Report: Google, Verizon near mobile-search pact
Google is close to inking a deal with Verizon that would build its search interface into the mobile phone service provider's products, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The deal, still not final, would make Google's search service central to a one-stop search mechanism for Verizon devices, and Google will share revenue from the service, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. Still under negotiation are issues such as whether Google would be allowed to save information from users' searches, the paper said.
Revenue-sharing terms had held up the partnership, which Google has sought for a year, the Journal reported.
Mobile phones, increasingly powerful and ubiquitous, are a major battleground for technology companies seeking to consolidate a fragmented market. Google rival Yahoo already has mobile phone software deals with several mobile operators.
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
