Chalk Up (Yet) Another One For Federated Search; MCN Replaces Google & Powers Mobile Search For Swedish Mobile Operator Portal
A review of MCN’s recent track record and long string of wins across the region, including Yahoo Japan and Thailand’s three mobile operators (AIS, DTAC, and True), initially creates the impression that MCN is sharply focused on Asia. But brace for that to change dramatically. I’m under NDA, but let’s just say that MCN is set to gain some serious traction in Europe and North America over the next weeks. Today’s announcement is just the start.
Tele2 Sweden has chosen MCN’s MobileSearch.net platform to power its new mobile portal, effectively knocking Google down a notch (Google was the primary search provider). From here on, MCN, true to its corporate DNA as a provider of a federated search platform, will provide a mix of Web results from Google, Yahoo and MSN in tune with Tele2’s business rules. (For those unfamiliar with Tele2, the carrier offers a quad-play mix of fixed and mobile telephony, broadband and cable TV services to 25 million customers in 15 countries. It offers mobile services across 13 countries.) Tele2 represents MCN’s sixth deployment in Scandinavia and its largest multi-channel deployment to date in Europe.
In the first of “several market rollouts,” which I hear could total as many as 10 markets across the Tele2 footprint, MCN will deliver multi-channel search services in several categories, including Ringtones, Music, Images, Games, Video, Local, Wiki, and Web information.
What’s more, the service went live within “a few short weeks,” an achievement MCN CEO Marc Bookman predictably emphasizes in the press release. A surprise, however, is the clear indication that content providers could be warming to vertical search (a trend I have also picked up on during several recent mobile search and advertising conferences).
As Per Einar Dybvik, CTO of Aspiro, a mobile entertainment provider put it: “These new vertical search services are what mobile users need to access mobile content and information more easily. MCN’s Federated Search solution gives us improved flexibility, better results, and a sustainable, effective platform for delivering our content, together with Tele2, to their subscribers.”
Vendor spin aside, it makes sense that content providers are converting to the concept of verticals. The approach puts content where users expect it and removes a lot of the guesswork.
BTW: I’m on the mend and soon to be more mobile. I’m set to meet up with MCN CTO Phyllis Reuther in Frankfurt (at the airport) on her return trip from Barcelona, so I’ll circle back with more detail later.
