If you’ve read some of my other posts, you may know that I’m bit of a fan of the emerging QR Code. Well I saw an article the other day describing how Google is now making use of QR codes in one of their latest promotions, ‘Favorite Places‘. Many of you will be familier with Google Maps and Local, where you can search for business in relation to a specific location. Well Google have now identified the most popular 100,000 based on user interaction in the US, and in another example of merging the offline and online world, they have sent these business a window sticker which includes a small QR code. The logic being that a passer by with no knowledge of the business can scan the code with their phone which then opens up details and reviews in their mobile’s web browser, and therefore make a relatively informed decision about whether to use the services of that business or not.
Obviously you need a mobile phone that has the capability to scan QR codes, and you will also need to be close enough to the property to see that there is a ‘Favorite Places‘ sticker in the window and also know that you can scan the code. Regardess, I think this is a good initiative, and one I hope comes to Europe and the UK. QR codes are very popular in Japan so I wouldn’t be suprised to see this kick off over there. Considering Google’s market share is relatively low in Japan (c.30%), then this could be a great way to generate traffic and loyalty.
However, there are other mobile applications, such as Qype Radar which based on your network or GPS location can show you nearby businesses and reviews, which could be simpler considering you don’t need to scan anything, and has the added benefits of being live in the UK and not limited to 100,000 businesses.
Despite that, Favorite Places is an interesting move, and shows that accessing web based data on the move is starting to become pretty mainstream, so expect lots more innovation in this area.
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