November 12, 2009

Yahoo! Launches Mobile Site for U.S. Hispanic Users

Yahoo! has launched a site in Español targeted for the U.S. Hispanic market. The site is available for over 1,900 devices at http://espanol.yahoo.com.

Here's what you can expect:

• Discover via results from Yahoo!'s award-winning mobile Search, editor-selected content, and U.S. and global news content presented in Spanish, including the "América Latina" news section, which provides relevant content from the Latin American region.
• Stay connected through access to email and social networking accounts from the most popular Web providers, as well as instant messaging, address book, and calendar functions.
• Stay informed by bringing favorite Web content --sports, news, local information, RSS feeds, weather, stocks, horoscopes, and more -- to a single location.

"With the launch of Yahoo! Mobile en Español, we are focused on growing our audience among the more than 46 million U.S. Hispanics by providing a mobile experience that is both culturally and personally relevant, bringing together their world and the world around them," said Felipe Muñoz, senior mobile director, Yahoo! Hispanic Americas.

Focusing on the Hispanic market is a smart move for Yahoo! comScore mobile internet data shows adoption among Hispanics outpacing other demographics, with 88% accessing the mobile internet on their cell phones.

Meanwhile, Yahoo! is experiencing great success with their mobile homepage, with global usage tripling over the past two years.

"With the introduction of our new Spanish-language homepage, we are well positioned as the center of people's online lives. We're reaching the highly influential and increasingly mobile Hispanic market with an engaging and customizable mobile Internet experience, regardless of the language users prefer," said Muñoz.

The new mobile homepage will also enable a great advertising opportunity for companies targeting the Hispanic market.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

September 29, 2009

Yahoo! Launches Ads on Mobile Search for iPhone and Android

With mobile search on the rise, it's no surprise that search engines wish to monetize the traffic. Yahoo! today announced that they're adding search advertising to their mobile search for iPhones, iPod Touches and Android devices.

One ad appears at the top of the search results and two ads appear at the bottom. Take a look:

Noticeably missing from the announcement is the inclusion of Windows Mobile phones, a curious exclusion in the wake of the recently struck Microsoft-Yahoo! search deal.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

May 22, 2009

Yahoo! Updates iPhone App with Voice Search

Yahoo! has introduced a new voice search feature in an update to their iPhone app. To access voice search, open the app and click on the Y! icon (with the word "More" underneath) in the right lower corner of the screen.

Then click in the Yahoo! oneSearch box. The keyboard will pop up and a large, spacebar-like box with the words "Press + Speak" will be available. Click on it, say your word or phrase, and then tap again. The app will "think" and then pull up results. The initial results will pull up local options (which are hit or miss) but keep scrolling for typical organic results. Keep scrolling even further for universal options like news, photos, and answers. (See below for screenshots)

I must say, I use the Yahoo! app nearly every day to read the news. (Though, I wish there was an "email story" option directly from the app.) That, along with the Yahoo! Inquisitor app are two of the most useful apps I've seen in the productivity, news, and reference categories. I'm very impressed with what Yahoo! is doing in this space.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 2, 2009

Yahoo! Launches New Mobile Site and iPhone App

Yahoo! has unveiled a new mobile version of their site. It can be accessed at http://new.m.yahoo.com. Check it out, compared to the old version:

New

Old

Yahoo! has also released a mobile app for the iPhone. They previously have released Inquisitor as an iPhone app (of which yours truly is a big fan) as well as Yahoo! oneConnect as an app. Now, the new Yahoo! mobile app is basically their portal, app-style.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 10, 2009

Yahoo! Adds Features to oneSearch Shortcut, Including Voice Search and Auto-Locate

Yahoo! has updated the oneSearch Shortcut with three new features. Voice search, auto-locate and improved Search Assist (for Blackberry) have been added and now oneSearch Shortcut is available for the Windows Mobile Client.

The auto-locate feature uses cell tower triangulation and wifi to determine a user's location. The improved Search Assist incorporates search history for Blackberry users.

Yahoo's oneSearch Shortcut was launched last August, initially just on Nokia devices. Last April, Yahoo overhauled oneSearch itself, Yahoo's mobile platform.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 20, 2008

Yahoo! oneSearch Selected as Mobile Search Service for T-mobile's Web2go

Yahoo!'s mobile search product, oneSearch, has been selected by T-mobile for Web2go, their new customizable mobile web portal.

Yahoo's oneSearch is designed to provide answers. For example, if you query a sports team, the results will give you scores, schedules, team profiles and the team's web site.

David Ko, senior vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo! Inc. had this to say: "With our innovative products and global partnerships we are a leader in mobile search and are incredibly excited to bring Yahoo! oneSearch to more and more users every day. Together, T-Mobile and Yahoo! are providing users with compelling mobile services, while creating unique opportunities for advertisers to reach the rapidly growing audience of mobile consumers."

In September, Yahoo! announced that oneSearch had been set as default on AT&T's mobile web portal. In August, a shortcut to oneSearch was launched on select Nokia devices.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 8, 2008

Yahoo's oneSearch Now Default on AT&T's MEdia Net Mobile Portal

Yahoo's mobile search, oneSearch, is now set as the default mobile search engine on AT&T's MEdia Net portal. Users will be able to access news, financial information, weather conditions, Flickr photos and web and mobile sites. Additionally, users will see ringtones, wallpaper, gaes and other content for their phones.

AT&T's YellowPages.com will still provide local search results.

"Our customers want mobile search to be convenient and intuitive, and Yahoo! oneSearch is an important step for us in delivering that level of experience to them," said Michael Bowling, vice president--Converged Services, AT&T.

