You have seen the new iPhone 4 commercial where SIRI helps its owner find search related terms on the device. What is Siri you may wonder; and what does it do? Siri (Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface) is an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator that uses a natural language interface to perform actions for its user over a device.

Apple currently uses Siri on it iPhone 4S platform launched in October of 2011. Apple’s implementation of Siri integrates with default iOS functionality, such as contacts, calendars and text messages. More importantly, from the search perspective, it also supports searches from Google, Bing, Yahoo, Wolfram Alpha, and Wikipedia. Siri also integrates with Google Maps and Yelp! search results. Apple has claimed that an individual’s search result preferences will be personalized as the software learns from a users search results.

The fact of the matter is, Siri is only available on a handful of devices available to consumers, so it would be very shortsighted to think that this is going to have a massive effect on search right now. Projecting from my own years of experience with end users, most are likely to use their default search engine when looking for a hotel on the Internet.

This is good news for those of us who have spent time researching the long tail keyword phrases for mobile sites. Up until now, most mobile searches have centered on a very limited keyword search phrase. Even mobile devices with QWERTY keyboards are difficult for typing long texts. This is the reason why mobile searchers usually are very brief in their search queries limiting searches to only 1 or 2 words at the most. A common mobile tactic has been that if you don’t rank well for shorter key phrases (they are also the most competitive), then you will be missing a lot of mobile traffic. Will Siri change this?

The answer is a resounding, yes. As voice recognition programs become more mainstream in search, the pattern will change. Instead of a user searching for “San Antonio Hotel”, the Siri search may look something like this, “Find a 4 star hotel on the San Antonio Riverwalk”. Those who take the lead and begin to optimize for these longer keyword phrases will have an advantage over those who do not.

In mobile search the limitations of scrolling are more severe than those of Desktop users. A page with 10 search results fits on the screen of a desktop but on a mobile device it might be split into 2 or more screens. In mobile search, it’s not the Top 10, it is more the Top 3 because only the first 3 or 4 positions are on the first page and have the highest chance to attract the user’s attention.

In the not so distant future, the integration of Siri will begin to affect strategies and optimization efforts. However, most of these things should be part of your SEO strategy from the start. Remember, it’s not about people getting to your website through Google placement alone. With Siri and other similar interfaces, visibility will come from other sources as well. Siri wants to give users a visual experience and draws data from local listing sites such as Yelp, Google Maps, Citysearch, YP, etc. There are more than 60 of these sites on which it is well worth your time to create a listing, not just for Siri but also because getting listed on (and getting links from) these major sites will improve your local listing and organic placements in SERPs as well.

Times are changing. By now, most hotels have adapted to this saying, but few will find ways to play catch-up with altering consumer behavior. Remember, the best way to stay in the game and pave the way for your own hotel’s success is to fully embrace the latest trends, because we all know that hiding or praying will not make it go away.

With that said, let’s take a look at the power of the tablet, and how it has created yet another shift in the way consumers interact and spend money. It’s no surprise that since the adoption of tablet devices in April 2010 (the launch of the first iPad), the use of tablet devices has exploded and continues to grow rapidly. Findings presented at the Mobile Insider Summit in January suggest that when it comes to mobile commerce, tablets are utilized more for buying rather than browsing.

Here’s where hotels fall in: With the continuous rise in tablet usage, it is important to evaluate and develop fresh hotel strategies to better attract and retain tablet visitors, which is where mobile ads can have an impact. Rather than spending vital marketing dollars on the once popular billboard advertising, you will be much better off putting money and effort in mobile advertising.

The point of advertising is generally to send an effective message about your hotel with the intent to attract potential guests. When you create mobile ads, you have a powerful advantage to strategically place them where you know your specific target audience will go. Travel websites or hotel booking sites such as TripAdvisor and Expedia are perfect mobile ad spots. Tablets are great travel research tools, and your customer base will likely be using it to seek hotel rooms whether they’re at an airport, on the road, or sitting in bed. Yes, billboards are also located in designated spots as well, but there is no guarantee your customers will be looking, or even driving by that advertisement.

Another advantage is that mobile goes wherever the customer is. Remember, the Internet never sleeps – so any time of the day or night – someone can and will be looking at your ad, which leads to an opportunity for immediate sales. With the static location of billboard ads, customers may overlook it because of poor location, too much competition, or simply because they are too busy searching for rooms on their tablet.

A study from Marin Software Inc., an online advertising services and technology firm, found that in their analysis of paid search, consumers are more likely to click an ad on a search results page when using smartphones and tablets than when using desktop and laptop computers. The click-through rates in the fourth quarter of 2011 measured 0.95% for desktops and laptops, 1.25% for smartphones, and 1.31% for tablets, with a projection to see a rise in those tablet numbers.

With those numbers, it’s clear that the tablet has quickly emerged as the third digital screen in consumers’ lives. Start acting like your customers do; see what attracts them, create a personality for your hotel, and create engaging mobile ads to leverage tablet users. This market of consumers using tablets is rapidly growing, and hotels can no longer afford a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Considering how much the Web has influenced hotel bookings, it is apparent that traditional billboard ads have been decreasing in effectiveness.

On an industry scale, sales of tablets are up about 400% compared to the same time period the year before. In fact, in Quarter 2 alone (2011), Apple shipped over 10 million iPads, which is nearly four times the amount of MacBooks they sold in the same period.[1] The Adobe Digital Marketing Insights analysis of 16.2 billion visits to retail websites shows that consumers using tablets are a distinct and lucrative customer segment that should not be overlooked.

Make sure 2012 is a captivating and innovative year for your mobile commerce by getting on board with the changing times, and getting an edge on your competitors. Mobile ads obviously offer more opportunities to get a response with easy interactivity, links to your site, and opportunity to target your customer base. While we can not shape or predict consumer behavior, we can certainly build on it.

Out with the old, in with the new! Unlike hotel billboard ads, here’s a saying that won’t become obsolete.