Is that Google… Advertising?

“Google… advertising?” That’s exactly the thought that ran through my head when I saw a series of mobile banner ads running on CNN.com Mobile. I have to admit, I can’t recall Google ever advertising (although I’m sure it is entirely possible that they have in the past). In any event, I found it astounding!

I sat on this discovery for a few days. I didn’t know what to make of it. I was just too foreign to me. But after a few days I started my quest to answer the question that had been plaguing me… “Why is Google advertising mobile search?”

The answer may not be as obvious as you’d suspect.

I did a little digging around and found some interesting information to support the theory that Google is losing the battle on Mobile search. Yes, I said it, “Google is losing the battle on Mobile Search.” [NOTE: If I go missing tomorrow please search for me at the GooglePlex – where I’ll likely be held in detention with all those other people who have said that Google isn’t number 1 at everything on the Web.]

“Where did he come up with such an audacious suggestion?” you may ask. Well, I found an interesting statistic to back my hypothesis up. Both Verizon and T-Mobile offer a mobile search portal to their users (84 million users in total). If just 10% of those users used search on their carriers portal, there’d be 8.41 million users – twice as many users than Google Mobile.

But it doesn’t end there. Encyclopedia Britannica has also entered the fray with their mobile search, as has Alltel wireless with their own Mobile search solution. And yet, there’s more. Some search providers are already rolling out speech enabled mobile search – thus breaking down the barriers of mainstream usability – namely data plan costs, network speeds and hardware issues. So, while everyone may not have a device that displays search results well, they certainly have the ability to speak there query into the device. It is a phone after all.

I could continue but I believe you get the point.

So, what does Google’s campaign really mean? Their campaign is a proactive attempt to get us (i.e. – Mobile web users) to put them top-of-mind when we go to do our mobile searches. It means that they understand the challenges they face in getting users to adopt their version of Mobile search. It means they’ve got some catching up to do.

Tags: Google, Mobile, search