56% Say They Have Seen a Product Bar Code

“Mobile barcodes hold promise for marketers as a mechanism for activating other media and providing a bridge between the physical and digital worlds,” said Noah Elkin, eMarketer principal analyst.

In other words, they are an easy way to create an online experience from an offline source.

“But they also present challenges, including fragmentation between open and proprietary barcode formats and the requirement that consumers download a dedicated application to read the codes.”

Software incompatibilities can be a problem, though that is less a problem as time passes. The bigger issue is the value of the information the bar code triggers.

Among the more-interesting applications are ways to engage shoppers while they actually are in a store, shopping. But that means doing something more than pointing a user to a generic website.

Mobile Barcodes Can Be a Powerful Tool Provided Marketers Add Value - eMarketer

Neustar Lauches 2D Barcode Clearinghouse

Neustar recently launched a "Mobile Barcode Clearinghouse Services" operation intended to ensure that any mobile barcode can be read by any mobile phone or application. 

That might not seem like a big deal, but history suggests that penetration and use of any technology, no matter how useful, never gets routine and widespread use so long as the information cannot be communicated effortlessly across the entire base of people, applications and devices.

That was true for railroads. It was true for phone service. It was true of text messaging and email, and it won't be different for 2D barcodes. 

"The clearinghouse is an important component of Neustar’s mobile internet solutions strategy, which bridges network operators and enterprises and simplifies their delivery of value to customers," Neustar says. 

Neustar is right about that.