Google continues to dominate mobile search

Google dominated mobile web search in the first quarter of 2008 according to consumer research provider Nielsen Mobile, which reports that the web services giant accounted for 61 percent of mobile searches during the three-month period in question. Yahoo was a distant second with 18 percent mobile search provider share, followed by MSN with 5 percent. Google's lead is thanks in large part to Apple's iPhone--in February, Google said the device is responsible for 50 times the number of mobile searches of any rival handset, with Google's mobile head Vic Gundotra forecasting that mobile search will soon overtake traditional web search if other device manufacturers make mobile web access as user-friendly.

Nielsen reports that Google users average nine mobile searches per month--65 percent of Google search users are male, as are 63 percent of Yahoo users. Google and Yahoo users also seek out the same search objectives in roughly equal proportion: 33 percent of consumers on both platforms looked for information during Q1, with 29 percent of Google users and 24 percent of Yahoo users seeking local listings and 27 percent of Google users and 26 percent of Yahoo users looking for websites/navigation. Nielsen adds that 44 percent of Google users rate their satisfaction with mobile web search between 8 and 10 on a 10-point scale, compared to 40 percent of Yahoo users.

For more on the Nielsen mobile web report:
- read this release

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