(2008-03-26) Japan Ad Search Box Vs Url

In Japan an increasing amount of Off-Line Advertising shows a product name being typed into a Search Engine, rather than just showing a URI. Note the multiple factors:

• latin URI character-set vs native/local search

• on crummy Mobile UI it's easier to get to the TelCo-defaulted Search Engine than to a Location entry

• people still don't really understand the difference between URI and name-search.