• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, February 12, 2009

With its new initiative to let mobile carriers and publishers embed Google search boxes on their sites, the Internet giant takes another step toward extending its search dominance to the mobile Web.

Through Google's AdSense for mobile search program, mobile publishers and wireless operators and handset makers can use Google to power search and share in revenue from text ads that appear near results formatted for mobile phones.

"And even though the results pages are served by Google, the pages can be co-branded with publishers' logos and linked back to their sites," wrote Yury Pinsky, product manager for the Google mobile team, in a Feb. 10 blog post.

Google launched AdSense for mobile phones--matching ads to the content of a mobile Web page in 2007--but its latest move allows mobile sites to offer their own co-branded search engine. To date, the major players in Web search have focused on forging partnerships with the major wireless carriers to be the default search providers on their mobile portals.

Microsoft last month struck a deal to be the default search option for Verizon Wireless, while Google powers search on Sprint's mobile deck. (Google is also the default search provider on its Android mobile operating system.) Yahoo, meanwhile, is the preferred search partner of AT&T and T-Mobile and Helio in the U.S. and supplies sponsored search on the mobile sites of the Weather Channel, Eurosport and local directory service Go2.

But by moving to syndicate its search box, Google is making a long-term bet on the growth of the mobile Web and users gradually shifting away from carrier portals. Already among mobile data subscribers, slightly more people search through the mobile Web than carrier portals, according to Nielsen Mobile.

Overall, less than 20% of mobile users search via their handsets, but the mobile search audience is growing fast--by 40% during the second and third quarter of 2008 alone. Google already holds a commanding 63% share of mobile search queries, paralleling its online preeminence. But mobile search is still viewed as an unsettled frontier, with established Web brands and mobile startups vying to stake out turf.

"The place (AdSense for mobile search) will have the most traction is with publishers," said Greg Sterling, who leads the local search practice at Opus Research. "It won't gain carrier adoption because they already have deals in place."

He added that Google's mobile search strategy also paralleled its effort to make its search box ubiquitous across the Web a decade or so ago. "This is pretty consistent with what they've done before online," he said. Google's mobile syndication plans could spell trouble for white-label mobile search providers such as JumpTap and Medio.

"What will challenge their competitive position is the revenue-sharing agreements in place with the carrier and content providers as Google's deep pockets will ensure that they match or better the competition's offering," said Deepa Karthikeyan, wireless data services analyst for Current Analysis.

Google did not disclose the terms of revenue-sharing under the AdSense for mobile search program in its blog post, and the company declined to answer any follow-up questions about the effort. But it is inviting publishers and carriers to fill out an online form if they are interested in beta-testing the platform.

Those who respond by Feb. 13 are eligible to join "a limited number of carriers and publishers for a private information session about AdSense for mobile search" at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week.