Google says it’s now bigger on mobile than desktop in 10 countries

Google is focusing more firepower than ever before on meeting the demands of mobile users, and with good reason: the company has confirmed it’s now serving more Google searches on smartphones than desktop computers in 10 countries — including the US and Japan. Google told Search Engine Land that these figures bundled together searches made on tablets with those on desktops, but refused to reveal the eight other countries where mobile was king — or give a hint as to the global ratio of mobile to desktop searches.

Google is responding to this change by rolling out new, smartphone-optimized ad formats that give users more reason to tap than its traditional AdWords. These include picture-heavy automobile ads that show users a gallery of their dream ride before directing them to dealerships, and hotel ads that sandwich together availability, prices, user reviews, and pictures into a compact mobile format. Last month, Google also tweaked its search algorithm to favor mobile-optimized sites, even releasing a tool that lets developers check how their site appears on smartphones. The message is clear: if you’re not building for mobile, then you’re going to be left behind.