Google Making Moves in Mobile Advertising

Google is hungry.  Since August 2009, the world’s largest search engine has made four acquisitions: On2, reCAPTCHA, AdMob and most recently Gizmo5.  Three of the four companies provide services or technology in the mobile space.  Add to that Google’s existing collection of mobile-related technology (Android, Google Voice, Latitude, Mobile Analytics), you start to get a sense that they are up to something big.  Really big.  In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Google CEO Eric Schmidt shared that the company’s mobile revenue was growing faster than its regular revenue sources.

The purchase of AdMob gives Google a 30 to 40 percent market share in mobile advertising, putting Google’s ads into mobile applications like Yelp or Tap Tap, on mobile websites, as well as next to search results on mobile devices. AdMob founder and CEO, Omar Hamoui, shares his thoughts about the acquisition on the AdMob blog. Google has also posted a fact page about the deal, which is chalk full of quotes from notable mobile industry leaders, analysts, publishers and advertisers.

You don’t have to look very hard to see that mobile devices are everywhere these days (try looking around the bus or train on your daily commute).  In 2009 already, there were more mobile devices with fully-capable web browsers sold than laptops.  As more people get their hands on smarter mobile devices, they are also doing more than just talking.  They are browsing the web, downloading applications, watching videos, making purchases and of course searching.

Mobile advertising is gaining ground and the AdMob deal is bringing that mainstream.  The question now is what are you and your business doing to be seen in the mobile space?  Will you be creating a mobile website or developing your own mobile application?  How will you track all of this new activity?  How will you advertise on the mobile web?  It seems the answer to all of these questions is… Google.