In an interview with Mashable, Norman Winarsky found that the shift toward mobile devices will likely alter search as well.

Technology news source Mashable recently interviewed SRI Ventures vice president Norman Winarsky and reported tablets and smartphones are greatly changing the way people use search engines.

Rather than simply typing a word or phrase into a search bar, Winarsky believes people will soon be able to search based on photos and sounds more effectively than they can currently as a result of a rapidly evolving industry.There are smartphone applications in use that enable people to search based on pictures and sounds, but they’re not performing as highly as text-based search.

However, recent reports have found that mobile devices will become the preferred computing platform as early as 2015, and companies must make their adjustments soon to leverage this trend properly. For marketers, SEO campaigns must be entirely compatible with both desktop computing and mobile computing. Social media posts including links must point back to websites that are fully functional on mobile devices.

Brafton reported on Monday that the mobile web will become the dominant access point for the internet by 2015. Both tablets and smartphones are expected to continue their rapid growth moving forward.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.