Google Mobile Content Search
Following on from my post yesterday on Open Applications, I came across a news article on The Wall Street Journal that says Google are planning a search engine for mobile content. This shows that Google is not only championing Open Applications but is also attacking network operators from another direction…
"Google’s plans to broker the sale of mobile content like ringtones and games could become a threat to large cellphone operators like Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc., especially if Google enables customer payment through eBay Inc.’s PayPal or its own online Checkout service."
Some might ask how Google will attract users away from operator portals. However, if you look at M:Metrics statistics you can see that Google already ranks as the most popular mobile web site in the UK and US.
Google’s problems will include achieving a large geographic scale while also supporting a wide breadth of device compatibility. Current Paypal and Google mobile payment solutions are very US and European centric. Each network operator currently only has to support its own limited set of phones. Google will have to support the super-set. The degree to which Google can solve problems such as these will determine how much of a challenge it really will be to network operators.