Think of it as a TinyURL you can wear. Each two-by-four-inch, velcro-backed twill p8tch has a Mysterious Commando Design on the top, and a QRCode on the bottom:
The QRCode on the p8tch contains a URL. If you scan the code with your iPhone, Mobile Safari will take you directly to that URL. Or, if it’s a Google Maps link, directly to the Google Maps app. Or, if it’s a YouTube link, it’ll show a movie. Cool, right?
We looked at this concept some two years ago and since we were never strong on mobile technology (just not our thing, yet!), we decided not to pursue. While I don’t believe this will change the nature of direct navigation I do think this is how people will surf the web in the near future (2-5 years). I always believed the more people learn to surf the more they learn to navigate on their own. I heard many times in the past that domain owners lose traffic to Google as many go to Google and type their URL’s there however, traffic leakage goes both ways. Google and previous search engines educated the masses to use keyword search, and much of our traffic is due to that as well.
The above link, now it may not mean much to you today but let’s go back to 1994. If you knew back then domain names are going to be the future of the web, what would you have done? And the question today, if you know scanning will be an integral part of the future web, what will you do?
Some food for thought.
Have a great weekend!
Sahar
Not very brandable really?
If it were the scan would just take you to a URL…
Not feeling it…
The future is not here….
once it’s scanned into the deveice it still has to “land” somewhere right. . . like a domain/url or ip address right ?
—-answer—-
Yes. How does that help you with direct navigation though? The URL/IP become to be irrelevant.
Sahar
@Thailand:
Directly from TFA: The QRCode on the p8tch contains a URL. If you scan the code with your iPhone, Mobile Safari will take you directly to that URL.
I don’t like it because I don’t know what I’m getting before I scan. Seems like another level of scam/spam abuse. Also, not everyone has an iPhone. I do love the concept, though. Maybe we’ll see something similar sprout on a much wider scale.
It is here and will only be gaining ground apparently:
“The iPhone is just the beginning of the all-in-one device. Uses of mobile devices will expand to include all kinds of bar code applications and prepaid debit card payment methods,” said Bill Carter, a partner at Fuse, who presented the findings here at the YPulse 2008 National Mashup, a two-day conference on teens and technology.
And in the Wall Street Journal:
“In the grand tradition of UPC codes and CueCat, ScanBuy/ScanLife is attempting to barcode the world. Their mission: to allow companies and individuals to place small barcodes on their publications that are readable by over 70 phone models including an upcoming application for the iPhone.
The 2d barcodes - meaning that unlike standard barcodes they are read in both the X and Y axis - can trigger menu events, download content, lead you to a website, or create a contact or calendar entry in your phone. They currently appear in outdoor ads, some magazines, as well as transit schedules in Europe. The program is actually compatible with multiple types of codes, ensuring international compatibility.”
With geopraphic targeting, look at GTXO.ob or MyAthlete.com etc.. advertisers will be able to specifically target users with on-spot coupons etc.. Scanner ads and barcode ads will be common place in my opinion by this time next year.
I like the concept but kind of unclear how it can/will impact the direct-navigation.
Much more productive to scan in words directly, including domain names.
If the Iphone can scan different types of codes, surely it can scan in regular ascii and international characters.
If not, it is behind the times.
If this graphic image can be scanned and translated into a URL then a printed domain name can certainly be scanned and pulled up. Very simply optical recognition software.
Also, goes back to the cue cat days of scanning from a magazine with this device connected to your computer. Took users right to websites.
If you don’t know about that, read this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CueCat .
I followed that technology VERY closely. Too bad it died. I thought it was a good idea. I have a box of several hundred somewhere.
I read about this technology a year or so ago, and it was supposed to be a bona fide trend in the near future. The idea really was that your cellphone can scan prices and information on just about any product, even at supermarket, and give you totals, price comparisons, etc. I believe this technology will be available and commonplace by 2010. However, the Scan To Url idea makes little sense in diminishing direct navigation, because the user isn’t always going to be at the exact point of contact for the scan, and direct navigation will ultimately always be what the user needs it to be when they need it. It’s a cute idea, but not a market killer.
