Report: Google, Verizon near mobile-search pact
Under a still-not-final deal, Google would power a centralized search service on Verizon mobile devices and share resulting revenue, <i>The Wall Street Journal</i> reports.
- Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Google is close to inking a deal with Verizon that would build its search interface into the mobile phone service provider's products, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The deal, still not final, would make Google's search service central to a one-stop search mechanism for Verizon devices, and Google will share revenue from the service, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Still under negotiation are issues such as whether Google would be allowed to save information from users' searches, the paper said.
Revenue-sharing terms had held up the partnership, which Google has sought for a year, the Journal reported.
Mobile phones, increasingly powerful and ubiquitous, are a major battleground for technology companies seeking to consolidate a fragmented market. Google rival Yahoo already has mobile phone software deals with several mobile operators.