• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 14, 2006

Yahoo and the teen-targeted mobile provider Helio announced a partnership on Thursday to co-market mobile Internet services. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the number of Helio users who download Yahoo services to their phones will factor into the equation, a Yahoo spokesman said.

Helio, a joint venture of Web service provider EarthLink and South Korean carrier SK Telecom, has agreed to make Yahoo search the default search setting on its phones--a position seen as key to cornering the nascent mobile Internet space.

Beyond the default search setting, users will have to opt in for additional search options and Yahoo services, including its forthcoming Yahoo Go for Mobile, Yahoo news, sports and finance content, as well as Yahoo's e-mail and instant messaging services.

Yahoo is also giving users of Helio phones first crack at its new "single button search" technology, which attempts to differentiate between local search queries and non-local queries. So, for example, if a Helio user searches for "baba ganoush," Yahoo's system should know to return a list of nearby Middle Eastern restaurants. If users search for "Britney Spears," however, Yahoo should recognize the query as geographically neutral.

The companies plan to on co-marketing Yahoo-equipped Helio phones across Yahoo's network of Web sites and various other marketing channels. Specific launch dates have not been set for the ad campaign or the Helio phones themselves, but a Helio spokesman said to expect launches before summer.

Notably, the partnership indirectly allies Yahoo with MySpace, because the social networking site recently announced plans to also co-market mobile services with Helio. Thus, any of MySpace's over 70 million members who opt for a Helio/MySpace phone will be corralled into searching the Yahoo.

Yahoo is aggressively preparing its mobile battle plan, having earlier this year established relationships with AT&T, Cingular, Nokia, and Motorola, among other companies. And just last week, Yahoo said it was expanding its relationship with BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion, giving users of the popular smartphone additional Yahoo e-mail and search services. The services will come in the form of the forthcoming "Yahoo Go for Mobile" service--which is expected to launch later this year--and give users full access to Yahoo with one click.

To reach consumers, Helio is planning on renting network space from Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group.