Google to increase its mobile advertising

Mobile advertising appears to be top of the agenda at Google as the firm has announced it seeks to expand its mobile internet search platform.

Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, said that its Android operating system (OS) for smartphones is becoming increasingly popular and that its growing proliferation would see the firm move more firmly into mobile advertising.

After a disappointing release for Android in which the Google G1 was the only handset to carry the OS, there are now 12 such devices available in 26 countries and with 32 different operators.

Mr Schmidt said: "Android adoption is about to explode."

The company makes money from mobile internet enquiries as advertisers pay to have their details appear when a consumer searches for a relevant topic using their handset.

Research released this summer from Zenith Optimedia predicted that paid search advertising will account for 15.1 per cent of all marketing expenditure by 2011, up from 10.5 per cent in 2008.

How can you make use of paid search?

By Neil Hill