DoCoMo Signs Google Search Deal; Seeks $94 Million Ad Revenues
By James Quintana Pearce - Thu 24 Jan 2008 02:02 AM PST
Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and DoCoMo (NYSE: DCM) have announced plans for a tie-up in Japan, reports Reuters. Google Search will “feature” on DoCoMo’s handsets (not sure if that’s on the portal or on the handset itself), and the two firms will also look at ways to make it easier for DoCoMo customers to access Gmail, YouTube and Picasa Web albums...there’s also talk of launching a Linux-based mobile handset in Japan. DoCoMo has 48 million customers, and the goal is to “reap joint advertising revenues of 10 billion yen (US$94 million) “as soon as possible”, although they didn’t reveal how they’d split those revenues. Google is already working with KDDI, while third-place Softbank has partnered with Yahoo.
Updated: In separate news, Napster (NSDQ: NAPS) announced today that the company’s mobile music subscription service is available to NTT DoCoMo customers through nine new models of the operator’s music-enabled handsets, the FOMA 705i series which let DoCoMo subscribers download music directly to their handsets or download music and playlists from their PC to their phones. Napster’s service launched on Docomo last July.
Posted in: Companies, Google, Operators, DoCoMo, Countries, Asia, Japan, Mobile Adv & Mktg, Mobile Search
