According to a BusinessWeek report, the provider of the default search engine of the forthcoming Motorola Backflip, AT&T’s first Google Android OS-based handset scheduled for release on March 7, will surprisingly be Google’s closest rival – Yahoo!

As per the report, though the Backflip, manufactured by the Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola, will feature Yahoo search out of the box, users who wish to change the provider to Google – which handles two-thirds of US Internet search queries, and is incidentally the default provider for the AT&T-exclusive iPhone - will be able to do so manually.

For Yahoo, which is a distant second ranker in the search market dominated by Google, the default search deal for Backflip is a conquest of sorts – more so as the struggling company has been looking for opportunities to make headway in the mobile search arena.

Commenting on Yahoo being the provider of default search on AT&T’s Motorola Backflip, Yahoo spokesman David Katz said in e-mailed statement: “We have a long-standing relationship with AT&T and more than 80 carrier partnerships around the world for our award- winning mobile-search experience. Mobile search continues to be a focus for investment and innovation.”

Meanwhile, Google has refrained from commenting on the move largely because Backflip is not a Google-branded handset, like Nexus One.