Today marked Google's Think Mobile event, and the company shared some compelling insight on consumers' on-the-go search behavior.

Brafton has reported that Google's Eric Schmidt says 2011 is the year of mobile, and it seems Google execs plan to ramp up mobile search accordingly. At today's Think Mobile event, Google shared insight on the rapidly growing mobile market – and marketers should take note.

At the event, Google had Matt Murphy and Mary Meeker from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers share some compelling insight on the growth of the mobile market. Research shared in their Top Mobile Internet Trends report reveals that mobile queries have quadrupled in the past year. Activities including searching the web and using apps now account for more than half of consumers' mobile time.

Additionally, Murphy and Meeker argue that mobile web usage is driving the growth of Google's paid clicks and cost-per-clicks. This is something the search giant is clearly taking seriously.

“Google's approach is mobile first … Every product we create now has to be fully optimized for mobile environment,” ClickZ quotes Google's Dennis Woodside as saying.

At the event, the company shared some familiar facts, including that Google queries from mobile have increased by 400 percent in the past year. Additionally, the company shared that one in three mobile searches is local.

With this in mind, it makes sense that Google recently introduced mobile check-ins to Latitiude. Marketers should be on the lookout for new mobile advertising opportunities from the search giant in the weeks to come.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.