Research data from Nielsen Mobile shows that search giant Google managed to capture a staggering 61 percent of the mobile search market. Yahoo and MSN were ranked and third in that category with 18 and 5 percent of the mobile search market.

Amazingly, part of the reason behind Google's stellar showing might actually be related to the fact that mobile searches from iPhones are 50 times higher compared to other handset [1]. Google is set as the default search engine on the iPhone. But how does that square with MSN's poor showing, given the sheer number of Windows Mobile devices out there. The answer could be that other browsers, such as the popular Opera Mini--which has Yahoo set as the default destination--are easily installed on a Windows Mobile device.

For more on the mobile search market:
- check out this Ars Technica article [2]