"Reaction [beta]"
What's the URL? Search me! 15 Mar 2007
Domain names / URLs are a notoriously unrobust addressing system - a system best suited to machines, not humans. As such, usability gurus like Jakob Nielsen have been predicting their death since 1999. Unfortunately, the IT world has yet to come up with a better solution...until now that is...er...maybe...
...Rather than relying on people to remember their URLs, a number of companies in Japan have started using what are fast becoming known as "Search Me" ads. These ads include an illustration of a search field, with a company-relevant search term already filled in. The text urges the reader to perform this search as soon as they are able, preferrably immediately via their mobile phone. Upon doing so, the company in question will usually appear as the first result on the search engine's results page.
This is obviously a pretty shaky system - no two search engines work the same way, so no company can guarantee that they will appear at (or near to) the top of every search engine's results (even if they have the best SEO team onboard). There are also risks associated with exposing customers to competitors, who will appear in the search results too. That said, it's a interesting approach to a long-standing problem...one to keep an eye on.
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4 comments so far
Nigel Whitehead 15 Mar 2007 02:18 PM
Haven't AOL been doing this for a while? Anything produced by Time Warner has had AOL Keyword: blah for ages
Benj 15 Mar 2007 03:04 PM
The http://457098.jp isn't a bad idea either. Users will probably find it a lot easier to remember a company's phone no. than its URL I'd have thought.
Simon 15 Mar 2007 03:17 PM
@Nigel: Yep - although AOL's is quite a closed system as I understand it (i.e. it's reserved for AOL services and those of its sponsors).
@Benj: I guess it's the difference between requiring people to remember two things (URL and phone no) and one (URL = phone no). That said, phone numbers aren't the most memorable of beasts anyway, so I'm not sure how much benefit a URL-phone-no-combo would bring in reality.
Fahed 16 Mar 2007 01:41 PM
I think they would do better (a) choosing an easy to remember domain name and (b) showing a picture of "www.domainname.com" pre-typed in an address bar with a button showing "go".