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Today, Google announced a new search offering for mobile devices. The redesigned search experience will free handset users from having to type by including browseable categories. Local mobile search will also integrate with saved Google Maps information on a user's computer.

At first glance, this seems to be a great new tool to streamline the flow of information between our online and offline worlds. But how well does Google's new local mobile search work in reality?

Mobile analyst firm MSearchGroove has just published the results of a series of tests which show that the mobile search service ChaCha beat out two other voice-enabled search applications on the iPhone when it comes to search query accuracy. [Update, Ed: a commenter points out that the report was actually sponsored by ChaCha] To test this, the researchers used Google's own mobile application and Vlingo for iPhone, an app that lets you search both Google or Yahoo. Oddly, they ignored Yahoo's mobile app, which also has voice search built in.

The results of their study aren't entirely shocking: if you want to be understood, ask a human, not a computer.

Taptu, a search engine specializing in mobile searches, just announced that its users now generate more than 1 million searches a day, and that the search engine had about 3.4 million unique users in April. One of the most interesting aspects of Taptu is that it tries to only include mobile-friendly search results in its index. As Microsoft is revving up its mobile search efforts with Bing Mobile, and Google keeps on releasing tweaked versions of its mobile search, Taptu is obviously working in a very crowded market, but the company offers a number of interesting features that its competitors have yet to implement.

Deals are in the works to make Microsoft the default search and advertising provider for Verizon mobile phones, one of the biggest carrier networks in the US. That would mean Redmond replacing Google, something that many users may not be happy about.

A related deal could put Windows Mobile in places that Google Android could be, as well, and the decision will come down to money more than it will quality of service for users. We like a lot of what Microsoft is doing these days, but we prefer the Google search experience and are hopeful for Android-driven innovation. Thus we hope that Microsoft can't pay its way into the center of hundreds of millions of more phones.