Yahoo Extends Mobile Carrier Deals In Asia

And Introduces Mobile Service Called "Go"

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Yahoo Inc has struck new deals to offer mobile phone Web services through nine network operators across Asia, bolstering its increasing lead in the fastest growing regional market for mobile services by users.

The Silicon Valley-based Internet company also said on Tuesday that it was introducing a mobile service called Yahoo Go in traditional Chinese in Taiwan. These deals build on six earlier Asian carrier partnerships announced in June.

Yahoo Extends Mobile Carrier Deals In Asia [uk.reuters.com]

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Does anyone in Asia care to comment on Yahoo's OneSearch partnerships in Asia? It definitely seems like Yahoo's locking up a good share of the mobile search market there, but it would be interesting to know what this means in terms of search query volume.

Does anyone have mobile search statistics for one or multiple Asian countries?

-Shorebreak

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Yahoo has the biggest presence in Japan on the mobile. Their parent company SoftBank bought out Vodaphone's operations in Japan and they are the default search on those phones. They also feature prominently on the market leader DoCoMo.

However, search isn't used on Japanese mobiles all that much. All providers keep their customers within walled gardens, essentially portals, that provide links to the most basic information. If you aren't on the carrier's portal you won't get traffic.

Google has tie-ups with Japan's #2 carrier AU/KDDI.