Yahoo has won another wireless carrier for its mobile Internet search tool. The company joined T-Mobile in announcing Thursday that oneSearch will be the search utility for T-Mobile’s web2go service.
Yahoo said more than 70 mobile operators worldwide are now using its mobile search tool.
T-Mobile said oneSearch will provide web2go users a better Web-browsing experience “by making it easier to view and navigate the Web through a customizable home page,” as well a simplified shopping and download experience.
Grouped Results
oneSearch enables users to search for a variety of information on the Web. It also allows users to find content on the T-Mobile store, including ringtones, wallpaper and games.
The search results will place relevant ads at the customer’s fingertips, with either sponsored search results or display ads.
Since a mobile user’s display space is limited, the Yahoo tool has been designed to provide results grouped around a given search term. For instance, a search for a movie title returns theaters with show times, reviews, information on the actors, and related articles. Or a search on a sports team returns relevant scores, schedules, profiles for teams, news, and a link to the team’s Web site.
‘More Easily Digestible Content’
The basic idea is that, rather than having to use a mobile device to drill down into search links as one might do on a computer, the most common collection of related data comes to the top on the first search. This approach, said T-Mobile USA Chief Development Officer Cole Brodman, “delivers a more intuitive mobile experience that places the most relevant information at the fingertips of T-Mobile customers.”
Sean Ryan, an analyst at industry research firm IDC, noted that efforts have been ongoing to determine the most useful way to search on a mobile device. “It’s limited, of course, by the small screen, alphanumeric…