The Google Webmaster blog has posted some advice about making websites mobile friendly, in response to an increasing number of questions being posted by website owners and developers.

The blog explains the how the current mix of mobile phones can access the Internet, between traditional mobile phones (i.e. phones with browsers that cannot render normal desktop webpages) and the newer trend of 'Smartphones' (which are phones with browsers that render normal desktop pages, at least to some extent, such as Blackberry devices, iPhones and Android phones).

Google uses 2 types of search engine 'crawler' that are relevant to mobiles: Googlebot and Googlebot-Mobile. Googlebot crawls desktop-browser type of webpages and content embedded in them and Googlebot-Mobile crawls mobile content. The blog post explains how to recognise and serve appropriate content to the Googlebot-Mobile.

Google says they expect smartphones to handle desktop experience content, so there is no real need for mobile-specific effort from webmasters. However, for many websites it may still make sense for the content to be formatted differently for smartphones, and the decision to do so should be based on how website owners can best serve their users.

Most websites currently have only one version of their content, namely in HTML that is designed for desktop web browsers. This means all browsers access the content from the same URL. These websites may not be serving traditional mobile phone users and the quality experienced by their smartphone users depends on the mobile browser they are using and it could be as good as browsing from the desktop.

A report by MediaPost claims that 45% of consumers in the US don't have a specific business in mind when conducting a local search online. According to recent research by 15miles, more local business searchers begin with general keyword terms in search queries. They have products and services in mind, but they are not sure where to make the purchase.

On the other hand, 56% of social and 60% of mobile users are more likely to search with specific businesses in mind because they are already outside the home looking for a nearby business to fill a need. As a result of this activity, the study points to a lack of sophisticated search functions in social networks for the differences in behaviour.

Additional research by comScore identified the power of local, mobile and social search among consumers, with 70% of survey respondents using search engines, online Yellow Pages or social networks as their primary sources of local business information. Local search engine queries continued to increase at a strong rate with 9% year-over-year growth.

By measuring consumer behavior and the impact on decisions, the study reveals insights that are necessary to influence marketers' search strategies. Key factors included:
* Online search is the preferred method for information about local businesses, with 70% of consumers citing online sites as their primary source.
* Search engines are most popular, but they are not growing as fast as other media.
* Local searchers are more apt to buy.
* Print is declining, but it still holds value for today's consumers as a secondary source.
* With emerging media on the rise, a diverse media mix must now include social and mobile marketing.

Consumers who use social networks and mobile smartphones are more likely to use and write reviews. More than 40% have submitted between 2-5 reviews in the past 30 days. In addition, 78% of social networkers and 71% of mobile users consider consumer ratings and reviews important in making their purchase selections.

Of those participating in the survey, 81% believe it's important for local businesses to respond to questions and complaints on social sites; 78% want special offers, promotions and information about events; and 66% believe that company photos are important.

Hot on the heels of Google's recent phone launch, Microsoft have also announced a new Internet-phone called Windows Phone 7. This has naturally received wide media coverage, including by the Sydney Morning Herald that reports on the radically redesigned operating system that will soon become a serious challenger to Apple's iPhone.

The new phone looks quite different to the iPhone and not as stylish, but since it has been designed from the bottom up and with experience of the existing systems in the market, it is said to seamlessly pull together content from social networking sites and other web services on a scale unseen on competing platforms. Previous Windows Mobile versions have been replaced by a completely new design that integrates Microsoft's Zune music player and the Xbox Live gaming service.

Using Microsoft's own operating system, the new phones are due to hit the market by Christmas this year. Samsung, HTC, HP, Sony Ericsson, Dell, LG and Toshiba have already signed up as early partners and this is clear competition for Google and the market leader, Apple.

The Google AdWords blog has announced the use of click-to-call numbers for advertisers targeting mobile users. This facility has now completed a stage of beta testing and is being rolled out to AdWords campaigns in Australia and worldwide. Google has been developing better options for AdWords advertisers to target Internet-capable mobile phone users, and the click-to-call option recognises the fact that many mobile searchers would prefer to call from the advert, rather than visit the website to find the number.

