Google tool aims to make business sites mobile
A new Google initiative aims to get businesses to shape up their mobile sites, suggesting that in a few years, more people are going to be surfing on their phones than desktops.
If the mobile version of your Web site is a stinker, Google would like to have a word with you.
The company this week began pitching a new initiative (read: marketing push) to get businesses to create mobile versions of their Web sites using compatibility diagnostic tools, along with a directory of mobile-site developers, if the results turn out to be underwhelming.
The new initiative, called GoMo, is a blending of "Go Mobile." The site's name was leaked earlier this week, as spotted by blog Fusible, however it was behind a password-protected page, which, as TechCrunch notes, went public earlier today.
To make the pitch, Google has put together a grouping of data points, saying development for mobile platforms is an important part of running a business online. Its main points are that users do not recommend businesses with crummy mobile sites, and that more than half of those surveyed expect mobile versions of sites to load in 3 or fewer seconds. Google also points to data from Gartner and Cisco Systems, as well as internal metrics, saying that by 2013, more people will be using their phones to get online than they currently do on PCs.
Google is calling its testing feature the GoMoMeter, and it lets you plug in any URL and see how it loads on an Android phone. It then gives you a breakdown of how long it took the site to load, whether or not images loaded correctly, whether text can be read, and if navigation links can be tapped by a user with their finger. The results look like this:
Among the vendors listed as companies that "can help you develop a mobile strategy and launch your site" are Atmio, DudaMobile, iLoop Mobile, July Systems, Kishkee, Mobify, Moovweb, Netbiscuits, Unbouncd Commerce, Wrapple, and Wix. Google also lists its own Site Builder among the options. All these businesses can then be sorted out by whether they're full-service vendors versus do-it-yourself tools, as well as pricing and how long a project needs to be completed.
Here's Google's video on GoMo: