74 per cent of mobile portal content is
invisible
Over one click too far
By Tony Dennis
Sunday 04 February 2007, 17:48
BY APPLYING AI techniques to in-depth research of mobile portals,
Irish specialist Changing Worlds has discovered that 76 per cent of
content held is invisible to users.
That's because only 26 per cent of content can be reached with 30
seconds of visiting the portal's Home page, Changing Worlds
says.
The company argues that a longer wait than 30 seconds
crosses the typical user's boredom threshold.
The research is even more frightening when translated into
what Changing Worlds calls 'click distance'. It's simple click
distance is the total number of clicks required to reach a
particular item.
What's your threshold? An ordinary person would probably stop
searching after say three or four clicks. A bit more of a mobile
phone aficionado could probably last five or six clicks.
When Changing Worlds surveyed 20 leading mobile portals, guess how
many clicks it took on average to reach a piece of content? 16.
Yes, Changing Worlds says the 'mean click distance' is 16
clicks.
Obviously Changing Worlds has an answer which is technology it
calls ClixSmart. In essence, it uses AI techniques to dynamically
alter the location of content so that what interests a particular
mobile surfer is less clicks away.
ClixSmart isn't new. Vodafone has been using it on its portals for
years. What's changing is the whole mobile online scene.
Take advertising for example. What screen do young people look at
most? The PC's? The TV's? Or the handset's? Well the handset is
looking increasingly like a front runner.
So how do advertisers reach the right audience on their mobiles? If
mobile phone users start to tailor their whole online surfing
experience, it will be easy to identify their interests.
Plus mobile has one huge advantage over the PC. Location. If
thousands of people are connecting to a bunch of cell sites in the
wilds of Somerset, then you know they're into music.
This whole thing can get a bit Big Brotherish so ClixSmart offers
users the chance to opt in and opt out.
The frightening thing is Changing Worlds' next target. Mobile
search. A search engine which knows which Jaguar you mean according
to whether you an Apple Mac person, a sports car fan or an animal
lover.
Now that would be useful.
