18 July 2007

Google to launch updated mobile search platform in near future

Google is planning to release a new mobile phone search service in the near future which will put an emphasis on providing mobile phone related content.

Google is no stranger to mobile search, having tailored search towards mobile devices in the past with its dedicated mobile search service, which gives easier access to Google Local results and Gmail for people on the move. More recently, the inclusion of a Google Maps application in Apple's iPhone shows that Google is thinking more about usability and features in the mobile phone arena than ever before.

Google wish to expand their current mobile search offering into a portal of online content including ringtones and games for users' mobile phones. The service would implement the system when the user searches for content that he or she wishes to download. For example, a search for "tomb raider game" may return links to the mobile phone version of Tomb Raider, along with links allowing the user to buy the game directly.

If the service takes off, Google could start offering PPC services for advertisers of mobile content, similar to their original AdWords PPC services - potentially an extremely lucrative business move. $27.4 billion was spent on mobile phone content, including music, games, videos, and ringtones, in 2006. According to figures from the Yankee Group, a technology research and consulting firm, this figure holds the potential for growth to over $59 billion by 2011.

Search engines are beginning to take more note of mobile search as increasing numbers of faster networks are rolled out to mobile phone users and mobile phones become more fully featured.

Yahoo! has also been moving into the mobile search arena recently by partnering with Vodafone to show banner advertisements on mobile phones for car companies Ford and Nissan. Yahoo! also recently purchased a small advertising company who specialise in brokering advertisements in applications and games for mobile phones.

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