Mobile search gains momentum

As mobile content proliferates, so too has mobile search, gaining in both popularity and frequency of use in the United States and Western Europe alike, according to research firm comScore M:Metrics. Based on a study released this week, in June 2008, 20.8 million US mobile subscribers and 4.5 million European mobile subscribers accessed search, representing a year-over-year increase of 68% and 38%, respectively.
The UK saw the highest penetration of mobile subscribers using search, at 9.5%, trailed closely by the US at 9.2%.

The study found that the number of US users accessing mobile search has more than doubled as a result of expanded 3G penetration, Smartphone adoption and proliferation of flat-rate data plans. At the same time, mobile search offerings in the US have also improved. Google remains the first choice in browser-based searches, with a 60% share of mobile searches in all countries measured by the study. Following closely in the US is Yahoo, with 34.6% mobile searche penetration -- more than double its share in most other countries. Still, the continued reign of these powerhouses hasn’t deterred other startups from trying their hand at mobile search.

At last week’s CTIA Wireless IT and Entertainment show in Las Vegas, Mobile Content Networks took its federated search platform, allwords, global. What it calls a search merchandising solution, the platform has proven popular in Japan, where it was launched in 2007 on NTT DoCoMo’s iMode portal and with Yahoo Mobile Japan. The service will launch in the US as a commercial trial and will also be distributed via operators in Thailand, Scandinavia and Turkey as well as on BuzzCity’s mobile social network.

Through allwords, mobile content providers can purchase all the keywords of a popular vertical content category, such as music, games or shopping, that bring mobile users directly to the related digital content for purchase and consumption via the mobile phone. The content providers are charged a pay-per-click fee and can manage the advertising budgets and content category promotions, as well as measure user response directly.