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Overture and Mobile Commerce will start distribution through Vodafone UK and Orange; other participating operators will be announced shortly.

Users browsing the travel section of a network operator's Wap portal -- such as Vodafone Live! and Orange World -- will see links to a menu allowing them to select the travel service they are interested in.

The system will return a basic display of results, and the user can click through to the advertiser's Wap page for more information.

Advertisers can bid for paid listings against specific keywords, which are prioritised according to the top paying advertisers for the category requested -- advertisers will pay Overture once the user has clicked on their link.

Martin Child, managing director Overture Northern Europe, said: "It is our mission to provide paid-for listings to find new ways to connect with customers online and so mobile paid listings are a natural transition.

"Initially we will deploy our successful commercial search model on text and location-based services, gradually moving on to more sophisticated applications allowing easy migration to 3G."

Steve Page, chief executive officer at Mobile Commerce, said: "Mobile is one of the fastest growth areas in Europe and we expect that non-voice sectors such as mobile search, will grow exponentially over the next five years."

Ben Taylor, Vodafone spokesman, said: "We are always looking for opportunities to offer a range of content to our customers under our easy-to-use menu. We have around 200 content providers, one of which is Overture, and through this partnership we are able to extend our ability to get news to the customer."

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