"With Yahoo! oneSearch, we created an award-winning mobile-first search experience capable of delivering relevant answers to mobile users on-the-go. With over 60 partnerships with leading mobile operators around the globe, we are a leader in mobile search and are incredibly excited to bring Yahoo! oneSearch to more and more users every day," said Bruce Stewart, vice president and general manager, Connected Life Americas, Yahoo! Inc. "Together, AT&T and Yahoo! are meeting consumer demand for compelling mobile services, while creating scale for advertisers, enabling them to reach the rapidly growing audience of mobile consumers."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 22, 2008

Yahoo! Launches oneSearch Shortcut on Nokia Devices

Yahoo! is rolling out a new mobile search feature for Nokia devices. The feature is a shortcut that allows users to access oneSearch via one click on the downloadable mobile search client.

The feature is available on Series 60 Nokia devices North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and South America.

Yahoo says a key integration of the shortcut is Search Assist, which is search suggestion technology for oneSearch. Search Assist was launched last October and made its mobile debut this past April at CTIA.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 17, 2008

Yahoo! Mobile Expands Partnerships in Asian/Pacific Region

Playing on their popularity in the region, Yahoo! Mobile has announced the expansion of its search and advertising partnerships with Asia/Pacific companies. Yahoo! has scored 5 new partnerships with mobile operators agreeing to include oneSearch in their mobile search offering. Over 60 oneSearch partnerships have been developed over the past 18 months.

Yahoo! Mobile is also rolling out new mobile widgets for the region including Yahoo! Answers, Yahoo! India Movies, MTV Asia, and Yahoo! Cricket.

In Singapore and India, oneSearch with voice for English now recognizes accents spoken in those countries, and there are new localized versions of Yahoo! Go 3.0 for Australia, India, and Southeast Asia.

In Malaysia, Yahoo struck mobile advertising partnerships with two mobile operators. The deal includes graphic ads and are similar to deals struck with AT&T, T-Mobile International and Vodafone UK.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 16, 2008

Google Dominates Mobile Search Market Share in Q1 2008

Continuing its dominance in search, Google saw 61% of mobile searches in the first quarter of 2008, according to data released by Nielsen Mobile. Yahoo came in second at 18%, while MSN lagged behind at third with 5%.

65% of Google searchers were male while 63% of Yahoo searchers were male.

When it comes to what mobile searchers are looking for, Google and Yahoo users are alike:

Google searches: Information 33% Local listings 29% Websites/navigation 27% Yahoo searches: Information 33% Local listings 24% Websites/navigation 26%

But finding satisfactory results is still a bit of a challenge when it comes to mobile search. Only 44% of Google searchers and 40% of Yahoo searchers rated their experience in the 8-10 range on a scale of 10.

Last week, Google announced that it updated its mobile search offering to make it faster for searchers on the go.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 12, 2008

Yahoo! Partners with Coupon Inc. for Mobile Coupons

Yahoo! and Coupons Inc. are launching a mobile coupon platform. Coupons Inc. is a leading online coupon distribution network and has relationships with 800 brands. The mobile network will immediately be available to all brands within the network.

“We see mobile coupons as a natural extension of our leading digital marketing platform and a way to turn coupons into a strategic marketing vehicle that delivers value,” said Steve Boom, Senior Vice President, Mobile, Yahoo!. “Our global reach, leading position in mobile advertising and the ability to deliver the right offer to people, coupled with Coupons, Inc.'s leadership in coupons, creates a unique opportunity to define and catalyze the market for mobile coupon promotions. When consumers get a coupon they want it's not seen as an ad – but a gift.”

While the mobile coupon market is relatively new, the strategy is expected to be a fruitful source of revenue for mobile publishers.Recent data from Hitwise shows that traffic to coupon websites is up 56% from 2007. Yahoo! and Coupon Inc. are hoping that translates to mobile.

“Coupons, Inc. has been innovating coupon technology for a decade. Mobile coupons are a logical next step in the industry's evolution, and we continue our commitment to drive interactive coupons with our new mobile initiative,” said Steven Boal, CEO of Coupons, Inc. “By partnering with Yahoo!, we will extend our customers' reach to a new generation of consumers — especially teens and young adults — in a medium that best fits their lifestyles.”

What do you think of this partnership? Are mobile coupons going to be lucrative? Let us know in the comments.

Related Reading: Local Search at the Pump

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

April 3, 2008

Yahoo Unveils Upgrades to Mobile Search Platform

Yahoo has announced upgrades to its mobile search platform, oneSearch. The 2.0 version of the service includes brand spankin new features to make searching on the go a little easier.

A major new update is the addition of voice search. Yahoo is partnering with vLingo, a speech recognition company, to provide the service. The more a searcher uses the voice search, the more the technology recognizes an individual's voice and can adapt to it. Initially, the voice search will only be available for select Blackberry devices, including the Curve and the Pearl. In coming months, the service is expected to expand to include more devices.

Other new features to oneSearch include predictive type completion and contextual recommendations as you type in a search query. For example, as you start to type in "apple," oneSearch will guess what you're trying to type as you enter the first few letters. And users also may get suggestions to search for "apple iphone," "apple stock price," or "apple stock price."

Yahoo is also opening up the platform to publishers and developers. By doing so, the company hopes to:

-- Turn web search results into answers - the usefulness of the results increase as more actual content is returned versus traditional web links

-- Unlock the power of the Semantic Web - results integrate more helpful content, much that otherwise is not usually surfaced in search results

-- Provide more relevant content - consumers receive richer information, into which they can dive deeply Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo! said about the updates, "With Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0, we are fundamentally changing the way consumers use the Internet on their mobile phones."

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:20 AM | Permalink

March 4, 2008

Yahoo Announces onePlace at CeBIT

Yahoo took advantage of the CeBIT conference in Hamburg, Germany to announce the forthcoming launch of onePlace, a content management solution developed as part of the company's growing mobile services. The platform works on a system of bookmarking, allowing users to categorize their favorite content (news, videos, images, emails, etc) and then view it with ease on their mobile device.

Dynamic content will be automatically updated, which should appeal to the likes of sports fans, investors, and frequent flyers. A feature called “Pulse” enables users to view the latest changes to their content collections.

The success of onePlace will depend on its ability to aggregate content to meet the demands of the mobile user. Small screens and connectivity issues require mobile content to be organized and presented in a more streamlined manner than for desktop browsers.

The launch of onePlace is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2008. It could coincide with the expected Q2 launch of Yahoo's mobile phone service, oneConnect.

This news comes on the heels of Yahoo's announcement of a partnership with T-Mobile in Europe for its oneSearch mobile offering. Yahoo seems to be staking out its territory in mobile search as Google attempts to grab a piece of the mobile pie by strengthening its ties with Apple and AT&T earlier this year.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:57 AM | Permalink

February 12, 2008

Yahoo OneSearch T-Mobile vs Google vs Nokia

While the Google vs. Nokia global battle escalates (GPS-enabled Nokia phones vs. Google Android-driven handsets), the mobile phone is fast becoming the gateway to the Internet, Wireless Web and local search.

You can imagine the frantic calls lately between Silicon Valley and Redmond:

Steve: "Jerry, have your people call my people." Jerry: "Frack off, Steve."

Yahoo announced a strategic partnership today with T-Mobile in Europe. Yahoo! oneSearch will become the exclusive mobile search service for T-Mobile's 11 European markets by the end of next month. Yahoo! oneSearch is designed for mobile phones to deliver relevant results and instant answers without navigating through a sea of blue links.

A number of Yahoo! oneSearch partnerships have been announced in the last year. Since introducing Yahoo! oneSearch in early 2007, Yahoo! has signed partnership agreements with more than 29 mobile operators covering more than 600 million mobile subscribers worldwide.

In a statement, Marco Boerries, execute vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo, said, "When we created Yahoo! oneSearch, we had a belief that mobile search was not the same as PC search. A fundamentally different approach was required, one that included different usage models and results filtering. Most importantly, we believed there was no guarantee that success in PC search would automatically translate into similar success in mobile search, creating a real opportunity for those who innovate."

Recent strategic Yahoo! oneSearch partnerships include AT&T (United States), a global framework agreement with America Movil (16 countries across Latin America), a partnership with Rogers Wireless (Canada), partnerships with 16 operators (Asia Pacific Region), and an agreement with Telefonica (portals in 15 countries in Europe and Latin America). Yahoo! will be the exclusive or preferred mobile search service on the carrier portal.

Yahoo! oneSearch has added Flight Tracker, movie reviews (critics and UGC), and movie trailers (select carriers/handsets), along with Yahoo! Answers and Wikipedia. If you're lucky enough to read this at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Yahoo will discuss its strategy for the local mobile search ecosystem.

Or, if you're in New York, join the Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Strategies, and ClickZ teams at the Yahoo Search Spotlight Awards.

Posted by Kevin Heisler at 9:02 AM | Permalink

October 1, 2007

Yahoo Expands Reach of OneSearch in Europe, Latin America

Yahoo has doubled the reach of its oneSearch mobile search application by partnering with mobile provider Telefonica to make oneSearch the main search service on Telefonica's mobile portals.

OneSearch, a mobile-specific interface and algorithm, was launched in January with the Yahoo Go for Mobile downloadable application, and expanded in March to be available to all WAP-enable devices on the Yahoo Mobile site. OneSearch was launched in Canada and five countries in Europe in May, and to six mobile operators in Asia in June.

Through the Telefonica partnership, OneSearch is now the main search service for users in 15 countries in Europe and Latin America. Global expansion of its mobile search offering is a priority for Yahoo, according to Steve Boom, SVP of broadband & mobile at Yahoo, who posted on the Yodel Anecdotal blog:

We plan to continue this great global momentum for oneSearch. We're working to make oneSearch one finger away through a host of high-quality carrier and device partnerships. As of today, oneSearch is the priority search service for over 200 million mobile consumers through seven major mobile operators in nearly 30 countries across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Our ultimate goal is to connect one billion mobile users worldwide, so you can count on more to come.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:30 AM | Permalink

May 16, 2007

Yahoo oneSearch Adds 7 More Countries

Yahoo announced it has added the availability of its oneSearch mobile application to seven more countries.

India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are now part of the growing list of countries that can use Yahoo search on mobile devices. The country count is now 80 according to the country drop down menu.

And to think this application launched in March 2007. Not bad for two months.

Posted by Frank Watson at 2:45 PM | Permalink

May 3, 2007

Yahoo Brings Mobile OneSearch to Canada, Europe

Yahoo today launched its OneSearch mobile search application in Canada and five countries in Europe (U.K., Spain, Italy, Germany, and France). It's been designed specifically for mobile device users, with the goal of providing more relevant results on the first page, such as local business listings (and local ads), weather, news headlines, and financial updates.

The application was launched with the Yahoo Go service in January, and made available to WAP device users in the U.S. in March.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:29 PM | Permalink

March 27, 2007

Yahoo Launches Mobile Publishers Services

Yahoo announced it will be offering advertising through its newly formed Mobile Publishers Services.

