GoMo Mobile Search News

Google's David Thacker on the mobile user interface

Rating: interesting

by Bena Roberts

I recorded David Thacker's speech during the Mobile Ad and Search conference in London last week and just listened to it again.

I have to commend Google on the company's corporate ability to say a lot but still not say very much! But anyway the cream of the crop of the presentation was about the user interface and how that was the vital to mobile. He touched on Android but really the whole presentation was on UI.

Google now offers bid to help Yahoo! The plot thickens

Rating: OMG

by Bena Roberts

So this article in the International Herald Tribune states (http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/04/business/04google.php)
That Google’s CEO phoned Yahoo! CEO to try and help?

It states
In addition, several Google executives made "back-channel" calls over the weekend to allies at companies like Time Warner, which owns AOL, to inquire whether they planned to pursue a rival offer and how they could assist, these people said. Google owns 5 percent of AOL.

Google on Yahoo! And Microsoft hostile bid

Rating: hmmm

By Bena Roberts

Now, when I first read Google’s response to Yahoo! And Google bid posted by David Drummond SVP and Chief Legal Officer – I wasn’t sure what to think.

The push on the word hostile is very clever and strategic. There is no mention of the fact that Yahoo! Was in trouble and was about to get rid of 1000 jobs and in this light Microsoft might actually be helping the company?

On top of that I sense from this that any IM company is now squarely on Google’s hitlist as it is nervous about the MSN and Yahoo Messenger link.

Google results boring, Terry Semel out of Y!

Rating: in out in out shake your Yahoo! about

So, first of all I listened to the Google results in the recording. Then I received an email that Terry Semel is stepping down.

Google mobile web - again?

Rating: "we are still testing"

Last week the SEO Principle Nadir Garouche noticed that the Mobile Web results were back on Google when browsing on a mobile device.

I quizzed Google on this at the Mobile Search and Advertising forum in London on Monday and the response was, "we are still testing- to get it right".

So, even though the Mobile Web is back - it's not sure if its there for good or where its place in mobile results will be. I am not a huge fan of transcoding and accessing made for mobile sites via mobile - must be the way forward.

Google improves mobile local search

Rating: sounds like a universal local search box

I hate writing about things I havent' tested. But with a sick laptop a broken hard drive and the loss of my WAP simulator - I am unable to test this search service from the office in Germany.

But apparently Google has re-desiged mobile local search by killing the vertical listing of queries and replacing it with one box with a number of categorized results.

More when I test it.

att.net powered by Yahoo! Ad-Funded content rules.

Rating: Revenue Share Wins!

Big companies are partnerng with other big companies and saving money by using the revenue share model. This way - the sales process seems to get easier and Yahoo! can win (much needed) ground on rivals.

After display ad deals in the UK and Germany (Voda and T-Mobile) Yahoo is now loving AT&T. The new portal for AT&T content att.net will be powered by Yahoo! and display adverts will fund it.

Yahoo! T-Mobile Mobile display advertising

Source: Reuters

Yahoo!’s aggressive sales strategy seems to be working and according to Reuters T-Mobile has signed up Yahoo! to provide display advertising on T-Mobile’s Web ‘n’ walk service.

What we think?
This is the mash-up of the year as T-Mobile gets jiggy with nearly all the mobile search advertising providers out there.

CES: Yahoo! Go 3.0, Widgets and new home pages

Rating: Don’t Go, Come back

Yahoo has announced several major changes at CES.

Why?

The company hopes to accelerate the growth of mobile.

What are the changes?

Mobile Asia congress – Yahoo! Go(es) Chinese, adds operators and focuses on consumers

Rating: go!

by Bena Roberts

Yahoo! is creating some noise in Asia at the Mobile Congress. Firstly, Yahoo! Go is now available in the Chinese language for Taiwan (which means that it’s probably going into HTC devices).

Poker with Chief Architect and Co-Founder Medio Systems Michael Luni Libes

Rating: Ace, King, Queen

by Bena Roberts

After the Blender I had been invited out for dinner with Medio Systems Michael Libes and Roger Davies but I had two tickets to the World Poker Party run by Hands On Mobile at the W Hotel. So Roger decided to hang out with some of his friends and Michael and I headed to the poker event.