Google Inc. is developing a new search service for cell-phones that will help consumers find and buy ring-tones, games and other mobile content as the Internet Company pushes more deeply into wireless, sources familiar with the matter say.
Google already offers cell-phone users a version of its popular engine for searching the Web. Now the company wants to go beyond just looking up Web pages — effectively becoming a gateway for finding and paying for mobile media content.With the new technology, consumers would be able to use Mountain View, California-based Google to search for a piece of content – say, a U2 ring-tone — and get back a list of providers as well as links enabling them to easily purchase the material, said the person, who asked to remain anonymous because the work is confidential.
For the new services, Mountain View, California-based Google is working for months with entertainment companies and smaller mobile-media aggregators to index their material and make it available through searches, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site yesterday.
Eventually, Google would charge companies for high placement in the search results, much the way it offers “sponsored links” on computer Web searches, the people familiar with the plans say.
Google and competitors such as Yahoo! Inc. are augmenting their mobile-phone offering with services including maps and calendars to boost their offerings after handsets outsold personal computers by more than 4-to-1 last year, according to researcher Gartner Inc. Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt said in May that the company’s biggest growth opportunity is in mobile phones.
But the project has been marred by a series of technical delays, people familiar with the matter say, illustrating that there is a learning curve as Internet giants adjust to the peculiarities of the mobile world.
The project has suffered delays and it is not clear how soon Google plans to launch the service, the newspaper reported.
Google spokeswoman Erin Fors would neither confirm nor deny the report.
“Many people in the next five to 10 years, their first experience in the Internet will be through a mobile phone,” Schmidt said at a press briefing May 10, before Google’s annual shareholder meeting.
Google’s plans to broker the sale of mobile content like ring-tones and games could become a threat to large cell-phone operators like Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc., especially if Google enables customer payment through eBay Inc.’s PayPal or its own online Checkout service.
Google has also made a series of moves lately to beef up its presence on cell-phones.
Last week Google announced plans to offer mobile map services in China to help narrow the gap with Baidu.com Inc. In May, Google introduced software in the U.S. that allows users to access their online calendars, including a list of appointments and description of events, via their phones.
Also last month, its YouTube unit made a version of its video-sharing Web site available for Apple Inc.’s iPhone. And the company has said it is working on new software applications for cell-phones as well as a software platform for such devices on which other developers could build.
In addition, the company recently began testing a service — similar to its AdSense platform on the Internet — that will broker ads for other mobile Web sites.
Other Internet companies have also been pushing into mobile lately. Yahoo Inc., located in Sunnyvale, California, two months ago introduced a version of its search engine for mobile phones in seven Asian countries including India and Singapore. It released new versions earlier in the U.S., Canada and five European countries.
In June, the company also launched a partnership with the U.K.-based carrier Vodafone Group PLC to show banner ads on cell-phones for such companies as Ford and Nissan.
In a small deal it did not announce publicly, Yahoo also recently acquired a small company called Actionality that brokers ads for applications and games that can be downloaded to cell-phones. Time Warner Inc.’s AOL, meanwhile, acquired mobile advertising provider Third Screen Media in May.
Though mobile content is still a small market, it is growing quickly. Global sales of music, video, ring-tones and other content reached $27.4 billion last year, and they are expected to grow to $59.3 billion by 2011, according to the technology-research and consulting firm Yankee Group.