I bought cellphonescanning.com and scandevice.com just to be sure, tho. LOL
Stephen Douglas
Successclick.com
Google is already working on it and it will roll out in a few months.
Barcodes are necessary for the merchants to be able to scan the ad and vice versa with your mobile. The merchants are already entrenched in barcodes so that isn’t going to change anytime soon…
Fom Media Post
“The search giant’s top brass also touted positive benefits with mobile search (and ads), the Enterprise apps business and the development of a more integrated ad management platform. For example, phones featuring Google’s long-awaited Android mobile interface are slated to roll out within the next six months. And according to Jonathan Rosenberg, Google’s senior vice president of product management, the company has begun investing in third-party developer apps for Android, like Android Scan, a barcode scanner that allows mobile users to get product, pricing and store location info instantly. “Imagine the value of an ad in that scenario,” Rosenberg said.”
Broadly speaking, we’re looking at the evolution of new technology platforms that are changing the traditional methods for web access as well as content; and the way search engines are now allowing us to optimise all our content (video, images, local and text).
In practical terms, mobile search is for now more applicable to certain types of businesses. Industries that should consider getting into mobile search are the ones that are relevant to users who use their phones to find important local information quickly.
These include location-based businesses – restaurants, medical centres, theatres, bars, florists, trades, weather etc. And not so location based – news, sports, entertainment, Facebook, MySpace, Google etc.
One part of the mobile search technology – QR codes (or “quick response” codes) – have been around since the mid 90s. Unlike traditional product bar codes which are only one dimensional, smart codes introduce two dimensional scanning, enabling much more data to be stored. A traditional barcode can store up to 20 digits, whereas a smart code can contain up to 4300 alpha numeric characters. You can’t scan a URL and get this kind of information.
Because of this, they can store much more information, including website addresses, text, email addresses, contact phone numbers, phone widgets (applications) and upcoming events. It makes it easy for people to import all that fiddly data into their phones almost instantly.
You can’t scan a URL and get this kind of information. Yes, it will take you to a website, but at that point you have to get to the coupon that is scannable for the merchant…this is very time consuming.
The principal benefit is your ability to easily create codes and place them on to your printed material, your business cards, posters and even a t-shirt.
In Japan, smart codes are everywhere. Manufacturers have placed the codes on their newspaper and magazine advertising as well as individual product packaging. This has allowed people to connect with more information about products and services they’re interested in without having to use their desktop or laptop computers.
The technology is here and it will be huge. I don’t think it will take the place of URL’s, but it will change the dynamics of search in the mobile arena.
iPhone needs 3rd party software for it to be able to scan QR codes - available at App Store I think, but the fact that it does not come by default means that most people won’t bother with it at the moment.
If it’s already happening in Japan, it will eventually catch on here.
Hi,
Technology sounds interesting…but the fact is…the spoils will still go to those who own the domains or urls or codes or whatever it is that people will end up scanning.
Web traffic will come in a variety of different ways in the future….this is just one of many “wake up calls”…thats says…HEY…things might not be ALL Googles or MS or Yahoo’s way in the next 2-10 years.
Very good “forward thinking” post.
Peace,
Dan
I agree, Very forward thinking.
These barcodes are big in Japan with cellphones.
But realistically, I think anyone that uses them as a marketing tactic will want to drive the traffic to a nice brandable URL.
I agree with a lot of the commentary that has been given so far about this topic. QR Codes have been around since 1999 and have only recently had their standards updated in 2006. So it is very easy for them to say that recent news coverage is years behind.
But what you are suggesting is very eye-opening. Even though it is already too late to get the best generic domain names, it is not too late to get into the loop and learn more about QR Codes.
If I knew that the scanning of QR Codes would be an integral part of advertising models in the future then I might do a number of things. These actions that I would take differ depending on my background.
