It has been an interesting week or so in the search engine industry, especially for Google.В  After it pulled the plug on its proposed deal with Yahoo!, Google now faces an unexpected twist in the wireless cell phone search market.

In a previous blog about the wireless ubiquity of SEO, we noted that Verizon was in early discussions regarding a partnership that would feature Google’s search service on Verizon phones.В  However, on Wednesday reports leaked that instead Microsoft is offering a better deal to become Verizon’s default wireless search provider – reportedly twice as much as Google was offering.

While it is true that a deal with Microsoft would not preclude Verizon phone users from accessing Google’s search engine and only makes Microsoft’s search engine the default, the significance of Microsoft’s proposal should not be overlooked.В  The fact that Microsoft was willing to guarantee $550 to $650 million and double Google’s proposal, even during a financial crisis, shows how important they consider the mobile phone search engine industry.

Again, as search engines becoming increasingly accessible – literally in the palms of to millions of users across the globe – your business cannot afford to neglect SEO.