Smart mobile devices are evolving at a rapid rate, especially with introduction of the Droid devices into the market as an iPhone competitor and Google announcing the Nexus One as the official Google phone.  It is becoming very apparent that mobile advertising is growing in strides and advertisers should take advantage of it. It just may be the best kept PPC secret.

With consumers now having the functionality of a computer in their pockets, they are taking advantage of it. Google’s internal data indicates staggering search query growth as a direct result of the introduction of mobile browsers.  Over the last 3 years since the iPhone was released, searches on mobile devices in the “Shopping” category have grown by over 3000%.  In the last 5 months, searches for “restaurants” have increased by over 200%.

Is it time to take advantage of this feature? Absolutely.  Although this offering is still new, initial indications show that you can expect increased CTR, lower CPC and more conversions which translate to better ROI.

I believe that the trend in performance is a direct reflection of the ultra-targeted ads that have increased relevance. According to Google 1 in 3 Local mobile queries have local intent and 15% of iPhone applications are local. These local results are delivered by utilizing the GPS built in on some phones or by triangulating of cell towers.  When you pair that localized delivery method with mobile targeted ads and mobile optimized landing pages you are going to see better ROI.

An additional newly released feature by Google adds the ability to include click to call phone numbers within your AdWords ads by linking your AdWords account with the Local Business Center.  We have already begun testing this with clients and have seen a positive trend. Google also noted that in the beta trial advertisers who participated saw a 5-30% increase in CTR without cannibalizing URL clicks.

In summary, by utilizing mobile ads with click to call we are going to be able to drive the correct advertising to the right audience. Not only is this good for the advertiser, it’s even better for the searchers. It also shines another big light on locally targeted advertising and the value associated with it.