In its most recent earnings call, Google talked about the success of its click-to-call ads, which are apparently "generating millions of calls every month." By all reports, click-to-call in search results are most successful on mobile platforms, which makes sense. When combined with other mobile-oriented search ad options offered by Google, such as the map-plus box, location extensions, and the recently added coupon offerings, just-in-time search is getting a lot more just-in-timier. I recently saw some of this trend in action.

Aaron Goldman and I agree -- it's time for Google to rethink its mission statement. But we disagree on the reason. Goldman thinks it's time "to call a spade a spade" and for Google to come clean on their intention to grab as many ad dollars as possible. From this perspective, the change in the mission statement is really just to better align it with Google's business. I think "organizing the world's information" needs to be changed for a different reason. I think there are inherent limitations in it that may seriously impact Google's revenue stream in the future.

Two and a half years ago, I penned a column, "If I Were Running Google," where I laid out 10 things I'd do if I were at the helm of the Big G. It was fun to dream a little -- but never did I think anyone but Eric Schmidt would have the pleasure. Then last week, Schmidt announced that he was stepping down as CEO and into an executive chairman role, with Larry Page claiming the spot atop the Googleplex. (Nice view, by the way!) That got me thinking about what I'd do in Page's shoes -- besides take …

Google launched Instant Previews in November, providing searchers with a way to preview the web page of each result before clicking through to each site. According to Google, "people who use Instant Previews are about 5% more likely to be satisfied with the results they click."

Last week was a doozey in Silicon Valley. Doors were revolving. Founders were coming and going. And at least one bold-faced name came back to her roots. I refer, of course, to Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, Larry Page and Meg Whitman.

Did you see Ricky Gervais hosting the Golden Globes? No? Neither did I. Neither did about 98% of the population of North America, according to the ratings numbers. Yet I would bet in the past week that we all knew about it, and we all talked about it. But we're basing our judgments, opinions and conversations on something we've, at best, read online, heard about through the network (virtual or otherwise) or seen on YouTube. We're experiencing the simultaneous pleasure and pain of Ricky's Golden Globe Roast through hearsay and sound bites.

Make no mistake about it: social networks are a massive foundation for query and navigational behavior that most often mirrors and reflects what is happening in search. Think of the questions being asked in social as being their own queries of sorts, questions that may or may not be met by an authoritative answer. Just as a brand considers it a basic exercise to ensure that their own digital assets rank highly for brand terms in search, they should be aware of the brand conversations going on in social, and meeting them with a live community manager who also acts …

In last week's post, I covered the top 11 benefits of Google Webmaster Tools for SEOs. But even if you're not an SEO, Google Webmaster Tools provides some fantastic technical information and control for the webmaster or IT department. Here are my top four technical benefits of using Webmaster Tools:

In the early days of the automobile, cars were made one at a time. Then Henry Ford came along and invented the assembly line. Soon, dozens of cars could be assembled in the same time as a single hand-crafted automobile, which drove down costs and made cars widely available to consumers.Ford famously said you could have any color Model T you wanted as long as it was black.

I was having one of those tired, uncreative days when I depended too much on technology to do the things I was paid to do. A wine agency had hired me to set up Adwords campaigns for an obscure but highly touted wine in a particular market. Knowing what I did about the dangers of over-buying on negative keywords, I decided to rely entirely on Adwords' keyword suggestion tool.