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Internet Bar Code Service Sends People Direct to Web Pages by Entering Bar Code Numbers.

November 14, 2004 - Laguna Niguel, CA - People type a bar code number into a search box at keyword.com, click 'GO', and go direct to a web page that the bar code owner has specified.

keyword.com enables bar code owners to use their existing bar codes in a new way - for information, instruction, customer service, advertising, marketing, promotion, brand awareness, and for numerous other purposes.

In its straightforward simplicity, Bar Code Service enables a wide spectrum of supply chain, consumer, and industrial applications that are easily implemented, and extremely flexible.

You may see or hear the words "enter the bar code at keyword.com" late in this holiday season - very late - since one of the many benefits of keyword.com Bar Code Service is last-minute promotion and near-immediate set-up.

Bar Code Service is enabled by keyword.com, and managed for its members - distributors, retailers, or manufacturers (the bar code owners). 

Here's how this simple process works:

The bar code owner registers with keyword.com and assigns certain bar code numbers to launch specific web Site pages. 

The bar code owner then promotes the phrase "enter the bar code at keyword.com" to any group of people in one or a number of ways.

To enter the bar code, the user types the bar code number into the bar code box at keyword.com, clicks 'GO', and instantly lands on the specific web page the bar code owner assigned to that bar code.

keyword.com makes getting from bar code to web page so seamless that once the user clicks "GO', the only way to return to keyword.com is via the browser BACK button. The web page that Bar Code Service launches is not in a 'new window' or a co-branded window, or a pop-up... it is the page the bar code owner specified.

keyword.com is one of the most memorable, easily-spelled domains on the worldwide web - a 'keyword' being the root of all searches - making "enter the bar code at keyword.com" very easy to remember.

The bar code is on the label or packaging, so to enter it at keyword.com the user needs to personally spend time with and interact with the product.

Product interaction is inherently built into the process no matter how Bar Code Service is applied, providing an immediate benefit to bar code owners.

All of this sounds simple and straightforward, and it is. Simplicity and ease of implementation combined with basic and proven technology are what makes Bar Code Service so feasible, practical, and appealing.

Other benefits to the bar code owner (and potentially others) include reducing costs, saving time, increasing productivity, nearly unlimited flexibility in terms of applications, and a significant number of new opportunities.

Since keyword.com is so easy to remember, and the bar code number appears on every package or label, a user told to "enter the bar code at keyword.com" is very likely to follow through.

Exactly who is told to "enter the bar code at keyword.com", the means by which they are told to do this, what they are promised, and the content of the web page that results from entering the bar code at keyword.com, are entirely in the hands of the bar code owner and based on the intended outcome in each instance. The possibilities and combinations are limitless.

In person, on the phone, or in a memo, a bar code owner may tell a select group of sales floor trainees to 'enter the bar code at keyword.com' on a specific day to receive specific training relating to a specific product.

A person on a receiving dock might find a note slipped into a master carton with the words 'enter the product bar code at keyword.com' and obtain updated product-specific storage or handling instructions.

A technician might enter a bar code at keyword.com to obtain a schematic.

On a consumer level, first time buyers or loyal customers might find  'enter the bar code at keyword.com' under one bottle cap, every bottle cap, on the bar code label,  at point of purchase, or anywhere else. An 'on-hold' customer service message might tell people, "for faster service, you can enter the bar code at keyword.com".

In cases - consumer, industrial or supply chain - where the words 'enter the bar code at keyword.com'  are nowhere to be found, bar code owners can still drive people to a content-specific web page by telling them to 'enter the bar code at keyword.com'  via any appropriate media, and at the very last minute.

Why would the bar code owner not do any or all of  this on its own home page? Two reasons: it takes up valuable home page real estate; and the offer may not be in such widespread distribution as to justify promotion on the home page. A web Site can have unlimited sub-pages, though these have lengthy URLs (web addresses), that are far too difficult for users to enter.

Bar Code Service makes any page on a web Site as easily accessible as the home page. Users go direct to content when the bar code is entered since the only page that appears when the bar code is entered is the page the bar code owner specified - even though that page can have links to all others - or not.

Bar Code Service is nothing new to keyword.com. It's simply a different application for the same service keyword.com has been reliably and continuously providing to members and users worldwide since May of 1997.

keyword.com has always been as accessible and easy to use as any major search engine, and has always worked for everyone, everywhere, on any computer, without any software or hardware modification.

The only bar codes that will ever work at keyword.com will be those registered by bar code owners. Others, if entered, simply will not work.

Bar Code Service is provided to bar code owners and for bar code owners. 

keyword.com has no plans to do any promotion of its own, or promote the entry of any bar code numbers, or publish any of the bar code numbers registered. This keeps the service fair to all and enables the Bar Code Owners to manage and develop their own programs using Bar Code Service.

According to keyword.com creator and owner Rob Cummings, "I simply saw a fit between keyword.com, bar code owners, and what keyword.com could do for them. Bar Code Service is simple, direct, and very flexible, enabling bar code owners complete freedom to do what they do best, while keyword.com continues to do what it has done all along - send users to specific web pages with unique numbers or terms."

