Google-Verizon Deal Would Avail Google to 68M Hands

Think he's a Googler?

Google and Verizon Wireless are reportedly planning a deal that will make Google the official search engine of all Verizon-powered mobile units, reports MediaBuyerPlanner.

The deal would expose Google — and its advertisers — to 68 million wireless customers. Verizon may also put a Google search bar on the home screen of all its phones and give Google a proprietary portal on its FiOS TV service, said The Wall Street Journal (via Network World). The companies would split the revenue.

The deal guarantees Verizon will not offer a competing search engine of its own, and makes it far less likely Verizon users will go to rival search engines, says Irwin Lazar, an analyst at Nemertes Research.

Google has already made a similar deal to serve as exclusive search provider across all 40 Sprint phones. (AT&T, the nation’s largest wireless carrier, has signed with Yahoo for its Media Net search engine.)

The potential Google-Verizon deal signals a significant shift in the way mobile service carriers are beginning to view technology partners. Mike Boland, senior analyst at The Kelsey Group, says the shift began with AT&T's unprecedented deal with Apple for the iPhone.

Now that iPhone subscribers are hooked on streamlined search and browsing interface, they're increasingly unwilling to pay for poorer mobile experiences, driving rival carriers to scramble for partnerships with other tech providers, Boland added.