Opera Dumps Yahoo For Google
Chalk up this round to Google (NSDQ: GOOG). Norwegian browser maker Opera has dumped Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) in favor of Google, making it the default search engine on the company’s mobile web browsers, Opera Mobile and Opera Mini. The partnership sees Google reinstated as Opera’s search engine of choice for its mobile browser with Google’s search box sitting directly on the browsers’ start page. Just over a year ago, Opera replaced Google with Yahoo. The battle for mobile search looks as if its going to be fought out deal by deal. Two weeks ago, T-Mobile Europe said it was replacing Google with Yahoo as its default search engine for its mobile portal Web ‘N Walk.
While Opera makes an internet browser as well, it’s best known for its free mobile browser Opera Mini, which the company claims has 35 million cumulative users browsing some 1.7 billion pages a month. Much of that traffic is apparently being generated through searches. Opera Mobile, geared toward more high end smartphones, and costs $24 to download, has shipped on more than 100 million phones (release).
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Posted In: Search, Technologies / Formats, Browsers, Companies, Google, Yahoo, opera
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Comments (3)
Feb 27, 2008 4:46 PM
I’m really interested in how this might affect, aid, support Google’s introduction into the mobile handset market with their open source Android Platform. Is this a main reason in their move to do this or would they have done this anyway?
Shoot me an e-mail if you get a chance - I run http://phandroid.com and am writing an article on this story as it relates to android as we speak.
Thanks!
Feb 28, 2008 2:08 PM
Which version of google search does it default to? IE how many transcoders is the page going to get passed through before it’s sent to the Opera Mini on the user’s phone? Google transcodes a lot of sites it doesn’t have to, and Opera Mini is run through a transcoder on Opera’s server’s isn’t it?
Feb 28, 2008 2:15 PM
Rpesonding to Phandroid:
http://www.phandroid.com/forum/showthread.php?p=47#post47
Anyway I don’t think Opera will become the primary browser on Android. I think it does make a good secondary browser on the platform though, but I don’t think it will ever outpace the good, open source, webkit browser on Android. Android is running largely the same browser as on the Iphone, except it’s easier to improve, and work with. (The Android java activites can directly interact with the browser, and with it’s scripting). It’s also largely the same browser as Nokia S60 browser, which currently dominates the smart phone market.