If you’re an online marketer, chances are you are aware of the growing usage of mobile devices within search.

As of June 2011, Mobile impressions account for 12% of total search impressions, up nearly 100% year over year, and roughly one-third of cell owners say their phone is a smartphone.  As a result of this exponential growth, these cellular devices have become the focus for marketers within the past year, but a new area of opportunity is on the rise: tablets.

Google’s recent AdMob survey showed that 78% of consumers use their tablet to search for information, second only to gaming activities (84%).  Tablets currently account for 13.3% of all mobile search clicks; and, based on the rapid growth of mobile, similar growth in the tablet space is not unthinkable.  Consumers are using tablets as an extension of their current search behavior, and in many cases tablet use is cannibalizing desktop usage.  This is illustrated in a recent Nielson report, in which 32% of Desktop & Tablet owners have seen a decrease in their desktop usage while 30% of Laptop & Tablet owners decreased laptop usage.

So, how do we effectively utilize tablets in our digital strategy?

Google AdWords offers a few campaign targeting options for tablet devices. Users can target all mobile tablet devices on Android, iOS and webOS platforms, or any combination of the three. Google also offers the option of targeting specific mobile carriers.  Landing pages, keyword mix, messaging and budgeting can then be controlled and crafted specifically to your audience and their viewing interface.

If your brand does not have a tablet optimized site, Google recommends targeting Desktops and Tablets in the same campaign, as user experience does not greatly differ from a desktop given most tablets’ screen sizes.  In fact, Google now automatically targets tablets within existing desktop campaigns. As with all things search, further segmenting campaigns can yield greater efficiencies.  Through segmentation, marketers can drill down to the most efficient device and carrier to allocate advertising dollars.

With growing consumer interest and usage, screen size and application offerings, tablet targeting is an asset to a brand’s digital strategy. Search trends continue to evolve rapidly each day and right now, tablets are the next big thing.

A look at the top searches on Google last week:

1. Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have split up, rocking the world of… well… people who follow TMZ all day.

2. Spotify

Spotify tops the charts for another week with its focus on music access vs. ownership.

3. Carmageddon

No, not the 1997 video game… but a masssive false scare of terrifying Los Angeles traffic this past week.

4. Alex Morgan

The US may not have won, but  Hope Solo and Alex Morgan got some heavy press this week.

5. Borders

After filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year, Borders is officially liquidating their inventory… cheap books for all!

6. Breaking Bad

After a year long hiatus, this AMC tv show is coming back on the air.

7. British Open

Darren Clarke won the 140th Open Championship for the first time over Phil Mickleson and Dustin Johnson.

8. Insidious

Paranormal meets haunted house in this week’s horror movie from the makers of the SAW franchise.

3rd Week of July Top YouTube Videos:

A look at the top searches on Google last week:

1. Betty Ford

Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford passed away this past week leaving behind a strong legacy.

2. Hugh Hefner Dead

There are quite a few celebrity death hoaxes going around… my favorite thing about this one is the response that the rumors are “greatly exaggerated”… he’s only a little bit dead.

3. Jaycee Dugard

Jaycee just published A Stolen Life based on her 18 year captivity.

4. Spotify

A Pandora competitor came to the US market from overseas this week. Sign up here

5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Reviews

Talk about long tail keywords…

6. Hope Solo

The US women’s soccer goalie “blew up” this week.

7. Derek Jeter

Mr. Jeter sat out of the All-Star Game this week.

8. Shuttle Launch

NASA preps for the last space shuttle launch.

2nd Week of July Top YouTube Videos:

If you don’t see the value in Search and believe you don’t need it, then you really don’t need your website either.

Again and again, we hear marketers speak rather harsh words about Search as a branding vehicle (anything not centered on Direct Response). The theme of those arguments is that Search doesn’t provide value for the business or the brand.

Let’s challenge that belief.

To simplify this response: it provides value to your consumer. Value to your consumer equates to positive perceptions of your brand. The more positive perceptions your brand has versus its competition, the more likely you are to move mass product for your business.

That may be a fluffy answer for some of you, but let’s take a step back and dissect the marketers’ discontent with Search. As mentioned in previous articles, Search is a bridge medium that takes your consumer from their “home” to your brand’s home, the foundation of your modern brand, The Always There Brand. Search elevates the investment you made in your website by beginning the brand experience on the search engine results page (SERP) and driving incremental traffic to your website. Not only that, but Search captures consumers at a very unique, valuable mindset. They are literally searching for you. They are explicitly requesting help from your brand. The mindset of your consumer at the moment she is exposed to your brand’s message makes all the difference. TV, Print, and portions of Display advertising are much more passive in nature. Search, Email, Text, and other “permission-based” channels naturally connect with your consumer at a deeper level. Search usually isn’t positioned as “permission-based”, but let’s argue that if a consumer is going to Google to search for something, she is giving you permission to talk to her. She’s not watching How I Met Your Mother when your spot appears or flipping through Seventeen magazine when your makeup insertion interrupts her experience. She’s looking for you (or someone like you)! Search often outperforms other channels in marketing mix analysis due to this difference in mindset.

The next time you hear a marketer challenge the value of Search, ask them how they measure the value of their website. Ask them what they want the consumer journey to achieve within their owned digital media. Then kindly explain to them that Search probably drives more than 50% of that value. You don’t manufacturer product and place it on shelves without telling consumers, so don’t build your website without Search Marketing.

A look at the top searches on Google last week:

1. Casey Anthony Verdict

Publishers aren’t looking interested in a Casey Anthony book deal.

2. Fireworks

Do you have a fireworks store in your area?  Or, as Stephen Colbert calls them, “Shabby cash-only roadside shacks that sell Chinese explosives to drunk people.”

3. Google+

The battle between Google+ and Facebook is on!  But the real question is… why are we doing this?

4. Planking

It’s back and bigger than ever… even US Celebs are doing it.

5. Copa America

It is time for some good old fashioned Fútbol.

6. Kobayashi

Takeru Kobayashi was not allowed to participate in the recent Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest again… similar to last year when he was arrested… but I’ll never forget this.

7. Mega Millions

$250,000,000.00 was won by a West-Virginian… that’s a lot of zeros.

8. Transformers 3

$97 million opening weekend and growing!

1^st Week of July Top YouTube Videos: