Yahoo made a series of improvements to its search engine today and those have trickled down to its mobile search products. I’ve played with the new Yahoo mobile search and I think it’s actually cool.
If you don’t know, Microsoft’s Bing is actually doing the heavy lifting on the back end for the searches but the company is still able to put its own flourishes on it. According to the company’s blog:
We’ve also enhanced web search for iPhones and Android devices with richer, better organized results that leverage HTML5 technology. If you have one of these smartphones, go to m.yahoo.com on your mobile web browser to try searching for a stock quote or a local business listing.
Yahoo threw this blatant challenge in my face so I whipped out the nearby Samsung Fascinate and gave the search engine a spin. Results pop up as you’re typing (just like with Google’s search) and stock quotes will give you the company’s current performance with a link to Yahoo’s financial site.
It’s a nice move and we’ll be discussing the company’s mobile strategy in a meeting later today. We already know that CEO Carol Bartz has overhauled the team and is trying to integrate mobile into all parts of the company and its new products.
Google has a stranglehold on desktop search and it is quickly developing a strong hand in the mobile space but there is probably more chances in the mobile realm for a competitor to gain ground.
Being preloaded is a big deal in the mobile search space and Yahoo still has agreements with AT&T to be the default on many of its smartphones, except the iPhone. As for Bing, it is being preloaded on the aforementioned Fascinate and it will be the only native choice with the upcoming Windows Phone 7.
[Via Yahoo]