Mobile search has been on everyone’s lips, as you may have gathered. But as eMarketer recently reported, all the talk is being replaced by action. Is mobile search finally finding its way?

The figures shed some light. The number and variety of searches on mobile phones jumped during the second half of 2007, causing eMarketer to raise its global mobile search revenue forecast up from $83 million in 2007 to $3.8 billion by 2012.

Mobile search providers across the board are reporting sharply increased mobile search traffic, says John du Pre Gauntt, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report, Mobile Search: Location, Location, Location.

The numbers coming from the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific suggest that mobile search traffic is starting to resemble Internet search traffic both in variety and potentially in volume, “Mr. Gauntt said. That’s saying something.

JP Morgan estimates the global market for paid search will approach $60 billion by 2011. Paid search encompasses paid click, paid inclusion, and contextual search advertising in the investment bank’s forecast.

It is hard to imagine that mobile search growth won’t track the growth in aggregate paid search, says Mr. Gauntt. Taking a longer view, eMarketer forecasts that mobile search spending in the US will grow from $34 million in 2007 to over $1.4 billion by 2012. eMarketer’s projection is in rough parity with work from other researchers such as The Kelsey Group.

That said, mobile search is still not a mainstream activity in the US, says Mr. Gauntt. But perhaps the best is yet to come. To read more on their mobile search findings, download the full eMarketer report, Mobile Search: Location, Location, Location, at www.emarketer.com.

The report analyzes the trends that are driving advertising revenues in this almost too-hot-to-handle category. For marketers, they say now is the time to jump into mobile search at least, with an experimental budget and start learning fast.