The answer, Google hopes, is Dynamic Search Ads, a program it sees as complement to AdWords.
Other forms of mobile marketing, such as SMS-based promotions and mobile-search ads, already reach far larger audiences.
But in concept, hashtag targeting is fairly similar to search advertising, and search ads most certainly do ring up sales.
FORBES: Here's A New Way You'll Soon Get Targeted For Ads: Your Hashtags
That difference, Sterling says, has created "the perception that search ads are a safer bet than display advertising, " he says.
Google this morning is unveiling a significant new tool for advertisers with large Web sites, which it calls Dynamic Search Ads.
Google has a deal to deliver YouTube videos to Vodafone and is now serving its AdSense search ads on phones worldwide.
For the past few election cycles, digital fundraising consultants have had an easy time demonstrating a positive ROI with search ads.
But an underdog there in search ads, Google has pioneered the market for mobile ads, according to the latest Bloomberg Businessweek.
Two other findings, in fact, would appear to favor search ads instead.
FORBES: Search vs. Display Advertising: Which Promises More Bang for the Buck?
Display ads will grow faster than search ads, overtaking them by 2016.
FORBES: Display Ads To Eclipse Search As Mobile Revenues Take Off
In fact, because of the utility of BT, banner ads may surpass search ads in revenues by 2015 after many years of relative decline.
At one point early in its history, before it figured out the cash machine that is search ads, Google contemplated making this its main business.
The online ad management firm, known until recently as SearchIgnite, said spending rose across the three channels it tracks: search ads, display ads, and Facebook.
FORBES: Google and Facebook Lead Strong Q2 Online Ad Spending
And social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) is just that: a tool for communicating to an audience, just like television, radio, print and search ads.
Search ads and Craigslist killed the classifieds that fueled papers.
Kurt Abrahamson, CEO of the share-button company ShareThis and a former Google sales director, says he thinks neither Google search nor its core search ads are threatened for now.
FORBES: With Graph Search, Can Facebook Kill LinkedIn, Yelp--Even Google?
Google notes that a site called ApartmentHomeLiving.com, which displays apartment listings, has seen an almost 50% increase in the number of conversions, with a cost-per-conversion 73% below traditional search ads.
After five years of trying to sell ads on television using the automated buying system that works so well for its signature search ads, Google has finally given up.
Ever since it bought the display-ad serving system DoubleClick in 2007, Google has been steadily buying up more pieces of the online ad-buying process beyond its core search ads.
FORBES: Wildfire Acquisition Finally Adds Social to Google's Ad Business
Google search ads used to account for the bulk of online advertising dollars: it was a straightforward way for campaigns to provide information about their activities to those searching for it.
Google's average price for search ads has fallen from the previous year in five consecutive quarters, largely because marketing on mobile devices hasn't proven it can be as fruitful as on personal computers.
Second, because display ads drive consumers down the funnel so that they click more on search ads and eventually become a customer, this process also increases overall ad cost due to additional search clicks.
FORBES: Search vs. Display Advertising: Which Promises More Bang for the Buck?
To be sure, the move toward search ads isn't strictly new, argues eMarketer analyst David Hallerman--the trickle of advertising funds from banner ads to pay-per-click search ads has been a slow process, he says.
Both products aim to make YouTube more attractive to both viewers and advertisers, whom YouTube is still educating in how to make effective Web video ads, a much tougher problem than Google search ads.
Paid search ads use keywords to attract sales.
FORBES: Improved Paid Search Ads Spurring Growth In E-Commerce
While Google had been making money in the mobile space from their typical search ads when users Googled something, AdMob brought them a platform to make money from web display ads and app display ads.
Yahoo's revenue from search ads has grown in recent quarters, benefiting from guaranteed payments from Microsoft, which shares ad revenue with Yahoo, and a rise in the number of times people click on the search ads.
In hearings before the Federal Trade Commission, Google successfully argued that it should be allowed to acquire DoubleClick, the world's largest display-advertising firm, because search ads and display ads are separate markets with no related competitive forces.
Now, in hopes of getting businesses to buy more search ads, it has teamed with Nielsen to provide some insight into how mobile searches drive people into stores, get them to call a business, and ultimately make a purchase.
FORBES: See It, Buy It: Smartphone Searches Spur Fast Purchases, Store Calls And Visits
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