. New mobile search engine from Getfugu combines LBS, voice, video and image recognition

New mobile search engine from Getfugu combines LBS, voice, video and image recognition

Posted by Cian on Apr 14, 2009 19:57

Getfugu is a mobile company with mild multiple-personality disorder. It provides a number of very different services, with mobile search being the most recent area it has branched into. The search engine it offers combines a number of mobile search types that have been popular of late: local search, logo based visual search, voice search and a new service it calls “hotspotting.” At all costs, Getfugu wants to avoid having users actually type anything into a text box.

The BETA service for Getfugu will be available by the start of May, and will contain four search options:

See It - an image recognition app. Getfugu will allow users to take snaps of clients logos, which will then retrieve content from the brand owner.

Say It - consumers can use voice recognition to speak search phrases. This will work on branded content from Getfugu clients, and on generic keywords like “pizza” or “ATM.”

Find It - a local content search, Getfugu uses GPS to locate proximity results from searches. Local businesses can pay for voice-activated key words to position themselves at the top of the search list.

Get it - this is the “Hot-Spotting” option Getfugu is providing. This option allows advertisers to place touch-screen adverts within a mobile video. So if a customer sees a product from one of Getfugu’s clients in a video, they can simply tap the product on the screen to purchase or get info. This function is currently limited to touch-screen phones and selected Blackberry models.

Getfugu charges $9.99 per month for small businesses, and $99 per month for companies with ten or more employees. That price will get you a single logo or keyword in the Getfugu search engine - for larger companies with multiple logos and keywords, each one will have to be purchased separately. Mobile hotspotting will split the revenue 50/50 per transaction with the advertiser.

From the release:

“Getfugu will help consumers retrieve web based content. So rather than type a website address or search term into a browser, consumers turn to Getfugu. Our goal is to become the ultimate standard for mobile web-search by simplifying the customer journey and delivering a flawless Direct-Connect service,” said Getfugu Inc CEO Bernie Stolar.

What we think?

It’s a long-standing complaint about mobile search that typing in search queries is a long, painful process - especially as you rarely (if ever) get your intended result on the first try. It’s a noble thing that Getfugu is attempting here, trying to draw together all of the most succesful forms of non-text based search into one platform, but does it have a good chance of succeeding? Well… it depends. This is an almost entirely business-oriented service - even the voice search works off purchased keywords. I can see this being a powerful tool for local search - being able to say “shoes” into your phone, and recieving GPS results with directions is a good service. But I can’t see it will having the wider appeal that a text-based, on-line style search would have.


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