AdWords advertisers can now add a location-specific business phone number in the mobile ads, so that users can click the number to call the business immediately. Ads can be served based on user location, so that for companies with multiple locations or stores, a potential customer will see - and can click to call - the phone number of their nearest location. This new feature also makes it easier for advertisers to fully measure the results of their ads by allowing them to track how many calls they actually receive within the AdWords interface.

Google says that the beta trial demonstrated that those advertisers who participated saw improved click-through rates, plus they also received more visits to their websites in addition to incremental phone calls. The cost of a click to call will be the same as the cost of a click to visit a website.

As reported by MediaWeek, the recent announcement by Google of new functions within its Analytics stats package Google Analytics included the ability for users to track their visitor traffic to both mobile sites and applications, breaking out the devices being used so that marketers can track digital campaigns in one place, whether through the web or mobile.

Analytics users need to add a piece of code to their mobile sites or applications for Google to collect the stats from all mobile-enabled devices, although it doesn't cover all programming languages yet. Developers can now track the usage of their apps and with the link to Google's Android operating system, these apps can be linked to ad campaigns, with mobile searches reported to be up by 30% year-on-year for the recent quarter.

The mobile-tracking features are part of a broader update to Google Analytics that includes the ability to set and track engagement goals, add customized audience segments, track unique visitors for segments and set "intelligence alerts." With this latter function, Google hopes to automate the process of users having to sift through the data to find key insights. Google's algorithms will comb through analytics information to find interesting trends, such as a surge in traffic from a particular site or an increased bounce rate in a geographical area.

MediaWeek in the US has reported on the latest research data from Nielsen that shows mobile Internet usage growing exponentially, largely due to the increasing number of 'smartphones' such as the iPhone. However, despite the high level of expectations for this sector, the report says that only a quarter of wireless subscribers logged onto the web via their mobile devices in July.

The Nielsen research says there were 56.9 million mobile web users in the US by July 2009 - up 34% year on year. However, an earlier Nielsen report at the start of 2009 said there are almost 225 million total mobile subscribers in the US, which means that mobile Internet penetration is about 25% of the market and still trailing PC-based web usage.

The demographic profile of the mobile Internet sector shows that teens and seniors are pushing the growth in usage as they enter the market. The article says that Nielsen's data showed a 45% surge in usage amongst teens 13-17, as well as a 67% spike amongst users aged 65 and older. Males still dominate the sector with 53% of the market but the female audience rose by 43% in July, compared to a 26% growth spike amongst men.

The ClickZ website summarises a new report from The Kelsey Group that forecasts a strong growth in the US mobile advertising sector as mobile handsets continue to develop and be used more widely and for more applications, particularly with the advent of smartphones such as the iPhone.

The estimates show mobile advertising revenues growing from $160m in 2008 to $3.1bn in 2013, which is a compound annual growth rate of 81.2%. This ad spend is divided in three categories, with 2008 figures showing $21m on display advertising, $39m on search, and $100m on SMS campaigns. By 2013 the report forecasts a change in this mix, with the majority of the spend being dedicated to search - projected as $567m to be spent on mobile display ads, $2.3bn on search, and $270m in SMS.

There is a slowdown in mobile ad expenditures at the moment due to the global economic crisis and the experimental nature of much f the current advertising, but spend is expected to rise quickly after 2010 with search seen as the more reliable and measurable focus for advertising as existing web users transfer more of their time onto mobile activity, particularly with local search advertising seen as a strong area for growth.

The adoption of mobile web usage and ability for advertisers to reach consumers on a mobile device is becoming easier through the increase of applications for the iPhone as well as other providers makes compelling content for a variety of handsets ubiquitous. Google is also making it easier for small businesses to advertise through the extension of Google AdWords to mobile.

The Google Analytics blog has posted an article about tracking website visits from the Apple iPhone. The increasing usage of the iPhone will potentially mean new opportunities for websites to receive traffic, particularly for local business marketing, and the use of Analytics data can help website owners identify this traffic and how users access the website pages.

Google has already provided an option for AdWords advertisers to promote their businesses on the iPhone (plus other Internet browser enabled mobiles) and now Analytics has created a default 'segment' to track the visitor activity from this source. This data will enable site owners to compare any differences between mobile activity and traditional web-based visits and so identify any potential issues with the website design in this format.

