Big In Japan: Google In Search Deal With NTT DoCoMo (GOOG)

Another big mobile advertising win for Google in Japan: Google will be NTT DoCoMo's default search engine, and its apps like YouTube and GMail will get prime placement on the carrier's phones. DoCoMo has 53 million subscribers and is the largest Japanese carrier. Google also does ads for rival KDDI, and will now get access to 80% of the Japanese mobile market.

The deal shows that Google, like rival Yahoo!, still thinks it's valuable to be part of carriers' mobile home pages, or "decks." How valuable? A confusing projection: The companies "aim to reap joint advertising revenues of 10 billion yen ($93 million) 'as soon as possible,'" Reuters reports. No word on how they'll split the money.

The companies have worked together before: NTT DoCoMo is one of the carrier partners for Google's Open Handset Alliance, and the company plans to offer phones running Google's Android operating system.

DoCoMo also used the occasion as an opportunity to slap Apple, which hasn't yet announced plans to sell its phones in Japan. Marketwatch:

DoCoMo executives said they were attracted by the amount of customization Google allows to its offerings. Managing Director Takeshi Natsuno said this is in contrast to negotiations with Apple Inc. to sell its iPhone in Japan. "There is no room for DoCoMo to add its own flavor" with the iPhone, he said.

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