New Search System, LSO, Introduced at Street Fight Summit

The first annual Street Fight summit got underway today in Soho, and no, there weren’t any panels battling to the death in an alleyway, but there were the brightest minds in a confusing, exciting field that will undoubtedly make some smart people a ton of money: Hyperlocal.

The morning’s keynote brought a fresh vision of the future. It came from Fwix CEO Darian Shirazi, who’s trying to usher in the era of LSO the way Google ushered in the era of SEO. LSO stands for Location-Search Optimization, which you probably didn’t know because Shirazi made up the term fairly recently. Shirazi’s argument was compelling; we’ve seen the evolution of search from directories to SEO to SMO (Social Media Optimization), and LSO is next. I agree that internet traffic will be dominated by mobile within 10-15 years; I just don’t know if people will be largely browsing based on location, although it’s a distinct possibility. Basically, Fwix is looking to become the super-Google for where you are at any given moment. How will people location search, you might ask? Well it seems Fwix will be feeding their location-based content to location-based apps. Fwix also offers LSO optimization for free through easy DIY steps, relying on data to reap in the dough.

For content sites, it doesn’t seem like there’s any reason to not optimize for Location Search—it’s like entering a free lottery. SEO probably seemed strange and confusing once, too. Shirazi left everyone in an interesting state: confused, intrigued, and texting subordinates to research LSO ASAP.