• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, September 9, 2008

AT&T has formally launched Yahoo's oneSearch as the default search option on its MediaNet mobile portal following a deal the companies struck earlier this year.

Through oneSearch, Yahoo promises AT&T wireless customers access to news, financial information, weather conditions, Flickr and mobile Web sites. The service will also include sponsored search ads with results as well as ringtones, games and other mobile content available via AT&T's on-deck Media Mall.

As part of the agreement, AT&T's YellowPages.com will provide local search information. Yahoo and AT&T will share search ad revenues under the deal, although the companies declined to provide further details on the split.

Yahoo has already forged more than 60 agreements with carriers worldwide for oneSearch, including Vodafone, but AT&T is the first major wireless operator that the Web portal has become the default search provider for in the U.S.

"We're creating a new marketplace for search engines," said Bruce Stewart, vice president and general manager, Connected Life Americas, Yahoo Inc. "We're focused on building that same level of monetization and scale for mobile as on the Internet."

The major carriers have historically been reluctant to share revenue with the Web portals, but lately have begun to work more closely with them to tap the ad potential of mobile media. News reports last month suggested that Verizon Wireless was close to striking a deal with Google to be its main mobile search provider. No formal agreement has been announced yet, however.

Yahoo's oneSearch is tailored to the mobile screen by returning only the most relevant results on a given query. Earlier this year, voice-recognition technology was added to the search service.