Yahoo OneSearch has been tapped as the default search engine for Virgin Media’s mobile portal in the UK. The partnership will roll out on December 8.
In early 2009 Yahoo and Virgin plan to deliver mobile sponsored search results and contextually served sponsored listings and advertisements within search results.
“Obviously one of the key components is mobile advertising,” said Cory Pforzheimer, a spokesperson for Yahoo. “Advertisers and marketers want to be where the highly engaged mobile consumer audience is and Yahoo is delivering on that promise reaching 70 global carrier partners and more than 850 million mobile subscribers under carrier contract.”
“Yahoo OneSearch is a starting point for mobile consumers globally, revolutionizing the mobile search experience by delivering relevant answers to queries that mobile users have while on-the-go,” added Mitch Lazar, managing director of Connected Life Europe for Yahoo, in a statement. “Together, Virgin Media and Yahoo are enhancing the user’s mobile Internet experience in the UK while creating unique opportunities for advertisers to reach a highly-engaged audience of mobile consumers.”
Virgin Mobile currently has 4.4 million customers and is part of Virgin Media which offers consumer in the UK a ‘quadruple play’: mobile and landline phone service, broadband internet and TV.
“The number of mobile phones eclipses the number of PCs, so our goal is to connect billions of consumers through mobile services partnerships, which are a key component as we can’t do it by ourselves,” Pforzheimer said.
