Mountain View, California-based Google is nearing a mobile search agreement with the second largest cell phone service provider in the United States, Verizon  Communications Inc., according to a report in the Wall Street Journal citing unnamed people familiar with talks between the two firms. The far-reaching deal would make Google's leading search engine the default on Verizon's mobile devices and eventually place a Google search toolbar on the phones of the mobile provider's subscribers, according to the people cited in the Journal report. Deal Would Bring Together Strange Bedfellows If a mobile search agreement is reached, it would come after a series of partnership discussions the unnamed sources said had stretched back nearly a year, and would signal a new level of cooperation among two firms that have found themselves on opposite sides at times. Verizon has been the staunchest mobile provider holdout refusing to adopt Android, Google's mobile device operating system or the Google-backed Open Handset Alliance, and has been strongly opposed to Google's successful attempts to force the mobile industry to open up their services for greater competition. Google has said that Android will give developers an easier way to collaborate on application design and that this will in turn serve to give consumers many new and innovative services for their mobile devices. The first handsets using Android are expected before the end of the year, and every major U.S. carrier except Verizon has shown interest in working on devices using the Google platform. Partnership Expected Within Weeks, Say Sources In March the two top U.S. cell phone providers, Verizon Communications and AT&T, may have won the battle by acquiring the two most sought after portions of wireless spectrum during the Federal Communications Commission auction that ended with $19.12 billion in total bids, however Google may have won the war, having pushed bidding high enough to ensure more open access to any service Verizon provides using the airwaves it won. While the two firms may seem to be strange bedfellows, Verizon could use Google's ubiquitous search to simplify the difficult search system it has used that makes subscribers use various separate tools to perform searches. Mobile carriers such as Verizon which have used their own search technology have struggled to compete against Google, Yahoo and other established search firms with mobile offerings. Verizon and Google are seeking to complete a deal in the next several weeks, according to the Journal report. Negotiations are hinging on how much Google would receive from the associated advertising a deal would bring, and on the Internet giant's desire to have access to search information from Verizon subscribers, according to the unnamed sources. Google And Staunchest Android Holdout Verizon May Forge Mobile Search Deal Google uses such information, which mobile carriers have been reluctant to give up, to help deliver more relevant ads to consumers, and would likely benefit from a Verizon partnership as it seeks to gain new information about mobile customers, such as geo-location information showing where users are when performing searches. Microsoft has also held discussions with Verizon centered around a mobile search deal, according to the same unnamed sources familiar with the situation, who expect an agreement to lead to the eventual use of Google's search on Verizon's Web properties and FiOS television service. Google has forged a number of mobile deals over the past year, including February's agreement with the world's largest phone maker, Nokia, which saw the Mountain View firm's search engine site become the default search tool on all new Nokia handsets. Apple's popular iPhone also uses Google for its default search tool, and Sprint Nextel Corp. selected Google to provide search on more than 40 of its mobile devices. Related Links:
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8:38 pm on Aug. 22, 2008 (utc 0)