Yahoo detailed its move into the sale of advertising through its partnerships and oneSearch its mobile search engine.

The Yahoo press release is below: Yahoo! oneSearch has reinvented the mobile search experience for consumers, and today Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) will open it up to publishers through Yahoo! Mobile Publishers Services. This will extend the range of content consumers will be able to easily discover and access using Yahoo! oneSearch on their mobile phones.

"We believe Yahoo! oneSearch finally gives consumers what they want - instant answers and not just links to Websites," said Marco Boerries, executive vice president of connected life, Yahoo!. "But this is only the beginning. Opening Yahoo! oneSearch to the universe of mobile Internet content and services provided by other publishers will give consumers even more instant answers and information right at their fingertips."

Yahoo! Mobile Publishers Services will allow publishers to include their content in Yahoo! oneSearch. (see press release titled: Yahoo! Launches Yahoo! Mobile Publisher Services) These new services include:

-- Yahoo! Mobile Site Submit - will add to the range of mobile Web sites consumers can search for and find

-- Yahoo! Mobile Media Directory - will make it easier for consumers to find mobile media content, such as ringtones, games, video and applications

-- Yahoo! Mobile Content Engine - will add to the types of content, such as classifieds or real estate listings, that consumers will be able to easily discover on their mobile phone

Yahoo! oneSearch is accessible on more than 85 percent of mobile phones through the mobile Web in the U.S.* and is also available through the gamma version of Yahoo! Go for Mobile 2.0. It is designed to make searching for and finding information as quick as possible for consumers by providing relevant results right on the page such as news headlines, images, business listings and more as well as easy navigation to other websites.

Yahoo! oneSearch will roll out in additional country and language versions over the coming months. For additional information on Yahoo! oneSearch please visit http://mobile.yahoo.com/mobileweb/onesearch. To try Yahoo! oneSearch on your mobile phone open your browser and type in m.yahoo.com.

Posted by Frank Watson at 12:37 AM | Permalink

March 20, 2007

Yahoo Increases Reach of OneSearch

Yahoo today made its OneSearch mobile search product available to all WAP-enabled devices, broadening the reach of the service to more mobile Web users. OneSearch, a mobile-specific interface and algorithm, was launched in January with the Yahoo Go for Mobile application. That meant that users had to actively download it, unless they bought one of the few but growing number of devices that come with Go pre-loaded.

By making OneSearch available via its Yahoo Mobile site, Yahoo is making a statement of its intentions on the mobile space, Lee Ott, director of mobile Web at Yahoo, told SEW.

"With OneSearch for Yahoo Go or mobile Web, both underscore our focus," Ott said. "We intend to be number one in mobile search, and in mobile search monetization."

Web search providers have often been criticized for trying to "cram a Web search experience into a mobile device," Ott said, but OneSearch is a departure from that tactic. While it uses much of Yahoo's underlying Web search technology, it also applies mobile-specific algorithms to create an experience tailored to mobile devices.

For example, mobile searchers are presented with options they are most likely to use, such as returning a phone number, directions, or ratings of a local business high in the results. And the differences between Web and mobile search are expected to become even more pronounced as Yahoo continues to analyze mobile user behavior, Ott said.

Yahoo is building mobile ads from the ground up as well, Ott said. Yahoo introduced a beta test of mobile search ads in October, one month after Google began trialing mobile ads in the U.S. and Europe. It introduced the Go client for mobile devices in January 2006. Last month, Yahoo began offering mobile display ads in 19 countries.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:01 AM | Permalink

January 9, 2007

Movements in Mobile Search Land

Mobile search has been quite, well, mobile lately. Becoming a regular topic in search marketing conferences, and often discussed in various forums and blogs, mobile search certainly seems to be one of the bigger trends emerging in late 2006 into 2007.

As announced and discussed in various blogs and news sites, Yahoo! seems to be making most of the news in the past couple of weeks, but there are plenty of others to keep an eye out for.

Greg Sterling discussed the acquisition by Yahoo! of Dash on January 3. This deal will help Yahoo! provide mobile search in cars, and as Mark Walsh points out in MediaPost, allows Yahoo! to claim a spot in the field of automobile mobile providers along with Google. Mark reminds that Google is currently working on a project with Volkswagen (nice intro here) to provide what may would hope would the "farfegnugen" (interesting definition in this thread) of mobile search.

Today, Mark wrote in detail about Yahoo!'s announcement of oneSearch for Go 2.0 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas , previewed yesterday at Search Engine Land.

In addition, and with good timing some will feel, 4info announced that they are upgrading their mobile search product to provide one click search instead of requiring text message responses to queries. Mark at MediaPost is on top of this story as well, and there is no announcement as of yet at the 4info Blog.

Mobile search is "where it's at," to quote Beck. Two sessions at SES Chicago covered the latest technology and how search engines are helping to provide platforms for more user-friendly mobile search. Coverage can be found here and here.

Posted by Chris Boggs at 10:32 AM | Permalink

October 4, 2006

Yahoo Rolls Out PPC Ads In Mobile Search Results

Yahoo is launching (in beta) paid-search ads in mobile in the U.S. and expanding its test program in the U.K. Only a "select group of advertisers" are initially included (it's not clear what the criteria are). But the number of advertisers will expand over time as the program rolls out.

According to the press release, "consumers will be able to click on the sponsored search results to go to the advertisers' mobile web site or a landing page to get more information about the advertisers' offerings, including the ability to call the advertiser."

Yahoo had already been running tests of mobile PPC ads in the U.K. and Japan.

