Google’s Next Target: Mobile Device Advertising or Microsoft?

While Google has been rumored to be creating its own mobile phone for some time now. But, analysts say they doubt Google is going to go head-to-head with Apple, whose highly successful and well-designed iPhone has already changed consumer expectations, setting the bar extremely high for the next generation of devices from the mobile phone market. Instead, according to a report in The New York Times, “Google wants to extend its dominance of online advertising to the mobile Internet, a small market today, but one that is expected to grow rapidly.”

The Times article continues, “Google is not creating a gadget to rival the iPhone, but rather creating software that will be an alternative to Windows Mobile from Microsoft” in an attempt to create an open source competitor to Windows Mobile. Part of the bait Google hopes to use to lure manufacturers into their camp is their fee structure. Unlike Microsoft, “Google is not expected to charge phone makers a licensing fee for its software”, effectively taking the economic wind out of the Windows Mobile market.

Google is being fairly tight-lipped about their mobile market plans, but its chief executive officer, according to The NYT, has said on several occasions that the cellphone market presented the largest growth opportunity for Google. And, the company has been lobbying regulators at the Federal Communications Commission to impose new rules that require carriers who utilize the wireless spectrum to be “open to any handset and software application from any company.”

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