Make way – AOL’s getting into mobile search. And unlike many of the company’s older products, the logically named AOL Mobile Search service has been getting some positive (initial) reviews.
Om Malik writes that it “seems simple and useful, though as is the case with most such offerings they have to pass the test of time.” Malik also notes, “Google may have won the fixed line search sweepstakes, but mobile search remains an open territory, for anyone to conquer – countless start-ups, Yahoo, Nokia.”
And so AOL Mobile Search is entering the fray with a number of strong allies, including AOL CityGuide, Moviefone, and MapQuest. Granted, those first two may not be mentioned too often at murdok (or at GigaOM), but MapQuest is still beating out competitors like Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, and Microsoft Live Search.
Third Screen Media and Ingenio, which do come up from time to time, are also on board.
The outlook isn’t entirely rosy, however; in his coverage of AOL’s new service, Search Engine Journal’s Loren Baker states, “I also noticed that when performing a local search, AOL did not know my location. Some other mobile search services use such info as cell towers or information given by the mobile service provider in order to initially ‘guess’ at the user’s location.”
AOL needs some sort of star product. If AOL Mobile Search can tweak that one aspect and find its users, it may stumble upon a sizable user base, as well.