According to CTIA-The Wireless Association, there are more than 194 million wireless subscribers in the U.S., with a market penetration rate of about 65%. In other countries, especially Northern Europe, penetration rates exceed 100%. And China claims over 400 million mobile phone subscribers.

Indeed, as Yahoo's Terry Semel and Google's Eric Schmidt have now pointed out multiple times (I'm paraphrasing), "There are more wireless devices in the world than PCs." As a result there's a great deal at stake in developing a viable mobile search capability and the advertising that goes with it.

According to an article today in MediaPost, which points to a study by mobile research firm M:Metrics, response rates to text (SMS) ads on mobile phones are "only" 7% vs. 29.1% or more in countries in Europe where mobile text ads are more common. Obviously a response rate of 7% is higher than average response rates to sponsored search online. There are several competing studies, however, that argue consumers are least interested in advertising in SMS vs. other mobile formats.

Not to confuse matters, Yahoo's new mobile PPC launch is not about SMS. Rather it's sponsored ads in mobile web search results.

Earlier this week mobile marketing firm Enpocket released the results of a study conducted by Harris Interactive with 1,200 mobile users in the U.S. Europe and India. The survey found general acceptance of mobile advertising deemed "relevant" by consumers. A majority of respondents (78%) said that "they would be happy to receive advertising that is tailored to their interests. Of those, 64 percent would be willing to provide personal details to be analyzed to improve relevance of targeted ads."

In general response rates in mobile tend to be higher than online because of relevance and less ad clutter -- there are fewer competing advertisers to click on (or call). PPCall firm Ingenio has repeatedly cited very high PPCall response rates for its advertisers in mobile, partly for that reason.

Mobile advertising is also great opportunity for local search. People are often looking for local information when they're on the go and have traditionally had to rely on directory assistance (DA), which has been limited by "what city, what listing?" rather than offering the open-ended ability to conduct a category search. Newer services are seeking to broaden the scope of DA, which is starting to evolve into voice-enabled mobile search. Yahoo already offers most of its properties on mobile devices and in June of this year research firm Telephia found that Yahoo Mail was the most visited site by mobile users.

Google shows PPC ads on mobile search results as well.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 9:07 AM | Permalink

August 16, 2006

Yahoo Partners With Go2 For Mobile Search Ads

Forbes reports that Yahoo has signed an agreement with Go2, a mobile Yellow Pages directory service, to offer Yahoo sponsored search listings on the search results displayed on the mobile Go2 results. The Wall Street Journal has a bigger write up on cell phones and ads, stating, "some of the largest wireless companies in the U.S. are starting to allow advertising on their cell phone networks." But don't worry, "no major carrier is talking about displaying ads on home pages or while customers are making calls." You will most likely see ad integration in the form of the Yahoo & Go2 partnership, i.e. ads tied to content, be it text alerts, mobile searches, mobile browsing and more.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:34 AM | Permalink

July 20, 2006

Motorola To Add Yahoo Go for Mobile On Phones

Reuters reports that Yahoo and Motorola have teamed up. The Yahoo Go for Mobile service will be added to many new Motorola phones. The multi-year deal sets Motorola to add this Yahoo service on new mid-priced and high-end Motorola phones. No specific models numbers were provided.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:01 AM | Permalink

June 30, 2006

Yahoo Beta Tests Searchable Yahoo Mobile E-Mail

Gary Price reports that Yahoo is beta testing a new Yahoo Mail interface here. Gary says the most notable difference between the current version and the beta version is that in the beta, you can search your mail on your mobile device.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:31 AM | Permalink

June 23, 2006

Japan's Softbank Mobile Phones To Use Yahoo As Content Portal

MarketWatch reports that Softbank, who acquired Vodafone, will be using Yahoo to "bring the broad world of the Internet" to their mobile users. The mobile phones will have some sort of direct link to the Yahoo portal, to bring the content of that portal to Softbank's mobile users.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:00 AM | Permalink

April 7, 2006

Yahoo Go Mobile Search & Portal Tools Coming To BlackBerry

The Yahoo Go mobile search and portal applications announced earlier this year are coming to BlackBerry users. The companies announced a partnership yesterday. You can't get it yet, but watch this page for more. That page also has tips on how to get some of the same Go services now on your BlackBerry until the Go application makes it easier.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:02 AM | Permalink

January 6, 2006

Get Ready for YahooPhone!

In a story first reported by the Wall Street Journal, numerous blogs including Threadwatch and PaidContent.org out that Yahoo and SBC/Cingular are planning to develop a Yahoo branded cell phone (built by Nokia) that will also include an MP3 player and camera.

SBC and Yahoo already partner on a broadband service. PaidContent says that the phone will be out next year and sell for $200-$300. Additional posts from Inside Google and vnunet.com.

Postscript: The official news release is also available.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:08 PM | Permalink

Yahoo Go Puts Yahoo Services Into Cell Phones, TV & PCs

Yahoo has launched Yahoo Go (link via PaidContent), a suite of products designed to let people reach information whether they're on their PCs, phones or using TV. The suite will be formally announced by Yahoo CEO Terry Semel at CES keynote today

Yahoo Go Mobile currently works only for Nokia Series 60 phones. It will allow you to sync your contacts, photos and mail with Yahoo. Yahoo says that in the near future, Yahoo Go Mobile will be preinstalled on the Nokia 6682 from Cingular Wireless. Beyond Yahoo Go Mobile, plain old Yahoo Mobile has a wide range of services, some of which involve no special software at all.