Google's AdWords blog has announced a new campaign management option for advertisers who want to display their text and image ads onto the new range of phones that offer full HTML Internet browsers, such as the iPhone and the new T-Mobile G1 (Google's new application service).

This new option will allow advertisers to create exclusive campaigns for these new generation phone and view separate performance reporting. Google says that these new iPhone / G1 ads have many of the same benefits as the standard mobile-format ads - such as delivering mobile-specific calls-to-action and reaching an audience when they're on the go - plus they say that with more users now performing searches on these devices, these searches are likely to go up during the holiday season. According to the blog, the iPhone drove more traffic last Christmas to Google.com worldwide than any other mobile platform.

The other main benefit to advertisers is that, unlike standard mobile ads, adverts don't need to be reformatted to show them on these Internet phones, since as they operate with full Internet browsers, it's possible to display the standard AdWords ads and landing pages on these devices without having to modify them.

This is likely to become a much larger part of a PPC campaign for many local targeted advertisers over the coming years and the new option from Google recognises the need for targeting and tracking this new sector.

The New York Times reports on the launch of the new 'Google phone' which is intended to challenge the Apple iPhone as a way to extend the Internet to the mobile market. Developed in conjunction with T-Mobile, the new G1 phone will be launched in the US at the end of October and offers a slick design that combines a touch-screen and keyboard.

The new phone is the first to be powered by Google’s Android operating system, which was introduced to allow mobile phone companies to provide more flexibility in the way that the Internet can be used in this sector. The article reports comments by analysts who have said that the G1 did not represent the kind of revolutionary change in design and function that the iPhone has shown, but this new launch is likely to further accelerate the two trends that will have a lasting impact on the wireless industry - namely, the growing use of the mobile Internet, and the ability of consumers to customize their phones with their favorite functions.

At the G1 launch in New York, it was announced that the new phone will have a selling price just below the iPhone. In addition, it will include applications such as Google’s search, maps, Gmail and YouTube, although the Android concept is to also encourage third-party developers to create programs to run on it. Google will include an applications store, called the Android Marketplace, where the owners of the G1 and future Android-powered phones will be able to download those programs, so that consumers will be able to decide what they want to run on their phones.

A report by mocoNews indicates that Google is also starting to dominate the mobile search market. Taking figures from the latest Nielsen Mobile survey, Google is shown to have a 61% share of mobile searches in the US, followed by Yahoo! at 18% and MSN at 5%. This is probably not a surprising trend as searchers are likely to use the same search tools that they find most useful on the web, although performance and results in the mobile sector will also determine usage.

This issue was covered by an article earlier this month by USA Today, which reported on the strategies that the main search companies are taking to gain a share of the rapidly growing mobile, including Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system and Google's 'Android' project. The general feeling that the mobile web is likely to become an advertising goldmine is not being lost on these companies who are working to establish a foothold now and ensure that they don't miss these new opportunities that could determine future business success or failure.

A recent report by Business Week illustrates ways that the mobile web - Internet access through mobile phones - is starting the change the way that people go online and use websites.

Dubbed 'the weekend web', there is now a distinct trend (at least in the US) where people are spending more time online via wireless devices, as well as tending to use a different set of sites than during the week. Google reports that most mobile traffic to their search site comes at the weekend with mobile browsing increasing by 89% in the past year and mobile page views reported to have increased by 127%. The increase is attributed to a wider availability of one price-full access data plans plus the increasing sophistication of handheld devices such as the new Apple iPhone.

The article includes research from M:Metrics, who are tracking the use of mobile web access and the popularity of different types of website. The weekends see a lot of mobile web activity around classified advertising sites, like Craigslist and eBay, as well as travel/mapping sites, sport and weather sites.

As the use of mobiles to access the web increases, market research company Nielsen have launched a new online audience-profiling tool for this sector, called Mobile @Plan. A report by Multichannel News describes how this new service will provide marketers and publishers with lifestyle and demographic information on the leading mobile web sites, enabling advertisiers to efficiently target their intended audience through mobile phones.

The service gives marketers valuable audience data for more than 200 mobile websites by profiling their users according to more than a thousand points of lifestyle information, including demographics, leisure activities, life events, electronics ownership, media use and brand-level purchase activity on travel, auto, finance, food and beverage, real estate, pets and more.