Google to grow mobile ads biz in China

Google might have a limited presence in China after it pulled its search engine service from the country, but it is still thriving in mobile advertising as more people purchase mobile handsets and access the Web with these devices.

According to a China Daily report Monday, Google China intends to increase its presence in mobile advertising as it touts its ability to serve advertisements on various platforms such as mobile applications, Web pages, mobile search results, and online videos.

Its confidence in this sector stems from the fact that China-based ad requests in the mobile sector using Google's products increased by 120 percent from July 2011 to July 2012. The country has also established a top 5 ranking among Google's other markets in terms of advertising request volume, the report noted.

John Liu, corporate vice president of Google told China Daily: "[The mobile advertising business in China] has made very good progress so far and it is a business that is growing the fastest." He did not provide more details of mobile advertising in China, though.

Google CEO Larry Page, in his quarterly earnings call last Thursday, said the company's mobile ad run rate has jumped from US$2.5 billion by the end of the third quarter in 2011 to roughly US$8 billion in 2012's third quarter. The boost was attributed to additional mobile revenue from users paying for content and apps in Google Play, he stated.

Page's statement comes after the Internet giant posted a disappointing third-quarter performance. It reported quarterly earnings of US$2.18 billion, or US$6.53 a share, down from US$2.73 billion a year ago--which was lower than Wall Street's expectation of US$10.65 a share.