Yahoo Go TV is a coming application for Windows XP machines that allows you to see photo slide shows, listen to internet radio stations, search for movie info and clips and find video from the web. What's the TV part, then? It will work with a PC-enabled TV, News.com reports. Or, I suspect, a PC that displays TV in addition to a PC desktop, such as the Windows Media Center does. This application looks to tap into existing Yahoo products but perhaps make them easier for users to be aware of through a more customized software interface.

Yahoo Go Desktop / PC is another coming application that looks incredibly similar to the Google Sidebar. It allows you to apparently tap into and sync more easily with existing Yahoo services such as Flickr photo sharing, blogging on Yahoo 360 and Yahoo Mail. A new "social browser" is also promised, though this seems to be the sidebar or dashboard-like application I mentioned. From various reports, Yahoo Go Dashboard appears to be the name of this.

Yahoo To Launch Go Initiative; Mobile, Connected TVs & Desktop Access over at PaidContent has a nice summary, and via Russell Beattie, a number of articles have some additional details.

Yahoo goes mobile over at News.com says Yahoo Go Mobile will work in 10 different countries (I suspect this actually means it will work with 10 different Yahoo country specific editions, such as Yahoo US versus Yahoo UK). Yahoo Go TV is promised for download before April and remote recording of TV shows is planned.

Yahoo Launches Content Service for Phones from the AP covers Yahoo working with Motorola to bring Yahoo Go into its phones, though Google still looks to be the preferred search provider for Motorola, given its deal announced today.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:33 AM | Permalink

October 1, 2005

Yahoo Testing Mobile Search Ads In Japan & Britain

Bloomberg News reports that Yahoo is testing paid ads on search result pages delivered to mobile phones and devices in Japan while also auctioning off ads on the Yahoo Mobile travel site in the UK.

"The way that Yahoo is going to stay relevant and essential is by extending our services beyond the PC browser to all devices that consumers use," Garland, who runs Yahoo's mobile group, said Wednesday in an interview at a conference in San Francisco. "There will be a paid search market that develops."

More in the article: Yahoo! is testing cell phone search ads.

In August, AOL Mobile Search began to show paid listings at the top of some pages.

The other day I posted a few thoughts about branding specific mobile search and answer tools as another way for search providers to make money in the mobile search space.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:33 AM | Permalink

September 13, 2005

Yahoo Shopping Goes Mobile

Yahoo has just released a mobile version of Yahoo Shopping. Details and instructions here. The mobile version of Yahoo Shopping will work on mobile phones/devices with a WAP 2.0 enabled browser that has access to one of the following networks: Cingular–Orange, Cingular–Blue (formerly AT&T Wireless), Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, and T–Mobile.

Along with the new (beta) mobile version Yahoo Shopping, the folks in Sunnyvale have also added a feature to the web version of Yahoo Shopping that allows the searcher to send product info directly to their phone (via SMS, text message). Look for the "Send to Phone" link on "product pages." Yahoo also offers the send-to-phone feature for Yahoo Maps and Yahoo Local.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:50 PM | Permalink

Mobile Search Done By Few, But Still Popular Mobile Internet Activity Overall

How's search as a mobile internet activity? The Utilitarian Life of the Mobile Internet at ClickZ cites stats saying it's the third ranked category in the US for June 2005 according to Telephia, behind email (done by 4.8 percent of mobile users) and weather (3.9 percent). Search is done by 2.9 percent of the mobile audience. As you can see, all categories have a small number of the 191 million estimated mobile internet users doing anything -- but when they do go online while on the move, search is strong.

Most likely category of users to do mobile search? Those aged 35-41 (32 percent). OK, that's the most likely category to do email and weather, as well, suggesting to me they've got tech savvy plus the money to spend on devices and access. But interestingly, search is the most likely mobile activity by 18-24 years olds over others, including email and weather.

Most popular mobile search site? Google, with 2.1 percent of the mobile internet audience reach. Yahoo comes next at 1.4 percent. But Yahoo Mail is the second most popular destination overall at 2.4 percent, and Yahoo Driving Directions makes the list with 1 percent reach.

The ClickZ article has all the charts; original charts and details from Telephia here (PDF file).

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:50 PM | Permalink

September 7, 2005

Google Loses Another Employee To Odeo; Yahoo Gains Nokia Guru

Some employee shifting news, this time someone from Google's Blogger service jumping over to Odeo plus Yahoo gaining a noted Nokia employee.

Dirson notes that Biz Stone from Google's Blogger has jumped ship to the Odeo podcasting service (which I find pretty cool and hope to do a longer review shortly). Evan Williams, cofounder of Blogger, started Odeo after leaving Google last October. Stone explains his reasoning here, saying:

Blogger is hitting a high note right now in more than one aspect with lots of cool stuff to work on over the next year. It's been awesome here at Google and I'm going to miss working with such a great group of people....

Odeo was officially founded in December of last year and recently announced funding. There's already an awesome group crowded into that little San Francisco office and I figured if I wanted to play, then now is the time. So I looked into it and Williams told me I have a face for Odeo. Well, not in so many words but you understand. There's lots of potential here and I'm excited about doing my part to help see it through. I'll miss working with my Google friends but I look forward to shaking things up and, er, making some noise at Odeo.

