For some no doubt weak reason, I did not write about this at the time. I am not going to mention every deal that Yell signs, but this one with O2 (which is half-heartedly opening up its web access) is important because it's taken Yell only a few months to achieve since the company started getting serious about its online/mobile strategy, compared to the ongoing failed attempts that Google is pursuing with European mobile operators.
It is another punch in the nose to Google, which has been trying to get such deals for quite some time. In fact, Google had some mobile deals around the turn of the century in various European countries, but these have lapsed somewhat. Since Google has become more of a competitor, the mobile operators have been less forthcoming.
Something of which Yell is probably aware, is that another competitor may be looming nearby, namely Yahoo. Yahoo was also suffering the same mobile limbo fate as Google but has, in contrast, ramped up its mobile deal signings in the past year in the US, and one has to assume they are missing from our mobile screens here only because they have not yet got round to redoubling their UK efforts. Yahoo is also big on local, and could be more attractive to operators than Yell given that it can offer more services with just one deal. Not a big issue at present, but these things are best anticipated than regretted. Yahoo could opt to go for photos/messenger deals instead, but it is unlikely to ignore local altogether. And sometime around 2007, which admittedly is a lifetime away, MSN will no doubt come calling with some mobile local+satellite application.
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