Brian Lent CEO Medio on mobile operator mobile search

I had a lively and warm chat with Medio Systems CEO Brian Lent on mobile search. I had been worried about the pure mobile search model not delivering and how to move forward with this.

Brian explained that Medio had realised that offering search was a great resource for brands and operators but at the same time people needed to understand the value. Therefore Medio was positioning itself as a company that is a broker to the market. It can plug in search, it can help monetise search content and it can enable great services.

I noted a change in strategy and Brian agreed. He said that hype had displaced the market because everyone believed that on portal was dead. In reality 50% of all mobile users still search for downloads from the operator. He said that with this in mind we can still have an amazingly healthy business - and the recession might be the right time to start focusing back on the operator core.

What we think?
I spent almost an hour with Brian and I reviewed some new features on the T-Mobile USA and Verizon platform and they looked good. I think it has been an interesting time for mobile search players but Medio seems to be using partnerships (AdMob) and technology (simple clear search solutions) to raise the bar quietly in North America and Europe. I agree when he said that all relationships could be short term and at the end of the day it was quality that would prevail in mobile search.