Meanwhile, Russell Beattie notes that Yahoo has gained Christian Lindholm, who he says is the "father" of the Nokia Series 60 an Navi-key UI. He'll be VP of global mobile products. Lindholm shares more on his blog here, including his three reasons for going to Yahoo:

• A perfect blend of content and communication

• Yahoo being well positioned for expected growth in the next generation of the web

• Yahoo really wants to "crack" the mobile internet nut

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:46 AM | Permalink

July 27, 2005

Yahoo Acquired VerdiSoft Mobile Sync Company

VerdiSoft acquisition could help Yahoo users stay synched from SiliconBeat notes that Yahoo acquired start-up VerdiSoft in February but news has apparently only come out now. The company has a Connected Life product designed to let mobile operators keep their customers in sync with data. Makes sense with other Yahoo moves that have happened, to tap into the growing mobile platform. Heck, maybe it will mean that I'll have a sync system that actually work for getting my stuff off my desktop and phone and into Yahoo. The Intellisync software Yahoo uses just crashes on two different computers I tried. Maybe it's me :(

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:00 AM | Permalink

July 26, 2005

Yahoo and Motorola Announce Partnership

Yahoo and Motorola announced a partnership today that will provide optimized versions of various Yahoo services on Motorola Linux-based mobile devices, broadband-enabled products for the connected home, and through Motorola’s forthcoming iRadio service. Motorola's Yahoo optimized products are expected to be available to consumers in major markets starting in 2006. Additional details in this news release.

Posted by Gary Price at 4:37 PM | Permalink

July 7, 2005

Yahoo Now Offering SMS Search Tool; Expands Reach of Mobile Web Search

A new Yahoo SMS Search service is now available, allowing searchers in the US to get back certain types of information from Yahoo via text messages. In addition, Yahoo has expanded its web search service designed for mobile users to work with WAP-compatible browsers.

Running an Yahoo SMS search is easy. Simply send a text message to Y-A-H-O-O (92466) and enter the required shortcut. For example, to get a local weather report, message 92466

weather [Zip Code] -or- weather [City, State].

such as

weather 92663 -or- weather newport beach, CA

Actually, you don't even need to enter the word "weather" to access a local forecast. Simply typing the letter "w" and a location will work, such as:

w 92663 -or- w newport beach, CA

Here's a list of the shortcuts Yahoo is currently offering with their new text message service:

• Local Listings from Yahoo Local  
• Weather  
• Stock Quotes  
• Word Definitions  
• Horoscopes  
• Area Codes  
• Zip Codes  
• Wi-Fi Hotspots

Yahoo SMS Search also allows users to respond to text messages replies from Yahoo to receive updated information.

For example, you send a text message to Yahoo asking for a stock quote. Twenty minutes later you want to get an updated quote. Instead of sending a new text message to Yahoo, you can simply respond to the first message.

Yahoo SMS Search also will embed useful URLs into some text messages. Simply click, and assuming you have mobile web access, a web browser will open with more info. For example, a stock quote might also include a link to a complete stock chart.

To see a complete list of shortcuts, send a text message to 92466 with "help" in the body of the message or visit this web page. At launch, the service is available to Cingular, Sprint and Verizon users.

Yahoo joins Yahoo joins Google, 4info.net, UpSnap, Synfonic and Smarter.com in providing some SMS search services.

A SMS-based version of Yahoo Messenger is also available. Check the Yahoo Mobile site for more details on this.

Aside from SMS search, Yahoo is also making Yahoo's regular web search service more accessible to mobile users. Previously, Yahoo web search could only be accessed by those with mobile devices that had HTML browsers. Now, WAP 2.0 (XHTML) capable can access the service.

Simply visit the mobile.yahoo.com site using your phone, and a specially optimized version for mobile devices should appear. By the way, the same Yahoo Shortcuts that work with Yahoo SMS Search are also available with Yahoo's mobile web search service. They've been online since late 2004.

FYI, if you want to see that service from a non-mobile device, you can try it here.

Finally, we mentioned when covering Google's new index of mobile web pages that Yahoo was developing its own mobile web index and taking submissions here. That index is not part of the new launch, Yahoo says, and there's still no timeline on when it will go live.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:00 AM | Permalink

July 5, 2005

Japan: Mobile Version of Yahoo Shopping Now Available and Searching With Your Cameraphone

The InfoWorld news brief: Yahoo launches cell phone shopping in Japan lets us know that the service has just gone live.

Presently, the Yahoo Mobile service here in the U.S. doesn't offer an interface to Yahoo's shopping database. However, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see shopping added to this mobile platform in the future.

We've posted about a couple of SMS-based (text messaging) shopping services that are currently available in the U.S. They include:

• UpSnap

See the SearchDay article: New Mobile Phone Search Service

• Smarter.com

• Froogle.

One of the most interesting mobile shopping tools that I learned about in 2004 comes from Amazon.com Japan. They're offering a service that allows the user to access comparison pricing info by simply pointing their mobile phone's camera at a UPC symbol.

This story also points out that if you have a Nokia 3650, you can use the camera to do some comparison pricing for books.

Boston-based Mobot, is also doing work in visual search via mobile phone cameras. Very cool!!! A demo is also available.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:47 PM | Permalink

June 16, 2005

Google Now Offering Index of Pages Optimized for the Mobile Web

Google Search For Tiny Screens from InternetNews.com report on Google releasing a new beta service for mobile web searchers that allows searching an index of pages that have been, "optimized by their publishers for the small screen."

Google does a special Web crawl to create a separate index of XHTML pages, [Deep] Nishar director of wireless product management for Google, said; he wouldn't disclose how many pages were in the Mobile Web index, but said, "Many sites are using formats that are more conducive to a better user experience on mobile devices." Users can point their mobile browsers to Google's search site, type in the query, then select Mobile Web (beta) as the search option.

Google's other mobile services including web search, image search, and local search remain available.

