Yahoo Follows Google on Mobile Search

An anonymous reader writes "Just a few weeks after Google introduced Google SMS, Google's mobile search service, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Internet media company Yahoo! . expanded its search services to the mobile market, said the company on Wednesday."

Worldwide

[Big Mark]

Is this available outside the US yet?

From what I've heard GoogleSMS is awesome and I could've used its "find a pizza shop" function last night ;)

Re:Worldwide

[LiquidCoooled]

I don't wanna find a pizza shop, I want broadband fast enough to deliver hot pizza via email.

Re:Worldwide

[ESqVIP]

Why not put tomato sauce cartdriges in your printer, feed it with a mass sheet and download a .pdf pizza?

Re:Worldwide

[RangerRick98]

If I understand correctly, it's note even available on all US providers, much less ones in other countries.

I personally prefer the SMS method Google uses. At least with that you can use it from any SMS-enabled phone (and I can't think of any that aren't off the top of my head).

Re:Worldwide

[Aero Leviathan]

I have an (SMS-enabled) Virgin Mobile phone and it doesn't work with GoogleSMS. If you look closely, Google does in fact support all of the 'major' carriers (they list [google.com] the ones they do), but those of us with more obscure carriers are left out. I'm not complaining, that's what I get for not having a major carrier... just thought I'd point it out.

Re:Worldwide

[kulack]

Don't forget the other wireless and PDA services offered by google http://www.google.com/options/wireless.html [google.com].

I use a PalmOne Treo 600, and I've found http://www.google.com/palm [google.com] an absolute must have reference when on the go.

The best recent example that comes to mind: I traveled to Las Vegas and looked up rules and statistics about playing craps while I was standing in the casino... 8-).

Re:Worldwide

[Ilgaz]

Istanbul, Turkey... 3 or 4 years.

Without recording any profile to web, if you are Turkcell customer.

Its based on their cell data. Accessible from gprs (wap) too.

Because of such services they have got many technology awards.

I'd love to find an english page for more info but as service is not for roamers, they didn't do it :)

Addiction

[fembots]

The article mentioned Though the mobile content open a new revenue source, both Google and Yahoo! offer the service for free, but they admitted that they might commercialize the service once it get popular.

I guess it's like pr0n, first they offer you "free tours", next thing you know they're charging for everything and you're still paying for it because you're already addicted.

Will this also be an indication that other services like GMail, might be commercialized (other that the Ads) once everybody owns a gmail account, keeps 500MB of emails there and have no option (to download/archive) but to pay for the service?

Re:Addiction

[Lehk228]

because of course it would be impossible to write a script that downloaded your gmail messages if you neede to.

Re:Addiction

[Lehk228]

all it takes is *one* person to write the script, then mail it out to everyone they know, since gmail has enough space to hold small programs.

Re:Addiction

[Anonymous Coward]

Wy pay when you could download the pr0n on eMule? I'm still an addict, but I just don't pay for it.

A week?

[mtrisk]

Google Mobile has been out longer than a week - it was just in "beta" (which tends to be pretty good for Google) and accessible at labs.google.com [google.com]. Google Labs is an awesome place to visit and play around with the cool toys they're working on.

several years?

[Anonymous Coward]

I have to point out that Yahoo! has had this mobile search for several years now. It's really nothing new.

Excellent!.

[GoofyBoy]

This is an excellent summary, of the new Yahoo!. service, that I'm sure to enjoy, and I hope you do too, because it is well edited.

No kidding

[billybob]

I was going to post about the horrible grammer of the article itself (which the summary was ripped from) but then saw your post. The last sentence in the article just cracks me up:

At moment, Yahoo! service available to Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless and Sprint Wireless subscribers.

great

[Anonymous Coward]

now i can get a list of sites from a search on my mobile that i can't visit !

kind of old news

[Lumpy]

Yahoo has been partnered with AT&T wireless for a while now. yahoo messenger on all their phones, Yahoo part of their mMode online content and I had been a part of the SMS search testing for over 30 days now.

almost everytihng Yahoo branded is attached to AT&T mobile stuff lately. They are making one hell of a branding with AT&T.

Heck I get notification on my phone when I get an email in my Yahoo.com email account.

if google can partnet with a wireless company they might be able to overtake everyone in the wireless arena.

Re:kind of old news

[DrewCapu]

You don't even have to be on AT&T Wireless to get email notification through Yahoo mail. A few days ago I noticed a new link (it's gone now that I've activated it) in my Mail Options|Filters section. After choosing which of my Mobile profiles to use, I now have the option to send a notification to my cell when a specific filter is triggered.

It sure beats getting notified everytime a new piece of unimportant email gets in my Inbox.

Is this available to everyone? Or did I see it only because I'm a DSL su

Re:kind of old news

[rojo]

I've been forwarding email to my cell phone for about a year. So it may be modified, but definately not new.

simplicity

[theMerovingian]

While Google SMS (Short Message Service) provides text-only results, Yahoo! offer a more comprehensive features set - local, image and web search as well as maps, stock information, mobile games and icons - a feature where a user click and call a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

Once again, I think Google got this one right. People search to find information, and they want simple results that are easy to read. Similar to their (ugly) homepage, it sounds like Yahoo is going to fall victim to excessive gimmickry.

Mobile screen real estate is even more valuable than normal monitor real estate, so I would say google has the better strategy here.

functionality

[mixtape5]

I think that the yahoo additions could give them the advantage. You are correct that If someone is searching for information then the Google may be better. But on a mobile device I could see someone pulling a picture of a celebrity because they are arguing with thier friends wheather a stranger looks familiar. The social aspect of a mobile devise does better with pictures. If I want Information, I'll use a laptop, not a phone.

