mobile content over the poorly performing transcoded content.

As I write this the situation changes daily so I hope in a few months I will be blogging a slightly better story for Mobile search.

 

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