Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Learn more.

Smartphones finally trump desktop for Google search volume

More Google searches now take place on mobile devices than on computers in 10 countries around the world.

Engineers at the search engine giant predicted last year such a switchover would take place in 2015, and it’s finally happened.

“Billions of times per day, consumers turn to Google for I want-to-know, I want-to-go, and I want-to-buy moments,” said Jerry Dischler, VP at Google.

He continued: “And at these times, consumers are increasingly picking up their smartphones for answers.”

Google confirmed to Search Engine Land that mobile queries included both browser searches, and searches that come from Google’s dedicated mobile search apps.

The full list of countries where more searches take place on mobile hasn’t been released, but Google did cite both the USA and Japan as entrants to the list.

Related: Best Smartphones 2015

We also have no idea what the actual volume of searches were, so it’s tough to tell how much bigger mobile search has become compared to its desktop counterpart.

It’s also worth mentioning that Google counts tablets as desktops, so this latest search metric specifically relates to smartphones alone.

Google hopes to make bank on the switchover by rolling out smartphone-optimised ad formats.

The new formats will come as part of Google’s AdWords platform, and will include picture-laden car ads, and hotel advertisements with lots of information bundled together.

Why trust our journalism?

Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.

Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.

author icon

Editorial independence

Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.

author icon

Professional conduct

We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.

Trusted Reviews Logo

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the best of Trusted Reviews delivered right to your inbox.

This is a test error message with some extra words