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Is there a Google Barcode in Your Future?

Too lazy to type in a URL? There might be some help on the way. The Silicon Alley Insider reports that Google is offering its newspaper advertisers to ad a 2D barcode their ads that will take a mobile phone users with the right camera and software directly to your mobile site (apparently they are “big in Japan” already):

What’s the point? This has three benefits: First, it saves the reader the trouble of typing in a Web address into their phone — an annoying process for the majority of wireless subscribers that don’t have phones with QWERTY keypads. Second, it can take the reader to a very specific page, based on an individual ad — like a coupon or a map to the advertiser’s store. And third, it ties into Google’s analytics tools, so advertisers can get a very specific sense of which ads work and which don’t, when people are viewing them, where they’re standing (GPS), etc.

Somehow, the problem I see with barcodes is that they are on the one hand very low tech, yet on the other hand need high-tech gadgetry to turn them into something useful. Reminds me a bit of the good old Cuecat…

Also, as Adam Ostrow points out in his post on this, it’s still going to take a long time before this could ever get traction, because the software to translate the barcodes into something useful is basically not installed on any phone yet (though Google might put it into Android phones, one might imagine). By that time, will anybody but your grandfather still read physical newspapers?

They’ve been doing this sort of thing for years in Japan. But that doesn’t mean it will translate well to America. Personally, it seems like a cumbersome process when a memorable domain name is a much more straightforward deal. Also, why not just use your cell phone camera to take a picture of the print ad in the newspaper and then refer to it later? Why bother with the excess software that will pull a web page up for you?

I agree totally with your first line – how freaking hard is it, really, to type in a URL?

The better idea might be to just scrap the paper version and just read the onine one where hyperlinks are a given.

Telldodo presents an alternative to print barcodes: print keywords that are easy to remember and easy to type in. Just enter the simple key-phrase at telldodo.com and get back the original URL, however complicated it may be. For example: “light saber toy”

@Dodo – you mean like the old Netscape keywords you could put in your URL field instead of having to search? Like back in the day when ads would tell you an AOL keyword?

I have to admit that I don’t see much use for that. There is this thing called Google now that does a pretty good job with this already…

I think you just have to use a good QR Code Reader say on a Symbian phone and you immediately understand why this so big in Asia – just the number one way to go the mobile web in Japan.

Also don’t forget the symbolic value of a QR Code and compare it to simple text.

Last but not least, this also gives you location based information without any GPS. Which poster has been scanned where and when.

@Frederic: Think of it as a verbal equivalent of tinyurl. Google search returns 1000s of hits for any search term. Telldodo let’s you associate a unique key-phrase made of simple keywords with your URL. When you see a telldodo key-phrase in print, or on a billboard, or hear it on the radio, it’s a lot easier to remember than a complicated URL, at least until you get to your computer.

Another application: tag your photo web-site with a unique tag (example: our caribean cruise pics). Then you can tell your family and friends the key-phrase over the phone and they can retrieve the URL at telldodo.com

Cheers
Dodo

I’m with Frederic on the Telldodo thing–and actually, Firefox still does that, I believe. I discovered not too long ago that typing “dr” into the URL field and hitting enter sends me to the BBC’s website for Doctor Who. Seems like that old Netscape thing is still around.

Also, regarding the Teldodo service, I don’t see what the difference would be between “print keywords that are easy to remember and easy to type in” and a well thought out domain name. I mean, really–wasn’t that the whole point of using domain names in the first place?

Pete – you are totally right on the uselessness of Telldodo. Have you tried it? The ‘free’ service pretty much gives you a random combination of words. If you are good with mnemonics, you might be able to remember them, but between that and the chances of misspelling the words, all usefulness has been lost.

As for Firefox, I think they just do a ‘feeling lucky’ search on Google and take you there. Might be wrong, though. I use OpenDNS, so I couldn’t test it.

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