• Local Mobile Search, Tuesday, September 9, 2008 2:01 PM

While talks of a Google/Verizon search deal have simmered, Yahoo and AT&T launched a partnership that will give Yahoo oneSearch the default "on deck" search service for upcoming handsets. "This puts Yahoo!'s search and brand in front of a potential 70 million mobile AT&T users," Greg Sterling says. "The deal was announced earlier in the year and is part of the broader, long-term relationship between the companies."

Of course, Yahoo will provide the mobile ads, while AT&T's own Yellowpages.com will deliver the local search listings. But Sterling says the bigger news is the potential market share Yahoo could snag as a result of the arrangement. "The formal launch of this deal could provide a big boost to Yahoo!, which trails Google in mobile search market share in the US," he says.

Nielsen Mobile pegged Yahoo's mobile search market share at 21% in June 2008, in contrast to Google's 62%. Internal research from Sterling's firm pegs both companies' market share slightly lower (Google at 55% and Yahoo at 16%).

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