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Google betting on QR codes

Posted Dec 9th, 2009 at 11:04 AM and seen
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Google is making some big moves in local advertising lately. The search giant has launched a new effort to send window decals to over 100,000 local businesses in the U.S. that have been the most sought out and researched on Google.com and Google Maps.

Each window decal has a unique bar code, known as a QR code (a major trend to look for in 2010), that you can scan with many mobile devices including the iPhone, Android-powered phones, BlackBerry, and more. Once scanned, it will take you directly to the business’s Place Page on your mobile phone. What does this mean? Well, by pointing and clicking at a storefront, you can immediately find reviews, get a coupon if the business is offering one, or star the business as a place you’d like to visit in the future—all without stepping a foot inside.

Learn more about Google’s adoption of QR codes, and watch the video below for a better idea of how it works.

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 Catherine Faas

Comments (8)

Dec 09, 2009
TheSmallBizNest said...
Wouldn't it make more sense to offer this service to the "least" sought out and researched businesses on Google.com? I'm probably already going to know about the best restaurant in town because I have read about it or Googled it. So, I'm probably going to be less compelled to scan their code than if it was a new, un-hyped establishment.

- John

Dec 09, 2009
Dwamian Mcleish said...
I also find it funny that Google is not promoting their own android phone in this video... That's not like Google who apparently likes to grab their own chestnuts.
Dec 09, 2009
C. Scyphers said...
The whole QR code thing reminds me of the ClueCat debacle of the late 90's.
Dec 10, 2009
JD said...
Right, this is CueCat, but without the proprietary code and goofy proprietary wand. But when we have GPS to know where we are, why a scan code?
Dec 10, 2009
Ryan said...
Having a code displayed in the window reminds people to look. I'm not sure I know many people who go up to a store and search for it on google before entering.
Dec 10, 2009
reynardfx said...
This is #2 in recent questionable Google creations, first was Goggles: Why are you going to take a picture to search for something you're standing in front of? Why are you going to scan the QR code of a place you're standing in front of? Google likes data, but I don't think common/normal people care at all. I'm a technology slut (got a G1 when it came out) but I don't see myself ever scanning a QR code on the door of a restaurant, nor ever taking a picture of a place or object to find out what it is. I'll go, "Oh, look, it's one of those Google QR codes!" as I walk by it, and that's about it.
Dec 10, 2009
AM said...
JD - while a GPS could identify where you are, there could be twenty shops around you with no way to know which one you are interested in.
Ryan - I can see many uses for it. Learning about specials, looking up menu, looking up reviews/ratings, looking up a tel# to make reservations for later, etc.

I think the way in which google is seeding the market is very clever.

Dec 10, 2009
Rich Magahiz said...
The codes are a big hit in Japan, where they were first devised, and Google doesn't want to miss out on similar opportunities in the West. If they can get the local businesses to popularize them, they'll start putting them on all sorts of consumer products where people can scan them right off the store shelf. It doesn't take a marketing genius to see that this should be a reasonable strategy.

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