Google Launches Free SMS Search for Nigeria

24. January 2009, 10:56 UhrGoogle NigeriaStartups Nigeria

Google has capitalised on the recent mobile penetration in Nigeria to launch a test of Google SMS Search which provides access to information via your mobile phone.

You simply create an SMS message about what you are looking for and send it to the Google number (4664 or “GOOG”) and wait for a response by SMS. The service is currently free from Google, but mobile charges do apply from your network operator.

How does it work?

You can search for news headlines on a topic you are interested in. For example, send “news obama” or “n obama” to 4664 to get news headlines about Obama. Google currently has both major international news sources as well as local ones, so there’s a possiblity you can get Nigerian news too. You can also get the top headlines by category, for example, “news sports” will return the top sports headlines.

You can also send “define p-square” or “d p-square” to 4664 to get a short description of the Nigerian artists are, or “define ratification” to get a definition of the word. Google SMS search also allows you to get the latest scores and standings for your English premier league team. For example, send “score chelsea” to get information.

My take

I think this would be a viable service as more and more people are using their mobile phones in Nigeria to access the web. Although this service is currently in Nigeria and Ghana, my guess is Google will extend it to other African countries soon. With so much interest in Africa lately, Google is keeping me on my toes.

Image Via: WhiteAfrican

19 comments:

  1. Stanley Ojadovwa, 24. January 2009, 15:20

    This seems to be a great news. I think Nigeria web developers should start thinking of positioning themselves for google.

     
  2. Possicon, 26. January 2009, 12:13

    @loy
    This is innovative and also it has gone to a large extent to showcase the potential Nigeria has in the webspace.

    I look forward to seeing them on other networks (zain,glo, starcomms etc).

    I love this.

     
  3. Possicon, 26. January 2009, 14:26

    @loy
    This is innovative and also it has gone to a large extent to showcase the potential Nigeria has in the webspace.

    I look forward to seeing them on other networks (zain,glo, starcomms etc).

    Honestly, I love this development.

     
  4. kolawole, 27. January 2009, 16:33

    i look forward to google, to incorprate my own ideas and databases in there network.

     
  5. Tunde, 29. January 2009, 19:17

    This is great news to me. I can’t imagine this kind of thing could happen. Bravo for google.

     
  6. Arthur Devriendt » Blog Archive » Tweets du mois de janvier (Pingback), 1. February 2009, 13:29
     

    [...] et culturels du P2P sont extrêmement positifs” (@Brest) - Google lance un service de recherche par SMS au Nigeria (Startups Nigeria) - Appel à communications pour le cinquième colloque Ludovia [...]

     
  7. Perfect, 5. February 2009, 13:11

    This is really a welcome development.

     
  8. austyn, 14. February 2009, 0:31

    i really feel so happy about this. aot of thanks to google

     
  9. STEPHE MORGAN, 17. February 2009, 18:51

    I AM LOOKING FOR THE SITE I WIL USE TO SEND FREE SMS I LIVE IN NIGERIA

     
  10. Ade, 2. March 2009, 2:55

    Waohhh
    So when is that gonna be…looking 4ward to it as its hard sending Free sms to Naija from the Caribbean!

     
  11. emmaunel stainless, 6. March 2009, 9:48

    I AM LOOKING FOR THE SITE I WIL USE TO SEND FREE SMS I LIVE IN NIGERIA. i want to send sms quickly to my friends with there mobile phone.

     
  12. Nnaemeka Nwabugwu, 8. March 2009, 6:25

    This indeed is what we need. Great idea!

     
  13. Nzube dotcom, 9. March 2009, 21:21

    i want free sms site

     
  14. ugochukwu, 1. April 2009, 9:41

    plz im want free nigerian sms site

     
  15. Ekeh Kennedy, 6. April 2009, 9:00

    I am so impressed

     
  16. Mustapha A.K, 6. April 2009, 20:00

    Pls provide 1 like mjoy 4 easy use.

     
  17. Eddy, 16. April 2009, 20:35

    Try http://www.mjoy.com 4 free text

     
  18. Startups Nigeria » MTN Nigeria Unveils Google’s Free SMS Search (Pingback), 18. April 2009, 0:21
     

    [...] first to launch Google’s Free SMS Search for its over 20 million subscribers in Nigeria. When Google launched the service for Nigeria and Ghana in January, we were the first to cover the story in Nigeria and we thought it would be a [...]

     
  19. Ejike, 21. April 2009, 9:37

    free SMS to Nigeria is not easy, you find one today, they shut it down tommorrow. We are counting on google to provide a lasting solution to this.

     

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