Google brings AdWords ad service to the mobile phone space

Google has been vocal at shareholder meetings and with financial analysts about the burgeoning market for Internet use over wireless devices. Specifically, wireless handsets like current cellphones. With 3G wireless data networks now in operation here in the U.S. by Cingular Wireless, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel, the data speeds are finally here to make the wireless Internet at least usable by customers.

The experience is hopefully enjoyable so customers will continue to use it. But don't expect a PC-like experience on the two-inch screen on your phone, although downloadable programs like Opera Mini are pretty darn slick at the mimic-the-PC process.

Google's foray into the mobile space has seen its world-leading search engine made available to almost every wireless customer worldwide with a WAP browser built into the wireless phone, and even Google Gmail, Google News, Google Reader and the personalized Google homepage are now available for your mobile phone.

Looks like Google is making its famous AdWords ad program available for mobile phone screens now. These ads appear to be the same relevant and unobtrusive text ads customers see when performing a search at www.google.com. Advertisers are now able to fill that space on your mobile phone with the same type of ads, although it will most likely take a while before ads appear on every search.

The cellphone screen is much smaller, navigation can be a little more frustrating and now text ads start showing up, although they are "light" ads with relevancy to what a mobile search user is looking for. Will customers be receptive to this kind of advertising just like they are on a standard web browser on a PC?

With this offering mobile search customers can "click to call" an advertiser right from their phones, a natural extension for a mobile search service. With billions of wireless phones in use globally, much more than personal computers, mobile search combined with newer, faster wireless data networks may be a pot of gold for Google.