SAN FRANCISCO ? During a panel at ad:tech, executives from Google and Digby said that mobile advertising and commerce are experiencing robust growth.

The panel, moderated by Mobile Marketer?s Mickey Alam Khan, was part of ad:tech?s Marketing Masters: Mobile track. The Google spokesman kicked off the session by discussing important mobile trends he has seen over the past year.

?We?ve seen incredible growth in mobile, from number of users and the amount of time they?re spending engaged in mobile to the proliferation of high-end devices?it?s really taking off,? said Jason Rissman, account executive of mobile ads at Google, Mountain View, CA. ?Mobile is generating more and more interest from all parties?the developer community, marketing community, consumers and the media are more and more focused on mobile.?

In the wake of recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, the mobile channel was used as a fundraising tool by nonprofits, raising mobile?s profile in the process.

?Another trend is increased innovation in mobile,? Mr. Rissman said. ?There are a lot of new opportunities and new technologies that have come to market, ranging from click-to-call mobile ads to AdSense for applications and high-end sites.

?Mobile is extremely critical for Google?s business.?

Mr. Rissman said in no uncertain terms that mobile advertising delivers higher click-through rates and lower cost-per-click than online advertising.

?What is exciting about this year in mobile is really a move from what captures people?s attention by being sexy and new to mobile campaigns really focused on what works, ROI-focused campaigns proving mobile?s ability to deliver those results,? Mr. Rissman said.

Both panelists agreed about the importance of high-end mobile devices for marketers.

?The vast majority of mobile search traffic comes from high-end mobile devices,? Mr. Rissman said. ?At Google we see 30 to 50 times more searches on an Android device or an iPhone than a feature phone.

?There?s that much more usage when you put a phone with a full HTML browser and a full data plan in the hands of users,? he said. ?We?ve seen huge growth?mobile search volume over the last two years has grown 5X.

?In addition, local information is very important for consumers on the go?one in three mobile searches have local intent.?

Digby talks mobile commerce
Digby is focused on enabling merchants around the world to build their mobile channel strategy as a key element of how they reach and sell to their customers.

For retailers, the rise of high-end smartphones is big news.

?One trend over the past year is the death of feature phone,? said Lance Obermeyer, Ph.D., chief technology officer at Digby, Austin, TX. ?All of the reports are effectively saying that smartphone platforms such as the iPhone, Android, RIM?s BlackBerry and Windows devices are all you have to worry about now?regular feature phones have dropped off the radar.?

Smartphones give retailers more opportunities to engage consumers and drive them to the point of sale?or drives sales via the device itself.

?Over the last year we?ve seen the growth of mobile commerce, which used to be focused exclusively on-the-go experience,? Dr. Obermeyer said. ?My retail customers have expanded their view of mobile commerce to include activities that happen in the store and possibly even at home?from strictly on the go to in the store and in the home.?

Retailers must not think of mobile as a nice-to-have, a one-off vehicle or something to dip their toe into. A mobile platform has become a must-have to keep abreast of the competition.

?Brands have to think of mobility as something larger that can influence all aspects of their business,? Dr. Obermeyer said. ?Some of the big changes I?ve seen are retailers starting to view mobility as a larger part of their strategy.

?They have more touchpoints for mobile integrated into the rest of their organization,? he said. ?We?re seeing the expansion of services they extend to customers on a mobile device.?

More Mobile Marketing Masters
Charles Johnson, general manager of Microsoft Advertising, Redmond, WA, discussed an Ace Hardware case study.

Ace Hardware ran a mobile advertising campaign last holiday season to drive increased store traffic and keep up with the demand of loyal customers. The campaign achieved click-through rates that ranged between 3 percent and11 percent (see story).

Amielle Lake, CEO of Tagga Media Inc., Vancouver, BC, and Eric Schwertzel, New York-based vice president of business development at Netbiscuits:

Evan Neufeld, vice president of marketing at GroundTruth:

Michael Boland, senior analyst and program director at BIA/Kelsey: