Interest in printed codes as a means of linking content and advertising to mobile devices and the internet has led to a number of technology developments, and could be close to a tipping point in some markets. Two-dimensional codes in various forms – with the non-proprietary QR codes the most popular – offer a variety of opportunities and market interest has led to an extension of the Digimarc system in which codes are embedded in photographs and other images. There will be winners and losers, but in the ‘all-for-free’ environment of the internet, QR has benefits for readers and publishers, while the Digimarc option is so low profile, advertiser and publisher users have had to draw attention to it. QR is becoming part of the mobile way of life in Japan, and is catching on in Australia, Korea and the UK. In a blog for ‘American Printer’, US consultant John Parsons says some experts believe a tipping point in the massive North American market will occur in less than a year, while others believe the camera technology in mobile phones needs to catch up first. Spreading from the US – where it was first trialled by newspaper and commercial web press maker Goss International – is a QR-based system called GossRSVP with a media link service which went global earlier this year. Application of Digimarc’s digital watermarking technology for newspapers and magazines was one of the novelties of the mediaXchange trade show in Florida in April. The proprietary system works by generating a watermark in a photograph or illustration, using a Photoshop plug-in. So far its biggest success has been in Spain with partner aquaMobile, publishers Júbilo and Vocento and a winery owned by actor Antonio Banderas. It works in much the same way as QR and other printed codes – you scan the code with a mobile phone, which then links to the target URL – the difference with Digimarc is that the watermarks are embedded in photographs or text, and not obvious to consumers. Indeed, in the tests with ‘Autofacil’ magazine in Spain, the publisher has added a graphic to the page to draw attention to the facility. Breaking news, multimedia content and detailed product information is being accessed via the free Clic2C phone app. Digimarc marketing vice president Jeri Owen says the bridge between physical print and the internet is a step in a vision of mobile phones becoming a ‘seeing, hearing, and understanding’ device that simplifies access to network services in everyday life. The technology is also used by copyright owners to protect their images from unauthorised use, and to generate a revenue stream for publishers. Press maker Goss has developed the back-office infrastructure to make QR codes work for advertisers: Its self-service subscription programme includes a media campaign creation dashboard, mobile-ready content and websites, a QR code generator, tracking metrics, a reseller model and opportunities for white label self-branding. With an online subscription, an advertiser can create a campaign and place an automatically-generated 2D QR code in their print advertising, signage, internet pages or other media. Consumers then use their mobile phones to gain access to additional media created by the advertiser, such as coupons, pictures, videos and mobile landing pages. The advertiser gets campaign and consumer metrics, leading to an enhanced ROI. Because the global codes are non-proprietary, mobile users may choose to download any open market scanner application to their phone and use it to interact. A new service allows GossRSVP customers to download direct SMS 2D QR codes for any promotion created. The media link service also has both direct SMS and http auto-generated 2D QR codes downloadable for use., although some SMS services are currently only available in the USA and Puerto Rico. Goss says its applications can also be ‘white labelled’ and branded by the user, and has announced a deal with Wave2 which will add GossRSVP to its i-Publish AdPortal platform. Integration of the technology with other business applications may be done via an API and custom applications. Meanwhile ppi Media – which belongs to rival press maker manroland – has announced a cooperation agreement with XNiP to develop the use of its codes, which consist of letters and numbers. Ads and editorial content from any print product can be linked to internet sites, especially social media services, using the system. Readers would be able to store text interesting content in their Facebook account, send it to friends and sort it according to topic. Publishers and advertisers gain the opportunity of reaching more people, and delivering richer content. Workflow specialist ppi Media has taken responsibility for integrating the XNiP codes into ad order entry systems and providing training, while XNiP provides the technology. A plug-in for ppi’s AdMan enables automatic triggering of the code generator during advertising production. Uploading digital content to the XNiP server for distribution to Facebook is also fully automatic in AdMan. Apart from their cooperation in Germany, ppi Media will also be XNiP’s exclusive partner in the US market. Three technology options, three partners ready and hoping that there is not a product before its time. Certainly, things need to happen before there can be a real take-off. Better mobile phone cameras, for one... but that’s happening. Even Apple’s new iPod 4 – on the market outside North America from the end of last month – has much improved camera quality. And advertisers will need to provide a better experience for mobile phone users than they would get with a normal website. Parsons makes the point that marketing professionals and their print service partners will need to be ready. “One of the barriers has been the absence of pre-installed QR Code reader software on most phones, but Google’s latest Android operating system now includes a reader and other mobile vendors are following suit,” he says. And he warns that QR codes will arrive sooner than most think. “Getting ready for that day is not an option.”