3 Group, which recently signed with Yahoo to offer mobile search, has announced a similar agreement with Google. Details in the press release are thin, but 3 executives tell me the decision to add Google to the mix is based on the mobile operator’s strategy to offer users a choice in search engines. Christian Salbaing, Managing Director, European Telecommunications at 3 Group, said in a press statement: “It’s another key step for 3 in delivering a fully mobile Internet. The mobile Internet has developed to such a degree that we can now leave the ‘walled garden’ behind and let our customers access and enjoy the very best of what the converged internet and media worlds can offer.” (Sorry - no link to the release because it hasn’t yet been posted on the 3 site.) The decision marks more than choice for the users; it turns up the pressure on other operators to re-examine their one-search-engine-per-operator approach. Users will want choice – and operators will have to give it to them. (Consider the example of Japan’s i-mode. Over one dozen search engine providers co-exist happily in an ecosystem orchestrated by DoCoMo.) The cards are being mixed again and the next weeks will be surely be characterized by a land grab as operators re-think their mobile search alliances and branded, white-label and blended providers jockey for their favor.