A union of two titans seems only weeks away, with search giant Google reportedly close to sealing a market changing deal with leading mobile provider Verizon Communications.

While the two companies have seemed to be at loggerheads for most of the year, reports emerged in the Wall Street Journal that the companies were close to a deal which would see Google as the default search service.

The partnership, which would see Google search on the Verizon mobile homepage, would be a major coup for Google. It would provide it with an even bigger stake of the US mobile market (it already carries 61%), and also give it greater scope for driving mobile advertising revenue.

Apparently 13 million of Verizon’s mobile internet users (reportedly 36 million in total) use the search services that Google will soon operate.

Google’s focus is clearly on the mobile market, with Eric Schmidt reinforcing the strategic direction in a recent interview on CNBC:

“We can make more in mobile than desktop eventually. The reason [is] because the mobile computer is more targeted. Think about it: you carry your phone everywhere, it knows all about you. We can do a very, very targeted ad. Over time, we will make more money for mobile advertising.”

For local businesses, the potential of Local Search Engine Marketing is set to skyrocket. With mobile search access becoming increasingly more accessible and faster - consumers aren’t waiting to sit at their computers to do their research - they’re searching on the go!