Consumers are in love with their smartphones. They used them for entertainment during the Super Bowl. They used them to find a restaurant on Valentine’s Day. But for their taxes?

Millions of consumers used their mobile phone to conduct tax related searches this year. In fact, tax related searches on mobile devices jumped by 206% year over year, outpacing growth in computer queries by nearly 20x.   While this certainly reveals substantial mobile opportunity for businesses in the finance industry, it is indicative of the monumental shift in consumer behavior that mobile is driving.

                         US Search Volume for Tax Related Keywords 2010-2012

As seen in this graph, tax related searches coming from mobile devices extended across a three month period every year, showing that consumers used their mobile device at all stages of their tax preparation and filing process.  At the end of January we see a huge spike in searches as consumers received their W-2 forms and used their mobile phones to find local or online tax filing services, download tax documents or even file their tax return early. Towards the end of the tax period another large spike in search volume signals a flurry of activity as people struggle to get their taxes filed by the April 17th deadline.

This year many consumers went a step further and completed their entire tax filing process on their mobile device. As one of the most complex and dreaded of human tasks, tax filing is certainly not an activity that intuitively lends itself to mobile devices. However, TurboTax identified this shift in mobile consumer behavior and created the easy to use SnapTax app, which allowed people to file their taxes on their phone by snapping a picture of their W-2 form. TurboTax then drove awareness and downloads for SnapTax by advertising the easy-to-use app across smartphone devices.

Tax filing is only one example of the huge shift in tasks and behaviors to smartphones. Activities such as finding a new dentist, planning a trip, or buying a new car are increasingly occurring on smartphones and are taking place on those websites and apps that make it easy for them. Businesses that understand consumers have gone mobile and adapt their core strategies around this change are the ones that will win.  Three key actions all businesses must take to succeed on mobile are:

1. Make sure your websites are user friendly. Mobile optimized sites and apps are incorrectly perceived by businesses as being overly complex or expensive. The truth is that there are now so many developers out there that a mobile optimized presence is in reach for any sized business.  For more information on mobile websites and even a free mobile website builder, check out www.HowToGoMo.com.  

2. Develop a company level mobile strategy. It is no longer enough to think about how individual business initiatives can have mobile components. Instead, businesses need to have a concrete company-level strategy about how to win on mobile. This is the the focus of our recently published Mobile Playbook which discusses the 5 questions that business executives should be asking themselves about mobile.   

3. Make sure your business can be found on mobile. This means establishing a clear advertising plan, social media strategy, and ensuring relevant and updated content. Learn more about mobile advertising on www.google.com/ads/mobile/ and stay connected with the blog for updates.

This tax season teaches us that mobile is no longer an industry specific outlet or a way to distinguish yourself from competitors. If a business can find a way to easily guide a user through the entire tax filing process on a mobile device, other industries will quickly follow with customized solutions for smartphones. Mobile is quickly becoming a mandatory channel for any business that hopes to stay relevant to their consumer base.

Posted by: Adam Grunewald, Google Mobile Ads Product Marketing

Ready to go mobile and don’t know how to start?

Were you aware that your business may be losing 40% of your users to competitors’ mobile-friendly sites?  It’s time to step up to the plate: half of all Americans now own a smartphone and your site needs an update to meet their expectations. Google’s here to help. We recently teamed up with DudaMobile to release its free mobile-friendly site creation tool.  In four easy steps, you enter your site’s URL, customize and redirect mobile users automatically to the new mobile-friendly version.  It’s free and takes just a few minutes to complete.  

Join us on Thursday, May 10th at 1pm EST/10am PST and watch as Google showcases how two businesses go mobile and build mobile-friendly sites--live on air. You’ll have an opportunity to hear straight from the CMO of Dudamobile, Dennis Mink, on best practices when using the tool, and learn important questions to ask yourself when building a mobile-friendly site.

Details on how to tune in
Want to see the tool in action?  Tune in to the Think with Google Google+ page on Thursday May 10th at 1pm EST/10am PST to watch two live mobile-friendly site creations.  Sign into Google+, go to the Think with Google Google+ page, and click to enter the live stream.  If you have questions before or during the Hangout, post them with the hashtag #GoMoSite as a comment on the Google+ page.

