Google may be miles ahead in Web search, but the business of finding material on the Mobile Web remains an open question. It's turning into an out-and-out horse race, with Google taking a slender
lead with 4.75 million monthly subscribers, followed by Yahoo with 3.65 million, and MSN with slightly less than 1 million subscribers, according to mobile researcher M:Metrics.
The
mobile game is different because it down to each search company's relationship with the carriers. For this reason, companies like Medio Systems can slide in, secure a few deals and shore up some
market share. Four-year old Medio has partnerships making it the default search engine on Verizon (VZ), T-Mobile (DT) and Amp'd Mobile services, among others. These are U.S.-based deals, which makes
Media something of a leader in the U.S., though its service isn't tracked by M:Metrics and other research firms. Most of Google's share comes from big partnerships in China, Japan and Europe.
Says Media Chief and co-founder Brian Lent: "What we see is that someone that goes to Google search will often switch and use our product."