Yahoo said yesterday that it enhanced its Yahoo Search function on mobile devices and launched Yahoo Short Message Service Search through many wireless carriers.
Both services feature shortcuts to help consumers find information they need quickly while on the go, with local search features. For example, consumers looking for a post office would simply type “post office,” along with the city and ZIP code, and receive a text message with the search results.
Google launched a similar local mobile service this spring, adding street maps and local business listings to mobile devices.
“It's the new frontier for search: They're all doing local search,” said Richard Hagerty, CEO of search marketing firm Impaqt, Pittsburgh, after the Google announcement.
Yahoo's enhanced search function, called Yahoo Search on Mobile, expands its search services to a number of WAP 2.0 handsets by translating full pages to fit on consumers' mobile phones. Before, the full Web search was available only on HTML-capable mobile devices.
Its Short Message Service Search lets consumers get updated information on their mobile devices without opening a new message. The search results will include a URL link to Yahoo Mobile Internet service to get more information, and include the ability to reply to a previous text message without retyping the original query.
“Yahoo's search services and shortcuts on mobile devices let consumers get the information they need — from finding the latest weather forecast, to updated stock quotes, to tracking down a good place to have lunch — from wherever they are,” said Doug Garland, senior vice president of Yahoo Mobile.
Christine Blank covers online marketing and advertising, including e-mail marketing and paid search, for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
