Google becomes the default search engine on Opera mobile browser

From now on, Opera Mobile users and Opera Mini users will see a default Google search bar on the start page. Opera and Google recently got into an agreement wherein Google will be the default search engine in both Opera Mobile and Opera Mini mobile browsers. In case you don’t know, Opera Mobile is the mobile browser for smartphones and PDAs and Opera Mini is the mobile browser for low-end mobile phones.

Interestingly, Yahoo was the one who partnered with Opera last year to make it the default search engine in Opera mobile browser. But now both Yahoo and Opera have called off the agreement and Google has used this opportunity to its advantage.

This would be a fruitful partnership for Google, as Opera mobile browser is used by tens of millions of users all over the world. If you remember, Yahoo became the default search engine for T-Mobile in Europe some time back, replacing Google. Now, Google has replaced Yahoo and has become the default search engine for Opera. This, as they say, is competition at its best.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google, All things mobile phones.

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Google partners with Japan’s topmost mobile carrier

Japan’s top mobile carrier, NTT DoCoMo, has partnered with Google to enable Google apps on its mobile phones. Incidentally, it is one of Google’s partners in the Open Handset Alliance. The company has its own mobile internet service called I-mode, which is very popular with mobile users in Japan. From now on, Google will be made the default search engine for people who use I-mode and Google ads will also appear alongside the search results. In due course of time, NTT DoCoMo plans to add Google Maps and YouTube also.

More importantly, the company is planning to develop a mobile phone that will support Google Android. Considering the fact that Google Android platform is not a fully developed one, this is a huge support from the top mobile carrier in Japan and also, this was just the kind of support Google was looking for from mobile carriers, especially the ones in its Open Handset Alliance. So, Google might well as be happy with these developments.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google.

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Find what you want through text messaging - ChaCha is here

First let me throw some statistics to ya all. The U.S. boasts of a mobile phone subscriber base of about 240 million. Of them, only about 20% have mobile phones which support mobile browsing. Of them, only about 5% use that facility regularly.

There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, typing in a mobile phone is not as easy as typing in the regular keyboard and people are not too keen to use it often. But when they do, they want immediate results. But when you search for something in Google or Yahoo in your mobile browser, they don’t get you results, but they show you webpages which have results. Which means, you have to check out those webpages and find out the answer you want. And yeah; not all web pages are compatible for mobile phone. Some might not load properly and you might have problems browsing through some pages. Ok; ok; what am I getting at?

The result is a text messaging based search program which can well and truly end your worries. Now, when you have doubts, all you need to do is text your query and send it to 242242. ChaCha will clarify your doubts in a jiffy.

Some of you might have heard of ChaCha, the internet search engine, which caused quite a stir in the industry when it first came out. The unique thing about ChaCha search engine is that instead of having a program to analyze your query mathematically and come up with the results, it uses guides, who are real people who work on your search query and come up with the most accurate answers. How is it any different/better than Google? Good question. This works perfect for local queries and not-so-important queries, such as who won the game between xoxo college and xoxo college last night, which is the cheapest restaurant in xoxo area, and so on. Remember; you can’t find an answer for these types of queries in normal search engines and ChaCha, having real guides to help you out, could the perfect solution.

What does it have to do with mobile phones? ChaCha has recently entered the mobile phone search market – something which was considered the forte of Google and Yahoo. Now, if you want to search something, all you need to do is type your query as a text message and send it to 242242 and you will get your answer via a text message, or even better, a recorded voice message. Text messaging is an option that everyone has, so people using low-end mobile phones will be tempted to use this service. Also, text messaging is a far easier option than browsing through mobile sites, especially if you don’t have a smart phone, so it might find a few takers in the high-end mobile segment as well.

What this means is, you don’t have to spend a lot of time browsing through search results to find out what you are looking for. Simply text your doubt and wait for the answer. Since there are real people behind this mobile search service, you get the most perfect answers for your queries. You can simply text something like “At what time does the Mac joint in South Block, Philly close?” and you can get your answer in a jiffy, as some guide would have found out the answer by then. ChaCha has about 12,000 people working as guides and the number is increasing steadily to accommodate more and more searches from people everyday.

I personally think this is a really innovative feature and might find a lot of takers in the long run, given it gets the right kind of publicity. We’ve had Google, we’ve had Yahoo, so it’s always good to have a third dimension – here we have ChaCha.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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