“Motorola risks brand dilutions”
Following the announcement at CES
(see below) that Motorola is to integrate Google’s search technology into its mobile phones, with the Google icon to appear on some handset home pages, Mike Brady, Senior Director of Business Development at enterprise search expert FAST, has warnd carrier and manufacturers that getting into bed with branded search companies is a risky business.
Providing comment to Mobile Europe, Brady said, “The mobile industry must seriously think through the implications of this development. Google isn’t just a search engine – it’s now a global brand right up there with Coca-Cola. By partnering with Google, Motorola is allowing its own brand to be diluted – it might seem a smart move in the short-term, but this will definitely impede future business models and revenue potential.
“A carrier that doesn’t want Google on the handset could instruct Motorola to take it off – but in the event that the carrier doesn’t care to control the search brand, Motorola has just lost the opportunity to extend their own brand with eg. “Motorola Search” via a white label search solution.
“The power of the Google brand is beginning to threaten the business models of companies in a myriad of industries. Mobile operators have to recognise this threat and deploy a search solution that protects their data services revenues from Google, and provides a user experience more closely aligned with the brand and content of their own business.”