Yahoo! Finds a Mobile Home

Yahoo!(YHOO) is putting its stamp on the mobile Web.

The Internet giant announced this week that its mobile oneSearch service can be accessed from about 85% of U.S. mobile phones. Yahoo! is betting big on oneSearch, a beefed-up version of an offering that debuted in January that will serve as the default page for Yahoo!'s Web browser.

The quick, high-profile rollout of oneSearch signals that Yahoo! intends to push its advantage in this emerging space over Google(GOOG). Yahoo!'s service counts 7% of mobile users as customers, compared with only 4% for Google, according to research firm M:Metrics.

And while Google has publicly said it doesn't expect mobile to boost its bottom line until 2008, Yahoo! seems to think the time for a thrust is now.

"This will be the year that is the tipping point for mobile and mobile search, and we are going all out to win that," Yahoo!'s director of mobile Web, Lee Ott, said in an interview. Ott said that the combination of Yahoo!'s search strength, partnerships with content providers and editorial capabilities are what give it an advantage when it comes to mobile.

Indeed, while Google's lead only seems to be expanding in the desktop space where Yahoo! once ruled -- figures released earlier this week by research firm comScore showed that Google continued to gain market share in February, while Yahoo! remained flat -- the mobile Web provides Yahoo! with an avenue that plays to its strengths.