Get your business showcased
Ready to steal the limelight?  Want to walk through your free, live mobile-friendly site creation with Dennis Mink, Chief Marketing Officer of DudaMobile?  Answer these 7 quick questions to register your business for a chance to be featured today!  Registration ends at 5pm PST on Monday, April 30th.  

An example of the GoMo Site creation tool at work for ChainStoreGuide.com.

Posted by: Suzanne Mumford, Product Marketing Manager, Mobile Ads

We’ve had conversations with hundreds of business leaders about mobile over the past year and two clear themes emerged from these discussions.  Today, companies understand that they need to invest in mobile to engage with their customers on this platform. The problem is, most don't know where to start.  To help address this issue, we’re launching a new resource: The Mobile Playbook.  In this interactive guide, we pose 5 crucial questions all executives should be asking to win with mobile:

• How does mobile change our value proposition?
• How does mobile impact our digital destinations?
• Is our organization adapting to mobile?
• How should our marketing adapt to mobile?
• How can we connect with our tablet audience?

Visit www.themobileplaybook.com from your tablet, PC or smartphone today.  If you can, visit it from your tablet.  Because The Mobile Playbook site is built with HTML5, we had the flexibility to customize the experience for different types of screens.  We designed it for tablets first, then scaled the content up for the PC and streamlined it for smartphones.  This way, we were able to ensure that readers will have an enjoyable browsing experience, no matter what context they’re in.  We hope this resource will help you have productive conversations with your teams and agencies and ultimately help you adapt to the mobile consumer who is waiting to engage with you.  

Visit www.themobileplaybook.com from your tablet today.

To hear from early movers in mobile about how they’ve approached these 5 key questions, please tune into our hangout on air today at 3pm EST. Make sure you’re signed into Google+ in order to watch the hangout.

Mobile represents a sociological shift with how users relate with both the digital and physical world.  The companies that understand that all businesses are becoming mobile businesses will be primed to succeed today and in the years to come.

Posted by: Jason Spero, Head of Global Mobile Sales and Strategy

Just a quick reminder to tune in to the Think with Google Google+ page this Wednesday, April 25th, at 3pm EST/ 12pm PST for a special Hangout on Air mobile strategy discussion.  We’ll be introducing our new resource, The Mobile Playbook, and talking about how mobile can help businesses win the moments that matter, make better decisions, and go bigger, faster.  Our incredible mobile panelists have all been early movers in the mobile space, and we’ll be hearing their perspective on the 5 key questions we feature in The Mobile Playbook that every business executive should be asking today in order to win with mobile.  We hope you’ll be there.  Leave your questions for the panel in advance by clicking on the scrapbook photo at the top of the Think with Google Google+ page and leaving a comment on the photo.

• When: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 3pm EST/ 12pm PST
• How: In order to view the Hangout on Air, visit the Think with Google Google+ page at 3pm EST on April 25th, look for the stream post about the Hangout on Air, and click on it to tune in.  Don’t forget to be signed into Google+!  If you aren’t started yet with Google+, get started here with just your Google account.  

On April 25, look for the Hangout on Air post like the image above on the Think with Google +page and click to tune-in!

Posted by: Jason Spero, Head of Global Mobile Sales and Strategy

Mobile applications are now big businesses, but the developers behind them are forced to spend more of their time dealing with increasing complexity. They need to develop for different devices with different screen sizes, choose from a myriad of advertising networks, and manage varying rich media ad creative formats.  

The new Google AdMob SDK 6.0 release for Android and iOS is designed to reduce the complexity that app devs are managing, freeing them up to focus on continuing to grow their great app into a great app business. With AdMob SDK 6.0, app developers can:

Use multiple ad networks
We recognize that many app devs work with several ad networks to maximize fill rates, and ultimately, revenue. AdMob SDK 6.0 makes it easier to do this with our free AdMob Ad Network Mediation solution which allows app developers to allocate inventory across many top 3rd party ad networks on a country-by-country basis. App devs will retain full control and choice over the ad networks they use with a single UI that features the best-in-class AdMob reporting. For more information on AdMob Ad Network mediation, visit the AdMob Help Center.

