Why Google is All In On Mobile

Google is betting big on mobile. On the organic side, we’ve been talking about this for a while, that mobile optimization would factor heavily into the search engine’s algorithms. Mobile optimization now also increases your AdWords quality scores, as well. Or, more accurately, ignoring mobile optimization will cripple your ads’ score. Mudd Advertising was invited to attend Google’s first Mobile Guru Day in New York. Along with representatives from other Google Partners, I learned how to make mobile a more central part of our advertising strategies. Through Guru conferences, they hope to help advertisers show clients the impact mobile advertising can have on their sales, and correct some of the problems holding most mobile campaigns back. What’s driving these changes? Where mobile use once occurred on the margins, last year, for the first time, more mobile search was performed on phones than on desktops. We check our devices, on average, 150 times each day, spending 162 minutes per day looking at that screen. This is because our phones are always with us. Through the days’ moments, we use search, video, social and more to complement our real-life experiences. With 20% of our days’ media consumption on our phones, it’s curious that we tend to only give mobile campaigns around 4 percent of our advertising budgets. Is desktop dead? Certainly not. There are still plenty of things that desktop is best for. The two work very well together, and leaving out either desktop or mobile, right now, is probably a mistake. But we need to remind ourselves not to think of phones as small versions of our computers. It is a device of a different sort. What you need to know:

• You’ll have more success being a part of the moments that cause someone to reach for their phone than to interrupt those moments.
• Make certain your ad is taking the user to a landing page that helps them have the experience they’re looking for. That’s not always the precise experience you want them to have.
• It’s crucial to earn one of the top ad positions on mobile. Beyond the number 2 spot, you are invisible.
• Users still don’t tend to make purchases or fill out forms on their phones. Facilitate cross-device conversions by allowing them to pick up where they left off when they reach a computer.

Mudd Advertising has long been creating sophisticated campaigns that embrace mobile. With Google’s most recent changes, we’re reminded that it’s our job to save clients from mistakes that will harm their advertising efforts. They may push back on suggestions for a mobile site or putting extra budget toward advertising on smartphones, but we need to make the case. Mobile isn’t popular because it’s cool; it’s popular because it is there in the moments that matter. And that is good for sales.