The History of the Bar Code (also told at keyword.com) includes an article provided by the inventor of the modern bar code,  George J. Laurer, who is now semi-retired yet an active bar code consultant.

The story of how the bar code came to be is short but fascinating... even for those who were around in 1974 when a pack of Wrigley's gum scanned in Troy, Ohio at 8:01am launched a revolution in retailing, logistics, and supply chain management.

Rob Cummings commented, "George Laurer - the inventor of the modern bar code - has been extremely thoughtful with the insight he has provided,  generous with his time, a great inspiration, and it's exciting to be able to stay in touch with him."

Since each bar code is item-specific, the web page that Bar Code Service launches can be extremely content-specific - down to exact the size, volume, color, flavor, etc - or a bar code owner may choose to direct a set of bar codes to the same less specific yet content-relevant web page.

Function and efficiency aside, entering a number at keyword.com and being whisked off to an unknown web page can be a bit magical.

The message with the words "enter the bar code at keyword.com"  may indicate what the user might find when entering the bar code at keyword.com - or not.

Bar Code Service simply takes a number and sends the user to a specified web page. This means everything can be changed by the bar code owner - the message, as well as the web page content - at any time.

The bar code owner may update its web page to add, delete or update information, add, delete, or change promotions, change the entire page - or even redirect the page to another.

According to keyword.com's creator and owner, Rob Cummings, "The supply chain and industrial applications could save a great deal of time and money. The  consumer applications could be very entertaining and filled with both anticipation and adventure, or both. When everything can change at any time, it could be a lot of fun for consumers."

Regarding additional services planned for the future, Rob Cummings commented, "My goal is to forge relationships with bar code owners and serve their needs, keeping the service as simple and straightforward as possible. In that respect, I have no interest whatsoever in becoming involved with product or price comparisons, couponing, gathering statistics, analyzing metrics - any other similar activity - or anything else that could happen between entering a bar code and going to the web page."

Rob Cummings, who is a 27-year veteran of the marketing and advertising business, commented: "One aspect I find most intriguing is that Bar Code Service, by its nature, will cause people to spend more time with the product and the brand in an entertaining way. If the reward for entering the bar code is reasonable, I imagine you may see some consumers writing down bar codes in store aisles to enter them when they get home - or simply buying the product if they don't have pen and paper. Either way, this aspect is a brand manager's dream."

Rob Cummings said "I am very interested in inspiring the imagination of bar code owners, brand managers, marketing communications directors, (and others in the supply chain), and helping to identify new applications for bar code owners to take full advantage of this seemingly obvious, simple, yet powerful concept of Bar Code Service."

A nominal annually renewable flat fee per product set is charged to bar code owners to enable and maintain Bar Code Service.

Anyone can try keyword.com Bar Code Service by entering 012345678905 at http://www.keyword.com.

For a free trial of Bar Code Service for bar code owners, a free trial form is available at http://www.keyword.com/cntctsBarCode.htm

For more information about Bar Code Service, visit keyword.com, contact keyword.com or call Rob Cummings direct at 949-249-2519.

About keyword.com:

In May of 1997, keyword.com was launched with one simple idea... enable people to enter a unique keyword or phrase (called a SuperKeyword) in a search engine type box, click GO, and go directly to the web page the registrant associated with that unique keyword or phrase. The Internet was young at the time, and this was a revolutionary concept.

The first to offer Internet keyword service that required no toolbar or modification to the web browser whatsoever, keyword.com continues to work for all Internet users as simply and easily as any major search engine.

keyword.com always has worked on all computers with an Internet connection, and always has been accessible worldwide since its structure is the same as every major search engine.

keyword.com has always worked in any language for numeric entry, and in any western language for character entry (SuperKeywords).

As a pioneer in Internet keywords, Rob Cummings, owner of keyword.com, wrote a number of articles on the subject of how Internet keywords could work for the Internet - and how they needed to be managed properly in order to avoid results that were not relevant. Some of these articles (and early Press coverage) can be found in the keyword.com Press archive.

While others came and went (the most notable being realnames.com  - launched about three months after keyword.com and 'oddly similar'), these alternative Internet keyword systems required web browser modification (downloads, plug-ins, special arrangements with Microsoft). They also required the user to enter the keyword into the browser address bar (where the http:// is). For a few years, these alternative Internet keyword systems tried unsuccessfully to capitalize on Internet keywords by charging significant fees.

Operating 'under the radar', keyword.com continued to test its system, process keyword registrations, and reliably enable users to enter a keyword into its search engine type search box (not the browser address bar) and go to a web Site, or any page on a web Site - for free. Its policies avoided any generic keywords. In its 7+ years, the proprietary keyword.com system has never allowed a single duplicate registration, and has never suffered a system failure, making keyword.com one of the most reliable web Sites on the Internet. 

Tens of thousands of Site owners have registered, and hundreds of thousands of Internet users have entered unique terms registered at keyword.com, clicked 'GO', and landed on associated web pages.

A simple idea that has remained true to its initial charter, keyword.com remains privately held and owned by its founder, Rob Cummings, who is also the founder of ESSENTUALE as well as Cummings Design, a business consulting, development, marketing, and branding firm.

For more information visit keyword.com, contact keyword.com or call Rob Cummings direct at 949-249-2519.

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