Get banner ads to be smart, regardless of screen size
New mobile device screen sizes pop up every day, but app developers shouldn’t have to worry about how banner ads will appear on different devices. AdMob SDK 6.0 eliminates this issue with the introduction of new banner ad formats that automatically expand to the full width of any smartphone screen, even in landscape mode. To learn how to implement these new banners, visit the AdMob Developer Site.

Serve more rich media ads
The lack of industry standards for mobile rich media ads has been a barrier for advertisers and made it challenging to app devs to run more of these engaging ads in their apps. The new AdMob SDK 6.0 is compliant with Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions (MRAID), a common API for mobile rich media ads running in mobile apps. This is a big step forward in reducing complexity as it establishes a standardized set of commands for developers creating rich media ads. It also means that advertisers will be able to build mobile rich media ads that can be served across networks regardless of device platform, application or technology used to display the media.

As we announced several weeks ago, the iOS version of the Google AdMob SDK no longer uses the universal device identifier (UDID). We are working toward a long-term solution that will benefit users, app developers and advertisers.

To learn more about how app devs can work with AdMob to build a great app business through monetization and promotion of their app, visit our new AdMob website.

Posted by: Chrix Finne, Product Manager, Mobile Ads

We recently launched improved app promotion text banners for Google Play and iTunes Store apps on the AdMob network. These banners will now contain information about the app being promoted, such as the price, app title, and the user rating that come directly from the Google Play or iTunes store.

Here’s a sample of what these ads will look like:


By providing more details in the ad unit, we empower users to make more informed decisions about what they’re getting, what they have to pay for it, and how other users like the app. More informed users drive improved conversion rates, thus providing better value for advertisers and app developers when they promote their mobile apps on the AdMob network.

Keep an eye out for more improvements to our ad formats, as well as look out for more ways to improve advertiser value and provide users with more information to make better decisions on mobile. We’re looking forward to continuing to helping app developers grow their businesses with AdMob.

Posted by: David Lewis, Software Engineer, Google Mobile Display Ads

Over the past year we’ve talked to hundreds of CMOs and marketing decision-makers about mobile and we’ve seen a shift in the conversation: businesses are no longer asking “Why mobile?”  With half of all Americans now owning a smartphone, the necessity for brands to be involved in the mobile space is clear.  Today, we are increasingly hearing questions from executives related to the “How?” of investing in mobile.  That’s why we are launching a new resource designed to offer our perspective on how to strategically approach mobile called “The Mobile Playbook”.  On April 25th we will be hosting a live streamed discussion with an incredible panel of mobile thought leaders talking about how to strategically approach mobile including:

• Joao Machado - Director of Mobile, OMD
• Michelle Ogle - Digital Marketing and Affiliate Strategy Manager, Starwood Hotels and Resorts
• Joshua Palau - VP of Digital Sales and Marketing, Comcast
• Amit Shah - Director of Online, Mobile and Social Media, 1-800Flowers.com

Tune in to the Think with Google Google+ page on Wednesday April 25th at 3pm EST/ 12pm PST to learn how mobile can help businesses win the moments that matter, make better decisions, and go bigger, faster.  These panelists have all been early movers in the mobile space and we’ll be discussing their perspective on the 5 key questions we feature in The Mobile Playbook that every business executive should be asking today in order to win with mobile.  We hope you’ll be there.  If you have a question for the panel, leave your questions with #playbookpanel as a comment on our hangout announcement post the Think with Google Google+ page.

Details on how to tune in:
In order to view the Hangout on Air, visit the Think with Google Google+ page at 3pm EST on April 25th, look for the stream post, and click to tune in.  Don’t forget to be signed into Google+!

On April 25, look for the Hangout on Air post like the image above on the Think with Google +page and click to tune-in!

Posted by: Jason Spero, Head of Global Mobile Sales and Strategy