On Friday, I wrote that the Apple Apps Store offers 150+ search tools (and I didn’t dwell on it, but the search functionality to find the search tools in the first place is poor at best). A browse today through Nokia WidSets (a service that allows users to download, create and share widgets you can check out here) reveals 62 widgets related to search. (Although I have to say I can’t figure out why Steelers Football shows up in the results. But since I was born in Pittsburgh and am naturally a huge fan of the Steelers, let’s just say it’s a great app - even though the connection to mobile search is unclear.)

What’s the point of all this?

With 5,000+ widgets on offer in the content library, Nokia must sharpen its focus on search, allowing the 7 million+ users that downloaded widgets to date to explore WidSets and find the widgets they want on their device.

A huge and significant step in this direction is today’s news that Nokia has selected Mobile Content Networks (MCN) - a provider of federated mobile search solutions and most notably the white-label search platform MobileSearch.net - to power WidSets Search. WidSets Search has launched in Finland and will be rolled out to European and global users as part of the global WidSets initiative.

True to its name, WidSets Search will allow users to search and find new widgets. In addition, MCN enables users to discover digital content and information in “channels” including: weather, games, music, yellow pages and images. More categories are in the pipeline and I caught up with Stephen Burke, MCN SVP Marketing, earlier today to get the inside track on the Nokia deal and plans for mobile advertising.

He confirmed that the concept of search across “channels” is in essence a carbon copy of the functionality MCN enables on behalf of mobile operator customers NTT DoCoMo and Tele2. In both cases MCN plugs into content (and in this case WidSets are just another content source) to present users search results that come from one category (such as games) or blend (federate) results from multiple categories into a balanced set of tailored results.

Stephen tells me this approach effectively covers all the bases to “create the shortest distance between the content provider and the users.” Put simply, MCN’s approach delivers relevant results in high value vertical content categories (channels), such as music in 2-3 clicks, a value prop that dovetails well with MCN’s vertical paid search program known as allwords. This PPC mobile content promotion program allows companies to bid for categories (channels) rather than scatter their resources across individual keywords. Not surprisingly, Stephen tells me that allwords will be a part of the Nokia deal going forward and rolled out as WidSets search is introduced in the various markets.

It’s summer holidays and Nokia execs are not available for comment until early August. Please check back closer to that date when I hope to have the inside track from Jarmo Jokinen, director of WidSets.

By way of background today’s MCN announcement follows deals sealed by two mobile search providers — Chinese mobile search provider mInfo and Baidu Inc., the number one Chinese language search engine worldwide — to integrate their search services onto Nokia’s WidSets mobile applications platform. WidSets Search, provided exclusively by MCN, will be the overarching search functionality that exposes users to all the widgets on offer including these two new additions.

In the case of mInfo, which delivers multi-language and natural language mobile search services in China via SMS, WAP, IM and downloadable client, the initial release of the product provides Nokia users in China access to a variety of search services including travel, local, entertainment, finance and sports. Advertising is also part of the deal, but details are sketchy.

The press release language is vague at best, hinting that the search service also “enables a pull-based advertising model to deliver relevant content to targeted users in a way that is permission driven” and that the widget platform somehow plays a key role in the delivery of such services. I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve had a proper briefing with mInfo CEO Alvin Wang Graylin, who has agreed to a call later this week.

Baidu’s ties with Nokia go back to 2006 when the companies tied up to make the search app accessible via a search icon on the screen interface for users of Nokia high-end devices (Nokia N70, Nokia N90 and other select S60 Nokia devices). Details on the latest decision to integrate with the WidSets platform are thin, but this report from Forbes quoted an analyst as saying that the Widsets service has over 4 million subscribers in China, with the partnership bringing Baidu more mobile customers.

* * * * *

Today’s tie-up between MCN and Nokia also provides me a perfect opportunity to summarize the highlights from the mobile search and advertising session (Overcoming The Barriers To Delivering A Successful Mobile Search Advertising Ecosystem) moderated by Oguz Oktay from ARGELA-USA Inc., which brought me together with MCN CEO Marc Bookman and Juhani Kivikangas, TeliaSonera VP Content, New Businesses, Business Area Mobility Services. The panel was part of Mobile Advertising 2008, organized by IIR Ltd.

Look for a recap and an examination of MCN’s saerch platform (background reading for the benefit of all our new readers at AltSearchEngines) in a separate post later today.

(Disclaimer: MCN is an MSG supporter.) 

This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 2:20 pm and is filed under Content Discovery, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.