Google CEO: Mobile Growing Faster Than Predicted

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Palm Springs, CA-- Mobile is taking off faster than predicted, said Google CEO Eric Schmidt. And Google, which develops the Android operating system for smartphones, has seen mobile usage soar in all sorts of activities.

As keynote speaker at the Interactive Advertising Bureau's annual leadership meeting, Schmidt offered up these facts:

- Mobile searches related to Chrysler, a Super Bowl advertiser, were 102 times higher after the ad was televised; desktop searches for Chrysler increased only 48 times more than usual.

- For GoDaddy.com, another Super Bowl advertiser, searches for the brand were 315 times higher than usual. In contrast, desktop searches were only 38 times higher.

- There are more than 200 million YouTube mobile playbacks per day.

- 78 percent of smartphone users shop on their device.

"This is the future and everyone will adapt," said Schmidt, who is stepping down as Google's CEO in April after a 10-year stint.

In a sign that Google continues to make a big push into mobile, it hosted a half-day event, ThinkMobile, in New York earlier this month for advertisers and agencies. They discussed the potential of the mobile platform, including mobile advertising.

At the IAB meeting, Schmidt predicted that digital display advertising could grow to $200 billion a year, up from about $9 billion in the United States and $20 billion worldwide.

Improvements in ad technology will help make that happen, he said. Google has acquired ad technology companies including display ad platform DoubleClick in 2008, mobile ad platform AdMob in 2009, and Invite Media, a demand-side platform, in 2010.

"It's still too complicated to get a campaign up. It's just too hard," he said. As ad operations become more automated, he said, they will become more efficient and ads will have greater reach. "We have to give advertisers, publishers, and consumers more choice and control. As technology matures, we'll be able to do this," he said.

Schmidt did not discuss how Google is trying to thwart companies, such as JC Penney and Overstock from using black hat tactics to improve their rankings in search results.

In other highlights:

- The IAB established a six-month deadline for its members to comply with a code of conduct that had been adopted last year. New members will be required to comply with the code within three months of joining.

- IAB members roasted Randall Rothenberg who returns as CEO after a one-month stint as Time Inc. chief digital officer.

- And today, the IAB will announce new ad units that are the winners of its "rising stars" competition. IAB Chief Marketing Officer David Doty, in an interview last week, said the competition is aimed at encouraging greater creativity in interactive advertising.