Google searches go mobile in US

INTERNET search firm Google is testing a new service in the US which allows people to use mobile phones to tap into its web search engine via text messages.

The move is a bold push beyond Google's traditional business base and answers critics who say the company is too reliant on an increasingly competitive sector.

The service, called Google SMS, allows users to retrieve business and residential listings, product prices and even includes a dictionary.

But the SMS service will not make Google any money - at least to begin with - although mobile carriers will reap a 5 cent to 10 cent (6p) fee per message.

'In all of these cases [of businesses included in the search] you do not pay to be included,' Georges Harik, director of Google's start-up unit, Googlettes, said.

Nor will consumers pay Google. 'We are not charging anything for the service and we have no plans to do so in the near future.

'We are trying to see if this is compelling enough to get people to use it' he said.