BlackBerry Goes Bing

Those interested in search engine marketing on mobiles aimed at a professional audience will be interested in the latest deal struck by BlackBerry manufacture Research In Motion (RIM) and Microsoft, who continue to push perennial runner-up search engine Bing.

At the Blackberry World conference this week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced an alliance between Microsoft and RIM.  He stated that all BlackBerry devices will now ship with Bing as the default search engine in the browser, and Bing will be the default search and map application for new devices (such as the new iPad competitor the BlackBerry Playbook), being built into the operating system rather than appearing as separate apps.  

Additionally, Bing's search and map apps will receive prominent positioning and regular promotion in the BlackBerry App World store.  

The marketing tagline "Making better decisions with Bing on BlackBerry" highlights the message the companies want marketers and consumers to take away; this is not just about search, but is aimed, over time, to become an integration of all Bing's services such as maps, local data, photo search, commerce, and social networking.  

By hitching their wagon to BlackBerry, Microsoft gets an instant increase in their presence in the mobile search market, which they will be hoping will bleed back into increased PC based use.  A recent deal with Nokia is also aimed at driving mobile usage, and together the deals seem to show that Microsoft knows that its Windows Phone OS just cannot compete head on with Android and that to make any headway in the market it needs help.  However, only time will tell if these partnerships are enough to stop - or even slow - the Google Android juggernaut.