Mobile phone operators mull creating rival to Google

Some of Europe's biggest telecoms groups are to hold talks next week about creating a mobile phone search engine which could challenge US giants Google and Yahoo!.

Vodafone, France Telecom, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Hutchison Whampoa, Telecom Italia and American network Cingular will come together for talks at the industry's annual trade show in Barcelona, Spain, Britain's Sunday Telegraph reported.

The operators believe that creating their own search engine could help them to "retain a greater share of advertising revenues", it added.

"There is a big play in mobile search that we need to be part of, and we are exploring those options at a very high level," an unnamed British executive at one of the companies involved told the paper.

The implications for existing deals between the networks and the US search companies are not clear -- Google has signed up Vodafone, Hutchison's 3 and T-Mobile, while Yahoo! has signed up Vodafone and 3.

Source YahooNews

3 Tips for Becoming a Google Grabber

John Lennon wasn't talking about Google, but his question from long ago is appropriate for today:

``Why has nobody discovered me?''

Great question, John. And, surprisingly, it's still the $64 question with just a lil' twist:

"What do I have to do to get Google to notice me?"

Well, Jefferson Graham (USAToday) provides the answers to the question we've all googled a few thousand times...HERE.

Actually, the answers come from Chris Winfield, president of website consultant 10e20. In the article, Winfield offers up a few tips, and yes, these seem to be fairly universal (applicable) to all of us). Don't expect to crash Digg's servers with this info, but they do serve as solid reminders of the activities that should be fundamental to our blogs/sites, etc.

1. Link to other quality websites (the holy grail of blogging - gives your blog authority/weight in the blogosphere). Think of links as word-of-mouth. The more people on the web who are "talking" about you, the more your site rises to the top.
2. Have a clear website title (ex: WirelessJobs.com - there should be no question in your mind what you'll find at this site. The title is visible along the top of Internet Explorer or other web browsers. This is the first thing Google looks for when crawling the Web.
3. Make sure your descriptive copy (the meat of your posts) includes search terms (key words) that articulate how you want to be discovered by search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

Winfield also advises using a free tool Google offers for keyword tips: AdWords.

These online keyword tools help Google's advertising clients, who buy sponsored pay-per-click links to guarantee good placement in the search results. But they are available, free, to everyone.

If you are looking for more information to help you gather more "Google Juice" for your site or blog, here's a few more articles for you: problogger, marketingprofs (requires membership but is free), and the blog herald.

Good luck.

Now, go get noticed.

WorldLinkRecruiting