Mobile Operators to Create Search Engine?

According to news reports, seven international GSM mobile operators plan to create a search engine, exclusively for the mobile phone market. The companies, rumored to include Vodafone, France Telecom, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Hutchison Whampoa, Telecom Italia, One American network and Cingular, will come together for high-level talks at the mobile industry’s annual trade show in Barcelona next week.

The impetus for creating this new search platform has come from declining revenues for the operators, due to cheaper call rates. Network operators are now determined to delve into the search advertising market to boost revenue. Moreover, statistics show that in UK alone, more than 20 per cent of subscribers are expected to have access to mobile internet at broadband speeds by the end of 2007, which should prompt a dramatic increase in the use of search engines via mobile phones.

If the initiative is rolled out, it will be a surprise for search giants such as Yahoo! and Google. While Google has already tied up with Vodafone and T-Mobile, as well as Hutchison’s 3 and China Mobile for mobile search, Yahoo! has so far signed up Vodafone and 3, and is already featuring sponsored links. The Google mobile search engine does not make money because it hasn’t started selling sponsored links to advertisers.

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The move to create an exclusive search engine platform for mobile phones is similar to last year’s announcement of the Mobile Instant Messaging initiative, by the same group of mobile operators.

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