The Bay Hotel, Camps Bay - 9 November 2010
I was sent by GraphicMail to put my ear on the ground – what was Google up to, what can we use to improve on our services, and especially, what is happening on the fast growing mobile market? Google announced that this was the sixth event of this kind on the Sub-Saharan Continent and that they are seriously committed to Africa. So , what did they have to say?
Why Africa?
Google sees Africa as the last-frontier for the online world and is determined to work closer with local developers and businesses to make the internet an integral part of everyday life. Infrastructure is arriving to power the web; this will ensure more accessibility and a drop in prices. It will also boost speed from 120Gbits/s to 15000Gbit/s - just imagine, real broadband! Google will remain focused on the need for more quality information which is acceptable globally and will benefit search results and user-experience locally.
Challenges
Apart from the infrastructure, other factors such as culture, diversity and also the 50+ different languages spoken in Africa all affect the quality of local search.
Speaking in terms of ‘search’ locally in South Africa, Google highlighted the lack of local content available which is necessary to improve local search results in terms of local content for articles and web pages. At the moment South Africa’s internet costs are ten times higher than in other countries and only 50% of all 16yeart old teens have access to the net. Barriers:
Access: Reduce latency (IXPs, equipment and expertise)
Relevancy: Localising search on the African Continent
Sustainability: Sustainability (to build an internet eco-system)
How do Africans benefit?
I realized that the necessary infrastructure is vital to opening the gates online. All of us who engage ourselves online should continue to build a vibrant Online Eco-System with original local content and to be more ‘SEO savvy’ about all aspects of our activities on the internet.
It’s nice to see that over 30 000 students from the University of the Free-State run on the ‘Google Cloud’, using Google Apps – which is ”super-computing for all”.
Improvements are constantly being developed for Google Translate and now, with Voice Search at ‘zero-clicks’, translations are downloadable for both smartphones and the iPhone, to be used for search.
Highlights of the event
What kept me up-right off my back rest and eyes glued to the various speakers, was:
The I-Pad Maps, Mobile Voice Search (images, SMS and translate with playback functionality), Google Goggles: ‘Optical Character Recognition’ (e.g. a picture taken of a restaurant menu in a foreign language can be easily translated into any language), Android Voice Search and Navigation with directions in your local language and more on Google Insights (a free Data Visualisation tool showcasing Real-Time indexed trends for whatever search term).
Apps such as Google Maps, Google Code, Google Places, My Maps, Google Sites, Google Baraza, Google Earth and Sketch-Up etc, I was already familiar with.
“Mobile is Here” – Brett St. Clair
A very interesting presentation was made on mobile, covering the reality of the mobile landscape in South Africa. Brett is the AdMob Country Manager. AdMob focuses on mobileapps and many different innovative ads for mobile. South Africa has 80% mobile penetration with more people browsing on their mobiles than what there are DSTV (satellite television) subscribers.
Just like innovation in the mobile space, a lot has been happening in the television space, using the internet such as the YouTube LeanBack (Streaming in full HD) and Google TV (a new experience to the internet, Apps and the way we view television).
The one point which I felt would impact positively on South Africa and African society as a whole, is the YouTube EDU (Lecture Content) considering the state of education for matriculants is in a crisis.
I felt that this conference highlighted many important small areas of SEO as a whole and was served as a basic introduction for even a beginner.
Well done Google – Education is key. And if it comes free, the better!
