Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom Joins The Google Fold To Offer Mobile Search
Google is certainly ending the year with a bang. After months of speculation that the search engine giant would team up with China Mobile, the company has tied up with Chunghwa Telecom instead. The Associated Press reports the mobile operator will embed Google’s search engine in mobile phones (enhancing the operator
Uh, Chunghwa is an operator in Taiwan, not China.
Yes, the two deals are independent of each other…
FYI, Google is also doing a deal with China Mobile…but only on WAP and just for on-deck search. Suppose to come out sometime in 2007.
The real opportunity in China is for off-deck search and SMS search. mInfo's question and answer model on SMS and WAP is really convenient. Especially in a country where everyone and their cousin is using SMS.
Your comment and insights into the Chinese market are welcome additions to the debate. I knew about Google and China Mobile, but – despite regular briefings with Google exces – I can't get a handle on what the deal is. No matter what – it won't be easy for Google. (BTW: Google is lagging behind Yahoo and Baidu in online search and Baidu -positioned in the center of the Nokia mobile saerch application- is also likely to be a formidable competitor to Google in mobile search as well.) In the meantime, why are you so sure about off-deck mobile search? I agree – but I'd like to hear your reasons. Pls feel free to take this discussion off-line (peggy.salz@gmx.net).