CTIA Wireless 2008

Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0 Promises Quantum Leap in Mobile Search

| Apr 3, 2008 | Wireless Services - U.S | Show Update

| Analyst: Deepa Karthikeyan

Current Perspective: Very Positive Vendor Importance: High Market Impact: High

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Event Summary

April 2. 2008 – Yahoo! unveils oneSearch 2.0, the latest enhancement on the oneSearch product which launched just over a year ago. The key feature enhancements revolve around Search Assistant for predictive search query inputting and a voice-enabled search functionality, to allow users to search and receive federated search results on ‘just about anything’ using speech. In the coming months, oneSearch 2.0 users will be able to integrate this application to their own mobile phone ‘idle screen’. Lastly, Yahoo! intends to open up oneSearch federated results to all Internet content publishers and developers. These third parties will be able to write rich metadata to integrate their relevant content into oneSearch results.

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Very positive on the announcement of Yahoo!’s oneSearch 2.0, as this product update promises to take mobile search to a whole new dimension. With new features such as voice-activated search, a predictive Search Assistant, idle screen integration and a broadened, more ‘inclusive’ (as opposed to ‘exclusive’) approach to federated search, Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0 threatens to be the most sophisticated mobile search product in its class.

• Vendor Importance: High to Yahoo!, as oneSearch 2.0 extends the ‘federated search’ nature of oneSearch 1.0 to an ‘Open Search’ model, and provides further valuable differentiation (notably via the new vocal search functionality). Allowing users to place oneSearch 2.0 on the ‘idle screen’ also makes the product a far more threatening direct-to-consumer proposition.

• Market Impact: High on the mobile market, as Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0 will represent a fearsome challenge to mobile operators, both in its direct-to-consumer guise and through competing service provider channels. Home-screen integration will also reduce consumer appetite for on-portal mobile search, jeopardizing the status quo of other search portals like Google and MSN. Going forward, OneSearch 2.0 will revolutionize the search function and set standards for new entrants.

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