Probably not surprising to readers of this site (ars):
Google managed to spank the rest of the mobile search world during the first quarter of 2008, according to data from Nielsen Mobile. The search giant managed to capture 61 percent of the mobile search market in the first four months of the year, with Yahoo! taking a very distant second at 18 percent. MSN sat at third place with a measly 5 percent.
The main reason: the iphone.
i also think that google’s strengths play to the state of mobile today. speed and relevance critical factors in finding results fast.
as mobile bandwidth increases, there are more options with regards to presentation of results, and google may find new competitors that introduce other factors into finding results fast.
So bascially you are saying there was no mobile search before the Iphone
John,
The iphone has helped build Google’s mobile Brand, so from that perspective I can see where you are coming from, but to suggest that it’s the main reason is too simplistic.
I have a windows mobile phone, i tried google’s mobile search – it was brilliant, google mobile maps worked well, I tried Microsoft… it wasn’t up to scratch, Google works that is why it is cleaning up in this space. I think the interesting thing is the ability to buy through google checkout on your mobile, which makes transacting easy and allows quick comparisons in shops and to buy online if it’s cheaper…
How Google make money out of Mobile Directly is a more difficult question.
Richard
Isn’t the main reason Opera? They have ridiculous mobile browser market share, and they’ve chosen Google as the default search provider for both Opera Mini and Opera Mobile.
–Back to Google – Opera Watch
–Is Opera Winning the Browser Wars?
Good find on Ars!
I agree with Jay, Opera must have a great share in those 61% that Google owns.
It’s not the iPhone. It’s built into my Blackberry too. I think there are many more Blackberries than iPhones. Not everyone is into a phone without keys yet.
To be sure, there was mobile search prior to the iPhone. Just as there was digital music prior to the iPod, or going further back, a GUI before the Macintosh.
DOS fanatics couldn’t get over the Macintosh OS. I remember arguments like, “Why is command-V paste and command-X cut? Won’t people remember command-P for paste and command-C for cut?”
Let’s just say that Windows 2.0 didn’t last very long.
It’s all about getting to where you want to get, faster. And if you look at what Twitter is teaching us, there are things on the horizon that will make the advantages of using mobile even more profound.
http://connectme.typepad.com/news/2008/05/twitter-vs-cb-r.html
http://connectme.typepad.com/news/2005/02/the_vc_perspect.html