Signs of life
There hasn't been a ton of good news coming from Yahoo! in recent months, so every deal it wins over search rival Google is significant.
The latest win for Yahoo! is a UK one, with Virgin Media announcing that its new mobile portal, which will be launched in a week's time, will use Yahoo!'s mobile search offering - oneSearch - as its default search service.
The Virgin Mobile portal, as expected, is designed to help Virgin Mobile users to browse the web on their phones. Yahoo! oneSearch is adapted for mobile use by returning more information from each keyword search than just links, e.g. sports scores, reviews, etc.
Don't be surprised to see commercial opportunities specific to mobiles, like ring tones, make an appearance too, as well as sponsored search results.
Mitch Lazar, MD of Connected Life Europe, Yahoo!, said: "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."
