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Google quietly reveals GOMO, a service that mobilizes your site [UPDATED]

gomo

Early in September, I wrote about Google registering the domain names Howtogomo.com, Howtogomo.net, and Howtogomo.org, and I wondered why the search engine giant went out and bought the web addresses.

Well, it looks like we finally know why.

Although currently ‘Access Restricted’, Howtogomo.com has been launched on the web this week and it appears to be a service that allows visitors to get mobile-friendly versions of websites.

Unless you know the correct password, when you click the Preview button, you’ll receive an ‘Incorrect Password’ message.

While a service like this is nothing new, demand and competition is growing. 

Google already has a similar service called ‘Google Mobile Optimizer’ found at  google.com/gwt/n, however it’s very limited in features.

[Updated, Nov. 1, 10:05am EST:  Google has now made the website public, as shown in the picture below.  However, you may encounter an “Over Quota” error and have to try again later. 

According to the Agency Guide that can be downloaded from the website, the initiative is designed to educate businesses about the mobile opportunity and empower them to build mobile-friendly sites.  A web tool called the GoMoMeter shows you how your current site looks on a smartphone, and provides a free report with personalized recommendations.]

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb, TechmemePC Magazine, BetabeatSearch Engine Land, Softpedia, Press-Register, 9to5Google and CNET

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Why did Google buy Howtogomo.com?

Gmail email intervention

Google went off and purchased the domain names Howtogomo.com, Howtogomo.net, and Howtogomo.org this week.

I have no clue what to expect with these registrations, but I can imagine it may be another Google marketing campaign to convince people to use one of its products as it did with the web address EmailIntervention.com. 

The “Email Intervention” campaign (pictured above) went live in late July in an attempt by Google to attract more users to Gmail.  To date, almost 800,000 interventions have been sent according to the home page.

Maybe “GOMO” refers to “Get over it, Move on” and will be used somehow to draw new users to its Google+ social networking service. 

Who knows?

All three domain names were registered on September 1, 2011.

http://whois.domaintools.com/howtogomo.com 
http://whois.domaintools.com/howtogomo.net 
http://whois.domaintools.com/howtogomo.org