Mobile ad rates to likely exceed PC-based search: Google

A top Google official has said it was very likely that search ad rates on mobile phones would surpass the rates of ads on personal computers. He pointed out that mobile ad rates have increased dramatically even as the number of Google searches on mobile phones has increased five-fold over the last two years.

Google engineering vice president, Vic Gundotra, was speaking to analysts in the course of a webcast.

Though ad rates for mobiles are still far less per click than on a full PC, rates are now skyrocketing because of dramatically increased capabilities of mobile devices, such as Apple's iPhone, BlackBerry and Google's own Android. The popularity of these devices is increasing manifold as these cell phones increasingly mimic full-blown pocket computers.

Pointing out that Google had seen mobile searches multiply five-fold over the last two years, thanks primarily to the advent of the smartphone in the market place, Gundotra said he doesn't see that pace slackening.

Smartphones now represent nearly 20 per cent of the US handset market, and also constitute a much larger portion of new handset sales, say market experts.

Smartphones also allow the deployment of advanced technologies such as GPS, which can be used to target user-specific ads, Gundotra said. The use of GPS data can tell Google where the user is and allow it to serve more relevant mobile ads will help drive adoption and boost rates.