FYI, Yahoo is planning a similar index which authors can submit to now here. The submission page has been live for about a month or so. Yahoo hasn't yet set a date for when the actual mobile index will go live.

Google also blogs about the service here today, but the link they use to point at hasn't been working, so far. Postscript: Content owner advice on getting listed here; submitting here; the actual service for those on non-mobile browsers here.

Want to discuss? Visit our forum thread, Google Mobile Web Search Launched

Posted by Gary Price at 10:26 PM | Permalink

June 10, 2005

Ads Coming to Mobile Search

It looks as if keyword advertising is coming very soon to the mobile search arena.

A short article on the Netimperative site points out that Yahoo Search Marketing Services (formerly Overture) has signed a deal with Mobile Commerce to provide keyword ads, something we haven't seen much of on mobile services up to this point, on a new "mobile" travel search site that will launch later this year in the UK.

The three companies currently bidding the highest amount for those keywords will have their advertisement shown to the user...Sean Walker, general manager of vertical markets at Overture said: "This service is going to replicate the internet performance-based search advertising model, where companies bid and pay for advertising space in real time. "For us, this is a natural transition from the advertising we serve on the internet. Many of our existing advertisers are interested in this new method of distribution."

Posted by Gary Price at 11:37 AM | Permalink

April 26, 2005

Mobile: Yahoo Announces Deal to Pre-Load Mobile Services onto Nokia Smartphones

Mobile: Yahoo and Nokia Make a Deal A brief story on the Netimperative site provides news of a deal between Yahoo and mobile phone/Smartphone maker Nokia.

According to the story, Yahoo Mobile services will soon come "pre-loaded" on several models of Nokia Smartphones. This means new Smartphone users are likely to first interact with Yahoo's mobile services before possibly encountering services from other mobile search providers. In other words, get to the new user as soon as they turn on their phone for the first time. Remember, changing user behavior is a challenge. (-:

Nokia will also allow current owners of several models of Smartphones to download the Yahoo suite of services. Additional details in this news release.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:07 PM | Permalink

March 14, 2005

More Mobile Search and Info News

I'm starting to wonder if we'll soon need a blog that only focuses on mobile search and info retrieval. (-: Three news items from the mobile front today.

+ Yahoo and AOL have both announced deals that will provide Blackberry users with preinstalled versions of Yahoo Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger clients on their devices. Versions of Yahoo Messenger and AIM are already available from several wireless providers.

+ More about other mobile services AOL plans to release in the Infoworld article: AOL unveils set of new mobile services.

+ FAST Search and Transfer has launched a new mobile product called Fast mSearch that can intergrate a variety of mobile content. More info here.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:32 AM | Permalink

March 12, 2005

Mobile Access to Your My Yahoo RSS Feeds

As Danny pointed out the other day, mobile access to info and search services continue to be of interest to me. Services from new players as well as from established companies are appearing on a daily basis.

As this CMPNet Asia story points out, that the mobile version of My Yahoo now allows you to view your RSS feeds via your WAP browser. In other words, My Yahoo joins Bloglines from Ask Jeeves as services offering mobile tools to access your feeds. More info and details about how to access your feeds via My Yahoo Mobile in the story: Yahoo Launches Mobile RSS News Feed and in the Yahoo Search Blog post: My Yahoo! Mobile RSS.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:11 PM | Permalink

February 7, 2005

More Yahoo! Mobile Services Coming to Yahoo! Europe

Netimperative's article: Yahoo! expands mobile services, reports that Yahoo! Europe has signed a deal with Mobile 365 to provide mobile connectivity for various Yahoo! Europe services.

In Europe, Yahoo! aims to extend its communication, information and entertainment services from the desktop to any mobile device.

Current services include the mobilization of Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, the ability to compose SMS messages from the desktop, the latest finance and news information, plus a range of ring tones, videos, games, logos, and picture messages.

About two weeks ago, Yahoo! Local (U.S.) began offering a service that offers the user the ability to quickly send a Yahoo! Local entry (phone number, address) from their web browser to their cell phone or mobile device via SMS.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:12 PM | Permalink

October 27, 2004

Yahoo Adds Local, Web and Image Search To Mobile Lineup

We've said several times that mobile and sms search tools are rapidly gaining steam in the U.S. Today, Yahoo Mobile has introduced a few new services.

Yahoo has added local search, web search, and image search to their already large set of mobile services (news alerts, games, IM, etc.) delivered to your wireless web browser.

Yahoo Local is now available for mobile users. Results include ratings, maps, and directions. If you have a My Yahoo account, your saved locations are also available. You can also dial the phone number included in the result listing directly from the results page.

I wouldn't be surprised that sometime soon Yahoo will begin working with wireless carriers to automatically detect the searchers location (at the time of the search) and base directions off of that data.

Today is also the debut of the Yahoo image and web databases on Yahoo Mobile. Your wireless web browser will need to be HTML capable.

Image results pages contain three images per page while web results contain five links per page.

Mobile searching is the perfect place to use search shortcuts and we've seen Yahoo introduce a number of them over the past several months. For example, entering weather [city name, Zip} will place the current temperature and conditions at the top of the results page. NOTE: At the moment not every Yahoo shortcut works on the mobile service. I tested several of them and found that these work: + weather + calculator + sports scores + stock quotes + dictionary definitions

Search results page accessed via Yahoo Mobile do NOT contain keyword or contextual advertising.

To access Yahoo Mobile on your wireless browser, go to: http://mobile.yahoo.com

I've been using Yahoo's mobile services for over a year (I'm a Treo guy) and the addition of these new services is great. Search is quickly becoming more than a desktop only service.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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