Microsoft is US mobile operator, Verizon’s new mobile search partner in what is being hailed as a major coup against rivals Google and Yahoo!. The five-year deal, which was rumoured last year to be worth between USD550m and USD650m, establishes Windows Live Search as the default browser for Verizon handsets.
The deal, which is due to go live in the first half of 2009, comes in the same week that Verizon is due to complete its USD28.1bn takeover of rival Alltel. This deal will establish the merged company as the biggest mobile operator in the US, overtaking current market leader AT&T.
Currently, Yahoo! has a mobile search deal with AT&T, while Google powers searches on T-Mobile handsets, in a market that could be worth USD2.3bn by 2010, according to Citi Group analyst Mark Mahaney.
Under the terms of the deal, Verizon users will be able to use Live Search for voice commands, typed queries and location-based searches. Customers will also be able to use the Microsoft portal to download full-length songs, videos and games, the companies claim.
While financial terms are undisclosed, Verizon's chief marketing officer, John Stratton, says: "Wireless data, from business-to-business data to multimedia services, now represents more than 25%. Getting wireless search and advertising done right is critical to continuing to make wireless content relevant to our customers and our business."
The deal was announced by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at the Consumer Electronics show in Los Angeles, and is one of a number of deals for Windows Live products, including a partnership with Facebook Connect.
Mobile search usage, year-on-year, was up 68% in the US and 38% in the 'top five' countries of western Europe, according to a comScore report published in September.
StrategyEye's related categories: Search - Web Search, ISPs - Wired, Search - Mobile Search
StrategyEye's related companies: Verizon, Alltel, Microsoft, Verizon Wireless, Google, T-Mobile, AT&T
