• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, October 5, 2011

Google has rolled out a data resource for marketers and advertisers dubbed Our Mobile Planet. The Web site provides free access to data and the study "Global Mobile Research: The Smartphone User & The Mobile Marketer" conducted on behalf of Google and the Mobile Marketing Association by Ipsos GmbH.

Marketers can use the data to build custom charts on smartphone use and mobile attitudes by going to ourmobileplanet.com and clicking on dates and categories. The categories include penetration, behavior, activities, commerce and advertising. In the activities category, marketers will find search, social networks, local search and more. Click on search to build the graph based on smartphone search engine use, frequency of searches, and number of search pages, and compare those categories with searches on the desktop.

The Advertising section provides insights on mobile ads, such as where consumers see them either on search engines, in applications, on retail sites, video sites, video advertising and other areas. It also notes the action the consumer took, such as clicking on an ad or visiting a Web site. Charts can compare multiple countries.

The data, from a study conducted in March and July of this year, breaks down the numbers by country. It aims to provide insight into search, video, social and email behavior, as well as mobile research and purchase intent. The data also evaluates difference and similarities between the desktop and mobile channels.

The study finds that more than half the U.S. consumers taking part in the study rely on mobile search engines at least once daily. Japan takes the lead in this category with an average of 71%, followed by the U.S., and the U.K. with 49%. Application use continues to rise.

U.S. smartphone users have an average of 23 applications installed on their device. Japan consumers top the list with 45, followed by France with 27. Both U.S. and U.K. consumers have 23. Consumers in Germany have an average of 21 apps on their phone.

Consumers will continue to adopt and adapt to smartphones. In fact, smartphone use in the U.S. will grow nearly 50% to slightly more than 90 million in 2011 -- up from 60 million in 2010, according to eMarketer. The research firm estimates that 38% of U.S. mobile phone users now use smartphones at least once per month, compared to just 26% in 2010. By 2012, more than 44% of the population will use smartphones at least once per month.

Google's research estimates that 53% of U.S. smartphone users access their device online multiple times daily, compared with 20% who access the device between two and three times daily; 15% who use it once daily; 11% who do not access it at all; and 1% who don't know.