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According to stats from Nielsen Mobile, search giant Google has managed to dominate the online mobile search market in the first quarter of 2008. Google succeeded in topping the list by capturing 61% of the Mobile Search Market followed by Yahoo and Microsoft with 18% and 5% respectively. However, the desktop results are slightly different as they are visible below.

Earlier this year, Google reported that the increase in number of mobile searches coming from iPhone increased 50 times than any other handset. Google is set as a default search engine on all iPhones whereas  Yahoo is presented as a secondary option. iPhone doesn’t allow any of Microsoft’s search product to be set as its default (though users can navigate manually). Services provided by Google Mobile includes Search, Maps, Gmail, SMS, YouTube and GOOG-411. Read the rest of this entry »

Tellme Networks has announced the launch of a new service that enables users to find business information on the go. The service is plain vanilla 411, but allows users to access information through voice, SMS, or Web (TellMe client required).

Users could request information by responding to voice prompts and Tellme returns business listings based on the users location. Dial 1-800-555-TELL to use the service. TellMe also provides detailed maps of the location. TellMe was recently acquired by Microsoft to enter the Free411 market. The price tag was rumored to be around $800 million. Tellme claims to answer 80% of the automated 411 calls in the U.S., serving 40 million users each month.

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Google, just released a new telephone service in the US, called Voice local Search. This service is a replacement of the traditional 411 service and gets multiple listings like the ones you get in Google Local. The service could be accessed by calling 1-800-GOOG-411. People using the service from a mobile device can also have listings sent to them via SMS, including telephone number and full address. Users can also get connected to businesses. The service is completely managed by voice recognition softwares and the results are quiet stunning. The service does not support residential listings at the moment, however I expect that to come soon. A cheat sheet of shortcuts is here.

411 is a huge market worth around $7 billion, with around 2.6 billion calls made in U.S. each year. Jingle Networks, the operator of 1800free411, was the first entrant in this market to offer the service for free and within no time captured 6% of the entire market, serving around 17 million calls in Feb 2007.

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