Re:simplicity

[Rsriram]

"The natural world is too green and badly lit." -- Francois Boucher, 18th century painter
Well, at least we fixed this bug :-)

I sent a few request to google's

[mpost4]

That was the day it was announced here at slashdot. I am still wanting for the responses to come back. Ok I am not wanting anymore; because I don't think they will come back. Nice idea, but it does not seam to be working.

In related news...

[jmcmunn]

The phrase "to Yahoo" was officially coined as a verb/action today because Yahoo supporters picketed Webster's Dictionary headquarters on Wednesday, sighting the fact that rival search engine Google got to be a verb, and they did not.

Come on, it's competition, of course they are going to come out with a similar service. Why does this need to be front page news? It had to be the first thing we all thought of when we heard Google was doing it: "How long till MS and Yahoo follow suit?"

More info...

[k4_pacific]

For more information on the new Yahoo mobile search, type "Yahoo Mobile Search" into Google.

Re:More info...

[flibberdi]

OMG... DO IT!! That is very funny!!

Better article

[hab136]

Here's a better article, with URLs, even:

Yahoo! Wants to Whack Google in Mobile Searching [arstechnica.com]

I tried their new search http://mobile.yahoo.com/search [yahoo.com] and it asploded my Samsung A500. The first time I loaded the page, the web browser closed. The second time, the phone rebooted! I have reset my phone several times, same results.

Then I read the page in a real browser, and they SMS you a link. That link worked in my phone.

(Explanation)Re:Well.....

[10101001011]

Perhaps I ought to clarify for those not getting it (or perhaps I am being modded down for pure stupidity....).... ketchup, when pronounced in certain accents (like quite a few Southern American and back-water Canadian [of which I am part] is pronounced "catch-up" which it seems is what Yahoo is playing right now.... Sigh....

www.92466.com is still not taken

[GillBates0]

Methinks it's time to "invest" some money now ;)

(For the uninitiated http://www.466453.com/ belongs to google.)

Which?

[digrhino]

the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Internet media company Yahoo!

Oh. That Yahoo. I was wondering what they did.

Yahoo trying very hard to be Google

[pebs]

Yahoo seems to be trying very hard to be Google these days. Their new web page reminds me of G-mail. And their search engine looks nearly identical to that of Google.

Not necessarilly a bad thing, though.

Could it bee any less specific?

[broothal]

The article covers everything except:

Where is this service available?

When is it available?

How is it available?

etc...

In the immortal words of Comic Book Guy: "Worst....article...ever..."

Re:Could it bee any less specific?

[arodland]

Obviously RTFA isn't a requirement for moderation.

Where is this service available?
At moment, Yahoo! service available to Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless and Sprint Wireless subscribers.

When is it available?
At moment, Yahoo! service available to Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless and Sprint Wireless subscribers.

How is it available?
At moment, Yahoo! service available to Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless and Sprint Wireless subscribers.

I think that answers all of them, albeit with somewhat

why retrofit the web??

[netsavior]

I dont understand the trend toward retrofitting the web instead of upgrading the phone...

I personally have 2 phones that are more than capable of using the Real google or real yahoo search pages.

Plenty of phones can use the web just fine, and you will probably be happier than with 250 characters of search results at a time...

What is SMS?

[Matt Perry]

Can someone here explain exactly what SMS is and how this service would work? I've never used a mobile phone for anything other than making phone calls and receiving the occasional text message when a server at work goes down, so I don't have any clue how one could search from a mobile device.

Re:What is SMS?

[zarr]

Let me guess: You live under a rock, don't you?

(Seriously, I really hope you're joking... SMS == Short Messaging Service == text message)

Re:What is SMS?

[Matt Perry]

You live under a rock, don't you?

No. Mobile phones aren't my area of technical expertise. I use one but I don't know what all mobile services are capable of other than voice.

Seriously, I really hope you're joking

Nope.

SMS == Short Messaging Service == text message

Thanks. I've never heard text messaging refered to anything other than text messaging.

Cherry-picking the Treo crowd

[87C751]

Yahoo's search is only available on certain carriers (T-Mobile isn't on the list), leading me to believe that they are seeking co-branding as a revenue stream. Also, they say that WAP browsers will only get a subset of the search features. Google's WAP search facility (wap.google.com, which has been around a lot longer than their SMS search), OTOH, acts as an automatic WAP proxy to re-render HTML into WAP so you can do a real web search and use the results from your WAP phone.

If this doesn't yet strike you as a "me, too!" offering, check out the Yahoo! search home page [yahoo.com]. That doesn't look anything like Google's home page, no sir!

Google SMS

[The Ape With No Name]

I got a peek last week at what the folks at Google's Local shop are working on for delivering maps and such to media enabled phones. If you think the recent purchase of an internet mapping service is just more money happiness after a recent IPO, you are wrong. Yahoo has a LOOOOOONG way to go to catch up.

barbershop scorsese. 10021.

I love it.

Screenshots

[rbeattie]

I've posted screenshots [russellbeattie.com] of both Yahoo's Mobile Local Search and Google's SMS Search on my weblog.

-Russ

SMS is pretty much obsolete

[Doppler00]

With more and more cellphones having internet connectivity built into them, it seems like a wast of time to implement a feeble search feature as an SMS service.

I've used Google's WAP proxy on my phone to search for information, and although it works it's terribly slow. It takes about 5 min to read through an entire webpage because it splits it up into little peices.

Yahoo Mobile search is VERY good though. I'm impressed that it's a complete search solution as a yellow pages. Now if only we could do somethi

Re:SMS is pretty much obsolete

[TristanDunn]

I agree. If the person is savvy enough to want to search on his/her cellphone, they probably have a phone capable of internet connectivity.