Google's U.K. Chief Says Mobile Comes First

Google’s U.K. Managing Director, Matt Brittin, has emphasized the search giant’s focus on mobile advertising and services, predicting a period of rapid growth in the next three years.

Delivering a keynote address at an IAB mobile event in London today, Brittin said mobile is now “in takeoff mode,” and that the company is “taking it very seriously.” He added that Google engineers are now told “mobile first” when developing new products, in light of the fact the company expects more users to access online content via mobile devices than desktops by 2013.

Addressing an audience of over 300 marketers and mobile advertising execs, Brittin demonstrated what he called the “magic” of mobile, showing off the company’s latest innovations around the mobile search space on an Android device, before touching briefly on the ad opportunities it currently offers, including search, display, and in-app formats.

AdMob, the mobile ad network Google recently acquired for a hefty $750 million, was a main sponsor of the event, and Andy Smith, AdMob’s sales director for the EMEA region took to the stage later in the day to further demonstrate its display ad offerings.

Brittin also emphasized the importance of evangelizing mobile at what he described as a critical stage in its evolution. “This is a hugely exciting time. I think mobile technology is going to change the world, and we can’t estimate how major the transformation is going to be,” he said.

Much has been made of Google and Apple’s entry into the mobile ad space with their recent acquisitions of the two largest mobile advertising networks, AdMob and Quattro Wireless, respectively. Following the completion of its Quattro acquisition, Apple CEO Steve Jobs wasted little time in announcing the company’s iAd product, which he claimed would offer advertisers unparalleled creativity and interactivity.

Google’s AdMob acquisition, however, was held up by a detailed six-month FTC investigation, but was eventually given the all-clear last month. Following the closure of that deal, it appears Google is now keen to get out and tout its own offerings to agencies and advertisers, as interest in the space, and both Google and Apple’s activity in it continue to broaden.

The space is not only attracting increased attention from marketers, however. U.S. regulators are preparing an investigation into potential anti-competitive behavior by Apple, which they suggest might be exploiting its dominant position in the handset market with its iPhone device to stifle rival ad companies.