Reimagining Mobile Search: Introducing Yahoo! Sketch-a-Search

Yahoo! has just come developed its latest new app for the iphone and ipod touch. The app called "Sketch-a-Search" is the new way for iphone or ipod users to search their surrounding environment or location for valuable places that pertain to their interests. The key component of the new app is the simple, easy to use concept that Yahoo! hopes will gain popularity. Sketch-a-Search does not require a zip code of the surrounding areas, street addresses or numbers. Users simply draw a circle, with their fingers, around the area they would like to target, and the app creates a list of, for example, restaurants. Then, the user can obtain further details of each individual restaurant by selecting it on the list, which then provides information such as reviews, prices, and types of food. Taking the search even another step forward, the users can also prioritize or make their search more specific by then breaking down the surrounding restaurants by food, reviews, etc...
In my opinion, Yahoo! has now set the bar for search applications using the iphone and ipod touch. On a personal basis, I know that anyone who has the phone has used the search application to find specific places in their surrounding area, or even broad options such as all the different restaurants. It can be a pain staking process if you are unfamiliar with the area and most likely do not know the zip code because then you have to do a separate search for the zip and so on. Now, by just being able to "sketch" a simple circle around your current location for example, it simplifies the search exponentially. In todays society, the simpler something is, the more popularity it most likely to gain. Therefore, given the simplicity of the app, I believe it will gain widespread success. It also allows for Yahoo! to perhaps track the most "sketched" areas based on people and determine how much more specific information to put, which can help them make money through ads or save money by not wasting time putting as much information in less searched areas. Yahoo! could even potentially sell the information of how often a specific area is searched and charge companies for putting their information higher on the list, or even on the list.
The examples given above could prove invaluable for Yahoo! in the future. With the new "Sketch-a-Search" application, Yahoo! has now permanently engrained itself in not only a rising technology in the iphone, but the perhaps one of the most valuable assests it offers, the ability to search for anything at anytime in the convenience of your pocket. Now, when people download and use the app, they will always see the search engine Yahoo! and incorporate the easy, new interface of searching surrounding areas with the search engine giant. This could prove extremely profitable for both Yahoo! in the form of advertisements and perhaps the sales of information, and surrounding businesses who could gain exposure because of the app. In terms of users, it could also prove most valuable as both a convenience and time saver. Perhaps even in the updated version Yahoo! could create an option where the user could create a history or favorites list which they can always refer to as a referance point and then expand their search of the area based on places which are similar to their history or favorites. This option could again prove helpful in the sense that Yahoo! could track favorites or commonly marked places on the application to gain insight into where users are most likely going to spend their money. They could then make better business decisions based on this gathered information by advertising more heavily in the areas or selling these results to companies for a profit that revolves around the concepts of what Google does: charging companies more for being higher on the list of the search.
Finally, this new application could prove extremely useful both on an information technology front and business aspect. The easy interface will urge and motivate users to choose Yahoo!'s new search over others, which could help expand and market, thus helping them to better compete with other search engine providers such as rival google.
http://ymobileblog.com/blog/2010/03/23/reimagining-mobile-search-introducing-yahoo-sketch-a-search-and-yahoo-search-for-the-iphone