Visual search engine SearchMe launched a mobile (WAP) version of its site today at the Mobilze conference in San Francisco. The results offer a thumbnail of each site, as well as a URL. On a smart phone with a larger screen, this is a helpful presentation of results.

An iPhone version of SearchMe is expected very soon.

The irony of the iPhone version of the site is that SearchMe itself takes its inspiration from iTunes’ Cover Flow and mimics that on the desktop:

Visual search engines such as SearchMe, RedZee and others are a conceptually intriguing alternative to traditional search engines. However they’ve yet to develop much traction.

In mobile there is potentially an opportunity for these engines, although they will need to overcome the “brand equity” momentum of desktop search providers, which appears to be translating into the mobile Internet.

Related Topics: Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling