The D8 Conference has been electrified by an interview with Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs, in which he cleared up some big issues surrounding the iPhone platform. Much of the subject matter revolved around Apple TV, competing with Android and shunning Flash, but in this post we’ll be looking at the search aspect of internet marketing on the iPhone.
One of the big questions he laid to rest was the issue of limiting or banning Google from Apple’s iDevices – they will not be doing so.
Search Engine Optimisation
Another big question regards notions that Apple might go into search. Again, Jobs denied this rumour, despite the recent acquisition of the ‘personal assistant’ Siri – which many argue has very search-like capabilities. But when asked about this Jobs stated: “I wouldn’t call them a search company…” preferring instead to call them “an AI company”. So will the search engine optimisation community need to get their head around a new search platform? Not exactly, Siri is unlike standard search engines in that it is bereft of an index. Despite this, it seems likely that people will use much like a search engine.
Internet Marketing
All this attention on the iPhone’s search possibilities is slightly misplaced, perhaps, because people prefer to enjoy apps much more than they use search. Google Maps, Facebook and The Weather Channel all come out way ahead of Google Search – or indeed any search – as most popular uses across the various smart phones. Only on Android-based devices does Google Search get a foothold on the top five. This is quite significant for those associated with internet marketing on the iPhone.
Another big topic was the use of analytics – Jobs said that it could be used for advertising purposes, but that there were many other details to define properly. In relation to this Jobs was particularly upset by Flurry’s recent violation of Apple’s Privacy Policy.
Die-hard fans of Apple’s iDevices will no doubt also be fascinated to learn that the iPad actually preceded the iPhone – and millions of smart phone users will be very glad the iPhone got the green light first.
Related posts: