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BARCELONA, Spain--Mobile Internet search and advertising start-up JumpTap said Monday that it will provide search and advertising services for seven TeliaSonera mobile carriers in Europe.

Under the terms of the deal, JumpTap will provide search and advertising technology for TeliaSonera's operators in Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Estonia, and Lithuania.

JumpTap is what is known as a "white label" technology provider. It develops the technology and mobile operators license that technology and use it to provide a service with their own brand on it.

Mobile search and advertising are relatively small markets today, but experts expect spending to pick up within the next few years as more mobile users figure out how to access the Internet from their handsets. Market research firm Gartner predicts that mobile advertising will grow from less than a $1 billion in revenue worldwide in 2007 to about $11 billion in revenue in 2011.

This is a major deal for JumpTap, which already has deals with 16 carriers, including Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile, AT&T and Telefonica.

Still, JumpTap and other white label search and advertising providers, such as Medio, are going head-to-head in this market against Google. Even though, some critics say that Google's success in mobile isn't guaranteed, the company is in a strong position, since it is the most well known search and advertising company on the desktop Web. And since many people around the world associate Internet search with Google, white label providers and the carriers that use them might have a hard time getting consumers to use their search tools.

Google has optimized its applications for the iPhone so they are integrated into a single interface and operate faster.

Now, if you go to Google's home page on your iPhone you'll see the Web search box and links to Gmail, Calendar and Reader up at the top of the screen for quick access.

Google also offers word suggestions as you type to make the query entry faster.

And once you click on links, the pages download faster than before. "When you click it's instantaneous," says Gummi Hafsteinsson, a senior product manager at Google. "Just like on the desktop; there's no difference between the two."

Google plans to optimize its applications for other phones eventually, he said.

Links to Google Maps and YouTube are on the main menu of the iPhone.

New research is finding that people don't mind ads when they are searching for something online but don't relish the idea of getting ads, even local business ads, on their cell phones.

A new survey from Nielsen/NetRatings and WebVisible of consumer behavior and attitudes around online advertising finds that nearly three-quarters of U.S. Internet users believe they are overexposed to advertising. And nearly as many say they prefer finding products and services through search engines than having ads sent directly to them.

Of the nearly 2,000 people surveyed last month, most said they only get ads they want or need from the Internet (56 percent) and television (53 percent).

And search engines are where people are going most when doing shopping research--74 percent said they use a search engine to look for a local retail or service business. That beats the number who still use the yellow pages (65 percent), Internet yellow pages (50 percent), local newspaper (44 percent), white pages (33 percent), television (29 percent) and consumer review Web sites (18 percent).

A whopping 92 percent said that receiving local business ads on their cell phones would be irritating. Eighty percent have researched a product only to buy it from a brick-and-mortar store.

And don't think consumer ratings and reviews aren't heeded. Sixty-seven percent said they would probably avoid a restaurant with only two stars, while 90 percent said a hotel review that said it was "noisy with uncomfortable beds" would keep them away. For sure!

Millions of people in 15 European and Latin American countries will be searching the Web and getting news and ads on their mobile phones from Yahoo under a deal the search provider inked with Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica.

Under the partnership, Yahoo's OneSearch mobile software will be the exclusive search engine for Telefonica local subsidiaries in the U.K., Ireland, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Panama, Uruguay, Nicaragua and El Salvador. It will be the preferred search choice on Telefonica in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

Telefonica also will integrate Yahoo's photo site Flickr and Yahoo Mail into its mobile Internet services.

OneSearch offers a quick way for mobile users to get their search results. It also provides access to news, financial information, weather conditions and other information.

Google is reportedly working on a new mobile service that will let people search for and buy ringtones and games. The Wall Street Journal cites "people familiar with the matter" in reporting the Google project. Google has been working with content providers for months to index their catalogs, but technical issues have delayed the project, the paper reports. A Google spokeswoman said the company does not comment on rumor or speculation.

Back when Windows Live originally released Windows Live Search for Mobile, I absolutely loved it. Windows Live Mobile Search is a killer app, especially if you have a Windows Mobile phone. Version 1 of the application included tight integration with Windows Live Local, with support for both standard and aerial map views. The most powerful features, though, are local search and directions. You can search for addresses, restaurants, hotels, or whatever in your area and get directions to get you there. I can't tell you how many times it has helped me to figure out where I needed to go. Since its release in December of 2006, it has quickly become my favorite mobile application.

When I read today that they had released version 2, I was eager to check it out. Version 2 includes some key new features that really take this application to the next level.

Among the coolest of the new features in the Windows Mobile version of the application is movie showtimes. Windows Live Search will give you the showtimes for any movie at your favorite theater. So, there is no more scrambling around trying to figure out what time the movie you want to see starts; it's right there in your pocket. As if that wasn't enough, you can also see the ratings for the movie that you are considering seeing and get directions to the theater.

They also employed a similar strategy with their improved restaurant listings. The listing page includes consumer reviews and star ratings for the establishment in question. As always, there is a direct link to call the restaurant and directions to get there.

Windows Live Search for Mobile can either be used on Windows Mobile (2003, 5, or 6) or on J2ME phones. I am not sure how the J2ME version of the application is since I don't have a compatible phone to test it on, so if anyone wants to give it a shot, let me know in the comments.

This is an absolute must-download application if you have a Windows Mobile phone. Also, the best part...it's free! So, if you don't like it you can always take it off, but from my experience, it will be there to stay.

Download Windows Live Search for Mobile (navigate here on your phone)

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