AT&T Picks Yahoo oneSearch As Mobile Search Engine
According to a statement from both AT&T and Yahoo, Yahoo oneSearch will power mobile Internet searches made through AT&T's on-deck MEdia Net portal, making AT&T the first U.S. carrier to integrate Yahoo's mobile search service directly into its portal.
Yahoo said the addition of oneSearch will give AT&T MEdia Net users access to news, financial information, weather conditions, Flickr photos and Web images, as well as Web and mobile Web sites. Yahoo oneSearch will also display ringtones, wallpaper, games and other content available in the AT&T MEdia Mall within search results, meaning users won't need to search in separate windows for downloadable content.
As part of the agreement, AT&T's Yellowpages.com will provide local search information to customers as part of the deal.
Yahoo's oneSearch is specifically designed for mobile users, returning results grouped around a user's query. For example, if a user searches for a sports team, the search engine returns scores, schedules, team profiles, roster, news, images and a link to the team's Web site. Similarly, if a user searches for a movie, Yahoo fetches and displays local show times, reviews, news articles and cast information.
"Customers no longer need to surf through a sea of links to find the information they want on-the-go," the companies said in a statement.
Along with making Yahoo oneSearch the default mobile search engine on AT&T phones, Yahoo! will also provide mobile-sponsored search advertising within mobile search results through AT&T's MEdia net portal.
"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," Michael Bowling, AT&T converged services vice president said in a statement.
Yahoo has partnerships with 60 carriers worldwide to offer OneSearch services on mobile networks that serve roughly 800 million subscribers.
The partnership is a revision of an earlier pairing between Yahoo and AT&T where Yahoo will provide search and advertising services to AT&T's broadband computer, Internet TV and mobile phone customers, which replaced a 2001 broadband agreement where Yahoo split revenue with AT&T when customers signed up for broadband Internet services in AT&T's service area, Reuters reported.
In a separate move, Yahoo also reached a contract extension with Verizon Communications on a similar deal to deliver Web services to Verizon broadband and Internet TV users. That deal, according to Reuters, does not cover mobile phones. On the mobile phone side, Google is in talks with Verizon to become its preferred mobile search provider.
