Siri will give new meaning to SEO an SEM (hint: *Siri* optimization)

Siri is a remarkably useful tool, essential even.  In a recent article Ryan Kim writes 

... A lot of apps could make use of Siri or similar technology as a shortcut for all kinds of actions, letting people speak naturally to accomplish tasks that might be harder to access using touch input. But I think location-based services specifically could benefit most from Siri ...

... If I could just ask Siri what deals are nearby, it could make it much more easy to discover offers around me...

... Privacy is still a big concern for consumers and a major barrier to adoption for location tools. And there’s also the potential that location-based offers could also become annoying as they multiply. But with a system like Siri, users could access the tools they want when they want them, without having to be worried about privacy or getting bombarded by location-based offers as they walk from block-to-block...

I quite agree with the general thrust here - making searching easier is always a good idea, with anything that decreases the conscious effort associated with using a tool a big win.  The easy example, of course, is WYSIWIG GUIs.  For those who recall the dark-ages of PCs, you once had to manually embed each and every formatting character into your documents (think HTML!).

If we get past the "searching for a deal" issue above (*), the privacy issue is a bit of a killer.  People are becoming increasingly aware of the adage If you aren't paying for the product, you are the product.  The EU, in particular has implemented a fairly strict set of privacy protection policies in this regard, and in the more permissive US, people are becoming increasingly leery about giving up data.  Towards that, I do see less Push-oriented information being presented to users, but more Pull-oriented information. 
Yes, Foursquare and other location services will still be relevant, with people consciously providing information.  However my suspicion is that most of these users aren't updating their location for commercial purposes, but are instead doing so for social purposes.  In this environment, pushing deal-oriented information to consumers will be counter-productive, increasing the friction associated with the afore-said social activities.

My real fear, however, is that all systems can be gamed in one form or the other.  In that vein, I fully expect Siri to end up being gamed, with any number of advertising, marketing, and related startups working on building out Siri-optimized content.  SEO and SEM will take on a whole new meaning, as these companies build out whole new methodologies and lexicons associated with getting Siri to do things their way, not your way.  Its not that the two need to be in opposition - its just that, economically speaking, it is in their best interests to get Siri to do things their way, regardless of what you want. (Yes, I'm being cynical here).  I expect there to be a lot of work going into fun stuff like "Siri, call me a taxi" getting you exactly the wrong type of Taxi...

Lastly,  we should note that Complexity never goes away, it just moves up the food chain.  One of the major problems that Siri solves is the reduction of action-friction - i.e., a reduction in the number and type of overhead activities necessary to accomplish a given task.  What this does translate to is that on the user's end, the type and complexity of any issues Siri causes will be fewer, but much more dramatic in scope.  The one time that you really really need to get to the meeting across town in Boulder, a city that you've never been to, and you say "Siri, Give me directions to my meeting", something goes wrong and you end up in Englewood (hint:  other side of Denver from Boulder)

So yes, color me slightly sceptical about the "killer app"-ness of some of these predictions...


(*) - Contrary to the buzz, I really don't think everybody is constantly running around looking for deals.  The next time you're going anywhere, look around.  Heck, look at your own actions.  Odds are, you aren't saying "Which coffee shop is going to give me a good deal?".  You are much more likely to just go to your usual Starbucks to get your usual Mocha-Latte-whatever.  Rabid consumerism just isn't as Rabid as people expect it to be.  Witness the rapidly decreasing buzz around the daily-deals products (but thats fodder for a different article)...