In February less than 9 million people in the US used mobile search, according to Telephia, out of a mobile phone user base of 233 million. Despite this apparent lack of interest the heavyweight online search giants are keen to grab the lions share of the mobile search market, notes New York Times. The reason is summarized by Greg Sterling of the research firm Sterling Market Intelligence: “There is a pent-up demand for mobile search that didn’t really exist with the PC…And competition is really starting to create some innovation.” This doesn’t really seem right — if there is a strong demand for mobile searches and search companies are keen to provide a solution, what’s the hold-up? The article lays it at the door of the telcos, which prefer to make deals with smaller search companies and keep their customers (and the resultant revenue) in-house.
Peggy adds: In its attempt to explain the slow take-up of mobile search services this article points the finger at recent tie-ups between operators and white label search providers rather than delving into the deeper reasons. It simply doesn’t follow that operator alliances “with small technology companies that offer generic search services, which carriers can stamp with their own brand” has held up the market in any way. In fact, Medio Systems, which supplies mobile search services to T-Mobile USA and Verizon, recently made the point that its user stats — ignored in research that focuses on brand-name mobile search — show significant search usage. (What’s more, the article fails to investigate precisely why operators in the U.S. have so far avoided joining up with brand-name search providers. Operators are cautious
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