Google shifts primary focus from desktop search to mobile devices

Three senior Google executives have reportedly said the Android developer now sees itself as a “mobile-first” company, rather than a desktop PC-based search business, during a presentation to the 2012 Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco.

According to Tom’s Hardware, the statement was made by Google’s global marketing director for mobile and social advertising, Rikard Steiber, YouTube’s global director of platform partnerships, Francisco Varela, and the general partner at Google Ventures, Rich Miner.

During the presentation, the executives revealed a 200% increase in searches originating from mobile devices in the year-to-date over last year, with 25% of YouTube traffic and 40% of YouTube views now originating from mobile devices, up 300% over the year-to-date compared to this time last year.

Looking forward, the executives said they believed a majority of users will access the company’s services from a mobile device during 2013, with mobile traffic to YouTube having already crossed 50% in South Korea.