Mobile search is becoming an important growth opportunity for the leading search engines. Why do you think the Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) "gPhone" is hot fodder for the rumor mill?

Sticking to tangible news items, though, you've got to love the deal that Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) struck with Spain's Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) this morning. Yahoo! will provide search, email, and Flickr photo-sharing as a local alternative in Telefonica's markets in Latin America, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Reaching a potential audience of as many as 100 million Telefonica customers, Yahoo! will also be there for other things, such as serving up stock quotes or daily weather forecasts. Perhaps more importantly for Yahoo! and its oneSearch mobile features, it's one less deal for Google or Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to take away.

That's a call that is always worth making.

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