If I produce a product that I sell exclusively on the Internet that might compete with the products people will be scanning as they go down the aisles of a shopping center, then I may want to add comparative advertising along-side those products. If I already bid against keywords in search engines, then it may be profitable for my business to begin a QR Code marketing drive for my products. Customers would be able to scan my ads and purchase my products without “missing a step” in their daily routine.
If I were a computer hacker with an unscrupulous mind and with not-so-good intentions or an adware/spyware developer, then I would be dreaming up the next great phishing scheme. It wouldn’t be difficult to palm QR Code Stickers onto products, posters, billboards, or any place that consumers might be able to notice them. These consumers might even “believe” that downloading my trojan software at the website I direct them to is necessary to get an even better deal on the products that they are purchasing today. As a phisher it would even be beneficial to redirect these consumers to a page containing coupons for that specific product. These consumers might then tell their friends, “Hey Betty! Just scan this to get another $.70 off!” Sounds like a winning technology for scam-artists to me…
If I were a company that produces anti-adware, anti-spyware, anti-virus and anti-phishing software, then I would be racing right now… racing to stay ahead of the future phishing schemes and virus/trojan opportunities that QR Codes can introduce to the masses. I would be drawing up plans for the software that every iPhone and mobile device user will be downloading in an effort to be certain that they would not be average Joe Blow that falls victim to the above-described cyber criminals.
If I were a domainer, then it is very obvious what I would be doing right now. I would be registering every domain name combination to do with adware, spyware, anti-virus software, iPhones, mobile phones, mobile devices and QR Codes. But this is like stating that “the sky is blue” or “the Earth is round”, we already know that this has been happening even before you posted about these codes on your blog.
As of this posting, the following domain names were available:
qradware.com
qrspyware.com
qrcodeadware.com
qrcodespyware.com
qrantivirus.com
qrcodelabel(s).com (both plural and singular)
taken:
qrcodeantivirus.com
qrcodesoftware.com
Domain names are there to stay - sure new “stuff” is out there.
Ads need to lead to a source which is in many way’s a website with a unique URL - Domain name.
Let’s look into the FUTURE
I think a good url will still be key…I wouldn’t scan my phone over “scan here to go to specialsales4u.info” but I would scan “restaurants.com” or similar.
—-answer—-
But most likely, you would scan to “learn more”, whatever the product is. The URL becomes irrelevant, it just goes to the right place, no matter what you scan.
Sahar.
It’s not necessary to have a “call to action” to get some one to scan a code. The technology will be intuitive after the first advertisers get going.
It is possible to design a barcode that looks like art. For example, I have seen barcodes that are a flower or an umbrella or a barcode in the shape of a classic CocaCola bottle. You can also take your company logo and create a barcode out of it.
It doesn’t take too much of a stretch of the imagination to picture people scanning everything under the sun to see “what lies beneath”.
This is the kind of technology that is easily adapted by the younger generation which becomes common place for everyone else a short time later.
The video game industry is watching this happening right now. Look at the wii and how it has changed the face of gaming.
Your standing in the store with the golf club in your hand you scan it with your phone. It takes you to a site say NikesNewestGolfClub.com. You read about the product and you are done. How do you remember to get back to the site ? What domain will you remember ? Did you bookmark it ? Maybe? and where do you go if you want another opinion ? Maybe a direct navigation domain like GolfClubs.com or GolfClubReviews.com etc etc. I think it could help and hurt and overall it all balances out.
There’s a ton of things that distract people from direct nav. A domain printed on the side of a product distracts people from direct nav. Any form of advertising is the same as this scanner. . ..It takes a user directly to a products site thus distracting people from searching via the domains. impact overall imho will be 0
—-answer—-
We all have our ideals, and then there’s reality. Ask yourself this: If search volume goes up and your portfolio traffic doesn’t change, what does that mean? It means that overall, your traffic is declining. That is in a nutshell the story of the domain channel.
Sahar